Challenges of Not Being Deaf Enough

[Miss-Delectable]

Challenges of Not Being Deaf Enough

Hard of hearing people face special challenges that truly deaf people are less likely to have to face. An About.com visitor, who clearly considers himself culturally deaf although he is hard of hearing, wrote:

We really are stuck in-between two worlds. There are some positive and negative aspects of being in both groups. I can communicate with hearing people and that is great. It does make my life easier as far as communicating what my wants and needs are.

However, the assumptions people place on me because of my deafness and the problems associated with it do hamper me to some degree. I feel in many situations where I *could* have been promoted, I wasn't because of my deafness and the problems associated with it. I also face problems with hearing people forgetting that I AM deaf. I walk away from a supervisor thinking our discussion is done. He continues to talk and gets pissed off because he thinks I am ignoring him, or that I miss instructions to carry out a task and get in trouble for it.

As for being in the deaf world, at NTID I really didn't have acceptance problems at this school. However, because I am not deaf *enough*, most people including my own parents don't consider me to be deaf. As such, I do miss out on awareness of benefits like SSI or SSA. I have even been placed on the bottom of the list for my Vocational Rehab because others were "worse off" than me and given higher priority. It doesn't seem fair and that is the double edge sword of being in this position. There have been times I wondered if being deaf would be "easier" than where I am.

Guide comment: Do you think it is fair for hard of hearing people to be put at the bottom of the list for help from services such as Vocational Rehabilitation? Should the possession of a few additional decibels automatically label a person as less deserving of help to find a job?

 

[BradB08]

I haven't had a problem like this for Voc Rehab around here. There are times when I feel that I deserved a better position of employment and didn't get it because even though I read lips and speak very well, I still can't use a phone without some kind of modification.

Because of this, I've thought about getting new hearing aids just for work. I really don't miss wearing them but I guess this is a time where they'd be beneficial.

 

[Frisky Feline]

Anyone who are in between two worlds have experiences like this that have need to speak up more, once the others who are in the similiar situation as them, they all have to work on something to make compromise that they would feel to be treated fairly. =/ All the time I heard like this, all they complain about it but do nothing about it. But it's time for them to educate us now.

 

[A]

People in between two world Like myself are really stuck and there's not much you can do about it unless more people add captioning. They have a very difficult time communicating with hearing world, they have a difficult time with deaf world, and they definitely have a very difficult time communicating with people who are just like them. The internet is all they have and even with that, it is difficult, depending on their writing skills and how well they can express their thoughts easily in writing ( sometime you can't tell they are having difficult time because they do alot of editing).

For me, There is nothing to speak up about because I don't know what more they can do about it.

 

[A]

Guide comment: Do you think it is fair for hard of hearing people to be put at the bottom of the list for help from services such as Vocational Rehabilitation? Should the possession of a few additional decibels automatically label a person as less deserving of help to find a job?

I don't think they really do that, do they? no They should not put them in the bottom, if people know they are struggling with something, they help them. As a oral deaf who benefit HA, They did provide me TTY and other things. They also provided volume control telephone for someone who have more hearing. Voc. Rehab can not help those who struggle communicating with people on daily basis.