I am late stage deaf and new to not hearing. I miss hearing. Somehow I have to make the transition into the non hearing world and be OK with it. This will take a lot of time and acceptance for the way things are. I have read that Late stage deaf suffer emotional problems. They don't deal as well with being deaf as someone who never had hearing.
I have certainly been to some dark places losing my hearing. I had or have not sure which developed great close friends. I have a few very close friends and a lot of acquaintances that I have known now for some 25 years almost. Friends and doing things with them were a major part of my life. As a guy mostly what we did was run bike or go to the ocean to surf. A lot of talking on the way up and back or during.
I am a recovering AA guy and meetings were a big part of my life. Now all social activities are difficult if not impossible. It almost doesn't seem worth it to be real. I hate isolation more then the pain of not being with friends. This is one of the problems that I will have to resolve.
I took a semester of ASL a month ago and have pretty much forgot a lot of it. I suspect I'll take ASL II in hopes of finding someone to befriend who signs.
