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!