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Educating others about hearing loss and deafness
Hearing Loss | Last Active: Mar 16, 2020 | Replies (17)Comment receiving replies
@julieo4
Oh yeah....been in that scenario.....stuck in the middle ....until someone realizes and makes an attempt to include me. I don’t think I noticed if anyone deliberately chose not to sit next to me. This happens in a large group rather than with 2 or 3 people. Also happened several times with a deaf and hard of hearing group. I don’t sign (know some signs but don’t use) and everyone else does and uses both . But they were faced away from me in order to sign and speak at the same time. I actually avoid the lunch get together after a monthly club meeting because of this and because I don’t like the same restaurant they always attend. And I only brought up the topic to one or two people at that time. I don’t really know all of them that well.
I have learned ASL in the past but all my everyday friends are hearing so I never used it. If it’s a large group of family members I make sure I know what’s going on and try to use my Live Transcribe app. But there are rude and insensitive people in both worlds and I can choose when not to participate. Really depends on how I feel about advocating that day...usually have no problem with that . Then there are days that I don’t give a flip. You really need a tough exterior and a sense of humor at times but I have been HOH a long time and don’t feel sorry for myself at all.
Regards from FL Mary
Replies to "@julieo4 Oh yeah....been in that scenario.....stuck in the middle ....until someone realizes and makes an attempt..."
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Mary, you and I have a lot in common. Mostly, in these situations I just wing it although frustrated because I cannot participate fluidly in the conversation w/o knowing what it's about. Makes me feel that people don't know how smart I am. (smile) They are my friends and comrades, so I keep going back. Glad I can shake it off and find some humor in it. Assistive technology (Mini Mic 2+) helps a lot, but it's still hard to follow conversation that is switching topics every 20 seconds. That's our reality in groups. ASL isn't a solution unless one decides to associate with others who use it. And, for speech readers it can be very distracting. I've been in many settings where signers are carrying on a conversation while a speaker is presenting. It's distracting and annoying. ASL is a beautiful means of communication, but is rarely a solution for hard of hearing people. Actually, I believe that talking about these things, as we do on this site, is an excellent stress buster.