THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DEAFNESS - PART THREE

Dr Donald Ramsdell’s Levels of Hearing continued:

Here are some things that can sometimes replace the missing components for a deaf or hard of hearing person.

Symbolic level. Informs, educates and entertains.

Subtitled films, DVDs and television programmes

Internet

Textphones

Amplified telephones

Loop systems, infra-red systems 

Newspapers

Stagetext

Books

Hearing aids and cochlear implants

Lipreading

Aesthetic level. Gives pleasure.

Subtitled films, DVDs and television programmes 

Loop systems, infra-red systems 

Written information in art galleries and concert programs

Hearing aids and cochlear implants

Lipreading

Warning level. Alerts and prepares.

Vibrotactile devices

Flashing light alarms

Hearing dogs

Written signs

Hearing aids and cochlear implants

Primitive level. Auditory background for daily living.

Hearing aids and cochlear implants

Vision e.g. colour

Sense of smell

Vibration e.g. footsteps

Draught e.g. door opening

Touch e.g. stroking pet

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’s Model of Deafened Adjustment expanded.

As seen in Stages of Bereavement or Grieving.

Denial – Identity Confusion.

In the early days denial of the loss is common, especially if the loss is a gradual one. This may be by avoiding situations that will highlight the hearing loss such as restaurants, pubs and playgrounds etc. Many people describe feelings helpless, angry, frustrated and isolated. My deafness was gradual and not noticed much in the early phases. I tried to be my normal self and ignore it. Now in its advanced stages, it is so easy to give up and just stay at home.

Anger – Identity Comparison.

At this stage the person cannot believe what has happened to them. They don’t know how to relate to the issues around deafness and feel they do not belong in that world. Blaming oneself for it happening may be done irrationally. Hindsight may bring issues to light not previously considered, such as not following ‘best practice’ for hearing safety because it wasn’t convenient. The anger may lead to impetuous behaviour and ill-considered actions like leaving jobs and not seeking more assistance. I thought I was being clever by changing my job completely and getting away from the emergency tasks. If I had stayed a little longer I may have been able to negotiate a sideways move and keep my promotion. I could see very little help or cooperation coming my way at the time. I thought I had no future if I stayed.

Bargaining – Identity Concession/Recognition/Activism.

This stage is a struggle to come to terms with the fact that they have become deaf. They try to fit in somewhere in between the worlds of normality and deafness. I could do most things I needed to do. I had a new wife who didn’t mind my problem and a new boss who was happy for me to do things how I wanted as long as the jobs got done. This meant I didn’t have to involve others very much and as I could use the telephone at the time my biggest hurdle had not arrived. I was able to be independent and that meant I could work professionally with the satisfaction that I was being myself and still using my training. I could almost forget I was deaf at times with just the occasional reminder if I forgot to put in my hearing-aid. Now it is in everything I do and I cannot compete.

Depression

At some point all deafened people have to feel depressed. It comes from not being able to see financial security in the future and thoughts creep in that you will be first in line for redundancy or that you will get sacked for incompetence because you cannot do you job safely or efficiently. Problems may seem insurmountable at the time and starting again with something new looks impossible when you consider yourself disabled of incomplete in some way. The pressures of supporting a family lend extra impact. Caution, introspection and reclusiveness can set in. For me it was the thought of being unprofessional, not being able to do my share of the work or doing it correctly. At home I needed to be sure to earn enough to pay my share of the expenses. I knew I would have to give up the activities and adventures I could have done if I was not deaf. Knowing there was so much I wanted to do when my family had grown up and the mortgage paid off but couldn’t because I wasn’t able to communicate is what became my lowest point.

Acceptance – Identity Synthesis.

This is the point when the deaf person finally finds peace with what has happened to them and starts to look forward instead of backwards. This means taking charge and being heard. Accepting that it is not just everyone else who has to change and not discriminate because of your disability, it has to be a mutual agreement. The deaf person is the expert on what they want to do and must go out and tell others what it is. They cannot guess. Now that I am waiting to improve my hearing with a cochlear implant which will be the first improvement for fifteen years, I am embracing my deafness with an understanding of what I can do rather than can’t. The new hearing device will be a support for what I want to do, to help me do it, not to decide what it will be. Its revolutionary design and extendability may even allow for things I had long since given up on ever doing again.

When Ramsdell was told the world seemed dead to those deaf soldiers it must have been at a time of great despair for them. Recognition of the problem is the first stage of putting it right. All our senses connect us to the world we live in and are vital to our well being. A shift in ourselves is needed to come to terms with any sensory loss but for those of us with the loss of our hearing it requires the greatest leap to overcome the isolation of it. Conversation is the lubrication of our relationships which otherwise grind to a halt and hearing is the means by which we stay in touch with the world around us.

Without their hearing the deafened person will be cut adrift from all that makes life worth living for them.

My thanks to my Lip Reading Tutor, Gill Houghton, for providing the guidance and the insight into this subject and helping me with the recognition of what has happened to me and how I am progressing through this process and out the other side.