I would rather called myself deaf instead of HOH. If I take my HA off, I'm totally deaf. HA is assistive device, if you take your glass off, you are near blindness! Glasses are assistive device as well.
Years ago, when I joined deaf bowling league. Many of them hardly noticed anything if I'm HOH or deaf since I signed fluent just like ordinary deaf groupies. Well, one guy got little suspicious of me and he asked me if I'm deaf or HOH. I told him that I'm deaf. Few minutes later, my old alpha-numeric pager went off and my IT guy need me to call him. So, I walk up to pay phone and call him, I have my phone rested against my HA. Suddenly I felt a hard jolted back of my head, which is the same guy who asked me if I'm deaf or HOH, made a hard slapped back of my head, I turned my head to him and he threw a fit signing to me "YOU ARE HOH!! NOT DEAF!!" Then he walked away. I was like... what the f**cking hell!!
You know, I'm proud deaf, so I decided this, If I'm with deaf groups, I'll say HOH, If I'm with hearing group, I'll say deaf. Of course hearing people wouldn't smacked the back of my head!!
