Where do the Hard of Hearing fall on the Hearing -Deaf Spectrum

Horizon said:
Really interesting thread. I had some of the same questions. My brother just told me that he had his hearing checked recently and has lost over 50% of his hearing in both ears. Would that make him HOH? :hmm:
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Yes. However, if you have moderate loss, hearing aids can be extremely useful. Depending on the loss, group situations probably won't be that bad for him at this point.
He will probably still have a lot of social interaction.

He should take a look into ASL if he would like to interact with more deaf people, but it's not a total requirement.
 
whatdidyousay! said:
I disagree with this. I did not chose to hear , my parents did. There was no way in HELL my dad was going to have one of HIS kids talking with their hands and looks like an idiot. This is what my dad thought about ASL . If I had tried to learn ASL growing up I would had been slapped in my face . And I never really had any reason to use ASL now as I do not know any hoh or deaf people. You're forgetting some people where not allowed to learn ASL as a child .
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I'm sorry you went through that as a child. What exactly do you disagree with in my post? Are you saying if you learned ASL you would have been better off? I'm not saying you shouldn't learn it. I'm just saying it's not a solution for hearing people because not enough hearing people know it.

There is audism out there, but as adults we don't let it stop us from doing what we want to do.

The best solution is a hybrid one where we are not dependent on one system or another, kind of a mixed martial artist.
 
VacationGuy234 said:
It's not a bad thing to learn ASL or anything that helps improve communication. Everyone should constantly be learning.

However, learning ASL does not solve the, "miss-out" problem. The hearing world doesn't use ASL so we would still be missing out. It's not a solution.



The reason Deaf people don't like hard of hearing people isn't because of language, it's because we choose to hear(we don't have the same beliefs). Just because you learn ASL does not make you accepted, it just makes it easier to communicate.

You, and every other deaf person, have to make your own individual choice. Most of us don't see a need to choose one group over another. We are just fine with being friends of both groups. We know we don't fit into either, but that is something we grow to accept over time.

We are not helpless, we can adapt to anything either group throws at us. Perhaps some day we will be more organized, but as of today we don't see the need. And, in the future, there may not even be a need.
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I wasn't given that choice to learn ASL as a child. It was decided by my parents because some idiot doctor told them that if they wanted a "normal" child, don't allow me learn ASL. It made my life very difficult and miserable.

You cant tell us what we should do or not do when you haven't experienced being deaf all of your life. You have no idea what it was like missing out in school when it didn't have to be that way.

That's why many deaf kids end up illiterate...because they weren't allowed to learn ASL and end up with language delays or deficits. It wasn't those kids' choice. I am sure they would not be struggling with literacy if they have had ASL from the get go instead of later when it was too late.
 
Lau2046 said:
No one tried to force me to fit in. I couldn't bother with ASL because I don't care for the militant attitude of many deaf and it's a turn off to learn the language. Being Sicilian American, I already have a place I belong and I don't care to have a deaf language forced on to me to have "the best of both worlds." How does anyone know what's best for me over my parents? Now that I'm old enough to decide what I want, I still prefer my Sicilian heritage over ASL. I've no real interest in it and no one, the schools, the doctors, the audiologists, my parents, forced me to do anything. They also didn't pretend I could hear more than I did or try to change me. Just because someone hears doesn't mean they're "evil" or that they have a hidden adgenda.

Laura
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There are people who are going to give you a hard time on both sides and it can be a turn off. I wouldn't let it bother you. You already know several languages. If people don't accept you for who you are it is their loss.
 
whatdidyousay! said:
I disagree with this. I did not chose to hear , my parents did. There was no way in HELL my dad was going to have one of HIS kids talking with their hands and looks like an idiot. This is what my dad thought about ASL . If I had tried to learn ASL growing up I would had been slapped in my face . And I never really had any reason to use ASL now as I do not know any hoh or deaf people. You're forgetting some people where not allowed to learn ASL as a child .
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My Dad's not as bad as yours, but he freaks out when he sees a low-functioning kid. He doesn't try to understand me and my deafness.
 
shel90 said:
I wasn't given that choice to learn ASL as a child. It was decided by my parents because some idiot doctor told them that if they wanted a "normal" child, don't allow me learn ASL. It made my life very difficult and miserable.

You cant tell us what we should do or not do when you haven't experienced being deaf all of your life. You have no idea what it was like missing out in school when it didn't have to be that way.

That's why many deaf kids end up illiterate...because they weren't allowed to learn ASL and end up with language delays or deficits. It wasn't those kids' choice. I am sure they would not be struggling with literacy if they have had ASL from the get go instead of later when it was too late.
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My opinion doesn't cost anything and you do not have to take it.

It's typical that the deaf people I meet presume to know about my life. I did not have access to ASL. I was told to lip read too, but, of course, YOU, know better about my own life than me, right?

I don't tell anyone what to do because I know you have to experience things for yourself. A much smarter man than me would have listened to people, but that's not me and I can't expect that of others. People only learn by their own mistakes.

You are saying people will become illiterate without ASL.Well, that's interesting. Tell me, what did people do before ASL? Surely, they didn't all just die off. Did they?
 
VacationGuy234 said:
I'm sorry you went through that as a child. What exactly do you disagree with in my post? Are you saying if you learned ASL you would have been better off? I'm not saying you shouldn't learn it. I'm just saying it's not a solution for hearing people because not enough hearing people know it.

There is audism out there, but as adults we don't let it stop us from doing what we want to do.

The best solution is a hybrid one where we are not dependent on one system or another, kind of a mixed martial artist.
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You said hoh choose to be hearing , some parents have an implant put in their child to made them hear , it's not always the child that decides what best for their self . it may had help if I had learn ASL too , but I would of had to have better parents. My dad could not accept the fact that I am hoh and thought I was disobeying when I did not answer him right away. I have trouble understanding people sometime and ASL may had helped me in school . There was not any deaf or hoh culture in my town growing up.
 
Oink said:
You guys know I have a severe-profound hearing loss already, right?
I'm oral. Don't know much ASL ( but I really, really want to!)
Mom and Dad chose to raise me orally... I can see why though. When they found out I had a hearing loss, I only had a mild hearing loss. So they took a gamble and raised me orally. Well, they gambled wrong. Now I'm kind of adrift. I can't talk to the deaf, and I can't talk to hearing people clearly. Yes, there is a gray area. I hope in the future, HOH can blend in better with the deaf And the hearing.

Just sharing my experiences!
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hello I curious yo are you sign language ASL? you didn't know ASL whoa :(
how long your language?
do you have problem language value loss reason missing ASL, ESL , It is very 1-16 age is very clever is ASL is structure.

Don't be losses of missing ASL missing I know it is right interesting. I learn it. I effort it
It is risk language education but failure system. I know system on school,college depend your system education
your ASL skills on increase empowerful do it successfully!
 
Lau2046 said:
No one tried to force me to fit in. I couldn't bother with ASL because I don't care for the militant attitude of many deaf and it's a turn off to learn the language. Being Sicilian American, I already have a place I belong and I don't care to have a deaf language forced on to me to have "the best of both worlds." How does anyone know what's best for me over my parents? Now that I'm old enough to decide what I want, I still prefer my Sicilian heritage over ASL. I've no real interest in it and no one, the schools, the doctors, the audiologists, my parents, forced me to do anything. They also didn't pretend I could hear more than I did or try to change me. Just because someone hears doesn't mean they're "evil" or that they have a hidden adgenda.

Laura
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serious
excuse harsh on look likes no offense serious.

you are don't be criticize blame to people

you think so on reason quote dont' care not polite. I don't like dont' care reason. bit harsh. seem arrogant look likes irresponsibity almost to don't care same. It is very exactly

It is notice on odd. I don't understand on on talk you negative personal opinion.

I perception your notice your seem risk on look likes loss your ASL

it is not funny! yourself on life or your up to your wholes history life think negative ? seems on serious!
 
Shara said:
I am a Hard of Hearing person with Moderate-Severe Hearing Loss. I am Majoring in Psychology with a minor in ASL/Deaf Culture. For the most part in being in ASL minor I've learned a lot about myself as a Hard of Hearing person in relation to Deaf Culture. For example, I just stopped calling myself Hearing Impaired, I understood that because so many Hard of Hearing people associate themselves with the Hearing World and Hearing people give us that label, its just what we went with. Another interesting aspect, you have your two polar opposites Hearing people and Deaf people and the Hard of Hearing are in the gray area between the two. The hearing world views hard of hearing people as though they can hear enough that with speech therapy and and a hearing aid all will be well, and they wont need to "bother" with ASL. And you have some members of the Deaf World who view HOH people as people more closely related to Hearing Culture. It depends on the level of hearing loss. Others think that HoH people can benefit from using ASL too. HoH people don't catch everything even with Hearing Aids, we don't follow everything, but why do we have to be in this invisible grey area, HoH share similiar experiences with Deaf people and we don't fit in neatly with Hearing World. My question is this why not make it just as important for HoH people to learn/know sign language so they don't have to miss-out either. They can have the best of being in both worlds using speech if preferred and ASL? Instead of being seen by Deaf world as "Your not Deaf enough" and being seen by Hearing world as "Oh we can make you hear enough" and force you to fit in....
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this is exactly how I feel... just feel like in a world on my own and don't know which I fit in and its frustrating when you have mixed feelings like this.
 
VacationGuy234 said:
Yes. However, if you have moderate loss, hearing aids can be extremely useful. Depending on the loss, group situations probably won't be that bad for him at this point.
He will probably still have a lot of social interaction.

He should take a look into ASL if he would like to interact with more deaf people, but it's not a total requirement.
Click to expand...

Agreed, even when my loss was profound (and unaided) in one ear and severe-profound in the other I still okay, as long it wasn't tooo noisy around me. But even then I didn't have a really hard time, heck you could still lean in and talk to my ear and I didn't have to lip read. I even took college courses with no interperters, note takers, or anything like that and I aced everything, even biology and the professor was African and had the worst accent you ever heard. I don't think anyone understood half of what he said really. He wrote a lot down lol. It's wasn't until my "good" ear, the severe-profound dipped down into profound that I really really started to struggle and started having to rely mostly on a combination of lipreading and listening, I could even talk on the phone without streamers or whatever when I was severe-profound. I needed a lot of repeats so I was probably annoying, but I could do it.
 
Smithtr said:
hello I curious yo are you sign language ASL? you didn't know ASL whoa :(
how long your language?
do you have problem language value loss reason missing ASL, ESL , It is very 1-16 age is very clever is ASL is structure.

Don't be losses of missing ASL missing I know it is right interesting. I learn it. I effort it
It is risk language education but failure system. I know system on school,college depend your system education
your ASL skills on increase empowerful do it successfully!
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Thanks Smithr. No, I don't have any language problems. People mistake me for a hearing person all the time. I'm working on trying to appear more deaf. And I'm making up for my loss of ASL right now:)
 
VacationGuy234 said:
My opinion doesn't cost anything and you do not have to take it.

It's typical that the deaf people I meet presume to know about my life. I did not have access to ASL. I was told to lip read too, but, of course, YOU, know better about my own life than me, right?

I don't tell anyone what to do because I know you have to experience things for yourself. A much smarter man than me would have listened to people, but that's not me and I can't expect that of others. People only learn by their own mistakes.

You are saying people will become illiterate without ASL.Well, that's interesting. Tell me, what did people do before ASL? Surely, they didn't all just die off. Did they?
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Deaf people before ASL was in the pre- 1700s. Boy, if u go to a Deafhood workshop, you would learn what was done to them in those times. Horrible things were done to them. I was sick to my stomach.

U told us to be civil...that is telling others what to do. If one doesn't feel like being civil, so what? If you want to be civil, that's great but not everyone is the same. Sometimes, I don't feel like it just to get the message out.
 
Oink said:
Thanks Smithr. No, I don't have any language problems. People mistake me for a hearing person all the time. I'm working on trying to appear more deaf. And I'm making up for my loss of ASL right now:)
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your welcome pleasure nice to meet to you. Surprised. soometimes on loss on ASL missing. It is very hard. it is very pretty uneasy. skills clever to lots of ASL is very better best. it is very important to awesome ASL. reason I curious intersting value to key figure out value avoid don't be lose ASL I understand figure out ASL recognized to my improve ASL awesome fastest. It is very lots of very skills very development to skills education school and support to encourage to value to ASL it is very important to ASL . it is very sadly it is very okay.

Education. I know experience wholes on pretty ASL visual strong, whom is very strong have ASL clever to lots of clear to understand. we are love ASL very exciting to communication to understand ASL, it is very lots of ASL . It is very fun. I am spending ASL alots of communication society to skills interpreter and many practice good improve sound great memory fast! wow!
 
Oink said:
You guys know I have a severe-profound hearing loss already, right?
I'm oral. Don't know much ASL ( but I really, really want to!)
Mom and Dad chose to raise me orally... I can see why though. When they found out I had a hearing loss, I only had a mild hearing loss. So they took a gamble and raised me orally. Well, they gambled wrong. Now I'm kind of adrift. I can't talk to the deaf, and I can't talk to hearing people clearly. Yes, there is a gray area. I hope in the future, HOH can blend in better with the deaf And the hearing.

Just sharing my experiences!
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Oink, how old are you? You might be able to go to NTID or Gally or something...if you're still in school, maybe you could tranfer to your local Deaf school...I think its SO damn audist that we HOH kids were pushed towards the hearing world.
And yes, it's a grey area. WHY can't HOH kids learn ASL and go to Deaf School? I have Deaf friends whose experiances growing up oral were ideintical to mine! HOH kids aren't more hearing then deaf, at ALL!
 
Lau2046 said:
No one tried to force me to fit in. I couldn't bother with ASL because I don't care for the militant attitude of many deaf and it's a turn off to learn the language. Being Sicilian American, I already have a place I belong and I don't care to have a deaf language forced on to me to have "the best of both worlds." How does anyone know what's best for me over my parents? Now that I'm old enough to decide what I want, I still prefer my Sicilian heritage over ASL. I've no real interest in it and no one, the schools, the doctors, the audiologists, my parents, forced me to do anything. They also didn't pretend I could hear more than I did or try to change me. Just because someone hears doesn't mean they're "evil" or that they have a hidden adgenda.

Laura
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You obviously feel like you don't fit into hearing society b/c you keep coming here. I think that says something.........if you WERE well adjusted etc, you wouldn't even post here!
 
Consider the import of this forum's title.
Is DEAF persons included who DON"T use ASL et al and use/have Cochlear Implants?
Prior to the extended "working out" signs for Deaf persons- when nothing appeared to have been "communicated". Thus the prior "belief" that the Deaf were unable to "do anything".

Of course none of us today can imagine such a world that unfortunately existed-"social-wise" back then. Gee- no computers!
 
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