Can someone who is severely deaf talk normally?

Hi ,I am in school and talking with my friends and they say that a deaf person cant talk normally,but I say they can if they became deaf when adult. Am I right or are my friends right ? Thankyou!!!!

I'm severely deaf and I can talk normally.



HEAR is where I learned to talk.

I had my hearing until I was 6 ...and talked normal....how ever your brain does tend to forget some sound as you no longer hear them. I have had a CI for the last 9 or 10 years....and now that I am hearing much better ...my speach has returned to normal.....

Nesmuth said:

I'm severely deaf and I can talk normally.

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Same here.

momentary said:

Hi ,I am in school and talking with my friends and they say that a deaf person cant talk normally,but I say they can if they became deaf when adult. Am I right or are my friends right ? Thankyou!!!!

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What do you mean by saying if they became deaf when they're adults?

As far as I know, anybody who is deaf can learn to talk at any time in any age. I learned to talk since I was growing up, I became deaf slowly during my childhood since the age of five, I used to hear music when I was in high school and then lost more hearing, but that doesn't stop me from using my voice to talk. My parents rather me to learn to speak as well using signs, because they want me to be able to fit in the hearing world, to communicate with everyone, (hearing, deaf, hard of hearing) Hope that helps you understand what I'm trying to say.

It’s extremely rare, but it is possible. Almost all profoundly deaf people have a ‘deaf voice’ to some extent, but once in a very great while you will encounter a deaf person who has no discernible deaf voice whatsoever. I’ve only met two in my entire life, so it’s not very common. On the other hand, people with single-sided deafness (such as myself) almost never have a deaf voice.

Speaking WELL and speaking NORMALLY are two different things. Deafies who think they speak normally are fooling themselves. I went deaf when I was 10 years old and I have a very strong voice, but I know it is a deaf voice and have accepted that.

I have a close friend that went deaf when he was 16. He is now 75 years old and speaks well, but in a "monotone". In order to speak normally you have to be able to hear yourself speak. And correct yourself.

Some deaf folks don't talk at all, some do....It's depending how they were raised...

I sure can talk like a hearing person but some hearing people knew I am deaf cause of my voice which sounds like I have a cold or something....That's what I was told...

But other than that, most of them were surprised that I am deaf even through I talk so well....

Interesting topic.

Speak normally to what extent? I don't think such as definition exists. Sure most hearing people have the capability of speaking "normal" but they don't. Using slang like "gonna" "kinda" and "ya" are examples of this.

Now if your questioning capability, I don't doubt its possible, but I see it rare. My deaf ASL instructor has a deaf voice, and I can understand her 99 percent of the time perfectly. Even when I can tell she is having trouble pronouncing words or certain letters. In fact, I actually think its hurting my ASL reception. Because she speaks as she signs I tend to rely on what she is saying rather than depending on reading signs.

my speech is terrible. My voice like a monkey. My speech is accurately sound "Fuck You" and "Shit"

True, I have trouble pronouncing words too and I do get embarrassed when some hearing folks don't understand what I am saying or trying to say, sometimes they will make fun of me or make mocking gestures....sometimes I do feel like screaming at them since they do not know how difficult it can be, but I don't, I just wished more of these folks would be more understanding....

I have to ask someone for help on how to say words correctly which I don't hear them at all when I only can lip-read how it may sound like...

i'm 36 and deaf as you can get , i lost my hearing in the right ear at age 12, with one side of hearing yes i talked normal as to sound but i was always told to quit mombling or that i was wispering. then i lost it all at 35 , and i barley talk at all . at first everyone told me i sounded funny, as time goes on i'm lossing my ability to talk mainly because of people not being able to understand me an . yes it gets vary frustrating. i don't know about all deaf people but i am having trouble spelling as well. mostly simple words . i realy don't understand it all but . i'd say anything is possible and don't forget deaf people are vary smart and have more ability to adapt, after all if you learn the history of the deaf comunity , you'll find they have been forced to prove that their even human, but things are changing. we have along way to go though.

I am totally deaf.. since I was 18 months old, I had my DTP vaccines and got fever.. became hard of hearing till 15 years old became deaf.

I do speak very well..

^Angel^ said:

But other than that, most of them were surprised that I am deaf even through I talk so well....

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Yeah... I can echo this. My RA for last summer repeatedly complimented my speech.


I'm only severely deaf at higher frequencies, so I can talk normally... Thinking about it, though, it makes sense that people who are severely deaf (albeit not profoundly deaf) across the board would have a 'deaf voice' or 'deaf accent'. If you've ever listened to the sound output of some of these hearing aids, the amplification for some of the models sounds a lot like a 'deaf voice'... You can hear with great amplification... but the sounds you hear are what you emulate... and what you emulate is the amplified sounds, which are not normal sounds... so you end up sounding like the amplified sounds... which to a hearing person, is borderline bizarre.

Living in the deaf dorms, and socializing with the deaf community, I have been exposed to a lot of different "deaf" voices. There is virtually no one who is born deaf/hoh that can't be recognized as being so when they voice. There are some hoh people who can get away with sounding like they have a lisp, and they made be able to fool some hearing people, but not those with knowledge about deafness and deaf voices.
I have noticed that almost all deaf men have the same general voice, as do most deaf women, most severely hoh men, and most severely hoh women; I'm not saying there aren't variations, but there are certain "patterns" they follow. I'm sure it depends on age and speech therapy and all that, but I still find there to be some general catagories. Deaf men tend to have very high pitched voices, and deaf women much lower pitched voices.
Many deaf/hoh people speak CLEARLY but that does not mean "normally" or like a hearing person. I can understand many of my deaf/hoh friends, some have REALLY good voicing skills, but they still have a deaf voice. I also have heard many profoundly deaf people complain about how their speech therapists and parents would tell them how wonderful their speech is, and then other hearing people couldn't understand it. Later, when the deaf people went back and questioned them, they said "well, great voicing FOR a deaf person".... honesty is important here people,
Okay, totally off of that, I personally don't care if a deaf person chooses to voice or not, I think it is up to them. Many deaf people are very sensitive about their voices, and it is an honor to have them voice in front of you, a way of showing that they "trust" you, that they're comfortable around you.
Hearing people often make harsh judgements against deaf people when they hear a deaf person's voice, hearing it as "unnatural." (I find this quite ironic, as a deaf person's voice is the most natural you will get, as it hasn't been affected by hearing other speech/sounds) Sometimes hearing people see deaf people as less intelligent or "able" when they voice, because the speech is often unclear, it makes a deaf person "stand out." Even as an ASL student, it took me awhile to get used to some people's voices and pay attention to the sign quality rather than the speech quality.
Okay, it's 2:15 in the morning...must sleep... hope this posting had some coherence.

Nesmuth said:

I'm severely deaf and I can talk normally.

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Me too!! I wears hearing aids with help and grew up in the hearing worlds and speech therapies.

Speaking WELL and speaking NORMALLY are two different things. Deafies who think they speak normally are fooling themselves.

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EXCELLENT post Lantanta!
My speech is pretty good, but there are still people who can't undy my voice....I also have major problems with pitch and volumne. People say that my voice is easy to get used to, but it's still wicked distinctive......I'm never gonna be mistaken for a hearie. On the upside my LANGUAGE is good.....I know I test wicked high on tests of verbal acuity, even for a hearie person.

signer16 said:

There is virtually no one who is born deaf/hoh that can't be recognized as being so when they voice.

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I know some... They're a few and very far in between, but I do know a few people who are dhh and can speak without being flagged as being dhh. I am one of those people, but I'm certainly not the only one. That said, my hearing loss is only severe in high frequencies. In low frequencies, I have normal to moderate hearing loss, but I sound normal and based on my speech alone most people would not think I have any hearing loss at all. When you start talking to me and you realise that I can't hear or understand very much of what you're saying without a hearing aid, you realise then that I might be hh. If you're hearing, maybe we could chat on the phone sometime if you want proof of the theory that I speak *normally*.

signer16 said:

Even as an ASL student, it took me awhile to get used to some people's voices and pay attention to the sign quality rather than the speech quality.

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Whenever I'm talking to someone who is dhh, I ask them not to attempt to speak (unless their speech is really really good) at all because the sounds, however coherent or incoherent they would be to a hearing person, make little to no sense to me, and just distract me and pull down the degree to which I understand their signing. I've found generally I have a much higher incidence of understanding ASL, whether I know the signs being used or not, if simultaneous communication in is not used. Sound is distracting. Particularly so when it doesn't make any sense.

All I know is that I can talk rather well - I got the impression that I speak pretty well was when I was living in Australia and my old boss compliemented on how well I spoke and was surprised that I was American, not Australian as she thought I had an Australian accent! I did mention to her that deafies who speak tend to have a 'deaf accent', she said I didn't have that but of an Australian tinged accent...as per what she said.

R3na3Blyth3 said:

All I know is that I can talk rather well - I got the impression that I speak pretty well was when I was living in Australia and my old boss compliemented on how well I spoke and was surprised that I was American, not Australian as she thought I had an Australian accent! I did mention to her that deafies who speak tend to have a 'deaf accent', she said I didn't have that but of an Australian tinged accent...as per what she said.

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I was born profoundly deaf. Forgot to add this and also have had a CI for the last 5 years - it helps heaps.