trojan.panther
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- Oct 10, 2010
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Hi,
I had spinal meningitis a couple years ago and completely lost hearing for about 3 weeks except for a constant woosh woosh sound. 4th week I got some hearing in my right ear and still none in my left. Majority of my hearing came back within 2 months but I started noticing peoples conversations were broken like there were words missing or it just didn't sound like actual words but noise. I avoided phone calls with some people because I could not understand a word they said, and sometimes would reply in a guess to what they said and got a really confused face. I avoided crowded places and couldn't hear anyone who was not right in front of me but most of the time I was reading lips, a skill I got when working corrections.
We have CC on our home TV's because if I read the word I can hear the word at the same time. But if I am just trying to listen, the words sound like gibberish. My husband got angry and said he was tired of arguments that would happen because he would ask me to say "pay the water bill today" and I would think he said Ill be late today. Strange to me is how they are different sentences but I totally misunderstood them. I finally went and got hearing aids and they said structurally everything is fine but I had neuro hearing loss I believe. I wear Oticon hearing aids when I go out, going to movies, not so much at home. They make my ears itch inside too much.
I am learning ASL because my deaf friends use ASL and I want to communicate with them and because it is already difficult for me to hear it is nice to know I can have another form of communication. I will ask for people to practice ASL with me or post questions for my ASL classes like many before me on these forums if you don't mind. I did apply to Sorenson VP so I can communicate with my deaf friends and it will help my husband as he watches to learn with me so we can communicate better. I have a feeling I will be denied since I have basic ASL skills and can fingerspell but I am only learning at this time.
Does it sound weird that I prefer to communicate with deaf people now more so than hearing? Hearing I can misunderstand what people are saying and people look at me crazy if I ask them to repeat themselves several times. Deaf people seem more willing to help and want you to learn and are very forgiving.
Sorry to write a book, nice to meet you.
I had spinal meningitis a couple years ago and completely lost hearing for about 3 weeks except for a constant woosh woosh sound. 4th week I got some hearing in my right ear and still none in my left. Majority of my hearing came back within 2 months but I started noticing peoples conversations were broken like there were words missing or it just didn't sound like actual words but noise. I avoided phone calls with some people because I could not understand a word they said, and sometimes would reply in a guess to what they said and got a really confused face. I avoided crowded places and couldn't hear anyone who was not right in front of me but most of the time I was reading lips, a skill I got when working corrections.
We have CC on our home TV's because if I read the word I can hear the word at the same time. But if I am just trying to listen, the words sound like gibberish. My husband got angry and said he was tired of arguments that would happen because he would ask me to say "pay the water bill today" and I would think he said Ill be late today. Strange to me is how they are different sentences but I totally misunderstood them. I finally went and got hearing aids and they said structurally everything is fine but I had neuro hearing loss I believe. I wear Oticon hearing aids when I go out, going to movies, not so much at home. They make my ears itch inside too much.
I am learning ASL because my deaf friends use ASL and I want to communicate with them and because it is already difficult for me to hear it is nice to know I can have another form of communication. I will ask for people to practice ASL with me or post questions for my ASL classes like many before me on these forums if you don't mind. I did apply to Sorenson VP so I can communicate with my deaf friends and it will help my husband as he watches to learn with me so we can communicate better. I have a feeling I will be denied since I have basic ASL skills and can fingerspell but I am only learning at this time.
Does it sound weird that I prefer to communicate with deaf people now more so than hearing? Hearing I can misunderstand what people are saying and people look at me crazy if I ask them to repeat themselves several times. Deaf people seem more willing to help and want you to learn and are very forgiving.
Sorry to write a book, nice to meet you.
to AllDeaf forum. Don't be sorry as you are not alone. We are use to communicating with other Deaf people better than hearing people. Yes, we have to ask hearing people to repeat so that we comprehend what they are saying. Usually they would say "never mind". 
If you can understand one-to-one conversation by lipreading with hearing person like your husband or a friend. That would be fine. But if you can not lipread, then use the sign language like ASL which help a lot to communicate with anyone who can sign. Don't forget to use paper and pen for writing down what the hearing people say so that you can understand what they are saying. That helps a lot. 
