Hearing without sound
Being completely deaf in her left ear and partially deaf in her right, Kaylee Bloom faces some challenges when it comes to communicating with others.
And with Deaf Awareness Week drawing to a close, the Alma junior is able to reflect on her future, without the sense of hearing many take for granted.
“To get by, I place myself closely to noise so I can best hear it, and lip read whenever possible,” she said. “I’ve been told that I’m an expert lip reader.”
Bloom found out about her hearing impairment when she was in preschool by taking the routine hearing and eyesight tests. After receiving low score results, she was referred to doctors to figure out the extent of her hearing impairment. It was then that her mother, Julie, began to notice these problems.
“When I was sitting on her left side speaking to her, I noticed she would turn her head slightly so she could hear what I was saying in her good ear,” Julie said. “If she was sleeping on her right ear, she didn't hear me trying to wake her up in the morning unless I spoke loudly. I also noticed as time went on that she would look at people's lips as they spoke, all things I never really picked up on before.”
Bloom explained what it was like to live with her impairment. Requiring a few adjustments, Bloom’s college life isn’t much different from any other student’s.
“I'm not the type of person to outwardly express my disability unless it becomes a problem in a particular situation,” she said. “People have made comments inquiring about why I stare at their lips, but I simply explain the situation and how I need to visualize what they are saying in addition to hearing it to fully comprehend the message.”
Bloom said her hearing impairment hasn’t hindered her college experience at all. Her mother said she is active in a variety of programs as well as working on-campus jobs.
“Kaylee has accomplished a lot in such a short time at CMU,” Julie said. “She'll be graduating ahead of her freshman class, because she has strived to do her best and push herself, and be involved in all she can be involved in while attending CMU.”
Bloom’s roommate and Southgate junior, Andrea Montalbano, said Bloom’s hearing impairment hasn’t affected their friendship or living situation. The two clicked freshman year and have been close ever since.
“There isn't anything particularly different about living with Kaylee,” Montalbano said. “It's hard to notice her disability unless I'm talking to her from another room and she doesn't respond because she can't hear me.”
Student Disability Services provided Bloom with many tools to help with adjusting to life in college with a hearing impairment. They have made it easier for her to communicate with professors as well as fellow classmates.
“CMU has been extremely accommodating for students with disabilities,” Bloom said. “The professors are easy to work with and Student Disability Services does a great job of guiding students in the right direction should they need their services. Programs such as the David Garcia Project provide insight for students into what it's like to have a disability and gain awareness for such topics.”
To Montalbano, Deaf Awareness Week is an essential issue that needs to be addressed.
“It's so important for others to know about deaf culture and how individuals with a hearing impairment have to adapt to live a normal life,” she said. “While Kaylee doesn't outwardly express her hearing impairment, she does have to live life a bit differently in order to have an active role in conversations or in the classroom.”
Bloom stressed the importance of understanding hearing impairments and how to take them seriously.
“While my condition is not as serious as others, I still have difficulties in conversation, or in workplace and classroom settings,” she said. “If you know of someone having a hearing disability, you should do your best to accommodate that person. Speak loudly, but be respectful of the individual with the disability.”
