From Hearing to Deaf: JB Brown
Updated March 08, 2014.
About.com: Do you still wear a hearing aid?
I find I only wear my aids when I am going to be around someone who will be speaking to me. I find that with my intolerance to loud sounds, I rather go without. I know that soon, the aids are not going to help me. When I am in public, I like to go without the aids so I can get used to how to deal with life.
I find that without my aids in place, I do not speak. I gesture, or sign to people. This way they gesture back, even if they don’t know sign. If they were to hear me speak, they would then talk, and I would be at a loss.
About.com: Have you joined any Deaf organizations?
In order to mingle with the Deaf, one must be able to sign well enough to understand and be understood by the Deaf community. I am working on learning to sign. I want to become proficient in sign, but I know I am a long way away from that goal.
About.com: Was there anything you found frustrating?
It is extremely frustrating at times to not be able to hear. I try to make sure that people I meet know I am hard of hearing. Yet still, sometimes I am expected to be able to hear. There are many activities I would like to partake in, but because I am not able to function well in a group of people who are talking, I avoid those situations. It means that I miss out on parties and get togethers. Even my signing class -- they were having a little party to celebrate the end of class. I knew it would mean a lot of talking and little signing. Not being able to hear someone is very frustrating. That frustration leads to avoidance. I am in a constant struggle not to withdraw and pull away from the whole human race.
Walking the tightrope between hard of hearing and deaf can be very frustrating. When I wear my hearing aids, they make sounds louder, not always understandable. It can be frustrating to be in a room full of people, and have it be very loud, but still not be able to understand the person you want to hear. Without my hearing aids, I am more comfortable in a noisy situation. I still hear some sound, nothing that brings any meaning to me, But with that small amount of sound, and concentrating very hard on watching the person speak, I can guess some of what is said.
Another frustrating feature of hearing loss is being caught in a room and not being able to understand what is going on around me. Sometimes I just have to sit it out. I become fidgety and anxious in these situations. I know that if any one asks me anything, I will not be able to answer. If they ask me a question, that can be a relief. Then I can make it known that I am deaf, and cannot hear any of what is going on.
About.com: Do you have any final comments for About.com readers?
I am grateful that I have been born at the time I was. (1951) As I study the history of the hard of hearing and the Deaf, I see how they have been treated throughout history. We have it better now, with the ADA, Vocational Rehabilitation, and the technology that is available to us to make use of our residual hearing.
Computers were made for me. Before e-mail, I was isolated. Now I can reach out and almost touch some one. I can speak with someone using IM and I have no trouble at all hearing anything they say.
About.com: Do you still wear a hearing aid?
I find I only wear my aids when I am going to be around someone who will be speaking to me. I find that with my intolerance to loud sounds, I rather go without. I know that soon, the aids are not going to help me. When I am in public, I like to go without the aids so I can get used to how to deal with life.
I find that without my aids in place, I do not speak. I gesture, or sign to people. This way they gesture back, even if they don’t know sign. If they were to hear me speak, they would then talk, and I would be at a loss.
About.com: Have you joined any Deaf organizations?
In order to mingle with the Deaf, one must be able to sign well enough to understand and be understood by the Deaf community. I am working on learning to sign. I want to become proficient in sign, but I know I am a long way away from that goal.
About.com: Was there anything you found frustrating?
It is extremely frustrating at times to not be able to hear. I try to make sure that people I meet know I am hard of hearing. Yet still, sometimes I am expected to be able to hear. There are many activities I would like to partake in, but because I am not able to function well in a group of people who are talking, I avoid those situations. It means that I miss out on parties and get togethers. Even my signing class -- they were having a little party to celebrate the end of class. I knew it would mean a lot of talking and little signing. Not being able to hear someone is very frustrating. That frustration leads to avoidance. I am in a constant struggle not to withdraw and pull away from the whole human race.
Walking the tightrope between hard of hearing and deaf can be very frustrating. When I wear my hearing aids, they make sounds louder, not always understandable. It can be frustrating to be in a room full of people, and have it be very loud, but still not be able to understand the person you want to hear. Without my hearing aids, I am more comfortable in a noisy situation. I still hear some sound, nothing that brings any meaning to me, But with that small amount of sound, and concentrating very hard on watching the person speak, I can guess some of what is said.
Another frustrating feature of hearing loss is being caught in a room and not being able to understand what is going on around me. Sometimes I just have to sit it out. I become fidgety and anxious in these situations. I know that if any one asks me anything, I will not be able to answer. If they ask me a question, that can be a relief. Then I can make it known that I am deaf, and cannot hear any of what is going on.
About.com: Do you have any final comments for About.com readers?
I am grateful that I have been born at the time I was. (1951) As I study the history of the hard of hearing and the Deaf, I see how they have been treated throughout history. We have it better now, with the ADA, Vocational Rehabilitation, and the technology that is available to us to make use of our residual hearing.
Computers were made for me. Before e-mail, I was isolated. Now I can reach out and almost touch some one. I can speak with someone using IM and I have no trouble at all hearing anything they say.
