How Do You Hear?

Your ear has very tiny little cells called "hair cells" that are bundled together on something called the basilar membrane. This membrane, just over one inch long, coils inside the cochlea, a bony, snail-shaped structure about the size of a pea that is located deep inside the inner ear.

Sound waves are made by movement, like the crunching a piece of paper, something falling on the ground, or air being pushed through your throat (talking). This causes the eardrum and three tiny bones in your middle ear—to wiggle very fast, which jiggles the cochlea that wiggles the basilar membrane that wiggles the hair cells. This sends the sound to your brain.

If those little tiny "hair cells" are damaged, sound comes in your ears, but it cannot be converted to electronic signals that your brain can use to understand them. You can be born with hair cells that are not made right. Loud sounds, illness or an accident can cause hair cell damage.

Source: http://www.hhmi.org/senses/

How do People Who Are Deaf Know What You Are Saying?

People who are hearing impaired and totally deaf use many different ways to communicate.

One way is by lip reading, or it is sometimes called speech reading. If someone is trying to read your lips, it is very important that you look straight at them, do not turn your head or put anything in front of your face. They also use your expressions and body language to help them determine what you are trying to tell them.

In Sign Language, like lip reading, your facial expressions and body language are all parts of communicating. All of these actions combined give meaning to what is being signed.

There are two types of sign language used in the United States. American Sign Language (ASL) and Signed English (SE). The basic signs for words are the same, but the difference is that with Signed English (SE), a sign is executed for every word in a sentence. American Sign Language (ASL), tries to convey a concept. If I were to sign, “I see three dogs,” in Signed English, I would make a sign for each word. In ASL, I might point to my eyes, make the signs for “three” and “dog”.  You should move your lips so that the person can use lip reading for more information. You should make sure to spell correctly.

Source: http://www.lessontutor.com

Can People Who are Deaf Talk?

People who can hear a little bit learn to talk. Other people cannot hear ANY of the sounds of human speech, even with "hearing aids." They cannot pronounce the sounds of human speech well, and they are called "mute." They have perfectly normal voices, and throats, and vocal systems. They can laugh, make sounds, cry, scream, and make many other sounds. With a lot of speech training, they can learn to make voice sounds but they sound different because they cannot hear themselves or other people talk so they don't know how they should sound.

Some people cannot talk. This can be because they are born with problems in their throats or vocal cords, or they have problems that effect the control of their tongue, breathing, or mouth movements. This is called "physically mute."

Scientists have made a microphone that works with magnets that are put on the back on the ear inside and out. It sends the electronic message of sound to the deaf person's brain. After that, the deaf person can hear almost everything, and then, because they can HEAR speech sounds, their brain learns to adjust itself to PRONOUNCE speech sounds the way people who can hear are used to hearing them.

This is sign language