Room for the hoh?

jillio said:
The diagnosis ogf deaf is not dependent upon not being able to hear anything.
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Of course, how they classify someone as being deaf is flawed.
 
jasin said:
I remember back in the 80's when hoh kids were stuck in special ed classes, there were no hybrid schools, at least, not here where I live.
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Ohhh got it! Thanks for clearing that up. :)
 
shel90 said:
I totally agree with u 100%

That's why I strongly believe that ALL deaf and hoh children should be exposed to ASL as well as spoken English in the educational settings.
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I can see the utility in this but I don't think it would helped me get where I wanted to be in the hearing world. For me it was truly an "either or" proposition. At this point in my life, I can see learning sign wouldn't detract from my achievements anymore especially in the context that I now have a CI.
 
jasin said:
Of course, how they classify someone as being deaf is flawed.
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Absolutely. And as long as that is flawed, the way the hearing achool aministrators and medical/audiological professionals attempt to "manage" deafness will be flawed.
 
jasin said:
Untrue, anyone with an audiogram of 10 to about 30 db of loss is still technically in the hearing range, so not all people who are hearing fall into the deaf or hard of hearing categories.

People with that kind of hearing loss typically have it as a result of listening to music, tv, car stereos, etc.. whatever, to loud.
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someone with a hearing loss that starts at 10 dB and drops to 30 dB would be considered mildly hard of hearing. (i.e. they have normal hearing in the low frequencies, mild hearing loss in the mid frequencies and mild hearing loss in the high frequencies).
 
jillio said:
I agree with you there Vampy. Unfortunately, I've seen alot of these kids that try to hide their hh status and just get by without attracting attention tothemselves becasue their parents have focused so much on making them more like hearing that they were never given the tools they needed to understand that deaf is not less than hearing--its just different. I feel very sorry for these kids.
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i hate to say this about my parents, but they adopted this attitude as well.

even though i was born with a mild hearing loss (my former hearing aid audis think my loss is congenital due to the fact that newborns weren't given hearing screenings like they receive today), my parents raised me in the hearing world to be oral.

even when i received my first pair of hearing aids at age 15 for a moderately-severe loss, neither my parents or high school teachers did anything to prepare me for progressive hearing loss (even though they all were aware that this was my diagnosis). it would have been nice if i could have learned tactile sign and other alternative communication methods for the deafblind.

perhaps if i had learned these skills back then, i wouldn't have had to take a year off from my university studies to receive training at my local deafblind center.
 
Hear Again said:
i hate to say this about my parents, but they adopted this attitude as well.

even though i was born with a mild hearing loss (my former hearing aid audis think my loss is congenital due to the fact that newborns weren't given hearing screenings like they receive today), my parents raised me in the hearing world to be oral.

even when i received my first pair of hearing aids at age 15 for a moderately-severe loss, neither my parents or high school teachers did anything to prepare me for progressive hearing loss (even though they all were aware that this was my diagnosis). it would have been nice if i could have learned tactile sign and other alternative communication methods for the deafblind.

perhaps if i had learned these skills back then, i wouldn't have had to take a year off from my university studies to receive training at my local deafblind center.
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Unfortuantely, that is the way it goes so much of the time. Denial does no one any good, whether it is the individual in denial, or their family in denial.
 
DANG, JASIN GOT ME THERE.

I'm not deaf really.

BUT, the laws said I was. So I am profoundly deaf. Sigh. Must be my laziness.
 
jillio said:
Unfortuantely, that is the way it goes so much of the time. Denial does no one any good, whether it is the individual in denial, or their family in denial.
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exactly.

my parents were in such denial over my hearing loss that my high school resoucre teachers had to write a letter to them indicating my need for hearing aids given the fact that i wasn't responding to my name in class and the fact that my speech was becoming difficult to understand. i think their letter was what broke the camel's back so to speak because immediately after they received it, they arranged for me to be evaluated for hearing aids.
 
I'm only HoH myself, but I feel I would be a lot better off at a school for the deaf rather than a mainstreamed school as I've always been for my life. The resources have generally been crappy (my current school, a hybrid school, is the exception with 5 HoH and 1 CI), etc. teachers refused to accommodate me, told me that I was just using being HoH as an excuse because I had HA. Appointed audiologists were incompetent, I ended up going 4 years with a broken phonak FM system because she insisted that I was lying about its condition to get out of class.

Apart from that, it's hard to talk with other students. It may look like I talk with them and do well in school, but all I'm really doing is concentrating on trying to make out a fragment, any fragment, that will give me a clue about what's being talked about and I'll rush in to make any comment I can. I'm not actually having a conversation with them, it just feels like I'm pretending to listen to them and butt in my own opinion where I can. In class I can't even concentrate enough to listen to the instructor, so most of what I do in school is learn what my assignment is and read.
 
My parents werent in denial about my deafness, but my audiologist was. he said i was just a naughty child
 
Hard Of Hearing Can Be A Hard Road

I get the feeling that some people don't really belive I truly have a hearing problem. People have even accused me of lying when I have tried to explain that I am Deaf. They think I mean I have a 100% hearing loss in both ears. I have a conductive hearing loss in both ears, but I have NEVER had a "hearing aid consult." I am wearing one hearing aid in my right ear. I bought it myself off the internet. I am making a very deliberate choice to join the Deaf Community.

I have a central hearing impairment also. It causes lots of problems for me Especially with understanding spoken language in groups. I need Sign. I will ALWAYS need Sign. It was difficult for me to acknowledge that, but I have become more confident since I started using an interpreter. I have been working with a HOH psychologist who SIGNS. It is the only therapy that has ever really worked. I found out I have Asperger's also. So I have a lot to deal with, but I have been getting plenty of support from the local Deaf Community. I think it is just wonderful:aw:
 
defgrl said:
I get the feeling that some people don't really belive I truly have a hearing problem. People have even accused me of lying when I have tried to explain that I am Deaf. They think I mean I have a 100% hearing loss in both ears. I have a conductive hearing loss in both ears, but I have NEVER had a "hearing aid consult." I am wearing one hearing aid in my right ear. I bought it myself off the internet. I am making a very deliberate choice to join the Deaf Community.

I have a central hearing impairment also. It causes lots of problems for me Especially with understanding spoken language in groups. I need Sign. I will ALWAYS need Sign. It was difficult for me to acknowledge that, but I have become more confident since I started using an interpreter. I have been working with a HOH psychologist who SIGNS. It is the only therapy that has ever really worked. I found out I have Asperger's also. So I have a lot to deal with, but I have been getting plenty of support from the local Deaf Community. I think it is just wonderful:aw:
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If you have never been checked, you don't know what is wrong with your hearing. If you have undiagnosed hearing loss, it could easily be a tumor or one of a host of problems.

It is not a good idea to just make your own decisions on what is wrong with you.
 
My parent were never in denial about my deafness, but they made sure that as much as possible was done to make sure that I was as 'hearing' as possible, and I had a totally oral education, I was mainstreamed. My mum even had a blazing row once with the Head Teacher at my Junior school who suggested that I would be better off in a school for the Deaf. No one ever explained to my parents that the alternative to oralism did not mean failure on their part. As a result I found school difficult, had few friends and had to put up with bullying from other kids about my HAs.
 
djchur said:
My parent were never in denial about my deafness, but they made sure that as much as possible was done to make sure that I was as 'hearing' as possible, and I had a totally oral education, I was mainstreamed. My mum even had a blazing row once with the Head Teacher at my Junior school who suggested that I would be better off in a school for the Deaf. No one ever explained to my parents that the alternative to oralism did not mean failure on their part. As a result I found school difficult, had few friends and had to put up with bullying from other kids about my HAs.
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That is a very insightful statement. Many parents do see it as failure on their part, and why they will hang onto it even when problems are obvious.
 
My own decisions

I wish I COULD get someone to help me make some decisions about how to treat my hearing loss. However, I have been BLOWN OFF by audiologists. They REFUSE to do ANYTHING about my hearing loss. Either they claim that my hearing is "normal," still in normal range, not bad enough to be fitted, or that they don't take my insurance. One of my hearing problems will NEVER show up on a standard audiogram, because it is not a CONDUCTIVE loss. It is either central/cortical, neural, or sensori-neural. I am REALLY SCARED that I might have something wrong with my brain. I could have acoustic neuroma or acoustic dysynchrony. My hearing FLUCTUATES. Sometimes people's voices will just DISAPPEAR, like somebody flipped a switch or something. :shock: I am just so SAD that no one will take me seriously. Except for people at my church and my psychologist. Sometimes, it is so bad that I really don't want to live anymore. I have turned to signing Deaf people because they are very understanding and suppotive.
 
defgrl said:
I wish I COULD get someone to help me make some decisions about how to treat my hearing loss. However, I have been BLOWN OFF by audiologists. They REFUSE to do ANYTHING about my hearing loss. Either they claim that my hearing is "normal," still in normal range, not bad enough to be fitted, or that they don't take my insurance. One of my hearing problems will NEVER show up on a standard audiogram, because it is not a CONDUCTIVE loss. It is either central/cortical, neural, or sensori-neural. I am REALLY SCARED that I might have something wrong with my brain. I could have acoustic neuroma or acoustic dysynchrony. My hearing FLUCTUATES. Sometimes people's voices will just DISAPPEAR, like somebody flipped a switch or something. :shock: I am just so SAD that no one will take me seriously. Except for people at my church and my psychologist. Sometimes, it is so bad that I really don't want to live anymore. I have turned to signing Deaf people because they are very understanding and suppotive.
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Most losses are sensorineural NOT conductive. Conductive losses do not use typical hearing aids. More than 90% of losses are sensorineural. An audiogram WILL show a loss, if it is there. Even AN/AD will show up in testing.

I don't know what is going on, but I don't think the problem is in your ear.
 
if your hearing tests are "normal," that means you must have CAPD. even auditory neuropathy can be ruled out by having an ABR.
 
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