Posted on 10/01/2011 6:37:11 AM PDT by TSgt
I am deaf as well, although apparently not as deaf as you. I have total nerve damage in my left ear but function in society with some difficulty.
I have long gone to the hospital where Rush had his implant and John House, his doctor, is mine as well.
I am deaf and my doctor is John House who is Rush’s doctor. Deafness is not as simple as you imply.
Cochlear implants will not cure my deafness at all. I would pay any amount of money to get normal hearing.
Just wondering, how effective is the implant? Are you able to do ordinary things such as speaking on the phone with a stranger?
Oh, yes. If you look at my profile, I am an institutional equities trader in the stock market. I have been doing it for about 35 years. But most of my time is on the phone which is the easiest way for me to hear.
Over the years, my ability to hear in person has eroded. I speak, but more often now, people have to repeat. I have been this way from birth. You don’t miss what you never had. :)
How are you faring?
BY the way, I have no implant. They were not available when I was younger. And they cannot help my total nerve damage.
Hope I cleared that up.
Apparently this technology is a little different from what Rush uses, or what you may be familiar with - dunno. He says he can’t use it. Don’t know why.
Progress marches on.
I wondered the same thing. If she’s never heard her own voice before, then she’s never heard anyone else’s, either. Yet her speech is great and she understands what the other woman says to her. I’m happy for the girl, as she’s obviously thrilled to have this device and she must believe it will help her in some way, but something about this story isn’t complete.
Thanks for sharing. We need more people like you. As it is right now, too many people do not recognize American Sign Language as a language in its own right!
Your bitterness does not mean our recognition of that fact is a personal attack. We have an American who lives in the White House who also whines and moans about the beauty in America.
I never went to a school for the Deaf growing up so I was mainstreamed. In all of my classes, I had a sign language interpreter. Often, I would be the only Deaf person in the classroom. It is isolating at times. Especially when the only other person who knows sign language in the classroom was my interpreter.
Fortunately, I wasn't the only Deaf person at my school so I had access to the Deaf Community there and in the area where I lived.
In retrospect, if Cochlear Implants were effective back then, my parents would probably would had wanted me to have one. But back in the '80s, they were new and the technology was emerging back then so my parents didn't want me to be used as a guinea pig.
And what does President Obama have to do with this thread? lol you're being funny.
I developed severe hearing problems at about age 40, half a lifetime ago. I've pursued state of the art hearing aid technology as best I could afford.
Right now, I have some excellent aids that allow me to converse easily with three or four people. But more than that imposes great hearing difficulty. It doesn't have to be a family reunion that puts me out of the realm of understanding.
No matter how painstakingly the amplified signal is made the inverse of the hearing loss curve, cross talk and echoes make hearing in a crowd very difficult.
The world is a calm and peaceful place without my hearing aids, but I'd rather hear well. Digital technology is superior to analog, and both are a world better than the old silver ear trumpet my great-grandmother used.
“Indeed, this story is a bit perplexing. Not only can she understand what is said to her when her eyes are closed...but notice how she speaks perfectly....Her enunciation is PERFECT for a deaf person. Just seems odd if you ask me.”
My sister is profoundly deaf since birth. Her auditory nerves did not develop (left and right) and how she ever could develop the speech and listening skills is mainly due to her being a very intelligent person. She still reads lips but not nearly as much since having a cochlear implant at age 40. Her hearing and speech have improved quite a bit. I would love to hear my sister’s voice as she would sound as a hearing person. She does very well on the telephone and always has. The fact that she could use a telephone at all was always a big mystery to me and others in the family. I have looked into the Esteem and I don’t think my sister would be a candidate for it because of the nature of her deafness but if something else comes along that can do for her what the Esteem did for young lady in the video, I’m sure that she would experience the difference immediately and any observers would be hearing her again for the first time as she hears her own voice again for the first time. I believe that in my sister’s case, the changes would occur instantaneously. I’m sure of it.
Thought this story and the comments here might be of interest to you.
I thought the same. Don’t those who are deaf or near deaf have a quacking-like sound to their voices?
Apparently, someone who cherishes/celebrates/flaunts h/h disability by always Capitalizing its name...
Sad...
Deaf means you are a member of the Deaf community with the use of American Sign Language to communicate with each other. If you have hearing loss and you do not use American Sign Language, then you are deaf because you are not a member of the Deaf Community.
~~~~~
We FReepers are (ostensibly ) members of the Conservative Community.
Do you see FReepers capitalizing the word, "conservative" every time we refer to that political stance?
You flaunt your disability.
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