I am currently 31 years old and I have had a progressive hearing loss for most of my life, which seemed to begin when I was five (at least to me- records may indicate younger), and has gradually worsened. Cause is unknown. I spent 20+ years being hard-of-hearing and hearing impaired, until I stopped wearing my hearing aids in my early 20s. They did not seem to help enough to motivate me to keep wearing them. I did not grow up in a Deaf society and didn't learn any ASL until college. I may know a handful of ASL, but I do not, and never have, used it as my main form of communication. I went through life the hard way - being the one that had to adapt to everyone else .... or avoid them, which is what I did best. I've been a hermit most of my life with much of the only times I'm in society is for work, to shop, or attend a social gathering that I'd really prefer not to be at. In 2010, I made the decision to get a cochlear implant deciding I didn't have much to lose at that point. This blog is an accumulation of my experiences with the implant. And beyond.
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