Barbados Free Press receives many new visitors every day, and if they leave a comment with a website one of us will usually drop by just to see who was visiting.
Recently, we noticed a chap named Sayonara To Silence leaving a few intelligent comments about political issues, so we visited his Hidden Pleasures Of Deafness blog and enjoyed what we found so much that we thought we’d tell you about it.
Our blogging friend is “profoundly deaf” which, according to him, means that he cannot even hear himself speak. He is 30 years old and lives in Cape Cod. We haven’t a clue if he is a Bajan expat, but for some reason he has taken an interest in Barbados Free Press.
His blog is only a few weeks old, but I hope he continues to write because he has the ability to communicate the reality of deafness far better than anyone else I have read. We also hope that he expands his subject matter into politics because he has a special perspective on the world that most of us miss. Because he is deaf, he has to see what we hear. He has to consciously analyse details that we don’t bother to see because we can hear.
Sayonara To Silence explains his deafness and his name…
With all the ways to identify ourselves on cyberspace, I thought deeply about how to choose an identity for myself that represent me well. I was born Profoundly Deaf, which is the most extreme level of hearing loss.
People often ask me how much can I hear for two reasons, they know I am deaf and that I can use hearing aids. So to best describe my hearing loss, I will describe both levels of hearing I can achieve.
Without my hearing aids, I can not hear any sound. Not even my own voice.
With my hearing aids which sole function is to amplify surrounding sounds, I am able to hear to the diagnosed level of moderate hearing loss. I have often been asked what exactly does this mean. Keep in mind that I can not tell you exactly because I do not know what it is like to have normal hearing…
… continue reading Hidden Pleasures Of Deafness blog (link here)
… Also, This post is a good read: Vol. 1 Part 2
11 Comments
February 9, 2007 at 9:16 pm
Some of your offbeat posts leave me cold, but I find it is perceptive of you to recognise that STS’ site has a message for all of us.
Deafness is considered the worst sense to lose, worse surprisingly than blindness. With deafness you are cut off from the world like living under water.
STS is lucky that a hearing aid lets him join the world of sound to a large degree. As a senior citizen I have a fair loss of hearing which has caused my family to nag me about getting a hearing aid.
My research has told me that as many people should wear hearing aids as wear spectacles, but it has also told me how expensive they are- US$3,000 to US$8,000 = PER EAR! There are scam devices for less which are nearly useless.
In the UK behind-the-ear hearing aids are supplied on the Health Scheme after a long battle by the Deaf Foundation to establish that deafness is an illness, and that hearing aids are not a “cosmetic device.”
So for the time being I admit to being hard of hearing hoping that my acquaintances will speak up, and bear with me until I am forced to the substantial expense of a purchase, followed by the weekly outlay for batteries.
I recall the funny story about the man who told a hard of hearing friend that he could solve his problem for $10, which the friend eagerly accepted. When he was presented with a button to which a piece of plastic covered wire had been attached. “Put the button in your ear and let the wire wind round the back, out of sight,” he was told. “But this is ridiculous- I’m not paying you $10 for this! You guaranteed it would work.” “And so it will,” was the answer, “When anyone sees you are deaf they will automatically start shouting in your ear.”
Amusing, except to those of us facing deafness, perhaps.
February 9, 2007 at 9:34 pm
Ok….a deaf guy walks into a bar…..haha jk.
February 9, 2007 at 10:18 pm
Disposable A
Sneer now, deaf later!
February 9, 2007 at 11:26 pm
oldtimer
I appreciate reading your comment about hearing aids and the UK’s battle to recognize deafness.
Which brings me to this point, it amuses me to see the words “deafness is an illness.” Can you tell me where you found this choice of words?
Deafness can be caused by an illness, but is not a form of an illness. This is what is fascinating about the choice of words we use in today’s world.
The field of medicine is relatively new in the history of deafness with the new technology and statitsical facts we have to examine the causes of deafness.
It is known that deafness can be hereditary but that takes several generations for the DNA to replicate this, because even deaf parents can have hearing children. However, it is only a fraction of the causes for deafness.
Deafness can occur from illness such as meningitis and other similar illness affecting the hearing organ.
These are only two common causes that we are aware of. There is no comphrensive statistics to refer to all the causes for a majority of such causes are still unknown, like in my case.
There is no medical explanation for what caused my being born deaf.
We do have a medical explanation for what is causing my hearing loss but we are still generations away from a preventative solution.
You have inspired me to write a blog about this topic, deafness is an illness. Be sure to check my blog in the future as this will take me a few days to compile such a blog.
February 12, 2007 at 5:13 am
SayonaraToSilence- Very interested in your comments. I “found” deafness to be an “illness” in the bottomless well of my own ignorance.
Thinking back I wonder if I should have said “handicap”, certainly not disease, sickness or ailment. Disability perhaps? Auditory impairment? Ugh! The main thing is that it was recognised in Europe to be a health problem which deserved remedial measures- an amplifier in the form of a hearing aid. One day stem cells may be induced to regenerate our hearing nerves!
My dictionary says an illness is an unhealthy condition of body or mind, which is not far from describing my degree of deafness compared to yours.
Here in the Caribbean our steelbandsmen often suffer damage to hearing from the exposure to prolonged high levels of sound. My hearing loss seems to be the normal nerve damage that occurs with aging particularly in the higher range. I can hear a golfball hitting the leaves of a tree 200 yards distant, so have convinced myself it can’t be that bad. (It’s the swing which is bad)
I will be glad to read your blog on a subject provoked by me. Perhaps you could alert BFP to pass the word on to us. (I am listening to classical music as I type this, uncomfortably aware that it may be a delight you cannot share, but I hope you can) Kind regards-
February 20, 2007 at 12:04 am
Here’s a classic joke that is often used in the deaf community to ridicule hearing people, but in a good-natured manner, in case Disposable Art is interested.
A deaf fella goes golfing with his friends. It was his turn to line up on the tee when a big hearing bully walks up.
Laughing the big hearing bully knocks the deaf man off his feet and proceeds to take over the tee. The bully sights down the fairway and takes a swing with his club at the golf ball the deaf man had just put down moments earlier.
Laughing, the bully looks at the deaf man and shrugs and proceeds down the fairway to continue his game.
The deaf man, who is small and scrawny, gets up and shakes off the grass. His friends became upset, asked the deaf man if they should call the club manager to attention.
The deaf man motions to his friends, “No, no, it’s okay.” [Shakes both hands, circles his thumb and forefinger.]
The deaf man takes another ball from his bag and lines it up on the tee. He sights down the fairway and swings his club at the ball.
The golf ball sails through the air, lands on the big bully’s head with a thunk! The big hearing bully falls to the ground.
The deaf man’s friends becomes worried, “Oh, no! He’s going to get you.”
The deaf man once again calms his friends down, “No, no, it’s okay.” [Shakes both hands, circles his thumb and forefinger.]
As the deaf man walks down the fairway to his spot, the big hearing bully comes about. After a few seconds, the bully sees the scrawny deaf man walk up to him and realizes who hit the ball, knocking him out cold.
The big hearing bully starts to get mad, gets up and huffs and puffs. The deaf man smiles, and signs “Four”. [Holds up four fingers.]
Explanation, in golf, it is customary to yell Fore to alert golfers ahead of you, in this case, the bully saw “Four” too late.
February 20, 2007 at 12:06 am
[...] February 19th, 2007 · No Comments oldtimer February 9th, 2007 at 9:16 pm [...]
February 20, 2007 at 12:33 am
His blogsite is very cool, but so damn hard to leave a comment! How does one register? Argh!
February 20, 2007 at 2:10 am
Ian Bourne
There’s a bridge on the cape called the Bourne bridge, any relation?
You can register by signing up on the home page of wordpress.com
February 20, 2007 at 3:29 am
One thing the steelbandsmen can do to prevent or at least slow down prolonged exposure to loud noise damage is ear plugs. I don’t know how much it would affect the player’s ability to listen but it has been highly effective in prolonging ear damage.
That or an old joke,
Did you hear about the drummer who found out he was not deaf?
Turns out all he had to do was cut his hair!
February 20, 2007 at 3:56 am
No connection to either Bourne Identity nor the bridge, LOL