Nah, you did not offend us with this question.
I see from your article that you are a foreign-born exchange student. I had friends who were part of a foreign exchange group in HS.... they were my closest buddies, especially my friend from Brazil.Welcome to AD and no offense taken at all, it's a great question.
To answer your question about what being deaf feels like, I'd like to mention one thing first. Most deaf people are not fully deaf. I'm fully deaf and unable to hear any sounds even past the 140 dB range. One of my profound deaf friends can feel some kind of pressure/sound in her ear when her dog barks. I don't hear anything. Anyway, I will put you in my shoes so you understand what being deaf can feel like. Suppose you're deaf and you're at your hearing family's reunion. Relatives are talking among each other, their faces and lips moving without any sound being processed in your ear. Then suddenly, they all laugh about something. You are unsure what is going on. You know that you would like to enjoy the moment, so you will feel some kind of emotional bond and warmth with them. They talk for about two extra minutes before you can finally get someone's attention about the joke. The person tries to recall what the joke was, and then goes "Oh! we were talking about..." but the moment has already passed, and you were left out of it completely.
This is not an uncommon occurrence for a deaf person even among hearing friends. They may be talking with their other hearing friends, and they both will laugh but you won't be able to share in the moment. It creates a detachment from any kind of emotional bond with them. Then if you ask them what's going on, they often give you a watered down, condensed version like "We're talking about tomorrow." Then you have to ask, "What about tomorrow?" etc... this is not how a normal friendship should work, but with hearing people it always seems this way and most of them never take the initiative to tell you what's going on. It's hard to feel included with hearing people without sacrificing your own dignity because they wouldn't tell you something otherwise. It is especially important for a hearing person to make deaf people feel included without viewing it as an unnecessary burden, or even a burden at all. There is nothing wrong with us.
Anyway, there are many people who listen to the news on the radio while driving. This is not possible for a deaf person, so the deaf person has to set time aside to get information through the newspaper and news on TV. Further regarding getting information, if I'm out in a public place and there are people walking around and talking, there is no way to eavesdrop on their conversations. In the deaf world, if I wanted to eavesdrop on a signed conversation, that would make me conspicious.. but when hearing people overhear conversations, they have a tremendous advantage. Hearing enables you to learn from other people's real reactions in the environment around you, and gain a sense for what other people really are like. Unfortunately, it makes me feel further left out when in public places to even think about this. It is small wonder that some deaf people are not fond of being around hearing people, because it can stir up some jealousy (which is usually an unhealthy emotion). But when hearing people think they know so much more and think deaf people are dumb, it's a major turn-off because that only means they're taking the information they receive for granted.
I'm not sure how to describe how deafness sense-wise feels like, that's kind of like describing what something smells like, but I feel no vibrations in my ear, and feel like I'm looking outside a box into my surroundings, instead of being part of the surroundings. Hearing people's faces and lips may move, but to me it's like being around people speaking another language and having no clue what's going on, and that I probably don't belong there. When I am around deaf or hearing people who sign, I have a great time with them and we usually communicate just fine, but for someone like me who grew up with very limited exposure to the deaf world, blending into conversations is not always easy.
About 90% of individuals who are deaf or HoH were not born that way. I was born fully hearing and lost my hearing to spinal meningitis when I was two years old. My entire family is hearing, and they tried learning sign language to communicate with me, but it's still easy to feel left out since they don't sign around me when talking to each other unless they're talking directly to me. How deafness feels varies from individual to individual, since their backgrounds differ. Sorry if this post came out sounding negative somewhat, but your question was a good one.
Well said.
Your serious, your hearing loss is about 140, that is something new to me. Someone I knew was about 120. Wow. I am 10 percent past 100 hearing loss so I am fully deaf and do not talk normal alike hearing. HA does not work on me at all.
Ruliya, perhaps you can try imagining what it's like to go to a NASCAR car race event and not be able to hear anything.
Yeah, it's been tested by an audiologist..... very seldomly will I feel any pressure in my ear and I'm talking about like once a year... one time was at a NASCAR race car event where some people were wearing ear protection. One NASCAR car engine at full throttle can measure 130 dB but put together a few NASCAR cars racing at the same time and it's even louder... I was very close to the stand and could feel some pressure in my ear but the sound had to be at least 150 dB. That's about the equivalent of a jet engine, of which I could barely feel pressure in my ear but that's it. It requires something that is almost similar to a shock wave vibrating on the ground before I can even detect any pressure in my ear. I'm the same way as you in that HA's don't work for me and my speech is not anywhere near a normal hearing person's speech.
Ruliya, perhaps you can try imagining what it's like to go to a NASCAR car race event and not be able to hear anything.
You mean with hearing aids?
Hearing loss probably doesn't go past the maximum audible intensity in the normal human ear. In air, the maximum audible intensity for the normal human ear is 140 dB.
Theseus, your illustration of being deaf is very elucidatived post. Your post shows me that I have a lot to learn.Welcome to AD and no offense taken at all, it's a great question.
To answer your question about what being deaf feels like, I'd like to mention one thing first. Most deaf people are not fully deaf. I'm fully deaf and unable to hear any sounds even past the 140 dB range. One of my profound deaf friends can feel some kind of pressure/sound in her ear when her dog barks. I don't hear anything. Anyway, I will put you in my shoes so you understand what being deaf can feel like. Suppose you're deaf and you're at your hearing family's reunion. Relatives are talking among each other, their faces and lips moving without any sound being processed in your ear. Then suddenly, they all laugh about something. You are unsure what is going on. You know that you would like to enjoy the moment, so you will feel some kind of emotional bond and warmth with them. They talk for about two extra minutes before you can finally get someone's attention about the joke. The person tries to recall what the joke was, and then goes "Oh! we were talking about..." but the moment has already passed, and you were left out of it completely.
This is not an uncommon occurrence for a deaf person even among hearing friends. They may be talking with their other hearing friends, and they both will laugh but you won't be able to share in the moment. It creates a detachment from any kind of emotional bond with them. Then if you ask them what's going on, they often give you a watered down, condensed version like "We're talking about tomorrow." Then you have to ask, "What about tomorrow?" etc... this is not how a normal friendship should work, but with hearing people it always seems this way and most of them never take the initiative to tell you what's going on. It's hard to feel included with hearing people without sacrificing your own dignity because they wouldn't tell you something otherwise. It is especially important for a hearing person to make deaf people feel included without viewing it as an unnecessary burden, or even a burden at all. There is nothing wrong with us.
Anyway, there are many people who listen to the news on the radio while driving. This is not possible for a deaf person, so the deaf person has to set time aside to get information through the newspaper and news on TV. Further regarding getting information, if I'm out in a public place and there are people walking around and talking, there is no way to eavesdrop on their conversations. In the deaf world, if I wanted to eavesdrop on a signed conversation, that would make me conspicious.. but when hearing people overhear conversations, they have a tremendous advantage. Hearing enables you to learn from other people's real reactions in the environment around you, and gain a sense for what other people really are like. Unfortunately, it makes me feel further left out when in public places to even think about this. It is small wonder that some deaf people are not fond of being around hearing people, because it can stir up some jealousy (which is usually an unhealthy emotion). But when hearing people think they know so much more and think deaf people are dumb, it's a major turn-off because that only means they're taking the information they receive for granted.
I'm not sure how to describe how deafness sense-wise feels like, that's kind of like describing what something smells like, but I feel no vibrations in my ear, and feel like I'm looking outside a box into my surroundings, instead of being part of the surroundings. Hearing people's faces and lips may move, but to me it's like being around people speaking another language and having no clue what's going on, and that I probably don't belong there. When I am around deaf or hearing people who sign, I have a great time with them and we usually communicate just fine, but for someone like me who grew up with very limited exposure to the deaf world, blending into conversations is not always easy.
About 90% of individuals who are deaf or HoH were not born that way. I was born fully hearing and lost my hearing to spinal meningitis when I was two years old. My entire family is hearing, and they tried learning sign language to communicate with me, but it's still easy to feel left out since they don't sign around me when talking to each other unless they're talking directly to me. How deafness feels varies from individual to individual, since their backgrounds differ. Sorry if this post came out sounding negative somewhat, but your question was a good one.
Superb analogy. While I may never be able to walk in a deaf person's shoes, with your analogy my ability of understanding what being deaf feel like grows exponentially.Ruliya, perhaps you can try imagining what it's like to go to a NASCAR car race event and not be able to hear anything.
I already tried and it wasn't exactly workable. Wherever I was, I was still able to hear the noises and voices. The noises and voices are certainly diminished but not enough to block figuratively everything to be in a deaf person's shoes.How about putting on ear plugs or something that completely deaf. Then, go to places and try talking to people or doing things. See if that works.
I already tried and it wasn't exactly workable. Wherever I was, I was still able to hear the noises and voices. The noises and voices are certainly diminished but not enough to block figuratively everything to be in a deaf person's shoes.
