Legally Deaf

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When I was growing up, I used to always say that I am hard-of-hearing (HOH) or just said I didn’t hear that well or had a hearing problem. I didn’t think of myself as “deaf.” I had classmates who were deaf and I knew I could hear better than they could. To me, “deaf” meant not being able to hear a thing. Nada, zip, zilch.

I had a really good friend who was Deaf (capital D-means part of the Deaf Culture). She did ASL and the whole bit. She spoke pretty well, I thought. She did have some hearing and called herself HOH, too, but couldn't talk on the phone that well. We lost touch when she got divorced and moved. We even worked together for a few years until her divorce.

Lately, though not consistently, I just cut to the chase and say, “I’m deaf.” I can’t really hear anything in my implanted ear. And before it was implanted, I didn’t get any use out of it. I heard very few loud sounds if they were low enough, but if you talked into my pre-implanted ear, with or without my hearing aid (HA) in it, I would not hear you.

By the same token, I know that I will still be deaf in my implanted ear when I take the CI off.

With the HA in my better ear, I can hear, but I do not have good hearing with it. I am “deaf” without my HA. I wouldn’t hear you talk into my ear, but with my HA on, I would hear you and maybe get a few words, but I won’t get everything. I even amaze myself if I can get through a conversation without getting a repeat more than three times.

So, out of habit, I seem to go back and forth with “I am deaf” to “I am HOH” or “severely HOH.” I feel like I am lying if I say, “I’m deaf” even though without my HA on in my better ear, I can’t hear.anything but loud noises. It's hard to label myself as "deaf" at times.


I am going to confuse myself once my brain gets trained to hear with the CI. Am I deaf or HOH?

When I talk about my vision loss, I tell people I am legally blind or that I don't see that well or even "I have tunnel vision."

I have less than 20 degrees vision. There's a term for it: Legally blind. Seems simple enough.


So, is there a definition for “legally deaf”? It would be so much easier to explain that instead of trying to explain “severely HOH" in one ear and deaf in the other.

Plugged In

I had an appointment with my audie (audiologist).

Before I go on, I want to stress the importance of seeing an audie if you think you have a hearing problem. I do not recommend going to a hearing aid dealer/specialist (to me, they're nothing more than glorified [hearing aid] salespeople working on a commission). Audiologists have the training, the credentials, and advanced knowledge about what hearing aids are right for you. They work with you. I feel more comfortable, too. Sure, hearing aids (HAs) are not cheap. The last ones cost $1200 apiece. HAs have an average lifespan of 5-7 years. The ones I have now are about 5 years old. It gets expensive to get HAs replaced every 5-7 years, but it's worth it.

Here's some interesting facts: Just like fingerprints, every ear is different. What's more, the ear changes its shape every few years-even two years. so sometimes it's necessary to replace the earmold because they don't fit anymore. Otherwise pockets of air get in there and it whistles in your ear (very irriating!), not to mention how damaging it is to the ear.

My hearing dropped since the last time I got new HAs. I am in the process of getting new, more powerful HAs.

I had to get new earmolds for my new HAs. This is common. This was the reason for my appointment.

The audie tied up a small piece of cotton with a string and pushed one gently into each ear. Then she filled each ear canal with a thick, pliant material (think silly putty but more waxy-like). She leaves it to set for about 15 minutes. It feels cool and well, ...there. I don't chew gum that much, but I wished I had some gum to release the plugged in feeling, but then again, that could affect the molding process.

She returns and pulls them out by the sting and then checks each ear for anything that may have gotten stuck in there.

She tells me that my earmolds will be bigger than the ones I have now. This is because my new HAs are going to be more powerful. This helps to avoid the feedback or whistling problems. (I always wondered why some of the hard-of-hearing or deaf people I knew had bigger earmolds than others. I just didn't question it because I thought every audie's specification was different.)

I have a new appointment in three weeks. I will be getting new HAs!! The only downside is that the brain needs to adjust to the new HAs. So things will sound different until it adjusts to it. The sounds I hear are always hollow-like, kind of tinny or metallic. A dropped coin sounds "rattlely." It's pretty much artificial. Most of the time, it only takes about a few days to a week to retrain the brain to get used to the HAs and the sounds.

I will post an update on that once I get the new HAs.