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  • Hello.

  • So this week is International Week of the Deaf.

  • Yeah!

  • And I'm going to be making three videos that are about deafness.

  • The first one is what I can and can't hear.

  • The second one is why I wear hearing aids.

  • The third one is my most asked question.

  • Why I don't sound deaf.

  • This is the very first video and you can find the rest of them on my channel.

  • What can I hear?

  • Excellent question

  • It's quite a difficult thing to describe

  • because obviously I live inside my own head.

  • What I hear is sort of what I hear.

  • It took me a long time

  • to even realize that I was going deaf.

  • I started about 15 and it went on through 18,

  • when I went to university and kind of realized that I couldn't hear anything.

  • I should probably point out that before then, I had been really ill.

  • And I was spending most of my time in hospital

  • or in my bed at home.

  • And I wasn't really talking to a lot of people.

  • I was mainly reading

  • and writing.

  • So, these aren't things that require ears.

  • I was also watching an awful lot of "Gossip Girl."

  • Subtitles are my friend.

  • But this video is about my hearing right now.

  • It's obviously different in both ears.

  • My left one is much worse than my right one.

  • The left one is now, I think, 85% hearing loss.

  • And the right one, I think, is 65%.

  • They're also-

  • but it's not just...

  • How much I can hear.

  • It's also about what I can hear

  • So, I can hear different pitches to different degrees.

  • If it's a very low-pitched thing,

  • I can generally hear it better.

  • Did you like my low voice?

  • If it's really high-pitched,

  • then I can't hear it at all.

  • Even if it's really really loud.

  • Even if I am wearing my hearing aids.

  • They won't help me hear something that's very high-pitched.

  • So an alarm for instance,

  • I can sit next to the alarm just

  • and have no idea

  • why all these different people are just running around everywhere.

  • Maybe they're screaming.

  • I don't know. Screaming is also high-pitched.

  • I probably wouldn't be able to hear that.

  • Without my hearing aids in,

  • sounds will comes to me as if I am underwater

  • or like I have cotton wool bugs stuck in my ears

  • and then a wall of glass on the outside.

  • Does that make sense?

  • So, it's already fuzzy,

  • but then there's also a wall.

  • If you can imagine attempting to hear someone through a wall whilst wearing cotton wool bugs in your ears.

  • That's my hearing.

  • What that also means

  • is that there's no directional hearing.

  • If there is a noise,

  • I don't know where it's coming from.

  • Turn around like, oh my God, What?

  • What's happening?

  • Where is it?

  • What's going on?

  • I don't know!

  • That's my face, all the time.

  • No, it's not.

  • I generally give up on trying.

  • If there's just two people and we are sitting in a room together and silent,

  • then yes, you will have my attention.

  • I can see you.

  • I know that you're talking.

  • If I am reading something

  • and I get the fuzz noise.

  • I obviously know to look up at you

  • because it's only you here.

  • Only you.

  • However,

  • if we are in a room that is absolutely full of people everywhere,

  • then that's just a wall.

  • That's a wall of sound

  • and I'm not going to know if you're speaking to me

  • even if you're sitting right next to me.

  • Without my hearing aids in,

  • I can't pick apart words.

  • Your voice is exactly the same to me

  • as every other general noise

  • that you would have in a room.

  • Whether that's a radiator

  • that is

  • quite noisy

  • or a fridge.

  • The dishwasher is on.

  • Something like that.

  • It's all one thing.

  • I can't-

  • There are no different notes to me.

  • Strangely, even though I can't hear high notes,

  • but I can hear low notes,

  • I can't tell you what is a high note

  • and what is a low note.

  • Does that make sense to you?

  • But with my hearing aids in,

  • they basically block out the different noises

  • that aren't in the human voice range.

  • So, I'll only be getting voice noises

  • and that obviously makes a lot easier for me then to...

  • If I'm making a video with Claudia,

  • she's sat next to me

  • and she's talking,

  • I won't be able to tell you what the words are that she is saying just exactly.

  • I can't repeat that back to you.

  • But

  • I'll get the idea of what she's saying

  • because I'll have got a few words of that sentence

  • and my brain will put together

  • those words and some words to go in the gaps.

  • And it'll be like, she probably means this

  • or it's probably that.

  • And I know when to laugh because

  • *laughs*

  • because she does a little face.

  • I don't know tones.

  • I can't tell you the pitch of something.

  • I can't tell you the note.

  • But I can tell you that some sounds are like this

  • and some sounds like this

  • and

  • some sounds are like

  • this.

  • Yeah, that's how I think it sounds.

  • And a sound like this...

  • Well, no.

  • A sound like this

  • is a funny sound.

  • That's someone telling a joke.

  • This is how my brain works.

  • And um...

  • This is generally, probably why I'm so freaking tired

  • all the time

  • because I've got no clue what's going on,

  • but my brain is really trying

  • incredibly hard

  • to work out what the hell it is.

  • So, we've got this word, but then this word, but hmm.

  • But maybe this, but hmm.

  • But this. Hmm.

  • And that's what my brain is doing

  • at breakneck speed

  • because the speed of speech is incredible.

  • And...

  • So, I'm trying to put that all together in my brain.

  • Trying to work out what she's saying.

  • It's definitely a thing but those are... aha!

  • Joke.

  • A few things about my deafness.

  • Yelling

  • isn't particularly helpful.

  • It makes the sound louder,

  • but it doesn't make it clearer,

  • and the clarity is my problem.

  • Although, obviously, a level of volume is helpful.

  • If you are whispering to me,

  • and I can't see your lips to lip-read,

  • what's the point?

  • I'm sorry. You have to write your secrets down.

  • I'll burn it.

  • Yelling is also...

  • not very helpful

  • because it really distorts the shape of your mouth.

  • If you are yelling,

  • then your lips are doing something very different.

  • I'm trying not to yell because the dogs will move.

  • As if, as if anything can move Walter.

  • Look at him.

  • You alright there, bud?

  • You okay?

  • It's okay.

  • Aww, poor little chap.

  • It's been a busy morning.

  • He ate some breakfast.

  • But ways that you can help me to understand what you're saying

  • would be...

  • speaking quite clearly,

  • not covering your mouth,

  • not having a beard,

  • preferably not eating at the same time.

  • Lowering your tone can actually be quite helpful.

  • Especially...

  • If you are a girl who has a quite high-pitched voice.

  • In a group setting,

  • please don't talk over other people.

  • And...

  • Get my attention

  • if I am looking somewhere else.

  • That's also helpful.

  • Claudia spends her whole life just coming up to me like...

  • or stomping.

  • Stomping also works quite well if we have bare feet, and we'll walk around the house,

  • and she needs my attention,

  • she just wacks her foot down on the floor quite a few times.

  • Ooh!

  • Very patient.

  • I hope you found this video very helpful

  • in relation to this one little deaf girl

  • and...

  • my own hearing.

  • Obviously, I think the most important thing

  • that you can take away from this

  • is that all Deaf people are different.

  • Everyone's hearing is different.

  • The reasons for our deafness,

  • all different.

  • How we cope with that deafness,

  • all different.

  • How we feel about that deafness,

  • all different.

  • There is no one-size-fits-all

  • I hope you have enjoyed this video.

  • And if you have, hit the like button.

  • Thank you.

  • And hit subscribe.

  • Watch some other of my videos.

  • Please, because YouTube demonetizes them because they are about deafness and disability.

  • And happy International Week of the Deaf!

Hello.

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