Congratulations to the CODA crew on its amazing wins at the Academy Awards on March 27th. As a person with hearing loss, I’m always gratified to see the attention garnered by deaf and hearing loss issues. But, as a person who uses the spoken language to communicate, my communication needs are different than someone who uses a signed language.
Here is an excerpted article I wrote last year after viewing what is now the Oscar winner for Best Picture 2022.
I am deaf but not Deaf. I can hear but I’m not Hearing (term for someone who does not have hearing loss, which I have capitalized for this article). I identify as a person with hearing loss.
Last night, we watched CODA (child of Deaf adults), the new movie about a family that has both Deaf and hearing family members.
The film was charming and moving. I cried a bit and so did the Hearing Husband because we both saw bits of ourselves in the movie. He, as the spouse of a woman with profound hearing loss, saw the challenges that he lives with daily.
I teared up at some brilliantly acted moments that were spot-on and painfully familiar. A lifetime of making a lot of noise and not realizing it because I couldn’t hear it. The isolation when everyone around me understands what’s going on or being said. The having to stare intently at someone’s face to make out what they were saying.
I am not Deaf like the characters in CODA. [] Without my assistive technology I am functionally deaf, but with it, I can hear, although I miss a lot and I still need to speechread. I must also advocate for myself with other people – please speak up, face me, slow down, turn down the background noise, etc.
Many people with hearing loss feel caught between the Deaf and Hearing worlds. But I have never seen it that way; the idea of Deaf and Hearing as being separate worlds doesn’t make sense. Deaf Culture is a way of life which has its own values, traditions, social norms, and identity– and its own language, the language of sign although there is no universal sign language. The ‘hearing world’ is one people can perceive and understand sound. But here’s the thing: whether it’s Spanish, English, German, or Tagalog, you don’t need the ability to hear, or hear well, to speak, write and use a ‘spoken’ language.
Sign language is part of Deaf Culture but Hearing people don’t have a culture built around their common ability to hear. They don’t bond over it. In fact, they generally don’t even think about it – they hear organically, without effort. It’s what they do.
I don’t feel caught between being Deaf and Hearing just as I, because I use corrective lenses, don’t feel caught between the worlds of being Blind or Sighted. I have profound hearing loss, but English is my language – I just can’t always hear or understand it. I have to work at it.
When people say they feel caught in the middle, they may be saying that communication is difficult, frustrating, and very imperfect. They can’t communicate with ease, in the way that Deaf people can sign fluently with each other, and Hearing people can talk and hear easily with each other. With hearing loss, we may need help to communicate in the language we know. We must learn to use technology and non-technical strategies such as using visual cues.
Our world is one of overlapping languages and modes of communication. If we become separated because of hearing challenges, we must work with our communication partners to bridge the gaps. We can all use the almost-universal sign for “I Love You”.
Thank you, CODA, both the actors and the movie itself, for getting a much-needed conversation going again. Now – we need something just as good to benefit people with hearing loss.
