As we all know, I'm a lip-reader. What I can't hear, I can see. My hearing aids work up to a point, and my eyes do the rest. Most - if not all - of my friend know this. But they often forget, and it's not obvious when I'm meeting new people.
Some people feel uncomfortable, as it appears I'm staring them in their eyes the whole time we talk. I've had one person make the comment that I'm quite 'intense' when they talk to me, to which I've had to reply that no, I'm not staring deep in to your eyes when we're taking, I'm lipreading...
There can be aother, albeit amusing, problems. One guy, when I was talking to him in a club, asked me if I wanted a kiss. I was confused - this seemed to have come out of nowhere. I politely declined his offer, generous though it may have been, and asked him where that had come from. He replied with something along the lines of 'well, the whole time we were talking you were looking at my lips, and I read somewhere that if a woman does that it means they want to kiss'. I laughed and explained to him I was lip-reading, to which he turned bright red.
Of course, there are other times that have caused me to laugh. For instance, when I'm wearing my bluetooth necklace (that connects to my hearing aids turning them in to a headphone) and answer my phone on that, people look at me strangely when I suddenly start talking to myself. Or some people think I'm talking to them and look very confused.
And on the topic of my bluetooth necklace - a couple of times it has connected to the TV with no warning, making me jump out of my skin! The first time it happened, my parents were watching some kind of action movie and I was walking down the hall from my room, when suddenly I hear gunfire and loud explosions. Definitely made me jump - but luckily I managed to save some of my dignity by not falling to the ground shouting 'don't shoot, don't shoot!', as I was very tempted to do.
Some people must also think I'm being very rude when I'm listening to music through my bluetooth necklace - like anyone wearing headphones and listening to music, I just don't hear anyone talking to me. But of course, because there are no wires, it just looks as if I'm ignoring them.
The same goes when I'm watching TV with my necklace on - my parents start talking to me but I just don't hear them. They laugh and say it's a likely excuse, but it really is!
Until another time,
Deaf Girl
I love that you look for the funny in all of this. One of my BFF's is 90%+ deaf (she's so out there that Bluetooths won't work). When I'm walking next to her and I start talking she will grab my ear and twist my head around to face her and say "I can't HEAAARRRR YOOOOUUUU!"
ReplyDeleteI don't see you often enough to tell you this, but... I really enjoy reading your blogs. As a child, I had glue ear, and before this was diagnosed and treated, I was down to around 40% hearing without anyone realising or knowing what was wrong. I've worked for a company that sells hearing aids, and I feel priveieged to have experienced the Hearing and HoH worlds. I know this is of little comfort to anyone for whom surgery will not be a solution, but I'm very glad that it has made me more understanding of those who have hearing dofficulties, and I hope that to anyone who does, I don't seem patronising. For myself, I'd much rather anyone who has hearing difficulties told me, so I know to make sure (as I think I have with you and other friends who have similar difficulties) to be facing someone when I speak to someone, make sure I speak clearly and so on.
ReplyDeleteAnd as Liz said, I do love that you can see the funny in all this ;)