BecLak
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Suzanne, I am also severely-deaf from birth. I was raised oral and wore hearing aids for a time. A few years ago, I changed my mode of communication to sign language. I now choose not to be oral as I'm tired of explaining to people that I am Deaf not ignoring you or being rude, or having to say 'what was that you said?' for the millionth time that day.
nl]I don't wear hearing aids now either because I had nothing but trouble with them. Amplification of the few sounds I could hear gave me headaches and the humidity gave me bad chaffing behind my ears and ear infections. I am happier and freer now I've decided to embrace being Deaf, instead of constantly struggling to be someone I'm not. When I was growing up, I did my best to become hearing. My mother and I worked on my speech constantly, ironing out my profound lisp, and we were so 'successful' that no one could guess I was deaf except an audiologist. I grew up into adulthood thinking I had conquered my hearing loss and had fooled everyone, even myself into thinking I was hearing. Until one day not so long ago, a few years back, I had a 'wake-up' call. I realized nothing had changed. All the memories of abasement at school, the immense effort to speak, the constant guessing what was being said and misunderstandings from people when I didn't respond, it was all still there, nothing changed. All my lifetime of training with speech therapy amounted to nothing. I was pretending to be someone I wasn't and by doing so was not only lying to people around me but also to myself. I was devastated. Honestly, to those hearing parents who say that their dhh child is happy being oral. Please think over what I have shared and that of what many formerly oral-raised mainstreamed Deaf adults are telling you. It is better to allow them to know sign language and not rely on being oral now, than be full of regrets many years down the track.
Suzanne, I am also severely-deaf from birth. I was raised oral and wore hearing aids for a time. A few years ago, I changed my mode of communication to sign language. I now choose not to be oral as I'm tired of explaining to people that I am Deaf not ignoring you or being rude, or having to say 'what was that you said?' for the millionth time that day.
nl]I don't wear hearing aids now either because I had nothing but trouble with them. Amplification of the few sounds I could hear gave me headaches and the humidity gave me bad chaffing behind my ears and ear infections. I am happier and freer now I've decided to embrace being Deaf, instead of constantly struggling to be someone I'm not. When I was growing up, I did my best to become hearing. My mother and I worked on my speech constantly, ironing out my profound lisp, and we were so 'successful' that no one could guess I was deaf except an audiologist. I grew up into adulthood thinking I had conquered my hearing loss and had fooled everyone, even myself into thinking I was hearing. Until one day not so long ago, a few years back, I had a 'wake-up' call. I realized nothing had changed. All the memories of abasement at school, the immense effort to speak, the constant guessing what was being said and misunderstandings from people when I didn't respond, it was all still there, nothing changed. All my lifetime of training with speech therapy amounted to nothing. I was pretending to be someone I wasn't and by doing so was not only lying to people around me but also to myself. I was devastated. Honestly, to those hearing parents who say that their dhh child is happy being oral. Please think over what I have shared and that of what many formerly oral-raised mainstreamed Deaf adults are telling you. It is better to allow them to know sign language and not rely on being oral now, than be full of regrets many years down the track.
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