kashveera

Yeah, I remember once I applied to the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal and subsequently had a meeting with the dean of the faculty of commerce. He encouraged my parents to send me to UNISA(a correspondence university), as he felt that I would not survive with university as it is a substantial change from school, so have I now discovered! He felt that being Deaf, I would not be able to adjust and I wouldn’t be able to speak etc, when I spoke, he literally fell of his chair. He promised me admission to the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal!!

So even our honourable deans and professors are so deaf-unaware, its SHOCKING!!

Kashveera

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thunder

I started losing my hearing in 1985 in my left ear by 1996 i was completly deaf in both ears I still have normal speech. but have trouble saying some words or pronouncing them correctly for hearing people I was told its because that since I don't hear the words my brain has forgotten how.

deafskeptic

Yeah, that would be a problem if hearing made fun of your speech. I'd not want to speak around the hearing much if that were to happen to me.

I remember in middle school, two girls in gym class would ask the same question every day. They'd ask me where I got my clothes and I'd say Regency Square. They always laughed when I said Regency Square. I wondered why they'd laugh every time I said that.

Then I told a deaf friend about it and she said they prolly were making fun of my speech. I was dumbfounded. I was like I'm deaf - OF COURSE, I'm going to sound funny sometimes. What's the big deal? As it happens, I can't say the R right in certain words like rare.

I'm used to having hearing correct my speech from time to time. This is the only time I can remember anyone making fun of my speech. I can talk well but I don't quite sound like a hearing person.

I remember going up north and everyone kept saying I sounded like I came from the South. I did wonder how much of it was my accent and how much of it was deaf speech.

As for those AG oral types, I always feel like cringing when they brag how well they can speak in a Deaf newsletter.

kashveera

I understand what you mean, I can never say the word mosquito, and people in my own family used to laugh and me, and I do feel bad, but now I have overcome that, I simply say, I'm talking about the insect that carries yellow fever!!

My voice is distinct because of my disability and a lot of people find the time to criticize it instead of doing something better, its their loss not mine, because I couldn't really care!!

Kashveera

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shel90

I was born severely profoundly deaf and was placed in an oral school immediately upon my "diagnosis" at 7 months old. I was able to learn how to speak well enough for the general population to understand me. However, as I got older, I encountered people asking me where I was from. At first, I didnt understand it and then my mom explained to me about my voice sounding different. I got really embarrassed about that for a while and was scared to speak to strangers but eventually I overcame it and whenever people ask me that question, sometimes, I tell the truth or other times, for the fun of it, I tell them I am from France or some other country. Ha!

I am glad I was taught how to use my voice but I wasnt taught sign language which was an unfortunate thing. Matter of fact, so many people, especially my teachers, put so much empasis on my intelligence being linked to how well I was able to speak. I have had that comment "You speak so good so u must be so smart". The link made me believe that I was smart because I could speak well so I became more and more paranoid about having the "perfect" voice or speech so people wont think I am dumb. This way of thinking hurted my self-esteem because each time a hearing person would ask me to repeat what I said, I started becoming anxious and nervous.

Now, as an adult, I have accepted my deafness and ASL and now I am very happy and comfortable with who I am. There are times when I simply don't feel like using my voice when I am out in the hearing world so I end up writing. This upsets my mom..too bad for her!

Now, I have a hearing husband who can sign but out of habit, I use my voice while signing to him. Whenever I am around a hearing person who can use ASL, I start using my voice. I dont know why that happens!!! I try to stop that habit but it must be from growing up in an hearing environment. That ever happen to anyone else too?

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Etoile

I saw a reality TV show recently that had a HOH girl. They subtitled everything she said! I was really surprised because her voice was SO clear. I think it's kind of rude to subtitle her, it was really easy to understand her so why discriminate against her like that? She was the only HOH person on the show, and she was the only subtitled person...it didn't make sense to me.

monana79

I am a child of a severe-to profoundly deaf mother and a profoundly deaf grandfather who are/were oral. They both spoke perfectly. My mother taught hearing kindergarten for 30 years and just recently retired. She is amazing! I am a speech language pathologist and I work with deaf and HOH kiddos. I have had profoundly deaf children speak perfectly with intensive therapy and help at home and others who just don't do as well. It completely depends on the child, the family, and personal abilities. It kills me to hear people put limits on deaf and HOH individuals. I have seen people been absolutely horrible to my family members due to their hearing loss and it absolutely enrages me.

Be proud of yourselves and what you can do in this world!!!!

deafskeptic

Well said Monana. I've alway said that my biggest handicap was the hearing's attitude toward my deafness.

fyborg

There's a fine line between ignorance and rudeness, isn't there?

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deafskeptic

Depends. I'd say ignorance is a big handicap when it comes to hearing deciding what I can or can not do. It's harder to correct than rudeness.

For example, my dad is certain I can't be a sales person because I'm deaf. I'd agree that I'd not make a great sales person but the reasons has nothing to do with my deafness. I know one ASL deaf who makes a living at selling stuff. I've never heard him speak.

fyborg

You're right, selling stuff is very-personality dependent...not hearing-dependent!
Ignorance is hard to correct, but so is rudeness--some people are rude because they're ignorant, others are ignorant because they're rude (no one wants to hang out with windbags!).

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Chuck

I was born with severe hearing loss, Ive been wearing hearing aids since I was 3 or 4 I think, my parents didnt know I was hard of hearing until then.

I can speak perfectly, but like other people here, my voice adjusts and lowers when I remove or have on the hearing aids, I do tend to speak louder if I can't hear my own voice, despite knowing this, I still do it.

Sweethappy1

my husband has severe hearing loss and his speach sounds normal.

my daughter has profound loss one ear nd severe to moderate loss in the other. she sounds pretty normal. there are some sounds she can't get. she gets teased for talking like a baby.

Southern

What is normal? I am hearing and i speak with a thick southern draw. For me the southern accent is normal. The rest of the accents in the country are not. I really look at the Deaf voice as an accent. Most hearing people know a Deaf person because of their accent without ever being told. Words are pronounced similarly by most Deaf people who use their voice. I think the question could have better been asked if Deafies can speak properly. But again that is subject to opinion. The British would say we Americans don't speak proper English. I don't think many will Deaf (from birth) will be able to speak like a hearing because you have no frame of refrence. My Deaf friend was born in the South and lived here all his life but doesn't speak with a southern accent like i do. He has no frame of refrence although he speaks well in my opinion. He has told me though that a lot of people don't understand him.
For the Deafies may i give some insight. A lot of hearing people have trouble with accents. People up north have trouble with mine sometimes. Now i don't speak like some back woods hillbillie but there is no denying i am southern. A lot of hearing people just are not good with accents and cannot understand any but their own. Don't take this personally or think you aren't speaking well enough. You might speak fine some hearing people just can't understand you just like if you spoke with a French, Spanish, German, or in my case Southern accent.

deafskeptic

Good question. When I went up north to NTID many years ago, everyone kept saying how I sounded like I was from the South. I wondered how much of my speech was Southern accent and how much of it was deaf speech.

It's hard to tell considering the fact that I'm prelingually deaf. I didn't get my first HA till I was 2 1/2 yrs old and didn't begin speaking till I was 3. I was diagnosed as being deaf at age 9 months old.

I do remember saying drawer the "wrong" way when I was little. It turned out that my speech teacher was from Maine hence why I spoke with a New England accent when I was little. I've never been in New England.

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Hear Again

I don't have a "deaf voice," but my friends and family say that they can tell I can't hear well by the way I speak and pronounce words. (I'm now totally deaf because of CIs but had severe-profound hearing loss for the past 10 years)

When I received my first pair of HAs for a moderately-severe hearing loss, even my audi told me that she could tell that I was hard of hearing by the nasal quality of my voice as well as the way I slurred words. I've also had a lisp for as long as I can remember, but I don't know if that's due to my hearing loss or not.

As my hearing loss continued to progressively get worse over the years, my speech has remained pretty consistent.

By the time my hearing loss reached the severe-profound level, I had more difficulty hearing myself talk even with hearing aids which meant that I oftentimes spoke loudly without meaning to.

When both of my CI processors are removed, there is a definite "deaf quality" to my voice because I can't hear myself talk. Even though I know what speech should sound like, sometimes I can't enunciate as clearly as I'd like.

When my CIs are on, I speak very clearly. In fact, the quality of my speech is better than it has ever been because I can hear myself and all of the nuances of speech including voice inflection, syllable emphasis and volume regulation. Even my lisp is gone.

sr171soars

There is a lot of truth to the fact that having hearing doesn't make you a linguist. The ability to understand variations in a spoken language (such as American English and its dialects) is more a function of the person's brain in interpretating what one hears. Sure, it helps a great deal if one could hear well but it is not everything. To give an example, my wife has superb hearing but has trouble with foreign accents and some thick American ones. I can remember when I had another job where the HR person had an very obvious Indian (India) accent. My wife had all kinds of trouble understanding this lady whereas I at the time had a HA could figure out what she was saying. My hearing with the HA was already starting the downward path then but I could still understand the lady. We both laughed at that as it sort of didn't make any sense. I guess I have a better handle on accents than my wife does and I have an even greater advantage now since I have a CI.

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kkokopelli

I have a long time speech trouble. No matter what your family and friend tell mee, I tried it with everyone else. I could never get speak normal as they can. I can speak clear but I found it difficult to get my voice out sometimes. I went to speech therapist during secondary school every day and it helps some but I could not get as well as talking like normal with anyone. If I try to speak to someone in consversation with a lot of people, I often found myself get left out. So keep trying and eventually, they learn to respect your voice and they give you a chance to try to talk whatever you desire. Keep trying and also keep on ASL, too.

shel90

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shel90

Oh...also, for me, the problem with speaking well is that it gives hearing people the false impression that I can hear just as well. That is where problems occurr cuz it seems that they cant comprehend that I am 100% dependent on lipreading in order to communicate with them. Then the communication breaks down and someone usually ends up frustrated.

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deafskeptic

I've had similar problems and I tend not to speak with total strangers because it's hard to convince them I'm really deaf if I speak. I spent years in speech therapy for this? :p No amount of speech or lipreading will make up for my profound deafness.

Also I can't understand speech with my HA and I hate it when hearing stand next to my HA instead of looking directly at me.

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shel90

Oh gosh...I had a doctor that kept doing that and I kept telling him "no no no...u need to face me when talking to me" and he said "ok" but went right back doing that again!!!

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deafdyke

shel90, and deafskeptic.....I totally 100% agree! Oral skills/abilty is nice.......but it really does give the false impression that it gives total and complete equality to dhh kids......and yes, I know about the Harrison Bergeron story that satirizes the concept of complete and total equality.
Oral skills generally aren't sufficent for EVERY sitution.

highlands

hah ha

same here.. I must to face the person speaking to me in order to understand them but most of the time they behave like the doctor you mentioned and this makes me feel lonely and

highlands

yep, and I hate some hearing people just for the fact that they almost always force me to mainly use oral communication it's so tiring for me

Lantana

It is a good idea not to fool yourselves. Once you have been deaf for awhile, your speech deteriorates. I went deaf during the month of May and by December, my family could hear the difference. If you wish to concentrate on speech and neglect everything else, well good luck. Do the best you can with what you have and do not worry about what other people think.

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shel90

What do u mean deaf for a while? U mean for people with progressive hearing loss? Their speech skills deteriorate?

For me, I have been profoundly deaf since birth and my hearing status has no impact on my speech skills.

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Hear Again

I can understand what Lantana is saying, but if someone is late deafened and continues to use their speech on a daily basis, there should be no reason why their speech should deteriorate. Sure, there might be some noticeable differences in voice volume, inflection and/or the way certain words are pronounced, but this shouldn't negatively affect speech quality to the point where it is not understandable.

I've had severe-profound hearing loss for the past 11 years (I now have bilateral CIs) and although my speech sounded a little different before I received my CIs (because of the "nasal" quality of my voice and the way I slurred my words), my speech has remained pretty consistent throughout the years.

signer16

Um....what? No speech therapy? NO years of trying to get that S, CH, Z, etc. to sound right? I am SURE your hearing status has impacted your speech.

Even when someone has a terrible cold, only for a few days, their speech starts to detioriate. Not being able to hear yourself makes it largely more difficult to regulate your voice, especially without training. When you can't hear, you don't self-correct the same way, you aren't able to correct yourself based on hearing others, many words must be explicitly taught rather than picked up from those around you.

Right, but the comment was not about the voice being understandable, but a noticeable deterioration, which there was.

Once you've had extensive training, and learned how to regulate your voice without hearing it, or have a certain level of hearing, it makes sense that your speech would hit a consistent level.

jillio

OMG, you just brought me back to all the times I wanted to strangle people who told me my son could "hear more than I thought he could" because he had worked for 18 years to develop speech skills! Dumb asses!