Resources

They say curiosity kills the cat, but so far I've found out a lot of interesting stuff on the web about deafness and hearing loss without consequence. Also, all the moggies in my street are just fine, so I don't think that statement rings true somehow!

I found this article which talks about single-sided deafness. "A day in the life" type story, which I have to say is the most accurate description of it I've ever read. The only major differences between me and this guy are that (Well I'm female to state the obvious haha), I'm not married, I never had any hearing in the right ear to start with, and I hear a smoke alarm loud and clear. Actually that's an understatement. Smoke alarms are so loud and high-pitched that I find it extremely painful to listen to them go off. I have to block my good ear if that happens.
Anyways, have a read. It's really well written!

http://tribalvillages.org/deaf-essays/single-sided-deafness.html

On another note, I found something amusing as well. This version and similar versions are floating around the net.

The Ten Commandments (for those who interact with the hard of hearing).

1. Thou shalt not speak from another room.

2. Thou shalt not speak with your back toward the person with a hearing problem.

3. Thou shalt not start speaking and then turn away from the person with the problem.

4. Thou shalt not speak in competition with anything else (running water, TV, etc.)

5. Thou shalt get the attention of the person before you begin speaking.

6. Thou shalt speak face to face whenever possible.

7. Thou shalt try to remove obstructions such as your hand from in front of your mouth.

8. Thou shalt speak clearly and distinctly (no mumbling.)

9. Thou shalt exercise patience when communicating with a hard of hearing person.

10. Thou shalt be supportive to that person.

My first post!

Hi people! So this is my first post on my first blog. I've started to read up a lot on topics/discussions about hearing loss and deafness. There's some really interesting stuff out there! I thought it was about time I started a blog to keep track of this stuff, reflect on it and get feedback from like-minded people.

I probably should be sociable and introduce myself.
I'm 23 and if you want to get technical, I have what's called *takes breath* "Profound Congenital Unilateral Sensorineural Hearing Loss".
Cool name right? but what does it mean? In simpler terms, I'm profoundly (completely) deaf in my right ear due to nerve deafness and have been since birth. How come you say? Nobody knows. All I know is that I have a busted inner ear (cochlea to be specific). Ok anatomy lesson over.

Since 2006 I've been wearing wireless CROS hearing aids (Contralateral Routing of Signal). They are behind-the-ear hearing aids (one on each ear). Basically they take the sound arriving on the right side of my head (my deaf side) and feed it into my opposite ear. When I have the aids in I can now hear just enough on my bad side to alert me to some sounds, and thus I turn around to see what's happening on that side.

I consider myself "half-deaf", "hard of hearing", "deaf" or that I "have a hearing loss" interchangeably. Depends on how I feel at the time. I personally don't like using the terms "hearing impaired" or "hearing disability" as the latter words are negative and place an emphasis on what we can't do rather than what we can. Some people use these terms for themselves. It's all about what you feel comfortable with really!

I'm gonna leave you with a little quote I like...

"Deaf people can do anything a hearing person can, except hear." — I. King Jordan