I’m a deaf writer and am a very proud Brand Ambassador for Phonak. I am also a Phonak hEARo and write for hearinglikeme.com.
I’m a latecomer to the deaf party, as I was only diagnosed with hearing loss around five years ago, although ask my family and they’ll tell you my deafness was around a lot longer.
Recently my hearing loss has changed and not in a good way. My original diagnosis was mild to moderate bilateral sensorineural hearing loss high pitched. As of February 2021, my hearing has changed from moderate to severe in high pitched. I also have tinnitus on a daily basis.
I wear a pair of Phonak Nathos Auto M hearing aids. For most things, these work well for me, however, ask anyone with hearing loss and they’ll tell you that hearing aids do not replace or compensate for hearing loss, they help. Well, it’s in the name ‘hearing aid’ right?
(The hearing aid I’m holding in the image above is one of my old ones, for those in the know, yes it is a Phonak Nathos Auto Micro)
I am very proud to be a member of the deaf community and am very passionate about breaking down the barriers that exist between the hearing mainstream society and the d/D communities.
Deaf Awareness
Deaf awareness isn’t that difficult a thing to understand. In a sense, it is about thoughtfulness and understanding. If you can hear perfectly, that’s great, I’m so happy for you, I really am. The only problem I ever have with hearing people is when they assume that everyone else can hear as well as they can.
I can’t I’m deaf. I wear hearing aids and because of my deafness, I often struggle in what would appear to you as normal everyday situations. Here are a number of tips to help me understand you better and to make our interactions a little smoother.
Before speaking, make sure that you’re facing me and you have my attention. Hearing aids are a little like listening to the radio, my mind wanders and often I only become aware that I’m being spoken to partway through a sentence.
If I’m facing away from you touch my arm or shoulder to get my attention. (Something that’s become impossible with social distancing).
Please, if you’re speaking to me try not to mumble or turn away. Don’t eat or chew gum. Don’t touch or cover your mouth. I lip-read. I didn’t attend a class to do this; it’s a natural instinct for deaf people. I also use facial expressions more than you might think to help me during a conversation.
If I ask you to repeat something, please don’t tell me it doesn’t matter, because this makes me feel excluded from the conversation. Instead, try saying it in a different way, and use alternative words, this can work a treat.
Being deaf means I have limited hearing, however, please do not assume that it makes me less able to do things. Because I assure you I am capable of doing anything and everything a hearing person can do. My only limitations are the same ones as you might have health, skill and knowledge.
A quick lesson on deaf culture terminology
A lower case ‘d’ stands for a person with hearing loss, also known as being hard of hearing (hoh). – An upper case ‘D’ stands for a person who identifies as culturally Deaf. They may also be actively engaged with the Deaf community. Deaf with a capital D indicates a cultural identity for people with hearing loss who share a common culture and who often have a shared sign language such as British Sign Language (BSL) or American Sign Language (ASL) for example.
In a sense there are two communities, however, much depends on the individual and how active or involved they choose to be. Also, how they feel and experience their own deafness, after all, we’re all individuals.
It is very different for example for a person born Deaf than for someone like myself who has lived hearing until they begin to lose their hearing.