eagle102938
New Member
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2012
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To make a long story long: When I was 10 or 11, my hearing loss was discovered. It's genetic, progressive loss, and ever since then I've used hearing aids.
I was brought up entirely Hearing, the only other HoH people I regularly encountered were my Mom and some of her sisters with the same condition, who were all raised entirely Hearing as well.
I'm 21 now, recently went home to visit my Mom, and finally really noticed the struggle she had without her aids in. She's not completely deaf, but without them in you'd have to sit next to her and speak very loud for her to understand. That's when I decided that if my hearing was going to go that way (or worse, as it probably will), I didn't want to be completely reliant on my aids. So I decided to learn ASL, and started taking online lessons this summer via Lifeprint.com.
As I took the lessons, I started to become more interested in Deaf culture, mostly due to the notes that Dr. Vicars included in the lessons. I eventually found this site, and I've been reading all that I can. But it's got me thinking about some questions, and I was wondering if anyone might could help me with them.
I know I'm culturally Hearing, for the most part. I was raised in a Hearing family, went to Hearing schools, etc. But lately I've noticed how much I have to struggle to adapt to the hearing world at times. Without my hearing aids, which I don't like to wear all the time, I can't hear someone if they're talking more than 10 or 15 feet away, facing me. Back turned? Forget about it.
Even with the aids in, as I'm sure a lot of you know, loud places make it almost impossible to hear sometimes. At work, I have to constantly ask people to repeat themselves, or wait for me to get closer. I love my friends to death, and they're really good about speaking up for me when I can't hear or something, but I can tell it annoys them when I ask to repeat for the third time. Hell, it annoys me!
So sometimes I feel like a stranger in a strange land, you know? I'm not culturally Deaf, but I'm feeling less Hearing pretty much every day. And everyone likes to feel like they "belong" somewhere, which is why I'm trying to learn more about the Deaf culture. My biggest concern is about being "accepted" as Hearing/HoH in the Deaf community. I still feel like an interloper, and like I haven't earned my place .
So I guess the first question is, do I, or could I, belong in the Deaf community?
I'm not trying to sound sappy here, haha. It's just an honest question.
I was brought up entirely Hearing, the only other HoH people I regularly encountered were my Mom and some of her sisters with the same condition, who were all raised entirely Hearing as well.
I'm 21 now, recently went home to visit my Mom, and finally really noticed the struggle she had without her aids in. She's not completely deaf, but without them in you'd have to sit next to her and speak very loud for her to understand. That's when I decided that if my hearing was going to go that way (or worse, as it probably will), I didn't want to be completely reliant on my aids. So I decided to learn ASL, and started taking online lessons this summer via Lifeprint.com.
As I took the lessons, I started to become more interested in Deaf culture, mostly due to the notes that Dr. Vicars included in the lessons. I eventually found this site, and I've been reading all that I can. But it's got me thinking about some questions, and I was wondering if anyone might could help me with them.
I know I'm culturally Hearing, for the most part. I was raised in a Hearing family, went to Hearing schools, etc. But lately I've noticed how much I have to struggle to adapt to the hearing world at times. Without my hearing aids, which I don't like to wear all the time, I can't hear someone if they're talking more than 10 or 15 feet away, facing me. Back turned? Forget about it.
Even with the aids in, as I'm sure a lot of you know, loud places make it almost impossible to hear sometimes. At work, I have to constantly ask people to repeat themselves, or wait for me to get closer. I love my friends to death, and they're really good about speaking up for me when I can't hear or something, but I can tell it annoys them when I ask to repeat for the third time. Hell, it annoys me!
So sometimes I feel like a stranger in a strange land, you know? I'm not culturally Deaf, but I'm feeling less Hearing pretty much every day. And everyone likes to feel like they "belong" somewhere, which is why I'm trying to learn more about the Deaf culture. My biggest concern is about being "accepted" as Hearing/HoH in the Deaf community. I still feel like an interloper, and like I haven't earned my place .
So I guess the first question is, do I, or could I, belong in the Deaf community?
I'm not trying to sound sappy here, haha. It's just an honest question.