About me: Expanded.

Hey readers!

I am sure you saw one of my previous posts, introducing myself as a deaf person.

"But how do you hear music if you're deaf?"

"Do you lip read?"

"How do you know what people are saying?"

Let me say this. First of all, ever since I was an infant, my parents never knew I was deaf until I was maybe... 10 months old? I do not remember, and I will have to ask my parents if thats accurate, but whatever. My dad told me that he found out I was deaf, how? One time, he was holding me, I was really young, and he just randomly called out my mother. Loudly, I assume; because a few seconds later I started bawling my eyes out. My parents were so confused. They did not know why I randomly started crying! Well, they took me to the doctor for an audiology test. I failed the tests so, basically.. The doctor said I have hearing loss. My parents were heartbroken but my mother decided to take ASL/SEE class to be able to help me communicate, and to communicate with me. My dad had another idea. He did sign but not too much. At two years old, I became old enough to wear hearing aids, so they went ahead and got me hearing aids.

Ever since I was little, I remember, my parents teaching me how to say things, my parents had me go to speech classes for as long as I could remember! (I hated my speech teacher in high school by the way) I had one speech teacher who I really liked, but something happened and she left to teach at another school. Then after that I hated my speech teacher. But anyway, thats not the point.

Back to my using hearing aids. Because I have worn hearing aids since the age of 2, my brain and ears already have been trained for so long to use my residual hearing to help me grow up in a world of hearing people.

How do you understand the music and words?

Honestly, if it were not for the internet and the written lyrics, I would have NO freaking idea what my favorite artists were singing back then. I had to read lyrics over and over and over just to be able to understand what was being sung, but now I can sing along without using the lyrics.

Do you lip read?

Yes I lip read. It is quite exhausting but I lip read when I have to. It helps a lot. I would have to say though.. Because I have grown up in a more.. hearing environment, lip reading comes a bit easier than if I grew up in a deaf school. But thats just my opinion. Not trying to sound snobbish or anything.


How do you know what people are saying?

Well, like I have already explained. Since I was two, I have been around people who spoke for the majority of the time. The human brain is complex, and I am blessed to have been able to pick up what people talk about at a young age. Granted, I still get left out at times. But most of the time, I can talk to my family, I can talk to my friends, I can carry a conversation for the most part. If I know the person very well, it's easier for me to lip read because... Obviously its a person who I know.

So.. Yeah. I hope that expands your knowledge of my deafness!

Deafness is varied. Some people have severe to profound, and wear hearing aids just like me but can't identify words with lip movements. Some people don't wear hearing aids at all, but can understand lip reading perfectly. It varies :)

Thank you for reading! If you have any more questions feel free to ask me :) I won't be offended.