The Q Files
Over the years, I’ve received many questions from deafened people and students aspiring to understand us. Some of them could be called “Frequently Asked”; others might just be Frequently Wondered Questions.
[Any question that looks very personal has actually been sufficiently anonymized so that the real inquirer will not be traced. Some of them may even be composites, so don’t take my Pulitzer away later if someone brings that up.]
More questions will be added (Submit yours!).
The FAQs so far...
Q: What kind of hearing aid should I buy? I was told to buy a [spew of technical model numbers and jargon clearly recited by someone who has been blindsided by an inadequate explanation].
Q: What do you think about disposable hearing aids, self-programmable hearing aids, etc.?
Q: Can you please answer these 962 biographical questions? My paper is due tomorrow.
Q: Being a professor, how do you communicate in the classroom?
Q: At home, what kind of equipment do you use to make it possible for you to use the phone?
Q: Is technology the answer?
Q: What is the most effective way to communicate with you if the person doesn’t know sign language?
Q: Can you tell me about the psychological trauma experienced by hearing children of deaf adults, or problems faced by hearing parents raising deaf children?
Q: I am deaf but in one ear. I feel I’m lucky to hear at all, but I am curious on how my condition occurred. Either I had an infection in my ear at a young age and the doctors were too late finding it, or I was born this way.
Q: What about interpreting services for deafened people?
Q: Do you know Braille?
A. Braille is for blind people.