What does "legally deaf" mean?
SibylM
I've been researching this question for a couple of days with no luck. Is
there a definition for "legally deaf"? It's a term I see used a lot but I
don't know what it means. Does it refer to a specific percentage of hearing
loss? In one or both ears? Or is there some other, more broad definition?
I am most interested in the answer in the United States, but if anyone from
other countries can share that would be helpful too.
Thanks very much in advance,
Sibyl
JoeyLibby
"Legal" deafness occurs when a person's hearing loss exceeds a threshold which
is defined in law.
All states provide services (education, TTY distribution, relay services,
interpreting, etc.) to persons who are "deaf" or "hard-of-hearing" or
"hearing-impaired" (or whatever terminology they wish to use). To define who
will receive such services, they MAY define, in the law requiring the services,
who may receive them.
A government or other public agency may place limits on people with hearing
loss (police or military service, truck or bus driving, outside passenger-side
mirrors on automobiles, application to medical school, etc.), and this may also
be defined in law.
A small legal library in your state will have a copy of your state's statutes,
laws, and regulations. Look in the index for an entry such as "deafness,
defined" and it can lead you to any definition contained in that law. A LARGE
legal library may have a copy of the statutes for all 50 states, and of federal
laws.
There is no national, uniform, legal definition of deafness. It depends on the
service or limitation for which it is being defined. And, outside of law,
"legal deafness" doesn't really have any practical purpose.
EKR60
That's a great question. I have always used it to mean an average pure tone
sensitivity of 90 dB or greater for frequencies 500, 1000, and 2000Hz in the
better ear. Military, disability and vocational and educational agencies all
define significance of hearing impairment differently. Quite frankly, some
criteria simply don't make any sense. There is no "true" measure of percentage
of hearing loss. Some have tried to put measures on impact but this is quite
difficult. I have met individuals with 95 dB average hearing loss who hear
quite well with well fit hearing aids, and have only situational difficulty at
times. Others with 70 dB hearing loss may have such distortion that even the
best fit amplication does little to improve their understanding of the speech
signal under ideal listening conditions, and visual communication is most
effective.
Arthur
Interesting... then according to the pure-tone criteria (accepting that they
may not translate to any real measurement of actual hearing difficulty) how
do the conventions define mild, moderate, severe and profound hearing
losses? Are there any agreed "standard" levels?
EKR60 wrote in message <199804141856...@ladder01.news.aol.com>...