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I've been thinking a lot lately about how deaf culture is being portrayed in the RPing world (if it's represented at all) and I've not really seen any resources on it recently, so I thought I might help out and provide some. I hope you find this helpful! This is part one of a series.
As a disclaimer, I'd just like to say that if any of this strikes you as offensive, please politely correct me. Thank you.
Lets start off with the varying degrees of deafness. In the United States, hearing loss is divided up into four categories: mild, moderate, severe, and profound. Hearing loss is given in decibels, never percentages, where the softest sounds are at zero dB and are 120 dB. Normal speech is about 50 dB.
This chart shows the level of sound people can hear at different decibels with different objects that make varying degrees of sound. If a lawn mower can't be heard, there's severe hearing loss and so on. That being said, exposure to loud sounds for prolonged periods of time isn't the only way hearing loss or deafness can occur.
The three main types of hearing loss are conducive, sensorineural, and mixed losses.
Conductive loss keeps sound from reaching the nerves of the inner ear. Possible causes are:
Fluid in the middle ear from colds
Ear infection (otitis media)
Allergies (serous otitis media)
Poor eustachian tube function
Perforated eardrum
Benign tumors
Impacted earwax (cerumen)
Infection in the ear canal (external otitis)
Swimmer's Ear (otitis ecxterna)
Presence of a foreign body
Absence or malformation of the outer ear, ear canal, or middle ear [x]
Sensorineural loss is caused by damaged nerves in the inner ear. This type of loss cannot be reduced or eliminated by surgery. What causes this loss is different depending upon the age of onset.
Before or During Birth:
Perinatal infections such as rubella, herpes, toxoplasmosis, syphilis, cytomegalovirus (CMV)
Heredity
Asphyxia or lack of oxygen at birth.
Possible association with birth weight of less than 1500 grams.
Possible association with defects of the head and neck
Later Onset:
Bacterial meningitis
Ototoxicity (drug induced)
Intense or excessive noise
Physical damage to head or ear [x]
Mixed loss is a combination of both sensorineural and conductive, with problems in both the inner and middle or outer ear.
Now's the time to discuss hearing aids briefly. Hearing aids differ in design, size, the amount of amplification, ease of handling, volume control, and availability of special features. However, they do have similar components that include the following:
Microphone to pick up sound
Amplifier circuitry to make the sound louder
Receiver (miniature loudspeaker) to deliver the amplified sound into the ear
On/off switch and batteries to power the electronic parts
Some hearing aids also have earmolds (earpieces) to direct the flow of sound into the ear and enhance sound quality. In the case of children, the earmold will need to be replaced fairly often as the ear grows.[x]
There is a wealth of information about hearing aids on the Internet, such as different styles of hearing aids, myths and facts about hearing aids, and how hearing aids and cell phones work together (or don't).
Lets move on to a rather large taboo in the Deaf community: the cochlear implant. A cochlear implant is a device that provides direct electoral stimulation to the auditory nerve in inner ear. This type of hearing loss is sensorineural, which means there is damage to the tiny hair cells in the part of the inner ear called the cochlea. Because of this damage, sound cannot reach the auditory nerve. With a cochlear implant, the damaged hair cells are bypassed, and the auditory nerve is stimulated directly. [x]
Most people assume that, with the implant, everything is heard as clearly as normal hearing, but that simply isn't the case. Hearing won't be "cured" or "restored", but sounds will be able to be picked up. Here's a video showcasing the difference between a sound heard with "normal" hearing and how it sounds through the cochlear.
In the next installment, I'll be discussing a bit more about the community, including deaf history, American Sign Language and the sign spectrum, as well as (general consensus) feelings about certain topics, such as the cochlear implant.
Some More Reading:
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association: Hearing and Balance
Hearing Loss Association of America: Types, Causes, and Treatment
Gallaudet University: Hearing Loss Information
The Mind Hears: Tuning In With a Cochlear Implant by Susan Boswell
A more in-depth explanation of cochlears and how they function
Oh, Look! A Video!:
The Hearing Aid Chronicles: An Introduction
The Hearing Aid Chronicles: Close Encounters of the Strange Kind
pizzaanddalekbread replied your post if i usually talk to you and i haven’t today, it’s nothing against you, i promise. i have a big exam tomorrow and am currently cramming like crazy for it. (and, yes, i know that being on here doesn’t help anything but i’ve been at this for like 6+ hours, i need a break every once in a while!) sorry, i’ll be back to chatting soon! love you all <3
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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