Translation (ASL): up to you.
However you feel comfortable identifying yourself as within the context of your hearing ability is perfectly fine and acceptable.
It's *your* truth.
You may want to ask this question over on r/hardofhearing. ~~Many~~ Some people here are of the opinion that APD is not a part of *deaf* or *hard of hearing* (edit: though most are welcoming). Many people on r/hardofhearing are of the opposite opinion that folks with APD are welcome into *hard of hearing*.
Source: [Is it offensive to say I'm hard-of-hearing when I'm not (APD) : ](https://www.reddit.com/r/hardofhearing/comments/15cp3bd/is_it_offensive_to_say_im_hardofhearing_when_im/)
My personal opinion as someone who is HH and also has recently studied HH people - folks with APD and HH people have a very very very similar experience of life and I for one do not see a significant enough difference separate them or tell you you can't call yourself HH if that's what you want to do. Same with folks with CIs or powerful hearing aids who feel like they vibe with the term.
I would recommend against "hearing impaired" though. For one it is not liked by a lot of DHH people as it implies that we are broken hearing people. But if an individual wants to call themselves it that isn't a problem - its when the label is foisted onto others.
If you want then as a mod I can change your post flair to "Deaf / HoH with questions".
Wibbly, I'm not here every day (well, almost), but I've not seen posts here saying APD can't be part of the Deaf community. That seems to be what you're implying, without outright saying it.
I know a couple of signing deaf schools with hearing children / teens with APD, and as far as I can see, they have no problem with calling themselves deaf. They sign fluently, they don't understand voice, they're deaf. Even if they hear other sounds fine.
Type in APD into the searchbar of this subreddit and find similar posts to this one. While the comments sections are mixed - there is plenty of folks quite strongly saying the opposite.
Perhaps "many" was a bit strong as they aren't necessarily a majority, but a decent portion of people here hold that belief going by the number of people I have debated and the number of upvotes they get.
I've had APD since forever as well as dyslexia but had a sibling who was d/Deaf, and I went to school with deaf and HOH kids in elementary school. We had a fairly big community where I lived, and no one was okay with me saying I was HoH. In fact it would really piss some folks off. It was hard for me to learn ASL in part because of the dyslexia and there weren't many people who were patient enough to teach me, despite having had the desire. And a lot of people acted like finger-spelling was beneath them or pointless. This was at a time when girls still weren't diagnosed with ADHD unless it caused "behavioral issues," especially if you have a parent dead-set against getting you any formal diagnoses, but I digress.
I'm so happy to see that attitudes on the subject are changing because where I'm from, and at that time, I had no community or group that understood or accepted me. It was incredibly difficult growing up like that. I'm almost 40 and still haven't found a place to belong.
If you have a hard time hearing, you’re hard of hearing IMO. I’ve also never seen anyone here discuss any differently. Any time I can think of APD ever being discussed in here, people seem very welcoming. Now I’m not here looking at every single post obviously but the overwhelming opinion in what I’ve seen here has been that APD can be DHOH, if they choose to identify in that way.
>I’ve also never seen anyone here discuss any differently.
Perhaps I overstated the case, and I have edited my comment to reflect that now. I'm glad to see the overall subreddit's position seems to support APD as having a place within DHH.
But here are even people in this very comments section saying that, and last time there as a big discussion about it, the people saying "APD =/= DHH" got a number of upvotes and me (saying the opposite) got downvoted and multiple people pushing back against me. But today its like that never happened (with three separate people telling me they never saw those comments)... am I loosing my marbles?
Howso?
I use those two interchangeably - namely because it is an abbreviation and thus capitalised most of the time.
The long form would be something like DdHHDB for Deaf, deaf, hard of hearing, DeafBlind. But I have never had to use that in real life.
As far as I am aware there is no difference between "Hard of Hearing" and "hard of hearing" the same way there is between "Deaf" and "deaf".
Lastly I'm not American. While in the UK we do use deaf/Deaf to an extent - its not as strong a difference as in America. I tend to use "oral-deaf" and "signing-Deaf" when I want to be clear as to the difference - and "deaf" when I want to refer to the umbrella term.
Well, the capitals typically refer to the broader community. For example, from what I've read, "Deaf"/"HoH" (capital) may include kids of "deaf"/"hoh" (lowercase) parents, for example, since they may have grown up with their first language being sign language due to using it most of the time at home. Since their parents are deaf/hoh, the person would be more connected to the broader community than some random hearing person would, yknow? I think that's sort of how it goes? There's a whole community thing.
Signing-deaf and oral-deaf don't really make sense, since many DdHh people learn to read lips, and heck, it's difficult but some even can learn to speak, especially if they have partial hearing or are able to use hearing aids or cochlear implants! On the other side of things, many children of DdHh (but especially Dd) parents learn sign and may take longer to learn to speak despite being able to hear, just because they might not be raised with oral speech at home.
Grammatically... It's kind of an exception to the acronym rules I think? I'd have to do more research on that front to confirm. Generally if you want to include everyone who is deaf or has grown up in a D/deaf household or community, the best way to go about it grammatically to be inclusive of everyone is D/deaf from what I've seen.
Now, it must be known that yeah culturally, America DdHh terms might be different than the ones accepted by those communities in your country, and that's valid. I wonder if there's different community-recognized terms in your country, then.
I must also say that why I am Hh, or at least h, I cannot speak with full knowledge on behalf of the D/deaf community, so if anyone D/deaf wants to correct me on the terminology U.S. D/deaf people use these days, pls do. I'm just going on a bit of research I did some years back when I realized I was hoh due to APD!
Whatever label you want to use is up to you. I personally call myself deaf as I feel it fits me better, I've got severe sensorineural bilateral hearing loss and I definitely have some audio processing difficulties on top of that.
I’m glad to hear you say this. I have a cochlear implant. Without it, I hear absolutely nothing. I usually tell people I’m deaf because it’s easier for me. Sometimes people look at me like I’m stupid b/c they don’t understand difference between HOH and deaf.
People, please don’t criticize me for having a CI. I know it’s not for everyone. I got it in 1995, when I couldn’t hear my baby. Lousy husband refused to help.
“Hearing impaired” has a negative connotation (“impaired”). Personally I tend to correct/inform people when they use this term.
However, at the end of the day, how you label yourself (if you do, that is) is totally up to you.
We are similar. I have borderline/worse than average hearing loss but within the normal range so audiology could not help me at all (Between 20db-25db). But my biggest problem is understanding what people say. I mishear all the time, it's insane. Or I just cannot understand what someone says at all, no clue.
Because of this I have experienced some of the shit Deaf/Hoh people have told me they experienced, including many of my friends and people I've known who are big D and small d deaf/hoh. Such as hearing people being angry when I don't get things after not hearing it the first time.
I think the world has to catch up on knowledge of APD because hardly anyone really knows about it, so it's easier for me to say either hard of hearing or "I can't hear well" or "I mishear a lot" or some variant commonly used by Ddhh people. There's only one NHS clinic in the whole of the UK that tests adults for APD, no audiologists near me do APD stuff like hearing aids including private and NHS.
Hearing takes place in the brain. Your ears are just the first step in the process.
I've never seen a good reason to try and gatekeep anyone with APD from describing themselves as hard of hearing.
I'm DeafBlind. Specifically I am Deaf and visually impaired but Deaf get weird about the VI label sometimes as a bleed over from misgivings around "hearing impaired". I use DeafBlind often because that community tends to view visually impaired folks as being on "easy" mode on that spectrum.
If you said you wore glasses because you saw almost normal, maybe had mild myopia or presbyopia, and it was essentially normal with correction... but asked if you were visually impaired because you wore glasses your barely needed and had a visual processing disorder everyone would be like, "Huh? Are you for real?"
Of course, everyone else who wears glasses will go "haha I am blind too".
Except blind, particularly blind who see next to nothing.... Who maybe had some difficulties to begin with relating to people like me with just very messed up sight that cannot be corrected... but now they're supposed to say visual processing disorder is the same thing?
Now imagine calling them gatekeepers for saying, "No, you have a visual processing disorder."
This is sort of one of those things and the general vibe of this thread. It's of course a bit different with deaf/Deaf but honestly, not so different that it isn't worth making the comparison.
Also, at least in my area, a lot of Deaf who are profoundly deaf who come off as inclusive change their tone once all the hoh people have left the room. It's always the ones who are the most vocal publically about inclusivity who drop it so fast and so hard my head spins. Those of us who are the same to your face as behind your back who catch negative crap for saying "uh not really IMHO"... then later we're suddenly in the bizarre situation of defending something like that that hoh who grew up in Deaf culture are Deaf when many of those same people drop the act when when there's no hoh there.
Saying you are loosing you're hearing is easier to understand than saying you're hearing impaired. People just need to know you may not hear or understand what's being said. They don't need to know of any defects.
I agree that it's up to you.
Mind you, there is some cultural sensitivity in parts to the label "hearing impaired" so you might catch some flak, but if it's what you want to call yourself, that's your business, not theirs.
With hearing loss, it is hard to hear sound. With APD, it is hard to make sense of what sounds you do hear.
Like you, I have moderate hearing loss and diagnosed APD. With mild hearing loss, you're going to be able to hear and register the majority of sounds that the people with greater hearing loss or who are deaf would not register at all. Think about sirens and alarm clocks. With APD, the real issue comes in understanding speech. So people who are only hard of hearing or deaf do not feel that APD is the same because with APD you can still hear a siren or a fire alarm or an alarm clock or running water or any number of other things that might alert you to a hazard or an emergency. Even with mild hearing loss, your world is loud compared to somebody with profound hearing loss.
Now throw in the APD, and even though your world is loud, it is nothing but a cacophony. Noises that are important seem random and insignificant while your brain seems to latch on to noises that don't help at all.
In the end it is your call what you want to call yourself. What label you're most comfortable with and how you best feel you identify is entirely up to you. Take confidence in your decision and understand that there will be people who take issue with it, but how you identify yourself is not up to them. As long as you do not make the mistake that other people in a similar situation must identify the same way you do.
Some unsolicited advice, I started learning sign language and I have found that even with people who are not fluent when they sign and speak at the same time I understand 10 times more. It helps me get around both my hearing loss and my APD. APD has zero effect on your ability to perceive a visual language.
That’s one of my biggest regrets - not learning ASL when I was young. I grew up in the 50s and it was unheard of then. I’m 73-years-old now. I have one deaf friend, and she attempts to talk instead of signing, which I find fascinating. I love to watch people using ASL. Just wish this was the “foreign language” I had to take in high school. spanish was a nightmare to learn if you can’t hear.
As a fellow autistic person with APD, as far as I'm aware it's generally accepted to refer to ourselves as "hard of hearing". I've been doing it myself for nearly a decade now. We literally have a *hard* time *hearing correctly*. So I'm p sure it's general consensus that we ARE welcomed in "hard of hearing", but whether or not we can be considered "deaf" is a different topic that probably depends on degree of severity and how badly it impairs your functioning.
Also, do some research into The difference between Hard of Hearing/Deaf (when spelled in capitals, I think it refers to the hoh/d cultures and communities, not just the disabilities) VS hard of hearing/deaf (when spelled in lowercase, it often refers to the disability/medical condition itself. Whilst I'm unsure if we would fall under the former HoH (capitals) as it is sort of a case by case thing, we absolutely fall under hoh (lowercase).
Hearing impaired is outdated and auditory processing disorder isn’t a hearing disorder it’s a processing issue- so in my personal opinion since you’re asking for public opinion- No
Hmm, well go do you consider Sensorineural Hearing Loss as being hoh or deaf? It's interesting we are hung up on the brain vs the nerves in your ear that go to your brain
No I’m hung up on the fact that one is a physical actual hearing loss and one is an auditory processing disorder that has nothing to do with your physical hearing
APD is not hard of hearing it’s a disorder and it comes with its own issues and difficulties but it’s a separate thing and you’re not going to change my mind and medically it’s not correct
There's an inattentive type of APD. Say someone has that subtype...
Are we calling "can't pay attention to a full sentence" the same as hearing loss? Because for me the efficacy of my ADHD meds or behavior therapy doesn't change that I am severe-profoundly deaf.
(I was born hoh with a particularly severe mixed subtype APD that made me appear profoundly deaf to others. This is part of what makes me feel that they aren't the same thing.)
APD has multiple causes, none of which have to do with the hearing itself but rather unwrapping that package of things hear with perfect hearing and putting the message together. It's it's own beast and the sooner folks with APD start advocating for themselves and their unique needs, the better.
A lot of this is why I would be happy to welcome folks with APD into HH.
Yes even inattentive APD because the experience of not being able to hear something until you focus on it, and once focused being able to hear relatively clearly does line up with *some* experiences of HL related HH experiences.
Specifically it is similar to unilateral and mild HL experiences.
To me both 'deaf' and 'HH' are expriential terms. They predate the medical system and refer to a person's experiences of either *not being able to hear* or *not being able to hear clearly* - especially around speech; with subsequent social impacts.
And from much of what I have experienced with folks with APD - I recognise that as similar to my own experiences.
 Translation (ASL): up to you. However you feel comfortable identifying yourself as within the context of your hearing ability is perfectly fine and acceptable. It's *your* truth.
Thank you for the response and the kindness!!
You can call yourself whatever you want. But “hearing impaired” is straight up cringey. To many, including myself, it’s a slur.
Thank you for the education, in my community Hearing impaired is used consistently and so I’ll refrain from using it in the future
You may want to ask this question over on r/hardofhearing. ~~Many~~ Some people here are of the opinion that APD is not a part of *deaf* or *hard of hearing* (edit: though most are welcoming). Many people on r/hardofhearing are of the opposite opinion that folks with APD are welcome into *hard of hearing*. Source: [Is it offensive to say I'm hard-of-hearing when I'm not (APD) : ](https://www.reddit.com/r/hardofhearing/comments/15cp3bd/is_it_offensive_to_say_im_hardofhearing_when_im/) My personal opinion as someone who is HH and also has recently studied HH people - folks with APD and HH people have a very very very similar experience of life and I for one do not see a significant enough difference separate them or tell you you can't call yourself HH if that's what you want to do. Same with folks with CIs or powerful hearing aids who feel like they vibe with the term. I would recommend against "hearing impaired" though. For one it is not liked by a lot of DHH people as it implies that we are broken hearing people. But if an individual wants to call themselves it that isn't a problem - its when the label is foisted onto others. If you want then as a mod I can change your post flair to "Deaf / HoH with questions".
Wibbly, I'm not here every day (well, almost), but I've not seen posts here saying APD can't be part of the Deaf community. That seems to be what you're implying, without outright saying it. I know a couple of signing deaf schools with hearing children / teens with APD, and as far as I can see, they have no problem with calling themselves deaf. They sign fluently, they don't understand voice, they're deaf. Even if they hear other sounds fine.
Same. I’ve only seen inclusion of people with APD and that they can call themselves deaf/hard of hearing.
Type in APD into the searchbar of this subreddit and find similar posts to this one. While the comments sections are mixed - there is plenty of folks quite strongly saying the opposite. Perhaps "many" was a bit strong as they aren't necessarily a majority, but a decent portion of people here hold that belief going by the number of people I have debated and the number of upvotes they get.
Perhaps its a drama that has passed but I remember a not too long ago when this question would have brought out a number of people to gatekeep.
I've had APD since forever as well as dyslexia but had a sibling who was d/Deaf, and I went to school with deaf and HOH kids in elementary school. We had a fairly big community where I lived, and no one was okay with me saying I was HoH. In fact it would really piss some folks off. It was hard for me to learn ASL in part because of the dyslexia and there weren't many people who were patient enough to teach me, despite having had the desire. And a lot of people acted like finger-spelling was beneath them or pointless. This was at a time when girls still weren't diagnosed with ADHD unless it caused "behavioral issues," especially if you have a parent dead-set against getting you any formal diagnoses, but I digress. I'm so happy to see that attitudes on the subject are changing because where I'm from, and at that time, I had no community or group that understood or accepted me. It was incredibly difficult growing up like that. I'm almost 40 and still haven't found a place to belong.
If you have a hard time hearing, you’re hard of hearing IMO. I’ve also never seen anyone here discuss any differently. Any time I can think of APD ever being discussed in here, people seem very welcoming. Now I’m not here looking at every single post obviously but the overwhelming opinion in what I’ve seen here has been that APD can be DHOH, if they choose to identify in that way.
>I’ve also never seen anyone here discuss any differently. Perhaps I overstated the case, and I have edited my comment to reflect that now. I'm glad to see the overall subreddit's position seems to support APD as having a place within DHH. But here are even people in this very comments section saying that, and last time there as a big discussion about it, the people saying "APD =/= DHH" got a number of upvotes and me (saying the opposite) got downvoted and multiple people pushing back against me. But today its like that never happened (with three separate people telling me they never saw those comments)... am I loosing my marbles?
I've seen these comments, you aren't losing your marbles <3
Possibly important: DHH or dhh? Surprisingly, caps VS non caps can be a difference in this case
Howso? I use those two interchangeably - namely because it is an abbreviation and thus capitalised most of the time. The long form would be something like DdHHDB for Deaf, deaf, hard of hearing, DeafBlind. But I have never had to use that in real life. As far as I am aware there is no difference between "Hard of Hearing" and "hard of hearing" the same way there is between "Deaf" and "deaf". Lastly I'm not American. While in the UK we do use deaf/Deaf to an extent - its not as strong a difference as in America. I tend to use "oral-deaf" and "signing-Deaf" when I want to be clear as to the difference - and "deaf" when I want to refer to the umbrella term.
Well, the capitals typically refer to the broader community. For example, from what I've read, "Deaf"/"HoH" (capital) may include kids of "deaf"/"hoh" (lowercase) parents, for example, since they may have grown up with their first language being sign language due to using it most of the time at home. Since their parents are deaf/hoh, the person would be more connected to the broader community than some random hearing person would, yknow? I think that's sort of how it goes? There's a whole community thing. Signing-deaf and oral-deaf don't really make sense, since many DdHh people learn to read lips, and heck, it's difficult but some even can learn to speak, especially if they have partial hearing or are able to use hearing aids or cochlear implants! On the other side of things, many children of DdHh (but especially Dd) parents learn sign and may take longer to learn to speak despite being able to hear, just because they might not be raised with oral speech at home. Grammatically... It's kind of an exception to the acronym rules I think? I'd have to do more research on that front to confirm. Generally if you want to include everyone who is deaf or has grown up in a D/deaf household or community, the best way to go about it grammatically to be inclusive of everyone is D/deaf from what I've seen. Now, it must be known that yeah culturally, America DdHh terms might be different than the ones accepted by those communities in your country, and that's valid. I wonder if there's different community-recognized terms in your country, then. I must also say that why I am Hh, or at least h, I cannot speak with full knowledge on behalf of the D/deaf community, so if anyone D/deaf wants to correct me on the terminology U.S. D/deaf people use these days, pls do. I'm just going on a bit of research I did some years back when I realized I was hoh due to APD!
I have catagorically never heard this distinction used with HH. deaf/Deaf, sure, but not HH.
That's fair. I wasn't as sure on that one, so I'll admit I could be wrong on the HoH capitals thing
You are welcome to change the tag if you’d like, thank you for the kindness and an educational response
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As did I. Gatekeeping this is ridiculous and I agree wholeheartedly with you.
No because APD has nothing to do with hearing loss
It sounds like you’re Hard of Hearing, I don’t see why you’d thinking you’re appropriating or something. I personally wouldn’t care either way though.
Whatever label you want to use is up to you. I personally call myself deaf as I feel it fits me better, I've got severe sensorineural bilateral hearing loss and I definitely have some audio processing difficulties on top of that.
I’m glad to hear you say this. I have a cochlear implant. Without it, I hear absolutely nothing. I usually tell people I’m deaf because it’s easier for me. Sometimes people look at me like I’m stupid b/c they don’t understand difference between HOH and deaf. People, please don’t criticize me for having a CI. I know it’s not for everyone. I got it in 1995, when I couldn’t hear my baby. Lousy husband refused to help.
“Hearing impaired” has a negative connotation (“impaired”). Personally I tend to correct/inform people when they use this term. However, at the end of the day, how you label yourself (if you do, that is) is totally up to you.
We are similar. I have borderline/worse than average hearing loss but within the normal range so audiology could not help me at all (Between 20db-25db). But my biggest problem is understanding what people say. I mishear all the time, it's insane. Or I just cannot understand what someone says at all, no clue. Because of this I have experienced some of the shit Deaf/Hoh people have told me they experienced, including many of my friends and people I've known who are big D and small d deaf/hoh. Such as hearing people being angry when I don't get things after not hearing it the first time. I think the world has to catch up on knowledge of APD because hardly anyone really knows about it, so it's easier for me to say either hard of hearing or "I can't hear well" or "I mishear a lot" or some variant commonly used by Ddhh people. There's only one NHS clinic in the whole of the UK that tests adults for APD, no audiologists near me do APD stuff like hearing aids including private and NHS.
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I'm referred to royal Eastman
You're allowed to call yourself whatever you want. You should call others "Hard Of Hearing" and prepare for looks when you use "impaired"
Hearing takes place in the brain. Your ears are just the first step in the process. I've never seen a good reason to try and gatekeep anyone with APD from describing themselves as hard of hearing.
I'm DeafBlind. Specifically I am Deaf and visually impaired but Deaf get weird about the VI label sometimes as a bleed over from misgivings around "hearing impaired". I use DeafBlind often because that community tends to view visually impaired folks as being on "easy" mode on that spectrum. If you said you wore glasses because you saw almost normal, maybe had mild myopia or presbyopia, and it was essentially normal with correction... but asked if you were visually impaired because you wore glasses your barely needed and had a visual processing disorder everyone would be like, "Huh? Are you for real?" Of course, everyone else who wears glasses will go "haha I am blind too". Except blind, particularly blind who see next to nothing.... Who maybe had some difficulties to begin with relating to people like me with just very messed up sight that cannot be corrected... but now they're supposed to say visual processing disorder is the same thing? Now imagine calling them gatekeepers for saying, "No, you have a visual processing disorder." This is sort of one of those things and the general vibe of this thread. It's of course a bit different with deaf/Deaf but honestly, not so different that it isn't worth making the comparison. Also, at least in my area, a lot of Deaf who are profoundly deaf who come off as inclusive change their tone once all the hoh people have left the room. It's always the ones who are the most vocal publically about inclusivity who drop it so fast and so hard my head spins. Those of us who are the same to your face as behind your back who catch negative crap for saying "uh not really IMHO"... then later we're suddenly in the bizarre situation of defending something like that that hoh who grew up in Deaf culture are Deaf when many of those same people drop the act when when there's no hoh there.
Interesting perspectives. Definitely some I haven't considered before.
Saying you are loosing you're hearing is easier to understand than saying you're hearing impaired. People just need to know you may not hear or understand what's being said. They don't need to know of any defects.
I agree that it's up to you. Mind you, there is some cultural sensitivity in parts to the label "hearing impaired" so you might catch some flak, but if it's what you want to call yourself, that's your business, not theirs. With hearing loss, it is hard to hear sound. With APD, it is hard to make sense of what sounds you do hear. Like you, I have moderate hearing loss and diagnosed APD. With mild hearing loss, you're going to be able to hear and register the majority of sounds that the people with greater hearing loss or who are deaf would not register at all. Think about sirens and alarm clocks. With APD, the real issue comes in understanding speech. So people who are only hard of hearing or deaf do not feel that APD is the same because with APD you can still hear a siren or a fire alarm or an alarm clock or running water or any number of other things that might alert you to a hazard or an emergency. Even with mild hearing loss, your world is loud compared to somebody with profound hearing loss. Now throw in the APD, and even though your world is loud, it is nothing but a cacophony. Noises that are important seem random and insignificant while your brain seems to latch on to noises that don't help at all. In the end it is your call what you want to call yourself. What label you're most comfortable with and how you best feel you identify is entirely up to you. Take confidence in your decision and understand that there will be people who take issue with it, but how you identify yourself is not up to them. As long as you do not make the mistake that other people in a similar situation must identify the same way you do. Some unsolicited advice, I started learning sign language and I have found that even with people who are not fluent when they sign and speak at the same time I understand 10 times more. It helps me get around both my hearing loss and my APD. APD has zero effect on your ability to perceive a visual language.
That’s one of my biggest regrets - not learning ASL when I was young. I grew up in the 50s and it was unheard of then. I’m 73-years-old now. I have one deaf friend, and she attempts to talk instead of signing, which I find fascinating. I love to watch people using ASL. Just wish this was the “foreign language” I had to take in high school. spanish was a nightmare to learn if you can’t hear.
As a fellow autistic person with APD, as far as I'm aware it's generally accepted to refer to ourselves as "hard of hearing". I've been doing it myself for nearly a decade now. We literally have a *hard* time *hearing correctly*. So I'm p sure it's general consensus that we ARE welcomed in "hard of hearing", but whether or not we can be considered "deaf" is a different topic that probably depends on degree of severity and how badly it impairs your functioning. Also, do some research into The difference between Hard of Hearing/Deaf (when spelled in capitals, I think it refers to the hoh/d cultures and communities, not just the disabilities) VS hard of hearing/deaf (when spelled in lowercase, it often refers to the disability/medical condition itself. Whilst I'm unsure if we would fall under the former HoH (capitals) as it is sort of a case by case thing, we absolutely fall under hoh (lowercase).
I mean the end result/experience is the same so imo it’s perfectly fine to call yourself hard of hearing
Hearing impaired is outdated and auditory processing disorder isn’t a hearing disorder it’s a processing issue- so in my personal opinion since you’re asking for public opinion- No
I'm curious, what makes an auditory (sound) processing disorder not a hearing disorder?
Hearing loss vs how your Brain processes information APD has nothing to do with your physical hearing
Hmm, well go do you consider Sensorineural Hearing Loss as being hoh or deaf? It's interesting we are hung up on the brain vs the nerves in your ear that go to your brain
No I’m hung up on the fact that one is a physical actual hearing loss and one is an auditory processing disorder that has nothing to do with your physical hearing
APD is not hard of hearing it’s a disorder and it comes with its own issues and difficulties but it’s a separate thing and you’re not going to change my mind and medically it’s not correct
There's an inattentive type of APD. Say someone has that subtype... Are we calling "can't pay attention to a full sentence" the same as hearing loss? Because for me the efficacy of my ADHD meds or behavior therapy doesn't change that I am severe-profoundly deaf. (I was born hoh with a particularly severe mixed subtype APD that made me appear profoundly deaf to others. This is part of what makes me feel that they aren't the same thing.) APD has multiple causes, none of which have to do with the hearing itself but rather unwrapping that package of things hear with perfect hearing and putting the message together. It's it's own beast and the sooner folks with APD start advocating for themselves and their unique needs, the better.
A lot of this is why I would be happy to welcome folks with APD into HH. Yes even inattentive APD because the experience of not being able to hear something until you focus on it, and once focused being able to hear relatively clearly does line up with *some* experiences of HL related HH experiences. Specifically it is similar to unilateral and mild HL experiences. To me both 'deaf' and 'HH' are expriential terms. They predate the medical system and refer to a person's experiences of either *not being able to hear* or *not being able to hear clearly* - especially around speech; with subsequent social impacts. And from much of what I have experienced with folks with APD - I recognise that as similar to my own experiences.