Reclaiming the term "hearing impaired"

ecp

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Many marganilized communities have sought to "reclaim" terminology that have generally been used to refer to them in a derogatory sense in order to empower themselves.
Why can't we do th same with "hearing impaired".
Yes, for decades it has been a somewhat derogatory term because it defines us by what we cannot do BUT it is often an accurate descriptor.
Many young deaf people, myself included, use both sign language and speech, with the help of advanced technology.
Many of us feel judged by others in the Deaf community (who may be able to benefit from hearin technology but choose not to) because we use the resources we have to stake a claim in both worlds.

To my point, why is "hearing impaired" such a naughty term?
I know I'm supposed to describe myself as either "deaf" or "hard of hearing" but those are also terms that define me by what I can't do. I can't hear. My hearing (in scientific terms, my cochlea is impaired) is impaired. It doesn't work.
When I say I'm deaf, people (both hearing and d/Deaf) are surprised when I speak. When I say I'm hard of hearing, people just shout at me like they shout at their hard of hearing grandfather.
Haring impaired is the term that describes me best. I have profound hearing loss but I don't feel welcomed by the Deaf community so using "deaf" seems wrong. I am also only in my 20s so HOH seems equally wrong.

I'm ECP, my hearing is impaired. I exist in no man's land. I am not alone.
 
Eh. The ole pathological view verses the cultural view. I'm wayyyy over to the cultural side here.

I can think of just as many groups that have transformed a negative word into an even uglier image while thinking that they have empowered themselves.

You may not be Deaf but you are deaf. There is a difference.
 
Many marganilized communities have sought to "reclaim" terminology that have generally been used to refer to them in a derogatory sense in order to empower themselves.
Why can't we do th same with "hearing impaired".
Yes, for decades it has been a somewhat derogatory term because it defines us by what we cannot do BUT it is often an accurate descriptor.
Many young deaf people, myself included, use both sign language and speech, with the help of advanced technology.
Many of us feel judged by others in the Deaf community (who may be able to benefit from hearin technology but choose not to) because we use the resources we have to stake a claim in both worlds.

To my point, why is "hearing impaired" such a naughty term?
I know I'm supposed to describe myself as either "deaf" or "hard of hearing" but those are also terms that define me by what I can't do. I can't hear. My hearing (in scientific terms, my cochlea is impaired) is impaired. It doesn't work.
When I say I'm deaf, people (both hearing and d/Deaf) are surprised when I speak. When I say I'm hard of hearing, people just shout at me like they shout at their hard of hearing grandfather.
Haring impaired is the term that describes me best. I have profound hearing loss but I don't feel welcomed by the Deaf community so using "deaf" seems wrong. I am also only in my 20s so HOH seems equally wrong.

I'm ECP, my hearing is impaired. I exist in no man's land. I am not alone.

I guess I'm different. I never got hung up on labels and never viewed it as a negative word. Hearing impaired to me was just a medical term to describe my hearing loss. Why do people feel a driving, complusive need to be categorized? I always use a name to introduce myself to others, not descriptions.

Laura
 
Is it like having 2 identical cars with turbocharged engine? One of them has a non working turbo. The other does. Both drives fine. Life goes on.
 
Many marganilized communities have sought to "reclaim" terminology that have generally been used to refer to them in a derogatory sense in order to empower themselves.
Why can't we do th same with "hearing impaired".
Yes, for decades it has been a somewhat derogatory term because it defines us by what we cannot do BUT it is often an accurate descriptor.
Many young deaf people, myself included, use both sign language and speech, with the help of advanced technology.
Many of us feel judged by others in the Deaf community (who may be able to benefit from hearin technology but choose not to) because we use the resources we have to stake a claim in both worlds.

To my point, why is "hearing impaired" such a naughty term?
I know I'm supposed to describe myself as either "deaf" or "hard of hearing" but those are also terms that define me by what I can't do. I can't hear. My hearing (in scientific terms, my cochlea is impaired) is impaired. It doesn't work.
When I say I'm deaf, people (both hearing and d/Deaf) are surprised when I speak. When I say I'm hard of hearing, people just shout at me like they shout at their hard of hearing grandfather.
Haring impaired is the term that describes me best. I have profound hearing loss but I don't feel welcomed by the Deaf community so using "deaf" seems wrong. I am also only in my 20s so HOH seems equally wrong.

I'm ECP, my hearing is impaired. I exist in no man's land. I am not alone.

I personally disagree. as a Deaf and disabled person, our hearing is only "impaired" due to the failure of society to accommodate us.
 
I personally disagree. as a Deaf and disabled person, our hearing is only "impaired" due to the failure of society to accommodate us.

No. Your hearing is impaired because your ears don't work like they're supposed to. They do accommodate us, but you can't have unrealistic expectations. This is our problem, not their problem. The very fact that we need to be accommodated defeats your argument.
 
No. Your hearing is impaired because your ears don't work like they're supposed to. They do accommodate us, but you can't have unrealistic expectations. This is our problem, not their problem. The very fact that we need to be accommodated defeats your argument.

I agree with this. It is not the other way around.

And, for the record, we are smarter and stronger because we choose to adapt, just as humans have done since the beginning of time.

OP, the problems between hearing impaired/deaf and the Deaf community has nothing to do with labels. It has to do with fear that is inherent in any human, the fear of change.

You can't fit into a community you don't agree with so you need to stop. Instead, just try to be friends with people from that community. And, when they ask if you want to be Deaf tell them the truth because you can't buy friendship.
 
If society used visual cues along with listening cues for everything and we just happened to communicate in a different language, but like Spanish-speaking people, we get our language translated, are we still impaired?

I see deaf people as people who communicate in a different way not as impaired hence the reason I hate this term.
 
Hearing Impaired is fine to me....I'm an oral deafie and a lip-reader so the only thing I cannot do is hear...I've no qualms saying "Hi, I'm hearing impaired".
 
If society used visual cues along with listening cues for everything and we just happened to communicate in a different language, but like Spanish-speaking people, we get our language translated, are we still impaired?

I see deaf people as people who communicate in a different way not as impaired hence the reason I hate this term.

See I don't look at it as I'm impaired, my ears are. I am not my ears. I'm not boobs, or my butt, or my eyes, they are all just one little part of me.
 
See I don't look at it as I'm impaired, my ears are. I am not my ears. I'm not boobs, or my butt, or my eyes, they are all just one little part of me.

I get that. It's not me who views it negatively. It's society. They have a tendency to negatively grasp onto that impaired label. Especially when they don't really understand what to do about it. I once had a presenter tell me "I'm sorry I don't speak hearing-impaired" in front of a very large crowd. He meant no harm but the entire crowd bust out laughing. Privately, I was pretty embarrassed although I took it in with stride as I am always expected to do.

*sigh*
 
I get that. It's not me who views it negatively. It's society. They have a tendency to negatively grasp onto that impaired label. Especially when they don't really understand what to do about it. I once had a presenter tell me "I'm sorry I don't speak hearing-impaired" in front of a very large crowd. He meant no harm but the entire crowd bust out laughing. Privately, I was pretty embarrassed although I took it in with stride as I am always expected to do.

*sigh*

I don't know, I don't think society views it negatively, I think the deaf community does. They see that word, and the word disability, as a criticism, as a judgement on them personally. I don't think the rest of the world sees it that way. I've had people think I was a snob or stupid because I "ignored" someone talking (had no idea they're even talking) or didn't understand. Obviously it's not that I can't comprehend what was said, I just didn't hear it well enough even know what they said. When these people have found out that I just didn't hear them, they feel like asses. See, because they know that being deaf of Hoh doesn't make you stupid or something.
 
Many marganilized communities have sought to "reclaim" terminology that have generally been used to refer to them in a derogatory sense in order to empower themselves.
Why can't we do th same with "hearing impaired".
Yes, for decades it has been a somewhat derogatory term because it defines us by what we cannot do BUT it is often an accurate descriptor.
Many young deaf people, myself included, use both sign language and speech, with the help of advanced technology.
Many of us feel judged by others in the Deaf community (who may be able to benefit from hearin technology but choose not to) because we use the resources we have to stake a claim in both worlds.

To my point, why is "hearing impaired" such a naughty term?
I know I'm supposed to describe myself as either "deaf" or "hard of hearing" but those are also terms that define me by what I can't do. I can't hear. My hearing (in scientific terms, my cochlea is impaired) is impaired. It doesn't work.
When I say I'm deaf, people (both hearing and d/Deaf) are surprised when I speak. When I say I'm hard of hearing, people just shout at me like they shout at their hard of hearing grandfather.
Haring impaired is the term that describes me best. I have profound hearing loss but I don't feel welcomed by the Deaf community so using "deaf" seems wrong. I am also only in my 20s so HOH seems equally wrong.

I'm ECP, my hearing is impaired. I exist in no man's land. I am not alone.
In the bold, you already answered your own question. If that is how you feel , then there is nothing wrong with using the term as your description of yourself.
 
No. Your hearing is impaired because your ears don't work like they're supposed to. They do accommodate us, but you can't have unrealistic expectations. This is our problem, not their problem. The very fact that we need to be accommodated defeats your argument.

I guess I could call myself 'hearing damage' as I have nerve damage that cause me to be HOH . I tell people I am HOH when I wear my HA and when
I am not wearing my HA I am almost deaf .
 
I don't know, I don't think society views it negatively, I think the deaf community does. They see that word, and the word disability, as a criticism, as a judgement on them personally. I don't think the rest of the world sees it that way. I've had people think I was a snob or stupid because I "ignored" someone talking (had no idea they're even talking) or didn't understand. Obviously it's not that I can't comprehend what was said, I just didn't hear it well enough even know what they said. When these people have found out that I just didn't hear them, they feel like asses. See, because they know that being deaf of Hoh doesn't make you stupid or something.

I think they both view it negatively but the Deaf community takes it more personally which ultimately reflects poorly on them from the opposite's perspective. I understand why they take it personal. I used to all the time. Not so much anymore as I have taken my fight away from the hearing world and focused it more fighting for my children's education.

Not a judgement taken personally but rather a negative judgement based on a definition. They see the word impaired and automatically think can't. It's sort of like having had more "I'm so sorry you're hearing impaired" comments than I have had "I'm so sorry you're Deaf" kind of thing. I get the sense that they see me more as a person as opposed to a pathological label. They usually mean no harm with the label but it ultimately does harm with the broad strokes it brings.

I agree... most people these days don't see the word deaf of HoH and think they're stupid. I do think they hear the word impaired and make all kinds of wild and uneducated assumptions including being labeled mentally retarded. I was once labeled that when I was a young'un. I bet I am not alone either.
 
See I don't look at it as I'm impaired, my ears are. I am not my ears. I'm not boobs, or my butt, or my eyes, they are all just one little part of me.

Just too bad that in my experience when I used to call myself hearing impaired, I got treated like I was impaired and believed that until I empowered myself.

Guess your experience was more positive than mine regarding that term.
 
I think they both view it negatively but the Deaf community takes it more personally which ultimately reflects poorly on them from the opposite's perspective. I understand why they take it personal. I used to all the time. Not so much anymore as I have taken my fight away from the hearing world and focused it more fighting for my children's education.

Not a judgement taken personally but rather a negative judgement based on a definition. They see the word impaired and automatically think can't. It's sort of like having had more "I'm so sorry you're hearing impaired" comments than I have had "I'm so sorry you're Deaf" kind of thing. I get the sense that they see me more as a person as opposed to a pathological label. They usually mean no harm with the label but it ultimately does harm with the broad strokes it brings.

I agree... most people these days don't see the word deaf of HoH and think they're stupid. I do think they hear the word impaired and make all kinds of wild and uneducated assumptions including being labeled mentally retarded. I was once labeled that when I was a young'un. I bet I am not alone either.

I got more of those "I am sorrys" and walking away when I identified myself as hearing impaired than I did when I applied myself as Deaf. It is just that when people hear or read "impaired" it is like subconsciously they take it literally and it reflects in their behavior towards people with the impairments.
 
Just too bad that in my experience when I used to call myself hearing impaired, I got treated like I was impaired and believed that until I empowered myself.

Guess your experience was more positive than mine regarding that term.

I 'm not sure if I ever even used it, it's kind of...long. I usually say hoh or deaf, but I wouldn't have a beef if someone referred to me as being hearing impaired, or having a hearing disability, or being hoh or deaf, call it what you will they're all pretty much the same. A rose by any other name.....is just a word lol. For me anyway.
 
I got more of those "I am sorrys" and walking away when I identified myself as hearing impaired than I did when I applied myself as Deaf. It is just that when people hear or read "impaired" it is like subconsciously they take it literally and it reflects in their behavior towards people with the impairments.

Exactly! Using the term hearing impaired also says that you view yourself as impaired and unable to function without hearing. What's wrong with deaf or HOH?
Besides, I'm not hetrosexual impaired. I'm lesbian. Keep it positive......
Being dhh is who I am. I've never had normal hearing, so I don't miss it. I can function fully without hearing.
 
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