Hearing Impaired Term?

Rainshower77 said:
I am always afraid that if I used the term Hard of hearing, people will equal my hearing loss as elderly ... which most of them have mild or moderate hearing loss.
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Oh, how awful to be thought elderly! If I were like "most of them," I'd . . . I'd . . . well, I guess I'd quit working for others, write for fun, and hang out with you kids here at AllDeaf.

Just kidding. "Elderly," "old," "over-the-hill," and "youth-impaired" are labels I bear with pride as I dodge Dr. Jack Kevorkian.

As Jenni says, the insult is all in how the idiot uses the label.
 
jenni-m said:
I can understand some people are idiots, but I don't quite understand this whole line of reasoning of demonizing an otherwise useful phrase just because someone uses it in a way you don't like. They are the ones who are wrong, it is not the word's fault.

But maybe I'm naive.

And, I just figured out how to edit, so I will add:

I had read the original questions as "do you find the term 'hearing impaired' offensive", and had responded based on the premise that we were discussing the phrase itself, not people that use it to be hurtful to others.

Notice that I had specified in what case it does not offend me, and explained why. If I know of someone saying about me something like "Hey, she is hearing impaired, she is so stupid. Haha." then yes, I would be offended, at that person's actions.
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The phrase itself is moot without use. Therefore, part of the discussion is the phrase being used to describe others and by whom the phrase is being used, and what implication that has for both the individual and the group.

Any word, in and of itself is innocculous. It is the implied meaning that word is given by the majority that causes it to be harmful.
 
jillio said:
The phrase itself is moot without use. Therefore, part of the discussion is the phrase being used to describe others and by whom the phrase is being used, and what implication that has for both the individual and the group.

Any word, in and of itself is innocculous. It is the implied meaning that word is given by the majority that causes it to be harmful.
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Yes, I understand now. Thank you for clearing it up.
 
Chase said:
Oh, how awful to be thought elderly! If I were like "most of them," I'd . . . I'd . . . well, I guess I'd quit working for others, write for fun, and hang out with you kids here at AllDeaf.

Just kidding. "Elderly," "old," "over-the-hill," and "youth-impaired" are labels I bear with pride as I dodge Dr. Jack Kevorkian.

As Jenni says, the insult is all in how the idiot uses the label.
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Sorry, even if you are just kidding. I know I will be old too one day. Elderly is something I picked up from church. Which usually mean someone who is wiser.

it just that people will think my hearing must not be so bad, if they related my hearing loss to hearing loss due to age. And then I get frustrated that they don't seem to understand and is using the wrong method because it is the same method they use on people who lost their hearing due to age but had many years of hearing.
 
Rainshower77 said:
Sorry, even if you are just kidding. I know I will be old too one day. Elderly is something I picked up from church. Which usually mean someone who is wiser.

it just that people will think my hearing must not be so bad, if they related my hearing loss to hearing loss due to age. And then I get frustrated that they don't seem to understand and is using the wrong method because it is the same method they use on people who lost their hearing due to age but had many years of hearing.
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I can understand this, with the term not being specific, like how I am with 'blind' and 'low vision'.

Hopefully one day people will be smart enough to realize it is (supposed to be) a technical term and stop abusing it. When I met my online deaf friend, she called herself 'deaf', and I had the sense to ask 'to what level?' and she explained it to me. She is my best online friend now.
 
Rainshower77 said:
Sorry, even if you are just kidding. I know I will be old too one day. Elderly is something I picked up from church. Which usually mean someone who is wiser.
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Thanks for the "wiser." I have my moments, but there was a lot of luck that got me here, too. Genetics, some not being able to hit where they aim, etc.

However, you're right about presumptions about my deafness due to age. Some can't get past the "selective hearing" stereotype.

One cute thirty-something volunteer at the veterans' center sat me down, stroking me like a wayward cat. I enjoyed it too much to let her know I speech-read, so she wrote me how they have hearing aids now that no one will notice, so that without embarrassment, my final days would be so much richer--if I would only try them. I was hoping she would take me home with her, but a nurse who knew me came out and saved her.

Even after some people have been told I'm totally deaf and have been for many years, they want to lean in and shout at me.

So you're very correct, the perception of "hearing-impaired" for old duffers is often tinged with suspicions of dementia, as well.
 
good question about those who are hoh...i, myself, am hoh....but grew up in a deaf family and asl was my first language....went to a regular public school, but i can hear and speak pretty well, and do use the phone....when i am among the deaf, i tell them that i am deaf....the reason why i do this is becuz i always felt the deaf push me aside....i feel they can accept me better when i say that...sorry folks, but thats me....if im with hearing people, i just tell them im hard of hearing and for them to speak directly to me...and also getting back to the deaf, i wont wear my hearing aid while with them, cuz they tend to tell me to ask them (hearies) something, and i dont want to do that...rather if i dont wear it, then they will not depend on me....i might get some lashings from u folks, but thats the way i did it for 50 something years....aint gunna change it...lol
 
sr171soars said:
There are bigger issues out there to worry about than this...
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practice what you preach. c:)

thank you everyone! interesting responses.
 
I identify as deaf. I have a bilateral sensorineural loss of of about 100-110 dB up to 3000Hz in my right ear and no response past that, and up to 1500Hz in my left and then no response past that. I started identifying as deaf (rather than HOH) when my thresholds dropped and even with aids I could no longer understand speech. I speech read 100% of the time.

I don't like the term hearing impairment. I don't feel as though I am broken. End of point.
 
Chase said:
One cute thirty-something volunteer at the veterans' center sat me down, stroking me like a wayward cat. I enjoyed it too much to let her know I speech-read, so she wrote me how they have hearing aids now that no one will notice, so that without embarrassment, my final days would be so much richer--if I would only try them. I was hoping she would take me home with her, but a nurse who knew me came out and saved her.
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:rofl: ... bet you enjoyed seeing her make a fool of herself! :lol:
 
freckles said:
question for profound deafies (all forms of hearies opinions are welcome too), sorry if this was brought up before - do show me the thread if so.

question: I understand hearing impaired is politically corrected term, do you find it offensive? makes you feel really 'disabled'? psychologically disabled? or just fine? if so or whatlike, why, etc.

and by the way, while I think this is a sticky question, do you, people who can hear at least a bit well (with or with no hearing aids), do you consider yourself deaf or hardofhearing?

eager to hear all, diverse thoughts!
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I'll be honest, I hate the Impaired label. I don't know what is so wrong with everybody just being called deaf! HOH seems to imply to the hearing world that with hearing aids I must be able to carry on a conversation no problem. Hearing impaired seems to be telling me that I must be fixed in some way if possible, when in reality I love my life and the person I am and wouldn't change it for anything.

I guess I don't fully understand what "being deaf" (little D) means. Is it complete absence of sound? I hear some sounds without my aids, more sounds with my aids (but I still need to see ones lips to "hear"). What's wrong with the term deaf? Nothing to me. It cuts through all the bullshit. I have a hard time hearing, please stop covering your damn mouth.

I don't know ASL (yet!!), but I find out often how stupid I am for not learning, just by telling people I'm deaf. So many times the customer at work, cashier at the store, lady wanting to shoot the sh#t while waiting, will break out their hands and start signing! It's amazing. Can't wait to quit working and start learning ASL.
 
jillio said:
In my experience, doctors could use the most education! They seem to be so full of knowledge regarding pathology that there is no room in their brains for cultural information! LOL.
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SO TRUE! Nurses more so. Although I did see one Doctor last Oct. Turns out his kids had started a new school, and one of their classmates had deaf parents. He was so curious as to how I "hear", as I seem to have no problems understanding him (which shocked me, as he was from India and I don't do well with accents). We probably spent an hour talking about things.

I was working at a nursing home last year. I quit because it was so understaffed and an accident just waiting to happen. I let the head nurse know, she said "I figured this job would be to hard for you as your deaf". ugh, lucky for her I just wanted to get out of there. I was the best damn employee they had, someone who actually gave a rats turd about the residents.

I'm due to give birth in July. I hated the nurses for this very reason last time. I am just posting a note on the damn door saying "I'm deaf, not dumb, probably better read than your are, treat me with respect or stay the hell out". I'm too old for this crap.
 
Ozzie said:
:rofl: ... bet you enjoyed seeing her make a fool of herself! :lol:
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Well, I was the fool . . . but, yes, I thoroughly enjoyed it. That kind of attention costs hearies about $9 a minute on the phone, ha ha ha.
 
Chase said:
Well, I was the fool . . . but, yes, I thoroughly enjoyed it. That kind of attention costs hearies about $9 a minute on the phone, ha ha ha.
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Yep, you were the foolish one. I think it is terrible that you are doing that. She is trying to do good and be a friend, and you do this to her.

I was a nurse aide, and I wished I could be nice to men that lived there and be a friend so they don't be lonely, but they HAD to act sexual and all.

Next time, be a friend to her so it will make it worthwhile for her.
 
Rainshower77 said:
Yep, you were the foolish one. I think it is terrible that you are doing that. She is trying to do good and be a friend, and you do this to her.

I was a nurse aide, and I wished I could be nice to men that lived there and be a friend so they don't be lonely, but they HAD to act sexual and all.

Next time, be a friend to her so it will make it worthwhile for her.
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She wasn't being a friend....she was being paternalistic and insulting. Chase at least had the courtesy to be complimentary toward her attractiveness.
 
Rainshower77 said:
I think it is terrible that you are doing that. She is trying to do good and be a friend, and you do this to her.
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Do what? I just let her assume with no evidence whatsoever that an old man was senile or a deafie was a mental case . . . in either event needed to be treated like a backward child.

Rainshower77 said:
. . . but they HAD to act sexual and all.
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Now you are assuming. I never "act sexual" unless invited, and never in any way to clinic help. She had plenty of clues she was making a mistake, as I was alert, neatly groomed, and was reading a book without pictures. After she over-pronounced "Can you read?" and I nodded, the notes I answered were in penmanship, spelling, punctuation, and grammar at least on a par with hers.

Rainshower77 said:
Next time, be a friend to her so it will make it worthwhile for her.
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I was friendly and circumspect at all times. But about making "it worthwhile for her," isn't that turned around? Shouldn't veterans clinic staff make it "worthwhile" for the patients, not vice-versa? I'll admit that often isn't the case, but wouldn't it be nice?
 
Chase said:
Do what? I just let her assume with no evidence whatsoever that an old man was senile or a deafie was a mental case . . . in either event needed to be treated like a backward child.



Now you are assuming. I never "act sexual" unless invited, and never in any way to clinic help. She had plenty of clues she was making a mistake, as I was alert, neatly groomed, and was reading a book without pictures. After she over-pronounced "Can you read?" and I nodded, the notes I answered were in penmanship, spelling, punctuation, and grammar at least on a par with hers.



I was friendly and circumspect at all times. But about making "it worthwhile for her," isn't that turned around? Shouldn't veterans clinic staff make it "worthwhile" for the patients, not vice-versa? I'll admit that often isn't the case, but wouldn't it be nice?
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Quite agree. Volunteers are there to increase the comfort of the patient.

But you know what else I have great difficulty understanding? Women spend considerable time and money grooming themselves so that they will appear attractive to the opposite sex. But then, when a male comments or notices the attractiveness of a female, he is suddenly accused of committing some degree of sexual harrassment and of being insensitive.:dunno2:
 
I say I have hearing problems.

In ASL class, teacher called the person with hearing aid HH and called us all others Hearing, but I tell her I'm HH. Then she played a video in class and I could not hear the words on the video and it did not have caption!
 
:tsk

I doubt she thinks that way about you. She was trying to being nice the best she knows how. Maybe she was just trying to start a conversation but feels uncomfortable being there.

As far as sexual, I was talking about my experience.. geez, I had men pinch my butt and all and I am just trying to do my job. I didn't come there so I could be harrassed.. but I put up with it, because some men really are mental.
 
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