Post #22: Chapter 49

Chapter 49:

                The different reasons people are deaf was a little complex but I comprehended it to the best of my ability. First, I learned that “A person born deaf is said to be congenitally deaf; one who becomes deaf after birth is adventitiously deaf” (pg. 299). This can be broken down even further. Adventitiously deaf can be separated into two categories, prelingual and postlingual. Postlingual then divides into childhood deafness, pre-vocational deafness, or post-vocational deafness. I discovered that rubella (German measles), Cytomegalovirus (CMV), and the Rh factor are all 3 causes of congenital deafness (pg. 299).

                When reading about congenital deafness I learned that “Not all congenitally deaf people have hereditary deafness”( pg. 299). This makes sense but I had made the assumption that in order to be congenitally deaf it must be hereditary after reading previous chapters. This chapter proved that what I thought was wrong.

                I had never heard of Usher’s syndrome before. I read that it is “an autosomal-recessive trait, [and is] a blanket term for several hereditary disorders in which profound sensorineural deafness is accompanied by progressively deteriorating vision” (pg. 300). This syndrome sounds awful, I can’t imagine losing both my hearing and my eyesight.

                Another syndrome I learned about was Waardenburg’s syndrome. This is when “congenital deafness of varying degrees is accompanied by partial albinism, such as white forelock in a head of dark hair, and extremely pale blue or different-colored eyes, and facial anomalities such as wide separation of the inner corners of the eye, and a broad nasal bridge. Not all people with WS have hearing loss, though” (pg. 300). I hadn’t heard of this syndrome either so that was a new one for me.

                This reading also taught me that “while conductive deafness can often be treated, sensorineural deafness is usually irreversible” (pg. 301) and that “adventitious deafness can be caused by accidents” (pg. 301). There were so many new terms in this chapter that I didn’t know before so I felt like I was constantly reading about  new things. One thing I already knew that the authors pointed out was that, “gradual hearing loss can result from repeated exposure to very loud noise” (pg. 301). This is what has happened to my grandpa. He worked in a factory for many years and never wore ear protection and now he is losing his hearing.

                Overall this chapter taught me all about the different causes of deafness and explains why a deaf person may ask. They are “getting a quick idea of their ethnic identity, so to speak- their background, outlook, and place in the Deaf community” (pg. 301).