by Terri Singer

            “Have you lost your senses?” he asked.

           “Only one,” I replied.  “And only part of it at that.”

           Although the inquirer was questioning my sanity, I found my reply just one more opportunity to let a normal hearing person know that I have experienced hearing loss over the past 26 years.   Usually, a person with hearing loss tries to hide it (if you can’t wear a tiny in-the-ear one, cover that hearing aids with hair or a scarf or something).  Because hearing loss is an invisible handicap, it’s difficult to find the accommodation needed to be connected to the world of sound that leads to communication.  We’re often apologetic about our failure to “understand the words.  Or, we laugh when everyone else laughs and hope the joke really was funny and not in poor taste.

We use an enormous amount of energy in the daily struggle to be involved in our work, families, entertainment and leisure activities.  Often, we end our days completely exhausted by this struggle.  And even more often, we feel alone in it.

Help is on the way!  Next month, a new group will be forming here at Nativity.  The tentative name is Sound Connections.  The permanent name will be decided by the group, once we’re up and running.  Sound Connections has been chosen at this point to stress the difference between “late-deafened” and “culturally deaf” persons.  The emphasis will be on the sounds we hear, and have heard from birth, as opposed to the absence of sound in the life of one who was born deaf.  The connection part will be the basis of the group, presenting opportunities to connect with others who share your challenges.

At the first meeting, we’ll decide how often we want to meet … once a month; once a month for a presentation on new technology, treatment or coping strategies and also once a month for a social event … more often … less often.  At some point we may discuss the option of affiliating with a national group, such as the Hearing Loss Association of America.   The group will take the shape its members choose.

Although its purpose will be to connect people who lost hearing in one degree or another after they learned to speak, anyone with any type of hearing loss will be welcome.  We’ll have an ASL interpreter on hand.  We’ll provide what assistive listening devices we can.  We’ll have paper and pens for writing when necessary.  We’ll do whatever it takes to make everyone feel involved and never excluded.  Also, please feel free to bring a guest, a person you depend on for support who might pick up some communication tips along the way.

Hearing loss is a difficult thing to empathize with and even more difficult to explain to loved ones.  In Sound Connections, we’ll share strategies to ease the stress of missing words.  Come join us and feel connected!

The Deaf vs. Late-deafened

 Culturally deaf persons, sometimes referred to as The Deaf, are born without hearing.  They are perfect within themselves, having been born the way God intended.  They are happy in their deafness.  They have their own language and their own cultural identity.  They have an enormous support system.  They are easily identified by their use of American Sign Language in public.  They have no sense of loss.

Late-deafened persons are those who are born hearing and lose some degree of that hearing after they learn to speak.  Depending on when and to what degree they lose hearing they may or may not learn American Sign Language.  If they lose hearing as an adult, they probably learn to read speech without formal training.  (You know you’ve begun to do this when you realize that you are noticing people’s teeth!)  People who experience gradual or radical hearing loss during or after school years suffer a great sense of loss.  They face many challenges as they struggle to keep up with conversations, exchanges of information at work, and in noisy social environments.  They cannot be readily identified on sight.  They have a limited support system, if any.  They often feel alone in their particular situation.