Can someone who is severely deaf talk normally?

[Liebling:-)))]

my speech is terrible. My voice like a monkey.

Don´t worry, you are not alone...

My hubby speak better than me but I´m good lipreader... My hubby speak well but people thought my hubby has a bad flu... or something... they found out that he is deaf as me...

Yes, I´m agree with sweetmind over "deaf voice". It couldn´t be possible for deafies to have hearing voice but speak good like hearing... It´s difference... I know the problem is hearing people like to hear every person´s hearing voices....

I asked my co-worker what she think of my voice... She said that she getting use to my voice but she said that eveyone would think I have broke voice...

I use paper and pen mostly... but I has no problem with that... sometimes they understand me or not... With my co-worker, I has no problem... I do not need paper & pen because she know sign language and my voice as my hubby´s family as well... but for strangers is different...

 

[Sweetmind]

Thank you very much, Leibing

YOU GOT IT! You said Yes, I´m agree with sweetmind over "deaf voice". It couldn´t be possible for deafies to have hearing voice but speak good like hearing... It´s difference...

You know what i m talking about. ** patting ur back** You said "I know the problem is hearing people like to hear every person´s hearing voices.... : BINGO!!!


Sweetmind

 

[Eve]

And my point is this : no one is exactly perfect...not even hearies. We all have unique differences and if someone is going to be judgmental, that is their problem, not ours. We should feel confident enough in our own capabilities to not worry what others think and to just communicate to the best of our abilities despite some low life nit-pickers who would find something wrong with anyone.

 

[Beowulf]

I am told I sound exactly like Sean Connery.
I don't get panties thrown my way, though.

 

[Tousi]

So, Beo, where did the Brit in you come from?

 

[Beowulf]

So, Beo, where did the Brit in you come from?

He's a Scot, Tous.
Sometimes people would ask me where I am from, and I would explain that I have this accent simply because I am Deaf. When they try to apologize, I assure them that it is a compliment that they ask, since it shows how good my speech is. Eh bien.

 

[Tousi]

He's a Scot, Tous.
Sometimes people would ask me where I am from, and I would explain that I have this accent simply because I am Deaf. When they try to apologize, I assure them that it is a compliment that they ask, since it shows how good my speech is. Eh bien.

Understood, man! Thanks

 

[annabelle]

I am totally deaf.But was hearing until the age of 19, I wore 2 hearing aids for the next 10 years. Now I have lost all my hearing. My hearing freinds tell me that I am getting a deaf voice, despite being an excellent lip reader. I am forgetting how words sounded when I could hear. so no I dont think a deafie can have a normal voice.

 

[CrazyMomma]

<----- Non-stop Jatterbox


I can talk like professional lawyer. And professional lipreader.

My signs is WORSE!!! I can't sign very good...

 

[Oceanbreeze]

And my point is this : no one is exactly perfect...not even hearies. We all have unique differences and if someone is going to be judgmental, that is their problem, not ours. We should feel confident enough in our own capabilities to not worry what others think and to just communicate to the best of our abilities despite some low life nit-pickers who would find something wrong with anyone.

I agree with you! When did we all become exclusive, and why didn't I get the memo? The way I see it, we should all try to coexist with one another. It shouldn't matter if one is hearing, deaf, mute, oral deaf, dumb, brain dead, or purple polka-dotted! We all must live in this world, and get along with one another like it or not. Having such an exclusive atitude does NOTHING to enhance that. Nobody is special.

As a hearie, I'm willing to give anybody a shot. I don't care what your voice sounds like. If I can't communicate via ASL, I'll do my best with paper/pen. Its up to both sides to work together to better understand each other. This "US VS THEM" mentality doesn't do anybody any good!

 

[Liebling:-)))]

And my point is this : no one is exactly perfect...not even hearies. We all have unique differences and if someone is going to be judgmental, that is their problem, not ours. We should feel confident enough in our own capabilities to not worry what others think and to just communicate to the best of our abilities despite some low life nit-pickers who would find something wrong with anyone.

Yes I has to agree with you to this.

 

[deafdyke]

It doesn't diminish any hearing impaired person's ability to put their speech training to good use.

Yeah, it does, if you can't undy what they are saying.

 

[Y]

Being totally deaf myself, I still could NOT
figure out what does "deaf voice" sound like ?
(I want any hearing people to reply and
describe about what does deaf voice sound like ?)
I won't take it too personally at all...

In the same meantime, I noticed that there
are two different responses from these
hearing people about my own deaf voice.
These hearing people who already had some exposure
to some Deaf people before, then
they can recognize my voice immediately
that I'm deaf.

But, some other hearing people who
NEVER had any exposure to any Deaf people before
they usually asked me if I have some "Sore throat" ?
and/or "Laryngitis" ? Some others asked me if
I'm came here from another country ?
They simply could NOT fingerpoint exactly
what was wrong until I told them that I'm Deaf.

 

[Beowulf]

Being totally deaf myself, I still could NOT
figure out what does "deaf voice" sound like ?
(I want any hearing people to reply and
describe about what does deaf voice sound like ?)
I won't take it too personally at all...

In the same meantime, I noticed that there
are two different responses from these
hearing people about my own deaf voice.
These hearing people who already had some exposure
to some Deaf people before, then
they can recognize my voice immediately
that I'm deaf.

But, some other hearing people who
NEVER had any exposure to any Deaf people before
they usually asked me if I have some "Sore throat" ?
and/or "Laryngitis" ? Some others asked me if
I'm came here from another country ?
They simply could NOT fingerpoint exactly
what was wrong until I told them that I'm Deaf.

 

[signer16]

Being totally deaf myself, I still could NOT
figure out what does "deaf voice" sound like ?
(I want any hearing people to reply and
describe about what does deaf voice sound like ?)
I won't take it too personally at all...

Ooooh, what does a deaf voice sound like? Well, hard to describe. It obviously depends on the person, how much speech therapy they've had, blah blah blah.
However, I've noticed that most deaf women have very similar voices, and most deaf men have similar voices. For women...hmm... most deaf women I have met, specifically the ones who don't voice very intelligibly, have a voice lower than than average hearing woman's. Most men I've met, especially those who speak intelligibly, have a higher pitch voice than most other people. I have also met deaf men with low voices, but few.
To describe a deaf voice overall, hmm... I don't know. I mean, I recognize any difference in speech really easily now, I've even picked up on some really mildly hoh people lately. Of course the syllables deaf people can't say, or have difficulty with, kind of give it away. But, I really think it comes down to tone. There is a flatter (monotone) tone to a deaf person's voice, the really light nuances in speech aren't picked up on by a deaf person because they can't hear them. I could go way deeper than that, but it would go on forever. I've done a lot of analysis with this, PM me if you are really interested, lol.
When you watch people sign, you can usually tell if they are hearing or deaf, right? Even if the hearing person is a fluent signer, there are slight nuances that most hearing people just don't get. Movement of the sign or more often, NMS, just aren't quite right.

In the same meantime, I noticed that there
are two different responses from these
hearing people about my own deaf voice.
These hearing people who already had some exposure
to some Deaf people before, then
they can recognize my voice immediately
that I'm deaf.

When you watch people sign, you can usually tell if they are hearing or deaf, right? Even if the hearing person is a fluent signer, there are slight nuances that most hearing people just don't get. Movement of the sign or more often, NMS, just aren't quite right. However, hearing people see someone signing semi-quickly and assume they are deaf. This is because deaf people have seen so many signers and hearing people...have not.
Because I and other hearing people hear so many deaf voices, we get very used to them, and it is easy for us to pick them out. We start getting used to meeting deaf people, it is in our frame of reference. For most hearing people, they just simply don't expect to meet a deaf person, and many never have, so they won't recognize a deaf voice as deaf, just simply kind of "off."

 

[RedheadGrrl]

One time, I was at the bus stop to wait for the bus. The man came to me and talk to me abt something (I dont remember what issue), I answered him back. He looked at me and said are u from Germany? I said "no why?" He said "Your accent" I said "Oh I have deaf accent." He looked at me with eyes wide. He said "oh I am sorry." I said "Oh that's okay." He shut his mouth and stand there to wait for the bus to come. I was laughing inside.

 

[Rose Immortal]

This is just my personal perspective, but I don't think a "deaf voice" is anything to be self-conscious about. Anybody who's that judgmental is a jerk and not worth your time. I, for one, am not giving grades on people's speech. I care about the person's ideas and intent--no more, end of story.

And you know...there are hearing people I have a MUCH worse time understanding. Many African-American dialects are completely beyond my comprehension, and I always feel bad because I don't want to give away the fact that I don't understand lest I appear rude or like I have an attitude problem or something.

 

[Oceanbreeze]

This is just my personal perspective, but I don't think a "deaf voice" is anything to be self-conscious about. Anybody who's that judgmental is a jerk and not worth your time. I, for one, am not giving grades on people's speech. I care about the person's ideas and intent--no more, end of story.

And you know...there are hearing people I have a MUCH worse time understanding. Many African-American dialects are completely beyond my comprehension, and I always feel bad because I don't want to give away the fact that I don't understand lest I appear rude or like I have an attitude problem or something.

I agree with you! I'm hearing, and even I, have trouble understanding other hearing people. I really have a hard time understanding people in a crowd, people who have accents, and people who speak rapidly.

I also wonder if I'm becoming mildly HoH due to sinus issues and exposure to really loud noises over the years, but I've never been to see an audi to have my hearing checked out. :shrug:

 

[jshumko]

My husband tells people immediately, before they say more than hello, that he is deaf. It saves them the embarrassment.

For the most part, he is easy to understand, at least he is for me and that is due to that fact that I listen to him much more than anyone else. He does mispronounce some words, such as "receipt". I told him a few times that the p is silent, but he forgets. It's not a big deal. Sometimes people ask me what he said, and sometimes they don't. He often pronounces words like they are written. If I don't understand a word, I can figure it out by spelling (in my mind) what he said. It reminds me of that "I Love Lucy" routine where Ricky is reading a passage from a book that has a lot of words with "ough" in them. He mispronounces every word because the sound is different for all of them. Good old English language.

My husband's voice is rather deep and loud. The only time it was an embarrassment was when we went to church together for the first time. The chapel is suppose to be reverent, and fortunately we have a lot of kids so it's rarely quiet anyway, but his voice topped them all. After that he just signs to me and does not use his voice in the chapel.

As others have said, hearing people can be hard to understand also, so normal is definitely relative. I've noticed this more since I now have to listen to them in church, in order to try and interpret what they say. Sometimes I feel like that Flashio video where he attempts to interpret Rap. That's also due to the fact that I'm not an interpreter and can't keep up with people who talk fast. My husband and I figured out that if I can't understand the speaker, then probably no one else can, so no big deal.

My husband is not embarrassed by his deafness or his voice. He has a great sense of humor and has the ability to immediately make people feel at ease around him. He's more social than I am. That's one of the things that attracted me to him when we met and what I still admire in him.

 

[Rose Immortal]

I agree with you! I'm hearing, and even I, have trouble understanding other hearing people. I really have a hard time understanding people in a crowd, people who have accents, and people who speak rapidly.

Exactly! Being hearing doesn't mean you're some kind of "universal translator".

I also wonder if I'm becoming mildly HoH due to sinus issues and exposure to really loud noises over the years, but I've never been to see an audi to have my hearing checked out. :shrug:

Don't worry TOO much. A couple years ago I got worried because I thought my tinnitus had gotten worse, and at that point they said I still heard perfectly. I may end up checking again just to be sure, now that I've become such a metalhead (speaking of loud sounds!), but I wouldn't worry too much.