What is it like to be hearing?

:giggle: yes we were reading about this particular hearing problem and
we even talked about that. From what I can tell the undamaged
nerve hairs try to compensate for the damaged ones and thats
what causes the discomfort. When she was little she used to
drop the ending sounds off of a lot of words. (We thought she
dropped them, she just wasn't hearing them) We never found
out what the problem was till her senior year in high school.
But I had always taught my babies sign language from birth
just for the fun of it. (It keeps kids busy at the doctors office,
the bus, etc, it is a very HANDY language:lol:) So her hearing
loss never bothered her since we homeschooled. And her diction
is really good because I used to practice vowel sounds with
her using the manual alphabet. (Again not knowing she had any
hearing loss) Pretty cool huh? She's the one you see signing if
you type in "bilingualdoggy" on you tube. She will show you that
her dog can sign "Pretty Girl". Really! Can you tell I'm proud of
her?
 
It's impossible to explain, but I'd liken it to seeing colors. Some colors look pretty together but others don't. That's how I describe harmony like in music--harmony is like seeing pretty colors together and discord is like seeing ugly colors together. It's how I would describe a lot of people talking at the same time (those are ugly colors and the louder it is, the 'brighter' the colors are to the point they hurt your eyes (ears)).

The higher the pitch, the 'brighter' and more annoying the voice (color). This can be a person's voice (some females, especially when they yell!) or a loud siren or an instrument or anything that can make a really loud noise.

As for how it's "like", it's like we are more distracted. We notice less. I've noticed this from hanging around my friend who is deaf, sometimes he surprises me by knowing thoughts I believed were private (but maybe my body language gives it away, which is something that hearing people would NEVER EVER be able to pick up on!). It trips me out--I feel like he can read my mind sometimes! :)

I've just come to think that there is almost like an 'extra sense' that develops just by virtue of BEING deaf--at least with my friend, who has been deaf since birth (I've not known anyone who lost their hearing later in life so I can't compare). It's not like he's MISSING anything; it's more like he has a different, 'extra' sense. People always say that deaf people's other senses are "heightened", but I think there's even more to it than that. I think this "heightening" of other senses almost creates, in a manner of speaking, an entirely new type of sense altogether. It's nothing I will ever understand, but I've recognized the phenomenon, and it's impossible for me to deny that there is something there that hearing people do not have.
 
need_advice said:
It's impossible to explain, but I'd liken it to seeing colors. Some colors look pretty together but others don't. That's how I describe harmony like in music--harmony is like seeing pretty colors together and discord is like seeing ugly colors together. It's how I would describe a lot of people talking at the same time (those are ugly colors and the louder it is, the 'brighter' the colors are to the point they hurt your eyes (ears)).

The higher the pitch, the 'brighter' and more annoying the voice (color). This can be a person's voice (some females, especially when they yell!) or a loud siren or an instrument or anything that can make a really loud noise.

As for how it's "like", it's like we are more distracted. We notice less. I've noticed this from hanging around my friend who is deaf, sometimes he surprises me by knowing thoughts I believed were private (but maybe my body language gives it away, which is something that hearing people would NEVER EVER be able to pick up on!). It trips me out--I feel like he can read my mind sometimes! :)

I've just come to think that there is almost like an 'extra sense' that develops just by virtue of BEING deaf--at least with my friend, who has been deaf since birth (I've not known anyone who lost their hearing later in life so I can't compare). It's not like he's MISSING anything; it's more like he has a different, 'extra' sense. People always say that deaf people's other senses are "heightened", but I think there's even more to it than that. I think this "heightening" of other senses almost creates, in a manner of speaking, an entirely new type of sense altogether. It's nothing I will ever understand, but I've recognized the phenomenon, and it's impossible for me to deny that there is something there that hearing people do not have.
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A very thoughtful post. Love your visual description of sound.
 
need_advice said:
It's impossible to explain, but I'd liken it to seeing colors. Some colors look pretty together but others don't. That's how I describe harmony like in music--harmony is like seeing pretty colors together and discord is like seeing ugly colors together. It's how I would describe a lot of people talking at the same time (those are ugly colors and the louder it is, the 'brighter' the colors are to the point they hurt your eyes (ears)).

The higher the pitch, the 'brighter' and more annoying the voice (color). This can be a person's voice (some females, especially when they yell!) or a loud siren or an instrument or anything that can make a really loud noise.
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I find it interesting that you compared the voices with the colors. While it makes sense to use the analogy, would it still be somewhat different if it were monotone as well? I'm curious.

Since there's the comparison between colors and the voices, That also makes me think about how the visual and hearing level increases or decreases - It's like when one can't see well, they use eyeglasses to see better just as the same as if one can't hear well, they use the hearing aids to hear better.
 
I lost half my hearing 2 years ago, following a viral infection. Prior to that I had normal hearing.

I find being HOH very frustrating. Although I have HA's, I still cannot hear as I used to. Once you are accustomed to something, it is hard to do without.

One drawback to being hearing is that many sounds trigger emotional or stress responses. When I hear sirens, my heart sometimes races. I used to work as a medic and certain tones signaled a call to my unit. Similar sounds trigger a stress response in me now.

I also get that response whenever a large airplane flies overhead, ever since 9/11.

Maybe I'm just more stressed than the average person!:hmm:
 
Jolie77 said:
You know, from time to time, We would get questions from random strangers asking us what is it like to be a deaf person? Naturally, We would explain how we get by being as a deaf person. It's already hard enough to explain to someone when they have not exactly experienced it themselves.

This came to me and I wondered what is it really like to be hearing? As an hearing person, What are your likes and dislikes of being able to hear? How is it different in the atmosphere, environment, things that you've experienced and/or encountered with?

So, with that, It has piqued my curiosity.
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Wow,
This is quite a loaded question which varies from person to person. I am recently profoundly deaf and for me going deaf is like slowly dying. Hearing aids only compensate for some of the loss. I deeply miss hearing crickets and frogs at night, leaves rustling in the wind. The sound of falling rain or a nearby brook or stream, just about everything nature wise. Allthough I can hear music I miss the different background instruments-kind of like eating a beef stew and only tasting the beef and nothing else.
I miss the sounds during the heat of passion, or the gentle conversations going on around me on a daily basis. There is just so much I couldn't possibly list them all.
70% of what we take in from the world around us is from sight so it isn't completely bad for me. For those of you who have always been deaf or can't remember what it was like to hear you don't have anything to miss and thats where I kinda envy you. It's hard for me to have had hearing and then to lose it. I have heard of a 40 year old woman hearing for the first time ever. Every sound she heard sounded like jbberish because she has to train the brain. For example, when I hear a growling noise in the dark my emmidiate instinct is to run. Why, because my brain has already learned that a gowling noise is associated with a bear-that picture immediatly comes to mind. This woman will take years before she can use hearing effectivley.
 
cdaigle430 said:
Wow,
This is quite a loaded question which varies from person to person. I am recently profoundly deaf and for me going deaf is like slowly dying. Hearing aids only compensate for some of the loss. I deeply miss hearing crickets and frogs at night, leaves rustling in the wind. The sound of falling rain or a nearby brook or stream, just about everything nature wise. Allthough I can hear music I miss the different background instruments-kind of like eating a beef stew and only tasting the beef and nothing else.
I miss the sounds during the heat of passion, or the gentle conversations going on around me on a daily basis. There is just so much I couldn't possibly list them all.
70% of what we take in from the world around us is from sight so it isn't completely bad for me. For those of you who have always been deaf or can't remember what it was like to hear you don't have anything to miss and thats where I kinda envy you. It's hard for me to have had hearing and then to lose it. I have heard of a 40 year old woman hearing for the first time ever. Every sound she heard sounded like jbberish because she has to train the brain. For example, when I hear a growling noise in the dark my emmidiate instinct is to run. Why, because my brain has already learned that a gowling noise is associated with a bear-that picture immediatly comes to mind. This woman will take years before she can use hearing effectivley.
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U are right...I have been deaf since birth so it is no big loss to me.

I am sorry that you are struggling. Cant say that I understand how you feel since I dont know what it is like to be hearing. I used to want to be hearing so badly growing up (grew up as the only deaf kid among my peers in a mainstreamed program) that it just consumed my way of thinking. It was very unhealthy obsessing for something that would never happen. When I learned ASL and got involved with the Deaf community, I finally accepted my deafness and life has been great since then. Whew!
 

I like hearing the sounds through CI...even though I'm sure it's not the "same" to hearing people. I enjoy hearing sounds such as Laughter, Ocean waves crashing, soft music such as Beethoven, voices of people chatting.

What I really dislike is the sound of gun going off (it's the worst thing I ever heard) and high pitch scream really bothers my ears, it actually makes me cringe. Another thing I don't like is when I'm in crowded place such as like Red Robin, the noises of people talking drives me insane because I can't hear what my friends/families are saying to me, even though I read their lips, I happen to like to hear their voices.

Without CI, I can't really explain but I can "feel" the dogs barking, airplane flying over the house, things like that...it's really interesting. I'm not sure if I'm actually hearing it or feeling it...but the vibration is pretty strong, stronger than what my hearing friends can pick up.

The strangest thing, I don't know if this is part of the topic but I can not sleep with sounds on. I have tried to sleep with CI to see what it's like to sleep as hearing people and man, I can not sleep at all, no matter what. For me, I have to have absolute silence to be able to fall asleep, meaning no CI on. Even when I'm so tired and exhausted, I can't sleep at all if I'm hearing noises, I either have to turn my CI off or take my CI completely off. I'm amazed that hearing people can sleep through sounds, I'm just amazed because I can't.

But on other hand, I got many of hearing people telling me how lucky I am that I can just turn off my CI when the nosies bothers me and not having to deal with it. They even tell me how lucky I am that I don't have to hear people snoring, lol when they have to deal with their husbands/wives snoring.

 
I don't want to turn it into a "what I miss about hearing thread" because when you hear normal for most of your life you don't think about "woah, I'd really miss this." Every hearie has those sounds they truely appreciate as I did. I loved music and LOVED to sing. The sound of a river while standing in it fishing, or rain. Things I didn't know I appreciated until I lose hearing was talking on phone to whoever, music and symphony, plays. My favorite sound of all is a bat hitting a ball- miss that one.

When hearing normal, I never think about deafness or what a deaf person does not get to hear, its just kind of like life I guess, you take it for granted until its over or near death. I still like music but am quite fear to sing and will not sing in church anymore. I sing to myself as I vividly remember notes and chords, I do not know how many octave I can sing correct now, but I can still read music and do my best effort to "maintain" that feeling of singing. For years I feel sorry for myself that I cannot hear this and that now, but at this point I don't have lingering sorrows for deafness. I have though appreciated the humility and increased drive to be the best I can be. And also I would never known a person or have friends from AD.
 
Interesting thread... I remember asking my audi a similar question the last time I saw her. I noticed that if I'm not really paying attention to the radio that I can make out the many of the words but not always get what the topic is all about. I have to pay close attention to the radio to get the topic.

I wondered if hearing when they listen to the radio have to listen closely to it or if they can get most of what it says even if they're not paying attention.
 
This is interesting thread, as I can't imagine what it would be like to be 100% hearing. As I have been Deaf since birth.

I wonder if some sounds (ie: high pitch or low pitch) can be very sensitive to hearing people.
 
I'm really quickly forgetting what it was like to be hearing. I think it's part of my personality for some reason. I realise I can't have something, I don't focus on it any more. I focus intensely on what I CAN have instead. As I read this thread, I noticed some interesting statements that reminded me of what it was like to gradually lose my hearing over the past 9 years. I would have been completely deaf long ago were it not for music driving me to always seek the latest in technology to allow me to hear it. Finally, technology has fallen behind my progress, and I can no longer hear. Somebody mentioned above about the harmonics and discords, well.. of course I miss especially a song that I used to listen to that had small animals making cute little noises in the background. The hardest part of losing my hearing was when I turned on my iTunes one day, and I heard about four copies of every sound, each in a different key. If you've never been hearing, I think I could probably better equate this to taste rather than vision, not to disagree with anybody or compete, but just trying to show another perspective. Each key is a different kind of taste. Most kinds of tastes don't mix well without creating a sense of nausea. Well, a bad mix of notes can also create a literal sense of nausea. I beautiful chord is like biting into a sweet pastry with maple frosting and a soft creamy filling of butterscotch pudding. Take that same chord and play it in four different keys at once, and you get a vanilla cake with coconut cream frosting and pickle relish filling. Maybe you like pickle relish in a hamburger, but let's put some of that coconut cream frosting on top of that. I couldn't tolerate it. At long last, I hesitantly took my hearing aids out in defeat. I couldn't hear anything useful with them anyway.
 
I'm a hearing person.

I would actually liken dissonance in music more to emotions than taste or sight, although I do agree that songs can paint a picture or leave a bad taste in your mouth. Maybe it's the fact that I enjoy the nonchordal tones, at times it can be thoughtful. Music tells a story. Currently I am playing a piece with my orchestra which has plenty of dissonance. My sister finds it absolutely horrifying and demands that I stop playing--it gives her a headache--but I find it deep. There are swirls of chaos, in which whirlpools form that crystalize into planes ..and these planes rise higher and higher, the sky gets ever darker until all the stars blaze with light. It's heaven.

Listening to this type of music is somewhat like reading philosophy with technical terms. All those technical terms make it tedious to understand the concept, but once you do, it's powerful. It isn't something I do all the time, it's more like once in a while. I need breaks. I guess it's an acquired taste .. some people say that this music is to satisfy the brain, but not the heart. I do draw the line however, between noise and what I consider to be music. I like to analyze music, and if there's no musical concept, it really is just noise... but that's neither here nor there. Most of the time you will probably see me listening to the sweet romantic melodies of Chopin which are a little something like feeling the crisp wind in your hair with the scent of autumn lingering in the air. Bliss.

I must admit that at times I wish I could tune things or people out. Most of my pet peeves actually involve hearing, as my sense of hearing is acute (blessing and a curse). I can hear a conversation happening in another room, not perfectly, but just loud enough to distract me from what I'm doing and become irate. People cracking their backs, necks, fingers, and wrists also drives me insane.

I guess something that comes with hearing is talking to yourself. I don't understand how one can think without 'hearing the voices in your head'. That's actually one of the things I've thought about most concerning deafness. When I think, I have a conversation with myself (perhaps this is not even considered sane or normal for hearing people), but I've definitely wondered how people that have been deaf all their lives 'talk to themselves' if they have no sound to associate a word with.
 
Hey to those who posted about what it is like to be hearing...were there ever times u wished u were deaf?
 
shel90 said:
Hey to those who posted about what it is like to be hearing...were there ever times u wished u were deaf?
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To be honest, yeah. As horrible as it sounds, I get really tired of listening to people talk and have difficulty concentrating on the context of what they're saying. Pretty soon their voice becomes noise and I'd rather not bother with it.

Plus, some people have plain irritating voices. There's a girl that rides my bus and every time she opens her mouth and says something dumb, I die a little inside.

I don't wish to lose the ability to hear music or nature, just have the ability to tune people out completely. I hate listening to my parents chastise me and the sound of people whining loudly.
 
~SG~ said:
This is interesting thread, as I can't imagine what it would be like to be 100% hearing. As I have been Deaf since birth.

I wonder if some sounds (ie: high pitch or low pitch) can be very sensitive to hearing people.
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It depends on the hertz, really. I know that anything past 16,000Hz and to 22,000Hz (which most people can't hear but lucky me, I can) hurts really bad. And some low pitches, like the really really low ones are annoying.
 
undefined118 said:
I guess something that comes with hearing is talking to yourself. I don't understand how one can think without 'hearing the voices in your head'. That's actually one of the things I've thought about most concerning deafness. When I think, I have a conversation with myself (perhaps this is not even considered sane or normal for hearing people), but I've definitely wondered how people that have been deaf all their lives 'talk to themselves' if they have no sound to associate a word with.
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When I was hearing, I used to do that. I decided it is only insane if you feel like you have to keep talking because you're afraid you might hurt your feelings.

I came back to find this post because I just caught myself signing to myself in response to something I read on another (unrelated) forum :giggle: It reminded me of this post :roll: If that's insanity, then I guess I'll always be insane :D
 
Jolie77 said:
You know, from time to time, We would get questions from random strangers asking us what is it like to be a deaf person? Naturally, We would explain how we get by being as a deaf person. It's already hard enough to explain to someone when they have not exactly experienced it themselves.

This came to me and I wondered what is it really like to be hearing? As an hearing person, What are your likes and dislikes of being able to hear? How is it different in the atmosphere, environment, things that you've experienced and/or encountered with?

So, with that, It has piqued my curiosity.
Click to expand...

Its the one thing you can't turn off or put on neutral. Imagine not being able to close your eyes whenever a something in the dark moves, you see it or think you see it. You ALWAYS see something. There is always sound even in the absence of sound I think you still hear/think you hear the buzzing of a non existent noise.

When I master sign and no longer have a need for my hearing, I will destroy my dear drums, and sleep the best sleep of my life.
 
IWorkTheRelay said:
Its the one thing you can't turn off or put on neutral. Imagine not being able to close your eyes whenever a something in the dark moves, you see it or think you see it. You ALWAYS see something. There is always sound even in the absence of sound I think you still hear/think you hear the buzzing of a non existent noise.

When I master sign and no longer have a need for my hearing, I will destroy my dear drums, and sleep the best sleep of my life.
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I'm no expert, but I don't think the loss of ear drums would destroy more than half your hearing, and then I'm told the ear drums would grow back, unless it caused an inner ear infection, but that could have other unwanted side affects, including severe pain. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. I know for a fact that perforated ear drums greatly increase your risk of an inner ear infection, and I've had inner ear infections before, and it's something to avoid in my opinion =)
 
SimplyMints said:
I'm no expert, but I don't think the loss of ear drums would destroy more than half your hearing, and then I'm told the ear drums would grow back, unless it caused an inner ear infection, but that could have other unwanted side affects, including severe pain. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. I know for a fact that perforated ear drums greatly increase your risk of an inner ear infection, and I've had inner ear infections before, and it's something to avoid in my opinion =)
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ARRG! Are you serious?! Oh man now I need a plan B! :(

Obviously im kidding, I'd make a really crappy interpreter if I was Deaf myself lol.
"I would like to request an interpreter so I can interpret for my clients please :)"
 
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