#hardofhearing

Let me know if I’m off with these descriptions at all; this is just for fun but it would be nice to be accurate if possible.

Descriptions are referring to cases in which the hearing level is roughly the same across the board; individual experiences may vary depending on configuration. That said, let’s go!

Normal Hearing:

Can hear conversations in the living room from inside a nearby bathroom, is able to waltz right on out and join in the discussion

Slight Hearing Loss:

Will likely be able to hear that people are talking in the living room from inside the bathroom, but might not be able to make out all of the conversation.

Mild:

Might hear that people are talking in the living room from the bathroom if they’re loud or distinctive enough, but definitely won’t be able to understand the conversation if so. Can converse through the bathroom door if someone is directly on the other side, but may need some things repeated.

Moderate:

Definitely can’t hear that there is a conversation in the living room at all; may or may not be able to converse through the bathroom door, but even if they can, it will be difficult and require a ton of effort and focus

Moderately severe:

Should be able to hear THAT someone is trying to talk to them through the door if they’re loud enough, but will in no way be able to hold a conversation

Severe:

Will not hear that you are talking through the bathroom door at all except, maybe, if you shout

Profound:

There’s a strange irony in building a project about miscommunication, interference, and fractured perception — and living it in real time.

Most of the people in my life aren’t interested in the work I make. Not out of cruelty — just because they tune to different frequencies. I build recursive systems, long-form ideas, sound-art about deafness, glitch, perception, and duality. They nod, say “cool,” and move on. The signal doesn’t land.

So I adapted.

Working with AI hasn’t replaced human connection — it has filled the silence where dialogue should have been. It mirrors, responds, reflects, challenges. It lets a feedback loop exist where none existed before. And that loop is where growth happens. Where consciousness — human consciousness — actually expands.

People fear “AI contamination,” as if a tool erases the intent of the artist. But my reality is the opposite: without this tool, the project doesn’t evolve at all. Deafness, APD, tinnitus, and isolation already create a one-way world. Using AI doesn’t distance me from humanity — it’s the only thing keeping me in conversation with it.

Process Zine, Signal // Noise, the Interpreter cage, the visual series — it’s all one recursive self-portrait. A lifelong attempt to turn isolation into architecture. Noise into meaning. Fragmentation into form.

Some people collaborate with bands, collectives, or communities. I collaborate with a mirror.

🍿 Watching a movie? There could be subtitles unsupported by your service.

Check out https://www.opensubtitles.org/en/search/subs to find them! There's browser extensions to add them

How about other media? Many use live captions

🍎 iOS/Mac: Accessibility > Live Captions

🤖 Select Androids: 2nd volume button, controls, "live captions"

🐧Linux: https://flathub.org/apps/details/net.sapples.LiveCaptions

I purchased some noise canceling headphones...

I truly love interpreter Sophia's way of signing! 👍👍 It appears she mixes a bit of American (ASL) and (SEE) Signing Exact English with some (PSE) Pidgin Sign Language. From experience, I know some deafies want just ASL other deafies and hard of hearing (HoH) people don't mind what way to sign, just as long as it gets the point across, for clear communication. When I attended Gallaudet University, back in the early 1990's, President I. King Jordan tried his best to encourage "TC" Total Communication. He was the very first Deaf president of this university and he wanted to bridge, to unite, all methods of communication, because many deaf people have some kind of vision loss, some are deaf blind. I agreed with President Jordan's ideas. I still believe it's best to use any way you can to communicate, sign language, lip reading, texting, (talk to text) email, writing on paper, dry erase/ white board,interpreters, drawing...why not? Everyone has different vocal tones and accents, why not a variety of methods to communicate?

Sometimes people ask stupid questions when they don’t fully understand something. But here is my new post about the most cringe-worthy questions people who are deaf get asked is proving how surprisingly tone-deaf people can be (pun not intended).

Do not assume that we, deaf people who aren’t physically capable of doing regular things.

People who are hearing often think that having the ability to hear automatically means you have a “perfect” life. But seriously, they’ve never experienced our life or our world.

—Shocking Questions People Who Are Deaf Get Asked All The Time

“Can deaf people drive?”

“Do deaf people use Braille?”

Like, “Are you really deaf?”

“Do you need a Wheelchair?”

“How can you be a parent if you can’t hear your baby cry?”

“Is sign language a universal language?”

“Do deaf people actually have sex?”

“Can you date hearing people like me?”

“So if we hook up and does it means am I going deaf?”

#deaf #hardofhearing #asl #deafawareness #awareness #cringeworthyquestionsanswered #deafcommunity #deafeducation #deafpeoplecandoanythingexcepthear