HOH and Deaf

[Guest guest]

I've thought about this too over the years. I always called my son " deaf " He

was diagnosed at 2 months with a profound loss. He got hearing aids at 3.5

months and received some benefit with them. Whether he had his aids on or not I

still considered him deaf. At 20 months he received a CI. He can hear with his

CI at 25 - 35 dB. I still considered him deaf no matter what equipment he used

or at what levels he can hear with that equipment. When you get into the dB

levels or mild/moderate/severe/profound or other explanations I think it can be

more confusing to others.

For people curious about his equipment I tell them is deaf and he uses a

cochlear implant to help him hear. When they hear " deaf " it's pretty clear what

that means. Sometimes people will ask if he can hear anything and I'll tell

them that he probably can hear some sounds without his equipment but it is

minimal and he can't understand speech. His cochlear implant allows him to hear

more sounds so he can understand and learn speech.

As gets older and we learn more about what he hears I question how I should

refer to his loss with professionals or people familiar with hearing loss.

We've learned over the years that he has some residual hearing in his

unimplanted ear that goes from mild - profound. But it's probably just easier

to explain to people we casually meet that he is deaf.

I personally don't feel that there is anything negative about saying he is deaf.

And I think it's pretty enlightening to others to learn that a deaf child can

learn to speak and listen. In my eyes will always be " deaf "

K

's mom, 3.11 years, CI 7/30/02