Deaf and Need Help

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jhn980

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Hey Guys,
I have recently become deaf due to medical injuries and am having a hard time transitioning. I am looking into methods of treatment and was debating between cochlear implants or these glasses I found online that can translate words to subtitles? They seem less invasive, and I would just walk around with them on and I would see subtitles as people talked! I was wondering what your thoughts on the matter, and if you had any advice! I'd appreciate anything, thank you so much!
 
jhn980 said:
Hey Guys,
I have recently become deaf due to medical injuries and am having a hard time transitioning. I am looking into methods of treatment and was debating between cochlear implants or these glasses I found online that can translate words to subtitles? They seem less invasive, and I would just walk around with them on and I would see subtitles as people talked! I was wondering what your thoughts on the matter, and if you had any advice! I'd appreciate anything, thank you so much!
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You need to talk with an audiologist first! What kind of hearing loss do you have - total deafness? And the injury is not to the cochleas (where the wire goes for the implant) Subtitles are no substitute for some kind of hearing, but they can supplement what you can salvage. I can lipread a lot faster than subtitles, by the way, have you been taking any classes in lipreading? Also you'll probably need to work on your speech so it doesn't deteriorate, that can be done in lipreading class. By any chance do you have good bone conduction? Bone conduction hearing aids are a great option for people with hearing loss associated with problems in their outer or middle ears or for those with profound hearing loss in one ear.
 
Those glasses are a very, very new thing. As far as I know there are several companies working on products but all are still being beta tested. There are some that work in movie theaters or stage performances that are available but only at the locations that use it and not for walking around.

Whether you do a CI or use other devices, I strongly encourage learning sign language, preferably from a Deaf instructor. If you can’t afford to pay for classes, there are free online sources like lifeprint.com. Sign will open up additional communication options, such as access to interpreters, and can bring some relief from the fatigue of listening with HA/CI or lip reading or reading captions. Yes, it takes time to learn but the time investment is usually worthwhile.
 

zephren​

Whether your suggestion of sign language is very helpful or not soooo depends on where a person is living. I have been deaf in one ear for many, many years and have a very profound loss in the other one one for years. I took beginning sign at a local community college two different times quite a number of years ago. Neither time did I make Any contacts to actually use it! Others in those night classes seemed to be using it for a foreign language credit. Also, I can't remember the last time I saw anyone use it while out and about as it has been many, many years.
 
Jane B. said:

zephren​

Whether your suggestion of sign language is very helpful or not soooo depends on where a person is living. I have been deaf in one ear for many, many years and have a very profound loss in the other one one for years. I took beginning sign at a local community college two different times quite a number of years ago. Neither time did I make Any contacts to actually use it! Others in those night classes seemed to be using it for a foreign language credit. Also, I can't remember the last time I saw anyone use it while out and about as it has been many, many years.
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Hi Jane,
I knew when I posted that you would likely reply about being remote and no community to practice with. I think a lot has changed and communities can be found if you search for it.

Since Covid there are many more opportunities to both learn and socialize online. Some groups have gone back to in person only but many still do online events. The nice thing about the online groups is you can take classes from anywhere. Some offer free socializing meets online specifically for learners and you don’t have to pay for their classes to join the socials. There are lots of groups on meetup.com. Deaf Inc also has classes and socials. Other places are around, if you search you can find them. Life print has always been a good starting place to learn.

Once someone is at an intermediate level they can start to benefit from interpreters. Most terps can adapt their signing to either simpler terms or more signed English structure to help with a newer signer’s understanding.

I live in a fairly remote place. There are several weekly or bimonthly online groups for advanced/fluent signers that I often attend. We have some people who join those from Germany, Ukraine, and Brazil who know their local sign language and ASL so they can participate in different groups. In-person is always preferable and I attend those too but it is really nice to not have to leave home to meet and chat with other people.
 
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