4 Ears, 4 Eyes

What I Miss About Mosquitoes
4 Ears, 4 Eyes Decades ago, I heard the soft buzzing sounds of these blood-suckers flying close to my head.  I remember the "bzzz zzz" sounds growing louder, then softer as they mercilessly dive-bombed my flesh, expertly avoiding my swatting hands.  It seemed only fair that a warning sound accompanied the presence of these tiny predators.  Until I lived in South Korea for a year:...
Thu, May 02 2013

A Picture Paints a Thousand Words
4 Ears, 4 Eyes Do you notice anything unusual about this photo?  Look closely. The little girl in the party hat is me.  This photo was taken when I turned five years old, and at this time, no one knew that I was legally blind and hard of hearing.  Looking at the photo now, I can see that I was lipreading my mother - close up.   In the 1960s, hearing screenings for newborns we...
Fri, Apr 19 2013

Soundless Lipreading
4 Ears, 4 Eyes People tell me I lipread well - I can even tell if a person has a southern American, Hispanic, or British accent just by lipreading alone (found this out with different interpreters signing and mouthing words silently). This very informative video demonstrates the difficulty in lipreading WITHOUT hearing any sound. Because I can hear low frequencies, lipreading still...
Wed, Mar 13 2013

Book reviews for Misadventures in Deafness
4 Ears, 4 Eyes Did you download my free ebook last week?  If you did, and you like it, would you mind writing a positive review on amazon? A big thank you to those who already wrote a review!!  
Wed, Feb 06 2013

Free deaf/Hard of hearing Book on amazon.com!
4 Ears, 4 Eyes Get your FREE copy of "4 Ears, 4 Eyes: Misadventures in Deafness" TODAY and TOMORROW only!
Tue, Jan 29 2013

It's finally on amazon.com!
4 Ears, 4 Eyes Do you have friends, family members, or coworkers who just don't "get" your deafness?  The short stories in "4 Ears, 4 Eyes: Misadventures in Deafness" will help them see deafness in a different light, and will educate at the same time.  Get your copy today!
Sun, Jan 27 2013

Educate and Inform
4 Ears, 4 Eyes I attended a huge public event recently and requested CART (Communication Access Real-time Transcription).  Instead of CART, I received an ASL interpreter.  This was my first time requesting an accommodation. and might have been the first time the person I contacted had ever received such a request. Lesson learned - when requesting accommodations, take responsibilit...
Wed, Jan 23 2013

How to be Lipreader-Friendly
4 Ears, 4 Eyes I know, I've neglected my blog and my readership.  I'm sorry.  The shock of having my daughter unexpectedly get married and move away to another state has somewhat subsided, so I'm back.   This past Friday, I attended a social get-together and let the 7 people in attendance know about my hearing loss and that I lipread.  After the meeting, I spoke to a couple of...
Sun, Jan 20 2013

The Sincerest Form of Flattery...Imitation
4 Ears, 4 Eyes This post is dedicated to my daughter, Girly-girl, who got married last week, ninja-style.  She and her husband didn't tell a soul about their new marital status for several days, and when she told me, I was speechless.  My Girly-girl - a married woman.  Let me share one of my favorite memories from her childhood: Girly-girl and I were at home in our small a...
Wed, Nov 07 2012

Chazz Griffith, deaf guest poster
4 Ears, 4 Eyes Chazz Griffith and his adorable son, Merrick Chazz Griffith, one of my Facebook friends, was diagnosed with a hearing loss 4-5 years ago.  His family and friends had been telling him to get a hearing test, but he kept putting it off.  When he finally got his hearing tested, he was diagnosed with moderate to severe hearing loss in both ears and hearing aids were ...
Thu, Nov 01 2012

Are You "Voice-Off" Or "Voice-On"?
4 Ears, 4 Eyes This video made me realize how using my voice puts all the burden of communication on me because normal hearing people don't view me as deaf.  They forget I don't hear like they do, because I sound like a normal hearing person.  If you identify as deaf, but your speech is clear and easily understandable, are you "voice-off" in public or "voice-on"?  Have you change...
Tue, Oct 30 2012

Jeffrey Swartz, deaf blogger
4 Ears, 4 Eyes Jeffrey and his wife, Karen Jeffrey Swartz became deaf earlier this year, and has been documenting his experiences, both good and bad, on his blog, World of Silence.  In addition to his own blog, he recently began writing a guest column on Deaf-Insight every Tuesday.  He's all over the Internet!  It's hard to keep up with Jeffrey, sometimes. He's got a heart of gol...
Wed, Oct 24 2012

Shades of Deafness
4 Ears, 4 Eyes What does it mean to be deaf? Does "deaf" mean "total absence of sound"? Do all deaf people hear the same sounds as normal hearing people, but much more softly? Definitely not. There are an infinite number of ways to be deaf. Despite knowing this, I have to admit I was a bit shocked when I read what my Facebook friend, Rochester EightyFive, wrote about his experiences...
Sun, Oct 21 2012

Deaf Musician - David Jonsson
4 Ears, 4 Eyes I was chatting with several people in a deaf chat room and came across David Jonsson, a deaf musician.  Like me, he also recently came to understand that he is deaf, not hard of hearing.  His descriptions of how he hears sound are so familiar: Hello, My name is David Jonsson. You can find me at  [link] Thank you Cindy for asking me to guest blog. I pla...
Thu, Oct 18 2012

Rediscovery
4 Ears, 4 Eyes Deaf blogger Kym Bozarth, from Deaf In The Kitchen, is today's guest blogger. Every time I read her blog, my mouth waters from looking at the amazing photos of great food.  Check it out today! I am on a journey to rediscover who I am.  Since becoming profoundly deaf this past April 2012, I've always gone about my daily activities of living as a hearing person.  ...
Wed, Oct 17 2012

Find Your Dead Zones With the "Thud" Test
4 Ears, 4 Eyes If you have the ability to hear some sounds, take the Piano "Thud" Test to find out the pitches you hear properly.  Disclaimer:  This is not an official test, but if you wonder why you can barely comprehend speech, but enjoy music and/or play a musical instrument, this will help you understand how and why.   I've taken the test with and without my Phonak Naida S ...
Tue, Oct 16 2012

Hard of Hearing Parent Trick
4 Ears, 4 Eyes As a hard of hearing parent, I've been surprised at the things my children can hear. It's quite shocking to discover that certain objects actually make sounds. I was especially stunned to discover this little trick: Me:  "I can't find my keys!  Girly-Girl and Super Hearing Boy, have you seen them?" Girly-Girl:  "Shake your purse!" Me:  "What?  Why?" G...
Sat, Oct 13 2012

Changing Identities
4 Ears, 4 Eyes Find out how I jumped the invisible line between "hard of hearing" and "deaf" by clicking HERE! Hard of Hearing                             Deaf
Fri, Oct 12 2012

Start With Your Hearing Aids - Guest Post
4 Ears, 4 Eyes My name is Liz and I am a deaf blogger at Liz’s Deaf Blog. Before I go onto my post topic I have for readers of 4 Ears, 4 Eyes, I would first like to thank Cindy for asking me if I’d like to do a guest post here. What I would like to chat here about today, is about hearing aids. I say ‘Start with hearing aids’ due to my own recent personal experience which ...
Thu, Oct 11 2012

Are You Deaf? This Could Happen to YOU!
4 Ears, 4 Eyes Today's guest post is by BitcoDavid.  BitcoDavid is a blogger, blog site consultant, an avid health and fitness enthusiast, and an amateur boxer. He has spent years working with diet and exercise to combat obesity and obesity related illness.  In former lives, he was an audio engineer, a videographer, a teacher – even a cab driver. ******* On the evening of ...
Wed, Oct 10 2012

"Hearing" Movement
4 Ears, 4 Eyes   For a long time, I've known that I "hear" movement, even when there's no sound.  A few years ago, I came across the term "synesthesia" and discovered there is a medical term for this "ability."  I'm wondering if all deaf/hard of hearing people "hear" motion.  If you have a hearing loss, please view this video and leave a comment stating whether you can hear...
Mon, Oct 08 2012

Petition for Deaf Man in Prison
4 Ears, 4 Eyes Most of you reading this are Deaf, deaf, or hard of hearing. Even if you have normal hearing, I won't hold it against you. :) I'm glad you stopped by my blog, and hopefully you'll enjoy what you read and maybe even learn something about the world of deafness.Usually I keep my posts light, but I recently came across a blog post that shocked me to the core. Anyone w...
Wed, Oct 03 2012

GPS for the Hard of Hearing
4 Ears, 4 Eyes Technology is slowing catching up to speed for the deaf/hard of hearing community.  More online videos are being captioned, theaters are beginning to embrace captioning via special glasses and also rear window captioning, and almost all television programs have captioning.  Despite this progress, there is still a lot of room for improvement.  Whenever I encounter a...
Tue, Oct 02 2012

Made for Each Other
4 Ears, 4 Eyes This is a story from my old blog:I sit quietly at my desk in the Library. Customers are behaving themselves, and all is peaceful, when the door opens and The Dreaded Customer walks in the door. He’s never rude, never impolite, but I cringe inwardly the second he appears. Why? He’s the bane of my existence; every word he speaks looks EXACTLY the same. He simply rep...
Mon, Oct 01 2012

I See What You Said...
4 Ears, 4 Eyes Nicknames.  Some of us are given nicknames as children and some names come with a shortened version, such as Bill for William, and Jo for Joanna.  This is the story of how I came to be called Cindy.I was lipreading at a very young age, before my hearing loss was discovered.  I know this because of a little girl named Pam. My family and I were living in a small dupl...
Sun, Sep 30 2012

Hard of hearing culture
4 Ears, 4 Eyes You’ve probably heard of Deaf culture, right?  Are you aware that HOH people have their own culture, and raise their children in it?  I didn’t understand this until my children grew up.  For example, my children knew they shouldn’t speak during a tv show, but should wait for the commercials.  Videotapes and DVDs should be paused before saying anything. I tho...
Sat, Sep 29 2012

One Hearing Person at a Time
4 Ears, 4 Eyes Not everyone I interact with knows about my hearing loss.  I usually mention it only when necessary.  Sometimes it doesn’t come up, but when it does, it can be a little awkward.  Not for me, but for the normal hearing person:I was working in a library. Students were using the computers, and I was sitting at my desk.  It was hot, and my noisy fan was turned on in...
Fri, Sep 28 2012

Mork
4 Ears, 4 Eyes I don't wear my hearing aids at home when I'm by myself.  Why should I pay for batteries to amplify silence? I found out the hard way, though, that amplifying "silence" can be priceless.A friend gave me a cute little lovebird for Christmas and took the liberty of naming him Mork.  Mork was only a few weeks old when I got him, and wouldn’t let me get anywhere near ...
Thu, Sep 27 2012

The Code Crackers
4 Ears, 4 Eyes Movies and stories involving secret agents and spies are intriguing, aren't they?  Tales of mystery and espionage captivate our interest and we wonder if these people really exist.  I can say, with absolute certainty, that they do exist, and they are everywhere.  Some of them can be identified by the technology they use, but some are covert, and use none at all.I a...
Wed, Sep 26 2012

Blog Award!
4 Ears, 4 Eyes Liz at Liz's Deaf Blog nominated me for the One Lovely Blog Award! There are five guidelines for accepting this award:1. Link back to the blogger who nominated you.2. Paste the award image on your blog, anywhere.3. Tell them seven facts about yourself.4. Nominate 15 other bloggers for this award.5. Contact the bloggers that you have chosen to let them know they hav...
Tue, Sep 25 2012

A Hot Mess!
4 Ears, 4 Eyes I've never been athletic.  Growing up, my attempts at sports were laughable.  I could never understand what my teammates shouted at me, could never move fast enough, and didn't like sweating outside in the blazing sun.  Reading a book or playing the piano were much more enjoyable, and still are.   But then we got an Xbox Kinect.  The "Kinect" is a sound and mo...
Tue, Sep 25 2012

A Deaf Awareness Week to Remember
4 Ears, 4 Eyes September 23-29, 2012 is Deaf Awareness Week!  Would you like to be part of an effort to spread Deaf Awareness in a way that touches hearts and minds through laughter and inspiration AND educates - at the same time?If the answer is yes, please send me a super short story (less than 400 words, if possible) with the theme of deafness by clicking the Super Short Story S...
Tue, Sep 25 2012