Close to birth... I lost, like, 80 percent of my hearing, and I had difficulty speaking.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
You should know that I've been hearing-impaired, not quite since birth, but I've been wearing hearing aids since I was 13, so I'm very conscious of the difficulty of voice communication.
When I was born I was so surprised I didn't talk for a year and a half.
I hadn't really noticed that I had a hearing problem. I just thought most people had given up on speaking clearly.
When you get older, two things happen to you. You begin to lose your hearing, and I forget what the other one is.
In 1967, I found out I was losing my hearing. I went 10 years without any help. I had otosclerosis - hardening of the bone in the middle of the ear.
Since I knew my deaf identity since birth, it wasn't hard for me to be comfortable, confident, and independent in a hearing world.
When I was young I knew I was deaf. I couldn't accept it.
My father died when I was 4 years old, so I can't really say anything about his hearing.
I was born deaf. Sound never existed in my life, and this is completely normal to me.
I was born deaf, and I gained my hearing back when I was six months old - it was a miraculous event.