juliae
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 8, 2005
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HI!!! OK now that I am done "yelling" ~
My name's Julia and I'm HOH. Even though my hearing (or lack of) affected my speech and communication I was raised without hearing aids and taught to completely deny the fact that I had any hearing loss at all.
I went for years relying on lipreading/speechreading and guessing, and every time I'd bring up the fact that I couldn't hear something my parents would ignore it. They taught me that being HOH was something to be ashamed of, to hide, to ignore. When I became aware of the fact that others who were hoh wore hearing aids and I couldn't, my father once told me that my hearing was just fine, it was my attitude that needed work; "you can hear things I can't," he told me, "so your hearing is just fine."
Imagine my parents' surpise when I went on my own and had my hearing tested, verifying my hearing loss, and their second surpirse when I discovered sign! I loved it and am now addicted to it (grin). I'm now also getting hearing aids (in my 20s) for the first time in my life and learning about the unique culture of Deaf and HOH people.
I can't undo the past but I can sure do something about the future! Glad to have found this site!!
My name's Julia and I'm HOH. Even though my hearing (or lack of) affected my speech and communication I was raised without hearing aids and taught to completely deny the fact that I had any hearing loss at all.
I went for years relying on lipreading/speechreading and guessing, and every time I'd bring up the fact that I couldn't hear something my parents would ignore it. They taught me that being HOH was something to be ashamed of, to hide, to ignore. When I became aware of the fact that others who were hoh wore hearing aids and I couldn't, my father once told me that my hearing was just fine, it was my attitude that needed work; "you can hear things I can't," he told me, "so your hearing is just fine."
Imagine my parents' surpise when I went on my own and had my hearing tested, verifying my hearing loss, and their second surpirse when I discovered sign! I loved it and am now addicted to it (grin). I'm now also getting hearing aids (in my 20s) for the first time in my life and learning about the unique culture of Deaf and HOH people.
I can't undo the past but I can sure do something about the future! Glad to have found this site!!