Janice Lintz, CEO of Hearing Access & Innovations, is passionate about advocating for those with hearing loss. Many misconceptions exist about hearing loss- here are her Top 7: (adapted from 17 Misconceptions About People with Hearing Loss, previously published by Hearing Health, Winter 2010.)
Everyone with a hearing loss uses sign language.
Hearing loss is a spectrum, and people with hearing loss don’t all communicate the same way. How a person communicates depends on a variety of factors, such as the person’s degree of hearing loss, whether a hearing aid or cochlear implant is used, the age the person lost his/her hearing, the level of auditory training received, and the nature of the listening situation. The majority of people with hearing loss do not use sign language, but it is still important to those whose communication depends on it.
Janice S. Lintz 