Hi Everybody
This is really a vent about an
affliction that I have.
HEARING LOSS!
And in specific, I would love to know
your thoughts/views about people
who are hearing impaired (or DEAF)
I have registered hearing loss in
one ear, and I am further hampered
by tinnitus in BOTH ears permanantly.
AND in different frequency tones
for each ear.
It is no fun believe me 
My Dad was deaf in one ear.
He worked a lot of nightshifts
when me and my brother and sister
was little.
And we didnt have vast living
accomadation either.
On Rainy Days there was one golden
rule in the house for us kids,
which worked, and literally kept the peace.
We could laugh and jump around
and play all day to our hearts content,
with just one proviso,
We had to wait Untill our Dad
(who was in bed after working nightshift)
Had gone off to sleep.
My dad would lay on his GOOD ear,
thus exposing His deaf ear, and so once
he was asleep, we could literally
raise CAIN and he would not be disturbed
(or wake up)
But, there is (in my experience)
a terrible stigma, attached to the
condition of "deafness"
The glaringly obvious one being,
that old mantra, which gets uttered
over and over and over again
"Oooh yes! (knowingly)
Deaf when they want to be!"
I SWEAR, anybody who has EVER
uttered that phrase
(with SELF conviction that its the truth)
does not suffer from hearing loss.
I have is an audio problem and im
hampered greatly by the tinnitus.
I have dreadful problems locating
external sounds. If I ring the pager
on the base of my landline telephone,
in order to locate my hands free
phone piece, I can NOT work out
where the responding ring tone
is coming from.
One woeful time, when i was trying
to locate my Moby in a similar way,
I could not HoOk Up with my Phone
I JuST couldnt figure out where the ring tone
was coming from, and it turned out
that my Moby was in the pocket of my Jacket
which i was in fact wearing. Funny? maybe...
but its actually depressing.
Diction is incredibly important to somebody
who is hearing Impaired.
I can manage quite well, to hear some folks,
who are speaking clearly, but I am
stumped if someone is not enunciating
their vowel sounds, mumbling,
OR speaking too fast and I also can not
hear softly spoken tones either.
But i CAN hear sometimes, and perversley,
I tend to hear "asides!"
and forgive me if I sound bitter,
lol but Deaf People are game meat,
for folks dishing out "asides!"
Cos like? those deaf people they
wont hear you- right? 
Its like that old joke of the
travelling salesman, who knocked on the door
of an elderly lady and tried to sell her
some brushes (or something)
and she said "yeee what???!"
(with the trumpet up at her ear)
and after a few unsuccseful attempts,
the failed salesman departed, but also
failed to close the garden gate,
"CLOSE THE GATE"
yelled the deaf old lady
"f*** you and your gate" muttered
the failed salesman under his breath.
"AND F*** YOU AND YOUR BRUSHES!"
yelled that deaf old lady behind him.
I think i need to raise awareness on
the plight of genuinly deaf people.
Even family members can be sceptical
towards their loved ones hearing loss,
Dont get me wrong, I can cope with
a good degree of deafness, I can,
and its my problem-right?
But Im scared of losing my hearing
altogether.
Ive already lost my sense of smell
and my tastebuds. Losing my hearing?
well that would be three of my senses
gone awol.
I do feel despairing sometimes, I really do!
but as one of my friends said to me once,
a few years ago
mags? Your sense of humour?
- still INTACT!"
mags x | 
工具 
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