I'm totally new to this forum but I've been reading a lot, trying to get myself familiar with deaf culture and the world that we all live in, and something is bugging me. I have been HOH since I was little (around 4 years old). I'm now 24 and my hearing has been getting progressively worse over the years. For the past year or so my hearing loss has sped up dramatically and the doctors say that it could go completely at pretty much any time.
In all this time, I haven't been a part of the deaf community at all (I had no idea it even WAS a community, I was very uneducated about all of this) and now that it looks like I'll be going deaf pretty soon I want to learn as much about the community and the culture as possible. I'm already ok at lip reading, I'm starting to learn ASL and I'm doing my best to join in here too.
At this point I'm wondering, am I a Hearie or a Deafie? From what I've read on this forum so far, the general feeling toward Hearies is that they are very ignorant oF Deaf culture and that they do really stupid things when interacting with deaf people. The more I read, the more I realize that I was one of those ignorant people, because I've had so little experience with people who are deaf, even though I've been HOH nearly my whole life. How do I bridge the gap? How do I learn everything I need to know? How do I teach my loved ones all that they need to know? Who am I at this point in my hearing loss and how much is going to change as my hearing loss gets worse?
I understand that the general attitude toward deafness seems to be very positive within the deaf community. I feel very blessed that I've had some of my hearing for as long as I have. At the same time, I go back and forth between being scared about my hearing loss and thankful that I'll eventually be able to experience life in a new way. I will have gained two different perspectives during my lifetime. So many people only ever get to experience one. But I still get scared sometimes.
Where do I go from here?
In all this time, I haven't been a part of the deaf community at all (I had no idea it even WAS a community, I was very uneducated about all of this) and now that it looks like I'll be going deaf pretty soon I want to learn as much about the community and the culture as possible. I'm already ok at lip reading, I'm starting to learn ASL and I'm doing my best to join in here too.
At this point I'm wondering, am I a Hearie or a Deafie? From what I've read on this forum so far, the general feeling toward Hearies is that they are very ignorant oF Deaf culture and that they do really stupid things when interacting with deaf people. The more I read, the more I realize that I was one of those ignorant people, because I've had so little experience with people who are deaf, even though I've been HOH nearly my whole life. How do I bridge the gap? How do I learn everything I need to know? How do I teach my loved ones all that they need to know? Who am I at this point in my hearing loss and how much is going to change as my hearing loss gets worse?
I understand that the general attitude toward deafness seems to be very positive within the deaf community. I feel very blessed that I've had some of my hearing for as long as I have. At the same time, I go back and forth between being scared about my hearing loss and thankful that I'll eventually be able to experience life in a new way. I will have gained two different perspectives during my lifetime. So many people only ever get to experience one. But I still get scared sometimes.
Where do I go from here?
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