Are you happy with your deafness?

I have been HOH my whole life. My hearing has recently fell into the severe-profound range, I knew it was going to happen and I am fine with it. I know PSE and ASL, and I use HA's. I can happily exist within both the hearing and the Deaf world. Although the hearing world is becoming more difficult to fit into by the day.

That being said, I did reject my HOH status for many years. All through middle school and highschool I refused to wear my HA's. I am just being fit for new ones next Tuesday. I am not really looking forward to it though...the hearing world is noisy! I like it quiet! Fact of the matter is that I live in a hearing world, not a Deaf one and I can't rely on ASL/PSE for communication in it so I have to try and hear.

At the end of the day though, I am happy being HOH/Deaf
 
I have been deaf since I was born. I remember being very happy being deaf even in the bush(forest or woodland) and it can be lonesome if I spend a lot of time outside mostly in the Spring, Summer and Fall. I spend time going ice fishing with my hearing grandfather and just be happy be deaf. I don't like hearing people trying to "fix" me with hearing aid, make me talk and lipread, forcing me not to sign (good thing I start to sign at 20 years old right out of mainstream high school). I love being with the Deaf communities, having a Deaf Culture, and being involve in supporting for the Deaf Rights like having ASL interpreters in classroom, theatre, hearing meetings, job interview, typing to Deaf people on TTY and lots of good advantaages. I love to feel the vibration from the Powwow drums when we have a gathering for native people. I am very glad that I don't have CI. I could not imagine having the instrument like CI in my brain. I would probably be going nuts on this, I don't know. I am very proud of being deaf no matter what. I just know that God put me here for a reason even when my mom was very sick with me being pregnant at four months and she had to suffer all the illness going back and forth between hospital and home until I was born. My mother almost died from her illness like high fever. Both my mom and I were here at the time over the years and now my mom passed away July, 2006. This is the life and I move on as a Deaf person. :h5: and :deaf:
 
i used be seld concious about being hoh. Now, I am indifferent. Its the equivalent of wearing glasses.
 
I am happy with my hoh - and alot of the time I feel that I am stuck between two worlds - the hearing and the deaf world - but I will say this - given my newfound immersion into the deaf community, if I had the choice I would rather be deaf - simply for this fact: I have found more acceptance within the deaf community than I have with the hearing people I have known all my life. Sounds strange but its true.
 
Dixie said:
I am happy with my hoh - and alot of the time I feel that I am stuck between two worlds - the hearing and the deaf world - but I will say this - given my newfound immersion into the deaf community, if I had the choice I would rather be deaf - simply for this fact: I have found more acceptance within the deaf community than I have with the hearing people I have known all my life. Sounds strange but its true.
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I found that to be true for me as well. Gosh, many of my hearing peers that I grew up with still talked down to me even after 10 plus years of knowing each other. My deaf friends dont do that to me.
 
I used to feel so ashamed of my deafness for some reasons, now

I'm very happy that I'm Deaf! Thanks to Deaf community. :D :D :D

Ashamed of deafness is NOT healthy, imo.
 
I'm comfortable with it when I'm alone. It's not until I'm around people who treat me as an inferior that I feel bad about myself for not being able to hear everything. I try to distance myself from those people, but it doesn't always work. Oh well. :ugh3:
 
morbid-mongoose said:
I'm comfortable with it when I'm alone. It's not until I'm around people who treat me as an inferior that I feel bad about myself for not being able to hear everything. I try to distance myself from those people, but it doesn't always work. Oh well. :ugh3:
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Which just goes to show that it is not the deafness that is the problem, but the attitude of the non-deaf.
 
Losing my hearing- namely, going from hoh to deaf, was quite possibly the scariest thing in my life. I've suddenly been faced with challenges I never could have imagined, before.

That said, I'm not unhappy with my deafness. I am exactly as God made me, and I have no say in the matter whatsoever. Why be unhappy with that? It'll get you nowhere. It's better that I try and live my life the best I can, regardless of the situations I may not love.
 
jillio said:
Which just goes to show that it is not the deafness that is the problem, but the attitude of the non-deaf.
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Right on !!! I was born deaf due to Rubella. I often go without my HAs when alone at home. It is the hearing people who refuse to sign is my biggest problem. Just because I was born deaf doesn't give them the right to give me a hard time.
 
I went from hearing to hoh during my mid 20s. I can't say that I am happy with my deafness, because it affected my career prospects and my life in general. I know this sounds extreme, but I never had any support regarding how to adapt to change. So, my self-esteem crumbled, and as a result I spent a few years in depression.

My doctor prescribed me antidepressants when I finally admitted how I really felt inside. But, I took myself off the antidepressants within two days, because I felt antidepressants cannot help eliminate the root of the problem, and prevented me from doing things that I enjoy.

Being hoh is not something I am ashamed of, because it is not my fault. But, it has made me realise that everybody in life has problems. And, I'd rather be hoh than confined to bed.

As SxyPorkie's signature shows, "Life goes on..." :)
 
Well I have to say I had a rough ride in life.I don`t mind my hearing lost and have to use hearing aids.It not so bad, For me I just wish that the hearing world would just judge me as a person and not my hearing and speech.
 
You posted a question on topic says "Are you happy with your deafness?" Well, I can'
t speak for everybody about that one. But I can say I am not ashamed of being deaf. I was born deaf but with hearing aid it more like hoh. I don't look at deaf and hoh as a punisment. Being deaf or hoh just can't hear well. If you love yourself for who you are, then you accpeted yourself being deaf or hoh no matter what. We are alive that what matters. :)
 
I'm fine with my deafness. It's a part of me. I would not have chosen to be deaf but that's the cards that I got. With both my HA (before implanation) and my CI, I am functionally HOH but take off either the HA or the CI and it will be apparent that I'm deaf. I've never kept my deafness a secret and I see little reason to do so now. I must say that if it weren't for my deafness, I would have never gotten to know wonderful people in the deaf community.
 
I am happy to be deafblind. I was born HOH. I am now profoundly deaf. I find it easier to be Profoundly deaf then HOH as when you have a bit of useful hearing people expect you to use it all te time when you would much rather use pen and paper. If people can't be bothered to communicate properly with me then it's their loss not mine.
 
I'm proud to be Deaf, as it's who I am and the way I was born to be.

However there are some things I don't like being Deaf, and they are:

Not being able to hear while swimming with friends

Can't hear Whispers

Get discrimated (By some idiots that are not worth of my time)

But I love being Deaf and the reasons are:

Great Deaf Friends

Speical Connections with Deaf people

It's who I am
 
At first, when I found out that I lost my hearing I thought it was my eardrums that are blocking out the sound *crazy egghead I was* :lol: and I wanted to get something to stick it in my ear and break hole in it. :lol: My mother saw what I was going to do and she said NO NO don't do that and I looked so confused on why Can't I do that.

Anyways I am proud of my deafness, so it won't matter whether I'm hearing or Deaf, but in fact I LOVE BEING PART OF DEAF COMMUNITY so I'm Proud To be Deaf.
 
Woofy said:
Panhandler: Hey you!!! Can you spare a dollar?

Me: (walking by)

Panhandler: Hey you!!! What are you, deaf?

Me: (still walking by)

Panhandler: (waving in the air) Hey you... Gimme a dollar?!?!?!?

Me: (Got my attention) (I look at him. I point to my ears and shrug.)

Panhandler: Ohhhhh... You are deaf. Sorry to have bothered you. :)o Walking away hoping to find a hearing person to get a dollar.)

One of the many perks of being deaf is that annoying hearing people (not all hearing people are annoying) who don't know ASL can leave me alone.

YES. I am so thankful that I am DEAF! :dance2: :deaf: :deaf:
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ha ha ha that was a good one! :thumb:
 
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