How to correctly identify

[chuck2975]

Hi, I am totally deaf in my left ear and profoundly deaf in my right. I am able to get by with 1 superpower H.A and lip reading. Without the h.a. I am unable to hear anything. When people ask me about my hearing I say Im deaf but they get confused because I can hold a close up conversation with them. So would you say that I am deaf or H.O.H? I absolutely hate the term Hard of Hearing. But I have lived in a hearing world because I have no friends or family that are deaf or know sign. What is the correct way to identify my hearing to others?

 

[deerheart12]

Identity is always a huge issue in the deaf/hoh community. We are all so different. It's really all up to you on how you would like to be perceived regardless of the actual level of hearing. I like to call myself both deaf and hard of hearing as I am fluent in ASL and have ties to the Deaf community but I'm also use my voice and hearing aids quite a lot. It changes from time to time.

You can say I'm partially deaf, or hearing impaired (this word is an issue with the Deaf community), or I'm deaf but i still can hear some. Or that you are an orally deaf person. There are many ways to describe yourself. Also, people who never met a deaf person may not understand what's it like to be deaf or aware of the wide range of hearing loss, so it can be confusing for them. Sometimes I find it better to say i am deaf because it forces people to speak louder or at least lets them know that I cannot hear them normally. When I say I'm hard of hearing that can mean very different for a lot of people. Most hearing people deal with hard of hearing folks who may be older adults that have a mild hearing loss just needs to speak louder or automatically gets closer to my ear to speak. I'm like "nonon I need to read your lips"

Also they don't have to know everything about your hearing, whether it's correct or not.

If you want a more medically approach you can ask your audiologist or look online for audio-graphs.

Hope this helps

 

[x1heavy]

I have not spent too much time in conversation with any deaf, a little deaf, or alot of deaf or somewhere in between. My father is hearing but a virus killed hearing overnight years ago in one ear. I still consider him hearing. However life such as it is he may have to adapt fast if he loses hearing in the other ear.

I usually keep a up to date audiogram on paper. Maryland Hearing Aid Service who I did business all my life from the early 70's until the owner retired in the 90's or so usually provided me a copy of my gram partly for trucking purposes with, without hearing aid and word comprehension etc. That way I can accurately show the Medical Doctor in the Trucking Company I hire on with where I am in hearing. I consider myself deaf however I work equally well in both the hearing world and the deaf world. Some of my hearing in frequencys below 500 at 40 db or better is equal to or better than a hearing person at my age group. The lower the Bass, the better I hear it. (Or feel it rather)

One amusing thought. If a deaf tried to communicate with me they will discover that signed english is my basic language with ASL built on top with updated regional signs and words where I can pick them up. Being here in the south with Deaf is a little bit different than being in Maryland in some signs etc. Makes for a fun few minutes until one or the other learns and syncs the converstation to new words and signs.