(The interview was conducted on 28th March, 2018)
Legend:
K: Katrina, H: Heather, S1: Student 1
Part 1
H: Would you mind sharing with us your family and your medical background?
S1: Okay um yes for family background I have a mother and father but I do not have any brothers or sisters, yes and I have a mild hearing impairment that I cannot hear the sound with higher frequency and this is… it is… but I can hear what you are saying now but in some noisy environments um it is very difficult for me to hear quite clearly. When people call me or when people talk to me, yes, this is my medical background and I know they first noticed this when I was in the primary one.
H & K: Ah okay
S1: Yes and I have to follow up on this and then I participate in a hearing test every per three years and I have the… the… language therapy.
K: So your parents or your siblings, do they have this er higher frequency er
H: Yeah high frequency deafness
S1: My siblings do not have because I do not have them erm… for my parents because they do not have the body check with their hearing before so it could not really it could not definitely check whether it… whether they have the problem but my mum say they also cannot hear the sound high frequency but she do not receive any medical…
K: Medical check?
S1: Yes, medical check.
K: So um for like us now you can completely understand everything or do you find it difficult? Do you find you have to read our lips or…?
S1: Yeah, if I do not read he mouth it is very difficult for me to identify the sentences. It is more easy to know the sentences by looking at the mouth. It is much more better however if I do not look at your mouth I do hear what you are saying but it is not quite clear.
K: Not quite clear, okay
H: So do you struggle in lectures, when the lecturer is quite far away and you cannot read their lips?
S1: In the university I try to take the seat that… near to the speaker.
H: Yeah
S1: Yes, in the front row um at this moment I do not have a lot of problem when I hear what the professor is saying. However sometimes some classmates may speak too loudly and they may talk for too long time and it is very difficult for me to hear what the professor say yes, at some times I have this problem but mostly I’m er, I can hear clearly from what the professor is saying.
H: Yeah okay erm.
K: So er, would you describe yourself as a member of the deaf community or of the hearing world, like, how do you define or identify yourself.
S1: Ummm (pause) let me think erm (laughs)
H: Maybe we should leave that question for like later on when we’ve talked a bit more.
K: Oh yeah
H: So when you were in primary and secondary education um were you in mainstream schools or were you in like special deaf schools?
S1: Er I am in mainstream.
H: Mainstream. And did you get any kind of support with your high frequency deafness?
S1: Yes er most teachers my teachers know about my situation and arrange my seat in the front row, I am near to the teacher, yes, and I have a special arrangement in the proper examination yes erm, I was arranged in a special place to have the listening exam and have the special place for my oral exam and this can facilitate my hearing and yes and also in my secondary school I also received er speech therapy, yes, because I was it’s because they think that when I was little I could not hear clearly and so I could not pick up the correct er word yes and so they arranged the speech therapy every week.
H: Ah and that was in the school that they did that?
S1: Yes in the school.
K: When you were young you had the speech therapy what about now?
S1: No because yes after I entered the university I, I mean I do not receive the speech therapy.
H: So you don’t need the speech therapy anymore, it was just when you were younger?
S1: Because the therapists they say that my situation has improved a lot.
H: Oh okay that’s good.
S1: Yeah so um is it okay and that I do not need further um therapy yes, so, if I need to say I can find some community to help me.
H: Yeah
K: Do you mind sharing more a bit like how you communicate with your classmates, like when you were young. So do, do you tell them explicitly that you have um this issue or do the school keep it confidential? Or to make every student er like support you in a sense like they know your situation as well?
S1: Um... some of my best friends know my situation er, actually because er sometime especially in a noisy environment they will call me and call me and but I do not hear very clearly. They might have a misunderstanding ah why I see them this way and I will try to explain to them that I have this situation and so that they, when they talk to me they will try to speak loudly and yes, however for some normal classmates they may not know my situation er yes um but we have normal communication and do not have many problems because er we do not talk too much [inaudible].
H & K: (laugh)
S: But then my best friends will know my situation.
K: Okay and what about um the teachers, so all your school teachers they know you well?
S1: Er not all the teachers and some teachers, yes some teachers may know my situation, however some may not know, so um I think they think that I do not pay attention, only when in the class um... the teacher will call my name and sometimes I do not hear quite clearly in the noisy environment and they may think that I do not pay attention in the classes, yes and it leads to trouble some in the school, but, yes.
Part 2
K: Um, for me I want to know more about how they arrange those exams for you, like the special arrangement do they play like twice, or, how do they help you to, for your oral exam, yeah, can you tell us a bit more about that?
S1: For the oral exam um... for the normal oral exam there will be the, there is four students in the group, however for me I have the three students in the group and I sit in the middle just like this (demonstrates with gesture on the table) um... and so I can hear what the group mates are saying clearly um... so I hear clearly, and also for the oral exam er they the teacher will speak slowly to me, before when we have the individual response and the teacher will ask the question slowly so that I can hear much clearly.
H: Ah okay
S1: For the listening ah, let me remember clearly (laughs) yeah I am arranged into a special um...
K: A special room?
S1: Yeah um... not a special room just a special (pause) examination place just in the hall.
H: You mean like a particular seat?
S1: Yes but there but we, I have to use the device.
K: So you are using your own earphones?
S1: Yes um... we are not using our own earphone um... yes they will provide a device that’s supported um... they, the recording, um... the recording is much slower than the normal student.
K: Oh
H: Slower
S1: Yes, they will, between the two part they have um... they have a long stop
K: A long stop for you
S1: A long stop um.... to relax
[All laugh]
S1: Yeah, they say relax yeah, um... yeah, I can’t remember all of this
K & H: Ah yeah
H: So you would get extra time to like take a break.
S1: Yes and, um...and besides apart from the speaking and the oral exam I also in some writing exam I also arrange to in the front.
H: Right okay
S1: This is because it facilitates me to hear the instruction
K: Teaching instruction
S1: Teaching instruction clearly so um... er.... in every examination I am always arranged in the front, at the front.
K: So they have special seating arrangement for you and also extra time for you.
S1: Um...
K: For some papers only
S1: (laughs) Yes
H: Oh
S1: It’s because my situation not quite serious so there um is some er some way to help me.
K: In your school do you have other students like you? I mean, like, um special situations that they have other arrangement? Or are you, like, very few of them.
S1: Um... (pause) if you are talking about the hearing impairment um before I, I participate in the speech therapy and I found that um... there are four to five users of the speech therapy but um... I do not know that they have the um... hearing problem or not because I
K: Or other situations.
S1: Yes maybe other situation, but for hearing impairment I do not know if there are any other children like me had my hearing impairment.
K: So in general do you think your school is supportive? Helping you or do you encounter other difficulties have you encountered other like learning difficulties? Like throughout your school life?
S1: Um... yes the school provide many support to me and er... difficulty um... (pause) I think not quite many difficulty because if I do not hear quite clearly in the class then I will ask the teacher um... after the class.
H: Ah okay
S1: There not quite many learning difficulty and yeah, however in some listening parts that we have to do the listening part in the secondary school and um... and compared to what my, what my classmates do and I think my listening part the result of my listening part is not quite good (laughs) but um... you say in other learning parts and I think this is okay and do not have lot of problem.
H: Ah okay, so it was only listening exams that you felt er... disadvantaged?
S1: Um... difficult.
H: Yeah. Do you think there was any more support they could have provided to you in those exams? Would you have benefited from maybe some more time or like a different um... input maybe.
S1: Um... can you repeat the question?
H: Um... in your listening exams do you think there was any further support the school could have given you, to help? Or do you think they did everything they could?
S1: I think they um... for the public examinations our school do not, er... in the earlier of the secondary tests from the Secondary One to the maybe Secondary Four, they were not aware of my situation and just um.... when there is the listening examination they er.... I have the normal seat with the others.
H: Oh, okay.
K: So they just only moved you
H: Up to Secondary Four
K: In your senior secondary school?
S1: Um... at the normal situation when I will get into the secondary school but in the earlier years they do not provide any er special arrangement but, er... maybe near to the proper examination that is the Secondary Five to Six they try to arrange me to the special room to take the listening exam and...
H: Ah.
K: So did they order it or did you ask for the special arrangement?
S1: Er... they offer it um... in my Secondary Five I did not know there is a special arrangement before but um... one day a teacher find me and says, um... to ask whether
[(All laugh)
K: Suddenly they realise
S: Yes they suddenly realise this I am going to take the proper examination and
(All laugh, inaudible dialogue)
S1: So they arrange the special room for me to take the examination (pause) take the listening examination.
K: Mm so, in like normal classroom like in the class so they don’t really like slower their pace to teach? Or do they have other special aids when they talk? Like PowerPoint to help you to like comprehend everything?
S1: Um... (pause)
K: Are they aware, do you think they are aware of it?
S1: Er... aware of my situation you mean?
K: Mmhm.
S1: Er... (pause) maybe the, my class teacher may aware of the problem, however other subject teacher er, do not know our seat, my situation. My teacher have to arrange the front seat for me so I can hear what the teacher say clearly, um apart from that I do not Um... they will consult, my class teacher will consult me and what I want, and I need, yes er but apart from arranging the seat at the front I do not quite realise that the teacher give other support, maybe, yes, because my other subject teachers do not know my situation, yeah.
H: So because you had this er... front seat in the class.
S: Yes.
H: Did you find that your classmates treated you differently or were they very inclusive?
S1: Er... they will feel strange because I not quite sort, not quite sorted.
H: Not mixed in.
S1: Yes, um... my classmate do not have quite, do not hmm, do not aware.
K: They are not aware (laughs)
S1: Um... but also there are few classmates, also few curious about this arrangement and would like to ask by me but they are kind and friendly so er... so I will try to explain to them my situation if they ask me but they I feel not quite many because, er... our seating arrangement is quite random, they are not aware of it maybe.
Part 3
K: Let’s move to, um tertiary education and university. Because in university I feel like.
S1: Hang on
(All laugh, S takes drink of water)
K: So as a student at [university], do you think they have sufficient support for you?
S1: Um... in [university] I, um... one of the support I receive, er the only thing, is the only support I receive is also the seating arrangement.
H: Ah okay
K: Seating arrangement.
S1: At the front, because in the university I do not have to do, take the, do the listening examinations.
H & K: Ah yeah.
S1: There is not quite a lot of, so I do not need a lot of arrangement, it’s just during the examination I take the front seat and, so that I can hear the instruction clearly, just one thing I receive. I think it is because in the lecture I take the seat randomly so, um... it’s okay for me because er... I will find a that is, that is convenient for me to hear, yes.
H: So are your lecturers aware of your high frequency deafness? Or do you not tell them?
S1: Er, I do not tell them, the lecturers (laughs)
K: So do you have courses that you have to present? Do presentations?
S1: Yes
K: So is it okay for you? Do you want to like be given more time or is it okay for you to do?
S1: Okay, um... yeah because actually my classmate do not know my situation and er, I think it is okay for me to take the presentation um... in the classroom it is okay for me to hear clearly, yeah.
H: Okay, do you know sign language, or do you not need to use it?
S1: I do not need to, because I have a mild hearing.
H: Yeah of course.
S1: So I do not need to.
H: Um, so have you found any difficulties at [university], or do you find sitting at the front of the class is enough and you can hear everything fine?
S: Mmm, at this moment I do not find any difficulties, but in some tutorial classes um, some tutor may want to ask me some question and may, they may speak quite softly [laughs]
H: Ah
S1: And I, at that moment I do not hear quite clearly er... but I may feel er... embarrassed to
H: Embarrassed to ask again.
S1: Ask again yes, because, yes so this is maybe just one difficulty that I miss at [university], yes, I have the normal life with other classmates.
H: Would you feel comfortable telling your tutors of your high-frequency deafness, if it did become a problem in the future?
S1: Um... once I want to tell him, but it is difficult for me to talk to people (laughs)
H: Yeah (laughs)
S1: Because er... (pause) I feel quite embarrassed um... maybe um... if I (pause, laughs) and he look so (pause)
H: Is he a scary tutor?
S1: Yes (laughs, others join in)
H: Yeah, okay, um is there anything else you would like to talk about?
S1: Maybe not at this moment (laughs)
H: So [university] like, did you have to tell CEDARS or anything about…?
S1: Yes.
H: So they know?
S1: Mm.
H: And would you be able to approach them if you found yourself having more difficulties with like, say tutorials?
S1: Um... maybe er... CEDAR, yes the CEDAR arrange, yes I talk to CEDAR and they provide the arrangement that is the front seat in the examination.
H: Ah yeah.
S1: Um... mm I do not tell them that er... I do not hear what the tutor say. They told me that if I cannot hear quite clearly I can talk to the tutor, yes (laughs)
H: Yeah, but if the tutor’s scary
S1: A problem, yeah, mm.
H: Oh so wait, CEDARS think if you have a problem hearing a tutor, that’s like your problem like you should speak to the tutor about, they wouldn’t get involved in that situation?
S1: Mm, yes um... maybe yes and maybe if I have the problem maybe they can just, the social worker maybe can help me to, to, to tell
K: To tell him the case?
S1: Er... maybe
H: Ah okay.
S1: But at that moment I think er... it’s okay.
H: Yeah.
S1: Yes I, because in most of the class I hear quite clearly so
H: Yeah, it’s just that one tutor.
S1: Yes (laughs, others join in) mm.
H: So you’re happy with your education at [university] and being able to hear everything and participate in tutorials, like on the whole? Do you feel comfortable?
S1: Yes (laughs)
H: Good (laughs) Okay, I think that’s all of our questions.
K: Yeah, just this one.
H: Ah yeah, maybe we should come back to um, yeah so I guess it’s more do you feel like you belong to the hearing world?
S1: Er... I think mm, I should belong, I belong to the hearing world.
H: Yeah.
S1: Yes because um... I just have the mild hearing impairment.
H: Yeah
S1: Um... I can talk, I can communicate, I can hear er... with the normal, just like normal people so I think I am in the hearing world, yes, er... I also want people to treat me as normal people instead of disabled, yeah.
K: I just, one question came up to my mind, um... is like, the government, what do you think the government like, do they have any support for this kind of deafness because high-frequency deafness is you say very mild but do you think they should do more to help you, like to provide like [inaudible] subsidies, those kinds of things?
S1: Mm, let me think.
H: Yeah, take your time (laughs)
S1: Yes, because I have mild hearing impairment um... yes I think I received enough support in the school because I do not have lots of troubles, some in my life, and if say in the government, for the earlier intervention.
H: Mm yeah.
S1: Because erm... yes for my case I was diagnosed in the Primary One.
H: What age is that, sorry, like four or five?
K: Age six.
H: Six age six, okay sorry, carry on (laughs) age six.
S1: Er... maybe the government can start the body check when children in the kindergarten, because the speech and er... because the language development is very important when
K: In early age
H: From an early age
S1: Yeah in the early age, so if er... if some children were diagnosed at earlier age so that they can receive the proper support such as the speech therapy so they can help their speech, er... speech and language development um... maybe, maybe they can help the children (laughs) but er... in my case maybe because I have the mild er... impairment so it’s enough maybe (laughs).
K: So for that you start that situation when you were in P1. Is that the annual, like all students that the government kind of body check, for all students in Hong Kong, that one? Or you, you go to find the doctor?
S1: No, for all children in
K: For all children, and you get the hearing test.
S1: They find that I have the problem.
K: And then they tell you at that time.
S1: Yeah (laughs) because um, our family do not suddenly go to the er
K: Yeah so you don’t know
H: You don’t go to the doctor
S1: If there is not body check I do not know that I suffer from this situation because I can hear clearly and I can speak I may not be aware of this mild situation, yeah.
H: Did they start the speech therapy as soon as they found out?
S1: Yes.
H: So in Primary One?
S1: In Primary One, yes it start from Primary One.
H: Okay.
K: The speech therapy do you think it’s enough or do you have to wait for a long time to get the consultation?
S1: No, enough, yes erm, I remember this I had to do the speech therapy for every week, with, yes.
K: So is it like one therapist to you, or it’s a workshop or is it individual
S1: No it’s one-to-one
H: One-on-one
S1: Face-to-face
K: Face-to-face okay good.
S1: Yes um... and the therapist say that my situation has, er... improved a lot.
K: Improved
H: Ah, okay.
S1: And there’s some, yes, at the beginning it one-to-one however er, in the umm, in the Six Secondary Four to Six there is a group.
K: Group.
S1: Mm, maybe two to three students er, not quite so many.
H: Mm, okay.
----------End----------
(The interview was conducted on 11th April, 2018)
Legend:
K: Katrina, S2: Student 2
K: Please introduce yourself, some basic information and your medical background.
S2: Maybe I introduce about my family first. I am living in an ordinary family with my father and mother. I am the only son of my family. My father and mother do not have any impairment of hearing. And actually I am just having a bit of hearing inability. It is about medium level. And it is only my left ear. My left ear has a medium level of hearing inability. My right ear has a little bit of hearing inability. Should I talk about my social background
K: Sure.
S2: The income of my family is not very high. I am living in public estates. So the environment of my family is not quite wealthy. So, actually it’s a bit hard for me to catch up with the others because I, myself feel that I do not have much resources provided. And sometimes the inability of hearing is causing a bit of misunderstanding. Also, it is not very convenient for me to listen to the lectures in lecture room, especially in small tutorial rooms because I found that if the environment is indoor and the size is small, it is more severe in my ability of hearing.
K: May I ask more about the medical background? Because you said that your left ear has medium level of hearing, when did you know this? Is it like you discovered at a very early age?
S2: It is discovered in around my primary age, like primary six. Since then, I seldom check the situation of both ears. Last time I check is in secondary school, in secondary four.
K: How did you find out your impairment situation? Is it like health check?
S2: Yes, in health check.
K: So it’s a government health check? (Interviewee nods) So did you go to health check during P.1-5? Is it too late to discover that? Is it the mistake made by the doctors? Because your case is medium level of hearing loss. Did it affect your primary 1-5 years as well? Did you realise it’s kind of uncomfortable? Did you find your situation, compare to the others, for example your listening exam? Do you have some symptoms that you know it in advance?
S2: Actually my primary school is closer to normal people. I actually did not find any differences between my hearing ability with others in primary school. But in secondary school, I started to find that my hearing ability is a bit lower than the other students because I found out that sometimes I couldn’t catch up with the teacher when they were speaking too fast or didn’t speak loud enough. So I did a further check on secondary four to five if the situation went worsen. Since then I found that my left is medium level of hearing loss in secondary four. I found that in secondary four.
K: Did the doctor explain the causes or is it unknown?
S2: They just checked my ability of hearing. But they still didn’t give any reasons to it.
K: Did they advise you to get a hearing aid?
S2: Yes, I am actually wearing it right now. (Is it inside?) Yes, it’s detachable.
K: When did you get it?
S2: It was like secondary four after I checked that my left ear has a medium level of hearing loss.
K: After you get your hearing aid, do you think it’s better compare to the past?
S2: At the very first beginning, I didn't get adapted to that feeling because it did not only amplify the sound of other one speaking, but also … like the sound of the air conditioner.
K: So all the noises are amplified.
S2: So it is quite disturbing. It sometimes even interferes with the things that I want to hear.
K: Like the conversation with your friends?
S2: Yeah.
K: Has it gotten better over time?
S2: Yes, I actually found that I get used to using the hearing aid in the university. I try to use it when it is in a small place because it is in a small place that I cannot hear well. In normal cases, like on the street or larger area, if you speak at a normal voice, actually I can catch up. It’s just that if you speak at a relative low voice, then I completely cannot listen a single word.
K: May I know that during your secondary school education, did you inform your school and your teachers about your situation?
S2: yeah.
K: The class teacher or all the staff know?
S2: Most of the students in my class.
K: Even your classmates?
S2: Yeah, because I talk to them.
K: So you are willing to share?
S2: Yeah.
K: So you informed them when you were in secondary one about your situation? Or in the later stage?
S2: Later stage. Because at the beginning of my secondary school, the situation was not very worse.
K: Manageable?
S2: Yes.
K: Did the school have any special arrangements for you? Like for your listening exam, or during the class, did the teacher give you extra support?
S2: I didn’t get lot of support because I am not a serious case of hearing loss. There is one measure to help me to hear better in class is that, some teachers may use a microphone that is better. It has a separate speaker so that I can hear well by using this measure.
K: You are so tall. Did the teachers ask you sit in the front row, or you are just sitting in the last row and you can still hear well?
S2: I am like in the middle row. But most of the time I am sitting in, because I am tall, so I am in the second last row of the classroom.
K: So they didn’t have any special arrangement for you even for the exam?
S2: Not much.
K: Did you apply for it? Did you take the HKDSE exam?
S2: Yes, I applied to use the infra-red arrangement for the listening exam.
K: What about you said like normal oral exam or conversation, sometimes you may not be able to catch up with the others. So did you make it explicit to ask someone to repeat the sentences for you?
S2: Sometimes I may ask them to repeat. And sometimes it is so awkward that even you repeat, I still cannot hear it. So if it’s that situation, I would give up. Maybe I would try to guess, based on the content, sometimes I may even read their lips. But it is not quite useful for me because I didn’t train for that.
K: So you learn all the lip reading by yourself?
S2: Sometimes I would try to use it.
K: After you go to university, did you find any differences between, because in university, you meet different people every day, you cannot tell all of them about your situation, so what are the differences? The studying environment and the interaction with your peers?
S2: I think the major difference is I find it hard to tell the situation to my new friends, because you didn’t get in touch for a long time. I find it hard to explain my situation. So most of the friends I made in university did not know much about my situation. And sometimes may cause misunderstanding.
K: So people may think that you are not attentive sometimes?
S2: Yeah, but it is just simply I cannot hear them.
K: Would you describe yourself in the deaf community or in the hearing world? Do you think you belong to the deaf community or the hearing world?
S2: I don’t think I belong to the deaf community. Because actually most of the time I can hear well. It’s just some occasional time that I cannot hear well. And I am actually just can hear some voices, but not complete loss of hearing ability. So I don't think I belong to the deaf community.
K: Do you think your hearing difficulty cause you some troubles in your daily life?
S2: Yes, sometimes I may miss out some important information in the lectures or tutorials. Because sometimes I may not have friends in the lectures or tutorials, so I may miss some important things in doing the assignments or individual essays.
K: Do any of your lecturers know your hearing impairment?
S2: No, I didn't tell any lecturers about my situation because I can bring my hearing aid to the lecture so that I can still hear them well.
K: So it’s manageable?
S2: Yes.
K: Did you inform CEDARS about your situation?
S2: No.
K: Not even CEDARS?
S2: Because I think I can handle it myself.
K: But you are aware of the resources that are available? Do you know that actually CEDARS they have volunteers to help you, for example, note takers. They can help you to take notes. Do you know these kinds of services?
S2: Oh no, I don’t know. Even if I know it now, I would not use this service.
K: Because you are able to handle?
S2: Yes.
K: Maybe going to a little back to your secondary school till university, have you come across any other hearing impaired people that you have come into contact with?
S2: Yes, one of my classmates is also having inability. But she is less severe than me. She just has a little bit of hearing ability loss.
K: in secondary school?
S2: Yes.
K: Did you two ever communicate about your difficulties or challenges?
S2: Not much, maybe sometimes just, I talked about a little bit of my situation to her. But I didn't have a lot of conversation with her because we were not very close.
K: How do you feel about the labels given by the mainstreamed society because you said you think you belong to the hearing world? Do you think that because of the stigma that put on deaf persons that’s why you think you want to be classified or identified in the hearing world, rather than the deaf community?
S2: So you are asking about whether I want to be classified in the hearing world or in the deaf community?
K: Do you think there is a labeling effect on the people that are deaf or severely impaired?
S2: Yes, I believe that the label exists. But I didn’t observe it by myself because I didn’t get in touch with many deaf people. I can only observe it on TV or some programs because I sometimes may watch those programs about hearing inability so I found out that there is labeling. They think that they are useless because they cannot do regular things that we can do easily. They just often mess up. And the others didn’t understand their situation and their feelings. It’s tough because even that I do not fully lose my hearing ability, I can sometimes have the understanding in the situation. Yes, I believe that there is labeling.
K: Moving to the society, do you think you would encounter any difficulties when you graduate and enter the labour market? Do you think that you will be discriminated against by the people? Like when you apply for a job? Let’s say, or when you work in an environment that you have to encounter different people?
S2: So do you mean that will I encounter any difficulties?
K: Do you foresee any challenges? Like right now, can you envision any challenges in the future?
S2: I think it will get a little better I guess because I think in the working situation, you have chances to get in touch with people because you work with them, more likely to work for a long time, and you are more likely to build up some in-depth relationship with them. So, it is easier for me to speak of my situation to them so, I believe that it will get better as I will be easier to get adapted to the situation. I always think that I should not rely on the hearing aid. Actually before I started to use it, I actually refused to use it because I wanted to, somehow to train my hearing ability and I hoped that at the end it would get better if I don't rely on it. Because I am afraid that if I rely on it, my hearing ability may drop even further. So, I have some thoughts about my situation.
K: How do you train without the hearing aid? What did you do to train?
S2: Just simply catch up with what other people say without the hearing aid. I may try to use something other than voice to identify what they are saying in the communication, like try to use the content. Like when you are talking, you are always following the content that you are talking. I try to anticipate what they are saying. Although I may not be able to identify all the words, I can sometimes hear some keywords. And I would try to build up the meaning from the words I can hear. Then try to understand the conversation and also use lip reading.
K: You just take it off and try to talk with other people? That’s a very good strategy for us to use too, sometimes we just can’t follow. Thank you.
K: You talked a few times about reading lips. So I think it’s called ‘oralism’, right? Reading of lips, so it’s a separate language when you read other people’s lips. But you haven’t properly got into oralism or even sign language to help with your communication because your English or Cantonese or Mandarin or whatever language is perfectly functional. So you don’t really need sign language or oralism?
S2: Yeah, I don’t really need it. So I didn’t learn any.
K: With regards to your hearing aid, is it expensive?
S2: It is not expensive. It’s a long time ago, I didn’t really remember the price of it. Maybe, I remembered it was like several hundreds, I guess. Because at that time, I could choose more advanced hearing aid. (Other brands?) Like ten thousands one. (So their functions should be better, like block more noise?) Yes, but at that time, I didn’t think that I need those high level hearing aids. Actually this time, I still think that this level of hearing aid is enough for me. Again, I adapt to this level of hearing aid.
K: Are you aware that actually the government has support, subsidies for you? Or you didn’t know?
S2: I didn’t research about it because I think I do not need it.
K: So one last question, I think it is really interesting that you said in the secondary school you were very willing to talk to your classmates about your hearing impairment and also you can see yourself talking to your future colleagues or co-workers about this. But right now, you are in university, you are saying that you don’t quite prefer to disclose other information to your classmates or your friends? Why is that?
S2: Because in university, the relationship between people is not very close. Because when you are not living in hall, or you are not participating in events organised by the society, or being the committee members of a society, it’s …
K: So you did not do any of these?
S2: Yes.
K: Actually do you want to have these experiences?
S2: I do not want to, but maybe living in hall. I now change my mind because I love playing basketball. But generally, you take different lectures and I didn’t choose my major in my year 1. So I didn’t know which group of people should I get in touch with. So I missed that chance, so now you try to build up with those people with the same major is difficult because they didn’t know you in year one, so didn’t have a chance to build up a relationship with them.
K: Ok, thank you so much for the interview.
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