Hello...not sure what i am getting myself into here, ha!

Ryan B

Ryan B

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I was born with a hearing loss...learned later it was degenerative...never really had much exposure to the deaf culture...always wanted it, but never knew where to find it. Tried one other site a few years ago...not sure about it, lol. Love facebook...but this site is nothing like facebook...so how exactly does this site work? Help me, LOL!
 
The urge to heave your dinner onto your keyboard ought to be a clue. Lol
Welcome to AD.
 
Welcome! I saw your profile post and posted there. Hope that's okay! Anyway I'm HoH too. I'm severely Deaf after a car accident when I was 5. I've used hearing aids since then and now have a BAHA on one ear. I was mainstreamed with TC and used cued speech and signed English. My biggest exposure to Deaf community as Aspen Camp every summer where I met some of my best friends with a variety of hearing loss. I'm in ASL now because I want to be more involved in the Deaf community and I'm sick of the discrimination and exclusion I've been realizing I've faced in the hearing world since I was little. PM me if you ever want to chat! I'm sorry you're stuck between two worlds, I wouldn't wish anyone to have that problem but it's also nice knowing I am not being alone on that.
 
zeefour said:
Welcome! I saw your profile post and posted there. Hope that's okay! Anyway I'm HoH too. I'm severely Deaf after a car accident when I was 5. I've used hearing aids since then and now have a BAHA on one ear. I was mainstreamed with TC and used cued speech and signed English. My biggest exposure to Deaf community as Aspen Camp every summer where I met some of my best friends with a variety of hearing loss. I'm in ASL now because I want to be more involved in the Deaf community and I'm sick of the discrimination and exclusion I've been realizing I've faced in the hearing world since I was little. PM me if you ever want to chat! I'm sorry you're stuck between two worlds, I wouldn't wish anyone to have that problem but it's also nice knowing I am not being alone on that.
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Thank you for sharing...i was born with the loss...parents didn't really know until i was around 5...i have always been integrated with the hearing; however, i was always treated 'different' since i was the only one in my school with a loss...i managed to get thru it and i am doing well...married...kids...great job...but still, lack of a relatable community always stuck in my mind...not sure what i am looking for, but there is a void...maybe this site will help!
 
Ryan B said:
Thank you for sharing...i was born with the loss...parents didn't really know until i was around 5...i have always been integrated with the hearing; however, i was always treated 'different' since i was the only one in my school with a loss...i managed to get thru it and i am doing well...married...kids...great job...but still, lack of a relatable community always stuck in my mind...not sure what i am looking for, but there is a void...maybe this site will help!
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Ah gotcha. Hearing loss runs in my family so they're pretty sure i had minor hearing loss as a child like my little brothers did. I just became almost profoundly deaf after the accident. Do you use hearing aids or sign at all?
 
Ryan B said:
Thank you for sharing...i was born with the loss...parents didn't really know until i was around 5...i have always been integrated with the hearing; however, i was always treated 'different' since i was the only one in my school with a loss...i managed to get thru it and i am doing well...married...kids...great job...but still, lack of a relatable community always stuck in my mind...not sure what i am looking for, but there is a void...maybe this site will help!
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No, I get it. I'm assuming you grew up under an Auditory-Verbal (without the therapy) philosophy...Basicly immersed into the hearing world with little/no specialized experiences and being the only dhh kid? Identiy and belonging is SO important. I don't get why they have stuff for kids with cancer, diabetes, ostomys etc, but dhh, blind/low vision kids etc are supposed to only experience mainstream, "normal" stuff and not even go to deaf camp or blind camp or know other kids just like them or learn Braille or learn ASL etc.You are not alone!
 
zeefour said:
Ah gotcha. Hearing loss runs in my family so they're pretty sure i had minor hearing loss as a child like my little brothers did. I just became almost profoundly deaf after the accident. Do you use hearing aids or sign at all?
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Hello Zee...I have worn hearing aids since I was five...never learned to sign...the area in which I grew up did not have a 'deaf' population and to use sign, would be like talking to a wall since I did not know anyone else who wore hearing aids...I don't think it was until ninth grade that I met another kid who had some form of hearing loss. So that was interesting...I so wanted to become friends with him, but he wouldn't talk back, ha! Anyway, back to you...I am sorry that you had to lose your hearing under your circumstances...have you been dealing with this loss for awhile? And your brother has a similar situation?
 
zeefour said:
Welcome! I saw your profile post and posted there. Hope that's okay! Anyway I'm HoH too. I'm severely Deaf after a car accident when I was 5. I've used hearing aids since then and now have a BAHA on one ear. I was mainstreamed with TC and used cued speech and signed English. My biggest exposure to Deaf community as Aspen Camp every summer where I met some of my best friends with a variety of hearing loss. I'm in ASL now because I want to be more involved in the Deaf community and I'm sick of the discrimination and exclusion I've been realizing I've faced in the hearing world since I was little. PM me if you ever want to chat! I'm sorry you're stuck between two worlds, I wouldn't wish anyone to have that problem but it's also nice knowing I am not being alone on that.
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Hello (again) Zee...you may have to help me a little bit...some of the acronyms that you use...I am not familiar with. BAHA and TC? I have never had a reason to participate in a deaf community since I was able to communicate via hearing aids; however, I always carried a void...to 'belong' per se. I knew there would be a language barrier, but somehow I wanted to connect...my exposure with others is very little...and the few in my town work the third shift and cannot hear at all...attempts to establish regular communication have been unsuccessful...love facebook...fast and easy...this email system via this site...not sure about it, feels a bit old, ha!
 
zephren said:
Welcome :wave:
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Thank you Zephren...can you share a bit more about you...I could not learn anything about you from your page or your name, ha! Private message me if you prefer...until then, take care.
 
deafdyke said:
No, I get it. I'm assuming you grew up under an Auditory-Verbal (without the therapy) philosophy...Basicly immersed into the hearing world with little/no specialized experiences and being the only dhh kid? Identiy and belonging is SO important. I don't get why they have stuff for kids with cancer, diabetes, ostomys etc, but dhh, blind/low vision kids etc are supposed to only experience mainstream, "normal" stuff and not even go to deaf camp or blind camp or know other kids just like them or learn Braille or learn ASL etc.You are not alone!
Click to expand...

Thank you for responding...to be honest, growing up - I never really looked into alternative places like the camps you mentioned...the few that i knew of tended to blanket all disabilities under one umbrella and the level of their severity - was not relatable so I never participated in them. But I knew what it was like to be perceived and treated different...just never grasped why - i just wore hearing aids, but looking back I get it...I was different. Now, fast forwarding many years into the future...how do I embrace my difference and give back to others? But then again - maybe I need to learn more from others that I have never interacted with...maybe this type of forum will open my eyes to something new that I never personally experienced.
 
Ryan B said:
Hello Zee...I have worn hearing aids since I was five...never learned to sign...the area in which I grew up did not have a 'deaf' population and to use sign, would be like talking to a wall since I did not know anyone else who wore hearing aids...I don't think it was until ninth grade that I met another kid who had some form of hearing loss. So that was interesting...I so wanted to become friends with him, but he wouldn't talk back, ha! Anyway, back to you...I am sorry that you had to lose your hearing under your circumstances...have you been dealing with this loss for awhile? And your brother has a similar situation?
Click to expand...

Well our family has hearing loss that runs in it genetically both my little brothers had tubes in their ears from bad ear infections, one had it make him mildly deaf and has worn hearing aids since preschool. He is like you he never required specialized deaf education. I was the only one of my siblings who didn't experience this and boom (literally lol) the car accident happened and i became severely deaf in one ear profoundly deaf in the other. Hope that makes sense!

My town was like that, not really deaf people. I have a feeling i might be younger than you because even despite this i was taught a form of sign for school. Even with hearing aids i needed speech therapy, reading classes, technology like an FM system and sign. BAHA is bone anchored hearing aid. Its not a cochlear implant which is for sensoneural hearing loss its for conductive which is what happened when my temporal bone fractured.
 
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