A with her hearing aids on. [Photo/library.duke.edu] Deafness is a partial or total inability to hear. In total deafness, the listener cannot hear any sound no matter how loud. In this degree of impairment, a person is not able to understand speech even when amplified.
Deafness can be described as mild, mild-moderate, moderately severe, severe or profound. Causes of deafness include physical trauma /injury, aging, genetics, chemicals or illnesses. The largest cause is extreme noise. The world has become fast-paced with technology and factories. People who live near airports, noisy factories, noisy machinery and such do experience a lot of annoying noise. Individuals also wear headsets with loud volume or use heavily booming speakers. Hearing loss is acquired by a person who at some point in life had no hearing impairment. There is therefore diminished sensitivity to the sounds normally heard. Some people gradually or instantly lose ability to hear. The sensitivity or severity is determined by now much volume needs to be increased before the listener can detect it.Some people's occupations expose them to loud noises over prolonged hours. To prevent such loud noise, wear earplugs or earmuffs.You can learn sign language and fingerspelling to communicate with the deaf. There's an app, KSL Fingerspelling (Kenyan Sign Language Fingerspelling) that can help you with fingerspelling which is a great start to get close to those who are hearing impaired.