That's an interesting thought Joshie, that you consider HOH to be Deaf. I like to think HOH can be considered Deaf once they seek out and embrace the Deaf community, Deaf culture, and start to learn ASL; but prior to that, probably not so much.Welcome to AllDeaf forum! Hope that you enjoy your stay here as there are plenty of Deaf or Hard of Hearing (in my belief even if they are Hard of Hearing, they are considered Deaf) people to meet and I am one of these people.
You aren't alone in this as I am in the same situation where in the area I live at I am the only one so I guess even though I may be the only one in this area but that means something whether it is good something or bad something. Nonetheless if you need any assistance with AllDeaf forum feel free to ask any one of us.
That's an interesting thought Joshie, that you consider HOH to be Deaf. I like to think HOH can be considered Deaf once they seek out and embrace the Deaf community, Deaf culture, and start to learn ASL; but prior to that, probably not so much.
A lot of HOH folks just don't want to identify as Deaf, especially those who were late-deafened, and the later people lose their hearing the less they seem to want to be part of the Deaf community. I think it's most common for HOH and late-deafened to want to fix their hearing or learn to cope and stay in the hearing community, then never get involved with the Deaf community, or learn about Deaf culture.
Some embrace it though, learn ASL and maybe end up BiBi, with one foot in each culture, but it seems less common. Doctors might be partly to blame, I don't think it's common for them to recommend learning ASL no matter how profound the hearing loss is. HOH folks would need to seek out the Deaf community themselves, or stumble upon it by chance. There isn't really a clear path from losing your hearing to being introduced to Deaf culture.
Also, welcome Wymoosehead! Hope you don't mind me hijacking a bit, figured conversation in an intro thread is good
Ya, I think age has a lot to do with it. The younger you are when you're exposed to Deaf culture, the more likely to are to embrace it and want to be part of it and identify as Deaf.
I born hard of hearing and I think that there are different categories such as Hard of Hearing, late-deafened, mute, etc etc falls under "Deaf" as a main category. I consider Hard of Hearing as sub-category if you will but when it comes to identifying myself I say I am Deaf but when it comes to medically I would say that I am hard of hearing but I am Deaf nonetheless. When I was in my pre-teen I decided that I am Deaf and that is the end of story. I look at myself as that unless someone asks me a medical question but through the journey of my life I identified myself Deaf which is something that I feel more comfortable calling that myself rather than saying "Oh I am Hard of Hearing" which in my opinion I think it sounds a bit of negative. In my pre-teen I told myself that it is good to be Deaf and ever since that moment I have never been shame of that. Of course everybody has different opinions but that is my own and my own journey.That's an interesting thought Joshie, that you consider HOH to be Deaf. I like to think HOH can be considered Deaf once they seek out and embrace the Deaf community, Deaf culture, and start to learn ASL; but prior to that, probably not so much.
A lot of HOH folks just don't want to identify as Deaf, especially those who were late-deafened, and the later people lose their hearing the less they seem to want to be part of the Deaf community. I think it's most common for HOH and late-deafened to want to fix their hearing or learn to cope and stay in the hearing community, then never get involved with the Deaf community, or learn about Deaf culture.
Some embrace it though, learn ASL and maybe end up BiBi, with one foot in each culture, but it seems less common. Doctors might be partly to blame, I don't think it's common for them to recommend learning ASL no matter how profound the hearing loss is. HOH folks would need to seek out the Deaf community themselves, or stumble upon it by chance. There isn't really a clear path from losing your hearing to being introduced to Deaf culture.
Also, welcome Wymoosehead! Hope you don't mind me hijacking a bit, figured conversation in an intro thread is good
Joshie, thank you for sharing your own experience and journey. I appreciate that a lot
I am Hard of Hearing and I don't even have an ounce of access to hearing community. The hearing community flatly rejected me even if I can hear some noises (I can't understand voices but I can hear something - If it is high pitch). As soon as the hearing people sees you use American Sign Language they flatly label you Deaf whether you are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. They sees you using ASL you are DEAF period. Perfect example.. I went to Macy's store to look for Victoria Swiss watch, this lady saw me showing a gesture as I was pointing my finger to my wrist so anyone sees that gesture should obviously knows it means time/watch and out of no where she another staff or whoever that other lady is saying "this guy is Deaf" and my "hard of hearing" could catch her saying "Deaf" cause I've heard that word too many times to be able to understand the Deaf word then I said "Ma'am I am not Deaf. I am Hard of Hearing". The lady responded "How can you hear? You're Deaf?!" my response "Uh.. Hard of Hearing means I have difficulty in hearing" her response "So you're Deaf?" I said "Okay I am Deaf and move on".
Identifying yourself as Deaf is something that you would have to do personally, through your journey (Deafhood) and also is something that you would have to decide to consider yourself Deaf by yourself. When you are comfortable to accept that you are Deaf then you would feel more accepting especially for who you are and it is much relief but it is only something you would have to do on your own. We can't say "You are Deaf, doesn't matter if you are Hard of Hearing.. You are deaf period" because it is something that you would have to do it on your own and then when you are ready you will know.Joshie, thank you for sharing your own experience and journey. I appreciate that a lot
Hearing loss (more than mildly) is a new thing for me over the past couple years. I'm currently calling myself hard of hearing, I'd feel wrong calling myself Deaf at this point. I am learning ASL, I know I might lose more hearing, I know I might not be able to understand speech in the future and I know HAs might not be able to "fix" that (doctors told me HAs won't get me speech discrim in my right ear anymore already, apparently amplification doesn't help me understand). If/when I reach that point, I think I'll call myself Deaf. Hopefully I'll be conversational in ASL before that happens too.
With my hearing as it is, maybe once I am proficient with sign and find the local Deaf community, maybe then if I start hanging out with other Deaf as much as I do hearing, I'd feel more appropriate calling myself Deaf. But now, this early, it feels wrong to me. I think it'd confuse people around me to say I'm Deaf. I can hear and understand voices without HAs because my left ear isn't too bad. I'm also a total newbie at sign and probably will be for more than another year.
I've read other accounts from people saying the decision to identify as Deaf is a personal one and more or less excludes actual hearing loss, the medical side. But I've also seen the opposite, where some folks feel like hearies, hoh, coda, and late deafened aren't really Deaf because they didn't go to Deaf school, can still hear some/lots, weren't raised in the Deaf community, or aren't fluent in sign. There seem to be lots of HOH and late-deafened who feel pushed away from both the Deaf and hearing communities.
