subject: Myths Associated With Deafness [print this page] Myths Associated With Deafness Myths Associated With Deafness
Deaf people are selective about what they hearSomeone who is hard of hearing may be able to understand partial pieces of speech; they may understand some of what you say, but by no means all of it. Although this is confusing to the listener and there are many reasons why this occurs. Some people can hear certain pitches very clearly but not others and this will explain the myth that deaf people are selective about what they hear.Someone who relies on lip-reading to hear may be tired because the skill requires intense concentration. You may be talking to someone with a hearing aid and these work best at a distance of less than 5 feet, in one-to-one conversations and quiet environments; if you try to speak to somebody in a group setting with a high level of background noise this is difficult for them to hear. Sign language is an international languageSign language, like any other language has its own grammar pertaining to the language being signed. Although British sign language has been recognised since 2003 and it is the most prevalent method of communication for the deaf it is not the only sign language. Sign supported English or SSE is not a recognised language, but many people use it to communicate and it is rather like a kind of English with signing.All Deaf people Can lip-readThere are many words in the English language when spoken that use the same lip shapes and these can't be distinguished by sight. Even fluent lip readers need a little assistance such as gestures which will give a clue as to the subject of the conversation.Not all deaf people can lipread and their success depends on their memory, the degree of their hearing loss, their mental capabilities and their willingness to learn a new method of communication. It is also affected by how clearly other people speak, - the task of lip-reading is made very difficult if people mumble or they have a moustache. Some people do not enunciate words clearly and that means that they don't move their lips properly and this can make the task of lip reading harder, or even impossible. The majority of English sounds cannot be seen at the lip level, because the sounds come from the back of the throat. Hearing aids can always restore hearing.Hearing aids are an aid to hearing, but they can't actually restore hearing. Statistically only a third of people in the UK that could be helped by hearing aid use one regularly. There are over 2 million people with a hearing aid but it is estimated that over 6 million people could benefit.There are still only two types of hearing aids, analogue aids amplify sound whereas digital hearing aids convert the sound into information which is capable of being processed by a tiny computer. Because it can change sounds they are more adaptable to different individual hearing losses. Whatever type of hearing aid you have background noise is amplified and this can be a problem in certain situations. It is another myth that digital hearing aids eliminate background noise they can reduce it more effectively than analogue technology, but it is never excluded which is why hearing aids function better in a quiet environment.Deaf people can hear more clearly when people shout.Unfortunately when human shout their voice is always distorted and that makes it harder to differentiate between sounds rather than easier. You can easily give the wrong message to a deaf person when you shout. They think that you are angry. If they are wearing a hearing aid this distortion and sound is magnified and can be painful to their ears. Other people speak slowly or exaggerate their lip movements whilst in reality just speaking clearly is often sufficient. Form your words fully in other words do not cut off the end of words and speak at your normal volume. Deaf people have enough problems in their lives without people appearing to treat them as imbeciles; they are hard of hearing rather than stupid.
