The Hazards of Being Deaf

Everyday we (both deaf and hearing) do routine things without thinking about them. Many of those things involve noise that help the hearing remember to do the next step but the deaf don't have that advantage. Sometimes they miss that "last" step because they simply forgot or were in hurry. Let me share a few examples of what I'm talking about.

The Deaf Church I attend (Lighthouse Chapel of the Deaf in Flint Michigan) rents space in the Genesee Co Baptist Association building. The building is made up with two sides. The association uses one side for their offices, etc and we use the other side as well as a Korean Church that meets there as well. The Koreans use the church Sunday mornings and the Deaf use the church Sunday afternoons/evenings. There is one bathroom on the association side and one bathroom on the church side of the building. The men use one side and the ladies use the other side.

As I am secretary for this church, I do have a key and am in close contact with Jim, the director. He keeps me informed of things related to the building, etc. This past Monday morning, I got an email from Jim. He had come to work to find that the person who last used the men's bathroom left the water facet running at full blast. OH NO! We are thankful the plug was not down so there was no damage with the exception of wasted water and a higher water bill coming next month. Jim understands the deaf man didn't hear that running water and just forgot to turn it off after using it. The Deaf church will help cover the extra cost on the water bill and I will now try to remember to check both bathrooms before we lock up. I have done this same thing myself a few times.

My husband (who is hearing) would come home from work and ask me...why is the water running in the bathroom or kitchen sink? OOPS!

This is one hazard of being deaf. A hearing person would hear the water and it would remind them mentally to turn it off. The Deaf person has to remember he turned it on in the first place or see it running with their eyes to remind them to turn it off again.

I have another example that maybe hearing people are guilty of too...

A deaf person is driving their car. They arrive where they were going. They put the gear in PARK.. get their things....get out of the car... push down the lock button...close the door and OH NO!!! They left their keys inside the car and left the car running too! They forgot to turn the car off and remove their keys before exiting the car.

This happened to several deaf people I know. The first one had no choice but to call the police and ask them to try to unlock the door so she could turn off her car and get her keys. It depends on the town.. sometimes the police will do that as a service. Other times they say no and the deaf person is forced to call and pay for the service of a locksmith. The second person called her husband to come with his set of keys. Both of these incidents involved waiting for the other person to show up. In the meantime their car is running and consuming gas. One time another friend had to leave her car running for several hours before help came. She has done this so many times, the police in her town know who she is. She has since taped a second key underneath her car in an unknown location. That way if she does this again, she has a second key available. WHEW!

That was another example that the hearing person will hear their car is running and it reminds them to remove the key. They also will hear the chiming if they open the door with the key still in the ignition. This is a huge advantage the deaf do not have. I wonder if there are any car models out there that have a blinking light when the keys are left in the ignition. That would be a valuable assistant to deaf drivers.

The same goes for turn signals. Hearing people hear the chime but the deaf do not and if they forget to turn their turn signals off they can drive miles before realizing it. That is confusing to the people driving behind them but deaf people are very good drivers for the most part. Sometimes they wander on the road if they are signing to passengers and driving at the same time. They often come across as driving drunk but they are not. Some deaf people really frighten me with their jerkiness while driving as they try to stay in their lane while holding an animated conversation at the same time. That is not safe and some deaf are not able to do both at the same time. Driving is very visual and most Deaf are very good at keeping an eye on things around them.

That includes looking for emergency vehicles. One of our biggest fears is running into an emergency vehicle at a cross road so most of the Deaf are more cautious entering cross roads especially if they are first at the light. Sometimes accidents do happen and I do know of a deaf person who was hit by an ambulance when he drove into a cross street unaware there was a speeding ambulance with siren screaming heading his way. Hearing people hear the siren and that gives them a heads up to be more alert. There are now some cities that have a flashing light at intersections. When a rescue vehicle is coming that way, that light will flash to make all (deaf and hearing) people aware of the danger. Unfortunately, this system is not available everywhere but hopefully as time goes by, it will be attached to all red lights at all intersections. That will keep both deaf and hearing people safer.