"Twitter In the Life of a Deaf Woman"

In honor of International Deaf Awareness Week, my friend Ken asked if he could share one of my posts on his blog, Inkling Media. It is an honor to be the guest of Inkling Media today. Ken is also the person who introduced me to FaceBook. If I do anything right with Social Media, it is what I have learned from reading Ken's blog and tweets.

http://inklingmedia.net/2011/09/29/twitter-is-this-girls-best-friend-in-natural-catastrophes/


(the website may be experiencing technical difficulties)

Be sure to check out other posts while you are there.

The the End of the Progression

I call this the "end of the progression" because there is nothing that comes after deafness in regards to describing the degree. It is the end of hearing as I have known it. Though I can't pinpoint when it happened, because just as I didn't notice I had slipped from a mild loss to moderate loss, or when I slipped from a moderate to severe, profound, I didn't notice when I reached the degree of "deaf". Others noticed, but I didn't.

My experience of the progression from a hearing person to a deaf person has spanned nearly 3 decades, from age twenty three to my current age of fifty two. It was my Fabulous Husband who noticed that I had slipped into more silence. When the doctor asked me at the last visit how my hearing aids were working, it was my husband who spoke up to answer and said they weren't working all that well. He had observed the sounds slipping from my grasp without my notice. He has been so patient and understanding. He has enrolled in Sign Language classes and has been helping me every way he can. He has been a wonderful help and supporter as he shares this journey with me.

Though it is the end of my days as "hearing", it only means that there are new and different ways of doing things, seeing things. I'm learning to use my eyes more, becoming more "situationally aware" (something I have been learning from Women's Only Self Defense at Direct Action Tactical - check them out http://directactiontact.wordpress.com/ ) and I'm finding many alternatives available to help me in this part of my new lifestyle. I have found Social Media keeps me connected by introducing me to others around the world with the same situation and connects me to people who help me adapt to the changes. Social media has also directed me locally to where people meet to discuss issues related to hearing loss and deafness. I'm meeting new acquaintances and making new friends along the way. I'm learning new ways of doing things as well as seeing the world through "new eyes" and perspectives.

The Beginning of the Progression, Pt. 2

The day finally arrived to pick up my first pair of hearing aids. I had no idea what to expect. I rode the bus  into Nurnberg and told Former Husband there was no need for him to be there at this appointment, I knew my way to the Army Hospital by now.

I sat in the chair as the doctor placed the hearing aids into each ear. When they were both in place, he turned them on. I will never forget that moment. I looked at him and asked, "What is that in the hallway?" It was a women in high heels walking down the hall. I could hear people walking! Footsteps. I heard actual footsteps. How long had it been since I last heard footsteps?

When I got outside and across the street at the bus stop, I heard something I hadn't heard in years. Birds were singing. It sounded like thousands of them all around up in the trees. It was beautiful. I couldn't remember the last time I had heard them, I only knew I had known that sound before.

I took the bus only half way home. I decided to stop off at the other end of the park and walk so I could "hear" what I had been missing on all of those walks. I heard the water flowing through the creek, the whir  of bicycles as they whizzed by and more birds. I took my time, enjoying all the sounds and just listening.

When I got home, it was well past dinner time. My Former Husband was very upset and worried I hadn't been home yet. As I was going into the kitchen to start dinner I actually heard him cursing about my lateness. I called out, "I heard that".

I was also glad I had gotten my hearing aids when our daughter was born. I would have missed out on all those cute little baby sounds and gurgles, and not known when she was crying or in distress if she was in the next room.

The doctor was correct, my quality of life increased with the hearing aids. I never left home without them. Even now as I am deaf, and as imperfect as they are with deafness, I still don't leave home without them.

The Beginning of the Progression, Pt. 1

When I was in my early twenties, I was married several years to a Military Police Officer. We were stationed first at Fort Hunter Army Air Base in Savannah, Georgia, then we were stationed in a village near Nurnberg, Germany. I was twenty three and expecting my first child. My Former Husband often accused me of "selective hearing". I, in turn, accused him of being a mumbler.

One day he came home and told me I had an appointment at the Army Hospital in Nurnberg with a hearing specialist. I was adamant that I didn't have that bad of a hearing problem, he was just a mumbler. He was concerned that I wouldn't be able to hear the baby. When he said that, I took his concern seriously and I went to the appointment.

The doctor sat down with me after we did all the tests, and explained I had a moderate hearing loss, but with a pair of hearing aids, I could do very well. Growing up, I suffered many ear infections that left me with a mild hearing loss, but not so bad that it interfered with my life. I could use telephones and watch tv without people telling me it was getting a little loud. It was hardly noticeable,,,, until now. My Former Husband observed the small difficulties I was having were begining to increase. I didn't notice.

The doctor said as I aged, I would most likely experience a progressive hearing loss later in life. He couldn't tell me to what degree, or when I would experience it, but he assured me that for now, hearing aids would vastly improve my quality of life.

We had the ear molds made so the aids would fit my ears well, and I made a follow up appointment to pick them up within two weeks. I'm so glad I went to that appointment, because my husband's concern about hearing the baby were very well founded. I was excited to see how the hearing aids were going to work and if they really would make a difference. Those two weeks were rather long as I waited for my hearing aids to come in.

Hearing Health Information from Western Pennsylvania

This is a well put together site with information for the baby boomer generation. Hearing loss is a major issue as we age. However, also note that the number one disabling casualty of war is hearing loss from the guns and explosions. Many of our soldiers are at risk as well. There is a lot of good information here.
http://www.healthbridges.info/?p=1030&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wpa_health_information+%28Western+Pennsylvania+Health+Information%29

"Free Captioned Educational Videos for Children"

(e has compiled a short list of websites offering free captioned educational videos for children. Check out her list here:
http://www.ehwhathuh.com/2011/09/free-captioned-educational-videos-for.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EhWhatHuh+%28Eh%3F+What%3F+Huh%3F%29

"Get Service"

You don't need the captions to "get" this video. It's powerful on its own when you get to the punchline.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfeXxkbgCVE

Elijah on Mt. Carmel

 This is simply an amazing performance, written and performed by Anna Wiebelhaus. I wish the video quality was better, and that there was an appropriate set design to add to the atmosphere. This does stand alone with her amazing expressiveness, and she wrote this herself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqZ3JmIvaPk

What Does It Mean?

Have you ever had a hearing test done by an audiologist? I've had a few. However, they really don't tell a person a whole lot. They show you a graph with lines and peaks where your hearing is, and where it should be if it isn't "normal". There are decibels and percentages, which for a person math and numerically challenged, they mean nothing.

Then, there are the definitions, mild, moderate, severe and profound hearing loss.

I always end up after having such tests wondering, "What does it mean?" The answers never make sense because they go back to the numbers, percentages, decibels, and the terms mild - profound. I've never even seen the term "deaf" on those.

They need to explain the results in simpler terms. I have some ideas.

Mild - just turn the volume of everything up a little and ask the mumblers to speak up.

Moderate - Get hearing aids NOW.

Severe and Profound - Use the Closed Caption button on your TV so you don't disturb the neighbors or wake the dead from their peaceful slumber. You're deaf.

I wonder how long I've been saying "I don't hear well" when I could have simply been saying, "I'm deaf".

"The Kissing Booth"

A very funny short clip with "Switched At Birth" Sean Berdy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doDGqMZSQbA&feature=autoplay&list=ULCasJOEOTRrE&lf=mfu_in_order&playnext=3

The Flying Spaghetti Monster Interpreted by Jesse Schlueter

This one is for the kids,,, and the kid in you. :-) Creative and fun.
"The official music video for Alex the Seal's song, "The Flying Spaghetti Monster", which is on the 2011 release, Kids' Club.

Additional vocals in the song were provided by Stephen Dunsford.

The sign interpretation is performed by Jesse Schlueter, and the lyrics are included as closed captions."http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AL1fCUu5cz0

Sharing Faith Through Sign Language

I saw this link on Twitter tweeted by CaptionItWrite and I wanted to share how this organization is bringing people together with Sign Language. I also like how one couple learned to sign so they could communicate while they were scuba diving.

http://www.shelbycountyreporter.com/2011/09/18/sharing-faith-through-sign-language/

Door Bells and Music

Today, the maintenance crew was to come to our home and change the filter on our air units. I found the new filter sitting outside the front door. Evidently one of the new guys saw my sign on the door "Delivery person, please leave packages at the door. I am deaf and cannot hear the doorbell." He did just that. I had Fabulous Husband call the main office to let them know that I was home and it was OK for them to let themselves in. A short time later, I noticed a hand waving across the room, and it was the nice young maintenance man trying to get my attention to let me know he had changed the filter and was all done. The new fellow that came by earlier was confused by the note. It's frustrating not being able to know when someone is at the door.

Sometimes, I like to get into the car, take off my hearing aids and turn the music up to hear it like I used to. I have to turn the cd  up to "MAX" and can only make out the song by the rhythmic pattern and beat, and knowing the cd well enough which song should be playing. If there is one thing I miss dearly with hearing loss it is music in its natural, authentic state. Hearing aids often process music into the sound of an old am transistor radio, and sometimes with bad station reception.

It's not just the communication issues that we struggle to deal with when we experience progressive hearing loss and deafness, but the day to day situations. The things I used to be able to hear and took for granted, things I didn't appreciate until I started slipping into the silence.

The King of Anything (this is just a fun video!)

A Fun video by the madannasls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfXYwMruLHw&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Part 3 of Speak Up Librarian's LA trip

Here are the continuing adventures of Award Winning Advocate, "Speak Up Librarian" and her LA trip.
http://speakuplibrarian.blogspot.com/2011/09/my-la-story-part-3.html

A Simple Solve for SOME Emergencies

My husband is so fabulous. He came up with this wonderful solve in case of emergency for employees. Each Deaf or Hard of Hearing employee should be issued a pager with one vibrating sequence of code for each emergency to wear on their person, or badge. For instance, in case of a fire and leave the building a simple long buzz followed by a short vibrating buzz. Pause. Long and short. For a fire drill, a different code sequence. He also said, a gps in it would be great so others could know if the Deaf or Hard of Hearing person is still in the building and where they are.
Of course, there would be other specifics to be worked out, but isn't this a great idea for a start? I think so.

It's Like Playing Wheel of Fortune

I've struggled with learning to read lips as I continue to lose my hearing. However, lately, I'm finding I'm not reading lips as well either, and it's getting frustrating. Not just for me but for others. It's frustrating for people to have to keep repeating something I'm having difficulty hearing or trying to figure out. I have a vision impairment that interferes with my communication, rotary nystagmus, and if things move to fast, I miss details and nuances. 

My mother recently discovered one of my techniques. She is using it now herself as she is losing her hearing due to the aging process. She is 83. She sees the look of frustration on the faces of those she is trying to communicate with. She told me one day, "I just nod my head along with them in the conversation when they look like they want a response. They get frustrated with me when they have to keep repeating something. Most of the time they repeat the entire conversation, when it is just one word not making sense, yet that one word makes all the difference."

Another problem is sarcasm. As we lose our hearing, we lose the ability to distinguish the tone of sarcasm. Without hearing the tone, we think you are saying the opposite of what you really mean. I had friends who did this all the time. After while, you just give up trying to communicate or follow along because they are saying one thing one moment that is the total opposite of what they are saying the next minute. Very confusing.  

Back to the nodding of the head. My mother and I have found that sometimes keeping the peace and being polite is to simply appear to understand what we don't. To do otherwise causes a person to feel uncomfortable and not want to talk to us anymore, or be at a loss as to how to communicate with us.

I will often ask someone to repeat, but if I have to have them repeat the same phrase or word over and over, I give up in frustration. Then, I just politely nod my head and they will continue with the conversation where they left off.

Often people will ask me if I can hear them. Well, yes. If they're speaking loud enough, I hear something. But it's difficult to distinguish the sounds. It's difficult to have to explain this to everyone when they ask me that. It's not always a matter of hearing, it's a matter of interpreting what I see on the lips in conjunction with the few sounds I hear. Isn't that confusing? It's like playing Wheel of Fortune with every conversation I have. Ok, I've got a few letters, but look at all those blank squares. It's a constant fill in the blanks and trying to do that while following a conversation. It's difficult and exhausting.

At my son's school one day, I had asked one of the teachers her name. She answered, "Senior Pastor".  I kept asking her name each time I saw her. She continued to give me her title, not her name.  After while, I gave up and quit asking.

Half way through the school year, she sends a nice card to me. It is signed "Senora Kratzer".  Compare that to Senior Pastor and you can see how that can happen. This happens to me ...all....day.....long...

I constantly misinterpret sounds or words. I struggle through as best as I can. I've become very self-conscious  questioning what I'm hearing because I know that often what I think I am hearing or reading on the lips actually is not what is really being said. 

Did that make sense? Often what I think I am hearing or reading on the lips is actually NOT what is being said.

If you and I are talking sometime, and I answer a question oddly, chances are I didn't hear you correctly. Ask again, rephrase the question. That often makes the difference.

ASL Poetry demonstrated by deafgainasl

This is a short educational video uploaded by deafgainasl, a beautiful demonstration of how EVERYONE can enjoy ASL  poetry. Expressive, artistic, beautiful examples.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIkf89zC7qw

"The Sound of Sunshine" Signed By Jennie Batchelder

Love this interpretation! This one is dedicated to my Fabulous Husband.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuHbwPx4lWE&feature=player_embedded

An ITunes Update

Sam the Bright at Illustrator: Blog-alloon posts how ITunes has quietly been adding CC to some of the TV episodes. Check out his blog post:
http://illustrator.blog-alloon.com/archives/1493

Part 2 of Speak of Librarian's Award, complete with speech on video

This is Sarah's second post about her trip to the award ceremony. She posted a video, with captions, of her speech.
http://speakuplibrarian.blogspot.com/

Speak Up Librarian Wins Award and Blogs About the Ceremony

Here is part one of  Sarah's West Coast journey to the award ceremony
http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5004700316600353161&postID=1640371378982190743&page=1&token=1316008514620

ITunes NOW Has A Closed Captioned Option!

I was so pleased to see this post by Sam the Bright (Illustrator: Blog-alloon) about the new Closed Caption option offered by ITunes.
http://illustrator.blog-alloon.com/archives/1486

And We Have A Winner

I was so happy to see Liz's post pointing us to the "voting link" for one of my favorite Blog writers, Sarah at Speak Up Librarian Blogspot for an award of advocacy from Oticon . Here is the winning post from Liz and we all congratulate Sarah for advocating for  all of us who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
http://l1zblog.wordpress.com/2011/09/13/congratulations-speak-up-librarian/#comment-2845

"We Love Music Too" music video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbQJcJx_D58

Come experience music the way the Deaf and Hard of Hearing do, and share  music,  art, our hearts and and spirit with Queen Jade and her friends. She asks, "Music heals, did you know?" Come and see for yourself with this video and  share the good feelings music brings.

"Where is the Love?" by the Madonnasls

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE08Lmy8j9E

The Most Overlooked and Forgotten Population

This short film by Jade asks important questions what we as Deaf and Hearing Impaired people can do to access help in the case of an emergency, or situations with Police and Fire. I ask, after all these years of ADA, why we don't educate about Deafness and basic Sign Language in schools as a requirement to help our AMERICAN deaf citizens?  Immigrants have  access of our laws and information in their language more readily available than deaf and people with hearing loss do.

Schools offer Spanish, German, French, but not ASL. Why? I think it's time we start asking schools to provide basic Sign Language for our community. I would even go so far as to say we are treated as second class citizens, yet, immigrants aren't. We are treated as second class citizens in many situations, ignored, forgotten. At least foreigners are acknowledged.

We have more to do to reach our communities to educate and to help one another.We need more films like this one by Jade. We need more schools like the one where I was asked to teach Sign Language to "hearing" students from Preschool up. We need closed captions access on all videos and media where available. We need more.

http://deafyouvideo.blogspot.com/2011/09/911-10-years-later-are-they-ready-for.html?utm_source=BP_recent

Twitter Is This Deaf Girl's Best Friend in Natural Catastrophes

If you haven't found a valid reason to have a Twitter account, or to be using Twitter, you may be missing out on important information should the event of a disaster loom near you. We live in Central Pennsylvania. These past few weeks, our area has experienced an earthquake, Hurricane Irene, and flooding from Tropical Storm Lee. A few weeks prior to that, we had tornadoes nearby.

When the first tornado was spotted, I was with my son at his Karate class. Being deaf, I don't hear what's going on unless I'm right in front of you and reading your lips, or if you are a very loud, deep voiced male sitting behind me, which is what the microphones on my hearing aids pick up more easily than other sounds. I didn't catch what everyone else had been discussing around me, I was reading my phone.

At the end of class, there was a mad rush by everyone gathering their things and heading out of the building very quickly. My son and I took our time, thinking everyone was headed over to Rita's and they were trying to see who could get there first for their Italian Ices. As we opened the door of the Karate School, the wind was kicked in high gear, leaves were flying everywhere and the street and buildings were a murky orange color, the clouds were charcoal black and looming almost on top of us. We were at the crosswalk waiting for the light to change when I happened to look from the cars that were stopping to find very well dressed men in suits of black in the middle of the road beckoning us to come across. They escorted us to our car, talking to Little Fellow as they hurried us along.

When I got home, I saw the ticker running  across the screen of our tv about the tornado warnings. I tweeted about my experience, and how being deaf, I had no inkling of what was going on.

The next week, there was another warning, this time my Twitter friends let me know right away!

Then there was the earthquake, on Twitter first, then on Facebook. My husband sent me a message and asked if I felt it. I didn't. I was at the park with a friend and no one there felt it either. I checked into Twitter, and there it was!

Then came along Hurricane Irene, and I followed all the updates of friends and how they were faring.

Then came the floods. I was heading along 230 on my way toward Harrisburg when I came to a road block at the 230 and 144 junction. I was told to turn around and go back. It was pouring by then, and another road was closed besides that, so I came home. I'm so glad I did.

Twitter gave me up to the minute road closures from tweets by others trying to get back to their homes. Road after road was flooding as tweet after tweet appeared telling us which roads not to take. Because of these tweets, my husband was able to get off of work just in time to come through the secondary roads before they, too, were closed. At first, no one thought it was anything to be in a hurry about..then the flash floods started.

It took one of my Twitter friends almost two hours to get from Hershey to Lancaster as road after road she tried was flooding and she couldn't get through. We were so relieved when she and her baby arrived home.

I followed Twitter as others posted which roads were impassable, which ones were yet open,  up to the minute reports from weather services and  officials. In just a short time, over one hundred roads in our area were closed and impassable. School buses had to turn around and take children back to the schools. Because of all the closures I was seeing, I had my husband pick up our son on his way home rather than taking a chance with his bus.

Photo after photo has been shared, posts of how others are coping, pumping water from their basements and tragedies shared, as well as posts of inspiration, distractions and encouragement shared instantly and as needed. Posts about boiling water in some areas because the waste treatment plants were now under water. School closures and delays were posted. I know how my Twitter friends are doing, and some have even opened up their homes to families that are displaced. Shelters were opened and posted on Twitter and rescue missions shared. Twitter brought our community together in unbelievable ways.

I did not have to wait for the broadcast news or find a channel with "real time" captioning. Twitter is instant, accessible, and if you follow the right people, accurate. If I were asked what one thing I could take with me  in an emergency, it would be any device that allows me access to Twitter.

The PA deluge, happening now

The hurricane and storms already this season are pounding us here in PA. Here is a slide show of how it looks, but remember, we are still getting rains, so this may be even worse by the weekend. We live in Mount Joy. We've already seen some boat rescues, and there is devastation in Marietta not yet posted. Shelters are open in various places taking people in.

This slide show was put together by marcoandhaley  Keep as dry as possible and be safe, everyone. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IxnLmCAwZI&feature=player_embedded

"Once Upon A Time" A must read, educational post from Candysweetblog

This is an excellent post I read at Candysweetblog that I just have to share. I get asked often about the differences of ASL and SEE and the history of Sign Language. I also compare the differences in the nuances as different dialects you find around the Country, or even between different English Speaking countries. This delves a little deeper into the cultural development of Sign Language. I hope you find it as educational and informative as I  have.
http://candysweetblog.wordpress.com/2011/09/07/once-upon-a-time/#comment-5234   I left the following comment at the bottom of the page: "I get asked questions about the differences all the time. I also think in part it has to do with where you live and grew up. We had only Signed Exact English when I took classes in a small community on the West Coast. My Deaf friends used SEE as well, but they were in their 50′s back when I was in my 20′s taking classes. Language changes and evolves from generation to generation, such as Old English and modern English. We have English words today that weren’t even in existence a decade ago, mostly due to technology “speak”. There are small pockets of Deaf community not far where I live now near the East Coast that have an entirely different “dialect” from both SEE and ASL, passed down through the family where they actually have to have interpreters between signers! I just learned this from an interpreter at church recently. I did not know that. Thank you for educating me further on this topic."

"Waiting on the World to Change"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKnF9CCYQPQ&feature=player_embedded#!

I Don't Need Your Cure

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-ZAWXQbqek&feature=related

The Flintstones: An Excellent simulation of degrees of Hearing Loss

This is a cartoon. I don't like cartoons. Why? I can't read their lips!! LOL!! But I can see this would be a GREAT example of and explanation to many people what hearing loss and the degrees are about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EJ4g3J6cJM&NR=1

"How Great Thou Art" by Pastor Ronaldo Feliciano

Thank you, Dustin Conrad, for sharing this video with me. This is performed by Pastor Ronaldo Feliciano.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrRD3SLEk-c

Deaf Connection with Pink Floyd

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL9isqr8tHw

"An abstract ASL music video, showing isolation to group identity in the Deaf world." blueanura

Rush Limbaugh Describes Hearing Loss and How Devices Work, and Don't Work

Questions on the Host's Hearing March 18, 2011  

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH:  Evan in West Coxsackie, New York, welcome to the EIB Network.  Hello.

CALLER:  Hey.  I'm just wondering, when you listen to music with your hearing aid, how's it sound?

RUSH:  Music?

CALLER:  Yeah, like if you're listening to music on an iPad or something?

RUSH:  Well, not very good.  I cannot listen to music that I've never heard before and identify the melody.

CALLER:  Oh.

RUSH:  I have a cochlear implant. It doesn't have nearly the sensitivity of the human ear, it's not even close.

CALLER:  I was just wondering.

RUSH:  Like violins or strings sound like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.

CALLER:  Oh, well, I was just wondering.

RUSH:  What I have to do, I can still listen to music, but it has to be music that I knew and that I've heard before I lost my hearing.  And what happens is that my brain, fertile mind, provides the melody.  I actually am not hearing the melody, and the way I can prove this to you, sometimes it will take me, even a song that I know, it will take me 30 seconds to identify it if I don't know what it is.  Now, if I'm playing a song off iTunes and the title is there and it starts then I can spot it from the middle, but if I'm listening to a song from the beginning, and I don't know what it is, it sometimes can take me 30 seconds to recognize it, if I knew it before.  But the quality of music that I hear is less than AM radio, in terms of fidelity.  I can turn the bass up on an amplifier and I don't hear any difference at all.  I can feel the floor vibrate, but I don't hear any more bass.  I can turn highs up and I can hear the difference in the highs, but on the low end I actually cannot -- (interruption)  I'm getting a note here that says: "You're not missing anything.  There aren't any melodies in music today."  (laughing)  At any rate, you adapt to it.  I've adapted.  

The worst part of my hearing is being in a crowd.  Like right now, I hear myself as well as I heard myself when I could hear.  If I'm talking to one other person in a quiet room I can comprehend 90-95% of what they say depending on how fast they're speaking.  There are some words that sound alike.  But you add room noise, like if Kathryn and I are watching TV and she wants to talk to me about what we're watching, I have to hit pause or the mute 'cause I cannot hear what she's saying.  Even if she's sitting two feet away I will not hear as long as there are other noises there.  Any room noise when added to other room noise is gonna be louder than the one voice that I'm trying to hear.  I've got the implant on my left side so if we go out in a public place, anybody on my right side, it's hopeless.  I'll have to literally turn to them, and sometimes as I turn to them they turn with me.  They don't know what I'm doing so we'll do pirouettes 'til I finally say, "No, you stay where you are.  I'm trying to position my ear so I can hear you."

The way I look at this, though, because when I tell these stories, "Oh, that's really horrible."  No, it's not.  'Cause if you look at the timeline of humanity, however long it is, 10,000 years, a million, billion, whatever the number is, my little time on it is not much larger than a grain of sand.  And yet I happen to lose my hearing at the same time technology had evolved to the point where cochlear implants had been invented.  If I had lost my hearing 15 years ago, it would have meant the end of my career.  I would not have been able to hear.  And the doctor said you might think that you could speak normally just by virtue of memory and feel, the way voice feels when you speak, but eventually your speech would deteriorate, and it would sound to people as though you had a speech defect.  It would just be automatic no matter how good you are, no matter how professional you are at it.  So that's really fortunate.  It's almost miraculous that my being afflicted with this autoimmune disease happens to coincide with technology.  Some call it divine intervention.  Some call it the age of miracles.  We're all one way or another part of this age of miracles.  Music is the one thing that I miss, but you know what else?  This is another thing.  Compatibility with other people in normal circumstances takes a big hit.  For example, my most comfortable is sheer quiet now.  The ringing of a phone or I'll be sitting in my library and there will be a noise. I remember we had been working on the alarm system, and I hadn't been told we were working on the alarm system and every 30 seconds something in the room would beep. I said, "Oh, my gosh, it that the smoker detector, what the hell?"  I'd have to call somebody in the office and say, "Where is this coming from?" because I couldn't tell where sound was coming from and I had no idea what it was.  One time the phone was left off the hook and there was street noise, it was the phone at the gate.  And it was street noise, but it didn't sound like street noise to me.  I don't even remember what it sounded like, but I couldn't pinpoint what it was.  The phone was still on the hook but the mute button on the speakerphone was off so I had no idea where it was coming from. I had to call somebody in and say, "What is this, where's it coming from?"  'Cause you always worry about something blowing up when there's a sound that you don't know.  

But I crave silence, blessed silence because anything other than speech is just noise.  It is irritating noise.  Well, most people go crazy in quiet environments.  They don't like it.  Most people love having the TV on in the background or some sort of sound or other. It irritates me.  It irritates the heck out of me because it's just noise and I can't identify it.  I know if it's noise on TV, but I can't tell you what somebody's saying.  I have to have closed-captioning to understand everything being said in a TV program, particularly if there's a music soundtrack.  And very few people use closed-captioning.  It distracts them.  Me, I need it. (interruption) No, I'm not just getting old and cranky, Snerdley.  And going in public to a restaurant is, depending on the place, it is impossible. It literally can be impossible to have a conversation except with anybody on the left, and at some places I have to get within an inch of what they're saying to be able to comprehend.  I hear everything, but making sense of it…  

See, the human ear has 35,000 hair cells in each ear.  They're microscopic.  But they still are different sizes and widths, lengths, and they vibrate.  When they sense noise, sound, whatever, they start the whole process of energy through the audial nerve.  Well, the autoimmune system killed all 35,000 hair cells in both ears, so they're laying down.  They're still in there, but they're laying down.  Cochlear implant, I've got eight electrodes, and I'm actually now down to six because two of them were causing facial tics when the volume got too high. My eyes were closing, I looked spastic.  I had to deactivate two of those electrodes, so I'm down to six.  So I've got six manmade bionic electrodes trying to do the job of 35,000 or 70,000 hair cells in terms of frequency response and all that, and there's no way, it just can't be done.  (interruption) No, the technology has not improved.  Now what has improved is, like this Esteem thing that we talk about, if you have residual hearing, that's miraculous.  The hardware hasn't changed.  There are some software improvements.  

For example, with the implant I have there's a program called High Res, which activates 20 electrodes.  But it doesn't work for me.  Everybody is different.  They turn on those 20 electrodes -- I got 'em in there -- you turn on the 20 and everybody sounds like the chipmunks to me. It's worse.  And that's the digital.  I'm using the analog.  Everybody that has one of these things has a different experience.  Everybody says you need to get one on your right side now.  I kept the right side clear because there might have been a cure for these dead hair cells.  Now I've been told there won't be.  So if I get an implant on the right side that would solve some of the spatial stuff and it would enable me to hear people on my right side if I'm in a public place or what have you.  Music, it's amazing what the memory can do when I'm listening to music that I love, that I've known. In fact, I can create the music without evening hearing it.  Your memory, your mind can do that. 

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH:  Look, folks, don't get the wrong idea.  Having a cochlear implant has a lot of positives.  I was out playing golf the other day with a bunch of guys, and there was a loudmouth crow in a palm tree right on the tee box, no more than ten feet above us.  The thing was cawing like crazy.  You just wanted to grab something and throw it at the damn bird to shut up, and it was screwing everybody's tee shots off.  I mean, you can't concentrate. The guys would swing and right at the moment of impact, "CAWWW!" and you could just see the effect. 

All I did was take my implant off, gently place it on the ground, and total silence. No distractions whatsoever.  However, I do have tinnitus (some people say tinn-i-tus) in my right ear -- which, in my case, I constantly hear Gregorian chants.  That's the noise in my right ear, but I've got so used to it I don't hear it unless I stop to focus on it, but it's always there.  I always think I'm in touch with God.  Gregorian chants are constantly going off in my right ear.  END TRANSCRIPT *Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

How To Google Search CC only videos: A visual tutorial from Hearing Sparks

Megan put together a great visual "how to" guide to search Google for ONLY Closed Caption or subtitled videos, great for searching YouTube. Check this out:  http://hearingsparks.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-to-search-google-youtube-for-only.html#comment-form

This is so sad. The school should reimburse this family

This is horrible. It's not captioned, but the story is typed below the video for those who can't hear it. The school did not protect this little boy, therefore the school should at least pay for his damaged hearing aids, perhaps find another way to get him to school, perhaps an assigned driver to prevent this in the future. I would suggest bathroom and hall monitors so this doesn't allow for any more opportunities of any kind of bullying.
http://www.wtae.com/news/29045405/detail.html