Can someone who is severely deaf talk normally?

Hmm,..I do wear hearing aids, but at this point it's purely because of habit...even with HA, I can't hear myself..but I still choose to wear them because it's sort of a "security blanket"

Also, I was told if I choose to not use my voice and only use ASL, I can actually lose the ability to speak... Is that true? That worries me because
I have been hanging out with mostly Deaf crowd lately, and don't use my voice that much anymore... could that be causing my speech quality to 'deteriorate' even faster ?

thank you
 
Vespertine said:
Hmm,..I do wear hearing aids, but at this point it's purely because of habit...even with HA, I can't hear myself..but I still choose to wear them because it's sort of a "security blanket"

Also, I was told if I choose to not use my voice and only use ASL, I can actually lose the ability to speak... Is that true? That worries me because
I have been hanging out with mostly Deaf crowd lately, and don't use my voice that much anymore... could that be causing my speech quality to 'deteriorate' even faster ?

thank you
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If you don't choose to speak on a frequent basis, you'll find that your speaking skills may be rusty once you start using it again. It's the same with signing, if you end up not signing for years, even decades, you may find yourself struggling to remember how to use it.

You shouldn't have much to worry about, just be yourself.
 
If you think about it, there are parts of speech that do not have much feel to them. Put your hand on your throat and feel the different words and parts of words. some sounds have no feel to them. kind of hard to replicate sounds when there is no "feedback" that you are actually making those sounds. So, we start to drop them. You might even consider working with a speech therapist in learning to make the sounds that you cannot feel. Kind of like retraining yourself how to speak but this time around you will do it with feel and muscle memory not hearing. (this from a guy with years of speech therapy in school). The biggest benefit of speech therapy is becoming aware of how speech is formed in the mouth. This teaches you what to pay attention to when speaking (and practicing) and also helps you to become more aware of what to watch for when speech reading.
 
Hmm good idea..I might look into that..but at the same time, I'm not too concerned about what I sound like to others..as long as I don't lose the ability completely (though I think that is just me being paranoid and worrying to much haha).
I was one of those people who didn't believe my doc when he said "KEEP TALKING, OR YOU MAY LOSE IT" ..I was like psh yeah right, impossible!
on the positive ,people in public tend to look at me directly..and speak a little slower when they hear my voice...at first I was confused: "how do they know I can't hear??" ..now that I know my voice is developing an 'accent', i'm a little relieved it's letting people know about my situation rather than they assume I can hear and not look at me when they speak.

i was reading the other posts, I think it's funny when people ask where I'm from. I've gotten Germany recently, too..one time someone said "have you been drinking?" SMH -__-
 
^^^^^^ LOL!!! Come on, fess up, you have been drinking, right?!?! :giggle:
 
What does it matter, anyhow? To please the hearies?
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oops, I forgot about this thread -
no, not to "please" - it's merely a matter of practicality.

If you speak clearly, and clearly being considered 'normal' as in 'hearing way'- you are being easily understood.
Not only by the hearies, by the deaf and HoH, too.

Personally as HoH (if wearing HAs) I find it very hard to understand "deaf speech". Or mustachios, or beards etc.

Fuzzy
 
rebeccalj said:
What was it like to just be allow be deaf? No voice. No oral.?
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Like be told you good just how you are...like unconditional love we see so many parents talk about. That how it like.

Audiofuzzy said:
oops, I forgot about this thread -
no, not to "please" - it's merely a matter of practicality.

If you speak clearly, and clearly being considered 'normal' as in 'hearing way'- you are being easily understood.
Not only by the hearies, by the deaf and HoH, too.

Personally as HoH (if wearing HAs) I find it very hard to understand "deaf speech". Or mustachios, or beards etc.

Fuzzy
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It really too bad those silly Deafies not think up way talk with their hands or something...then other deaf people easy understand them!
 
It really too bad those silly Deafies not think up way talk with their hands or something...then other deaf people easy understand them!
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I am not sure what are you getting at - I thought we were debating
if "someone who is severely deaf can talk normally?"

At least that's what I got from the thread's title...
:dunno:

Fuzzy
 
Vespertine said:
Something I find rather interesting has been bothering me lately...Can a late-deafened adult's speech quality change after loosing their hearing? I thought after you learn to speak, your speech quality would remain the same
but a lot of people, including close family members have commented on my voice
sounding different...
when I ask what they mean the response is "well..you're starting to SOUND like you can't hear..."
they said it is quite subtle, but sometimes more noticeable..

i can't hear myself speak anymore , so it surprised me..has anyone else experienced this????
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You're not the only one. I knew one post lingual deaf woman who clearly had deaf speech. She became deaf as a teen and she sounded deafer then me and I was born deaf!
 
I think it all comes down to what kind of audist training you receive... oops, AUDITORY training. :Oops: My bad! :lol:
 
This thread is practically dripping with audism... Stick around, you will get it eventually.
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1. Ok, so if you want to have a deaf person speech be compared to a hearing person speech,
who btw are a still a majority in the world,
what adjective and adverbs do you prefer to be used?

2. why would it be a considered right away "audism" simply to ask/theorize if
a deaf person
could speak like -okay- a hearing person, meaning without a deaf accent?
btw, don't you have to agree that just by saying "deaf accent"
(wasn't there just a thread about having deaf accent??)
you admit the deaf people does have a peculiar way of pronouncing words?

If you ask me, some things are being taken too far with the "audism" here.

I see nothing wrong or belittling to a deaf or HoH person about wondering
if it's possible for them to have a "normal' speech.
"normal' used for the lack of better adjective.

What I do see is some people got so overzealous with seeing "audism' everywhere,
their common sense went out the window... :roll:

3. The thread subject, again is the question whether or not it is possible for a deaf person ..... etc.
The discussion is therefore whether indeed it is, or not.

Somebody at one point have asked "why would they want to?" - which has really nothing to do with the subject matter.
I replied - it is not the "why? ... to please the hearies??"

because what matters here is only if they CAN or CAN NOT.

Then I added BUT if they wished to (not 'have to', not 'to please anyone', just if they WANTED TO for themselves)

then from practical POV - especially for a deaf person
it is better that the person who speak to him/ her has a clear speech.

because it is simply true- who do you understand better - a clear speaking
people or with unclear speech?
What if you, say, meet a deaf who doesn't know sign language and neither happen to have anything to write with?


Not everything is done for the hearies, people.


Fuzzy
 
Fuzzy,

I'm not sure I see what your point is. The term audism is both complex and simple. Recognizing audism gives you an opportunity to deal with it. We see audism every where simply because it's such an ingrained part of the society that we live in.
 
We see audism every where simply because it's such an ingrained part of the society that we live in.
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But are you sure you are not going overboard with it at times?

You haven't addressed none of the 1.2.3. point I brought up earlier.

May I remind you - what does audism have to do with the subject of
whether or not the deaf person is capable of speaking 'normal'?

If you simply object to the term 'normal', then say so instead,
and give me a better example of the word in its place, please.

Fuzzy
 
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