I tried listening to some Maria Callas today.
I have lost enough of my hearing that it’s difficult to hear those higher sounds, the angelic soprano voices that just hit my heart in all the right ways.
I feel like I’ve lost something super duper important. Although I’m not one of those folks who frequently listens to opera, I do sometimes feel like listening to it…so this new revelation got me to thinking…what other sounds am I missing?
So I went on an online search…fortunately, the deaf and hard of hearing community, as well as those who work in the industries such as audiologists and so forth, have put out numerous studies and articles for those of us who are losing our hearing at a later age and don’t really have that much experience with what we’ll be missing.
I found out that the higher frequencies are indeed the first to go…on average. I found out that the problems that I have with certain sounds, or even speech, are pretty common. I found out that certain vowels will sound similar, which I’ve already had issues with.
So here is what I have figured out. One of my most valued things in life, language…might just have to be reevaluated. Although my own speech and language skills have not waned with my hearing loss, my ability to hear other people speak…has. Although music is not that important to me, my ability to communicate…is. When I am speaking with someone, it’s been a pride that I am able to understand them, hear them, and grasp both their verbal and non-verbal communication. Everyone wants to be heard, and I have always prided myself on hearing those who are speaking to me, it has always been an important part of not only my job, but me. I am an excellent lip reader, but when someone has unkempt facial hair, it impedes much of what I learn from them, I often have to ask them to repeat themselves…and I feel rude when I do so. This happens when they are mumblers or folks who aren’t very expressive when speaking as well. I haven’t signed since high school, and even then it was basic sign language and never conversational, and even when I learn it again, most of the folks who I have in my inner circle, don’t sign and probably won’t. Although studies show that adults who lose their hearing later, don’t usually lose any of their verbal skills, what about when I am doing my readings or counseling? I certainly don’t want my clients having to write down what they need to communicate to me.
It got me to thinking about those who have never heard, or those who lost their hearing while still in their childhood…what communication issues do they suffer from…are they limited to encircling themselves with only the deaf and hard of hearing community? How do they communicate with the hearing community? Well I guess that will be my next research project…after I go and pull a Van Gogh and get rid of the defective body part which has now officially pissed me off.
Hellish Behavior 