Most Late-Deafened people will tell you that our memory of sound is so strong that our minds can sometimes play tricks on us making us think we’ve actually heard something we haven’t.
For example, one day I was reading a college textbook indoors and I happened to glance up at the sliding glass window in my living room. I caught sight of the glare from the wind chimes hanging outside and I was sure I heard the tinkle of the chimes in different pitches.
I did a double take, asking myself for a moment if I could really hear the musical sound. My mind heard it, but not my ears. This is referred to as “Phantom Hearing.”…
One time, I was waiting for a friend at a mall. I was sitting on a bench with my eyes cast down, noticing the many different kinds of shoes on people’s feet. It dawned on me that I was putting familiar sounds with the different kinds of shoes I saw.
The large, black-leather, knee-high, punk-rocker boots made a “shuffle-clunk, shuffle-clunk” sound. The high-top tennis shoes made a rubbery, staccato, high-pitched “screech, screech” with each step. The high heels I saw made “click-clicks” and “click-taps,” and the men’s leather dress shoes made a soft and steady, “gallop-a-clop, gallop-a-clop” sound. And then, there were the wee little ones, holding their Granny’s fingers, who would have a muted, fairy-like “tinkle-tinkle” as they walked on their tippy-toes.
I know I wasn’t hearing a thing, but my mind heard every sound in detail. To this day, I continue to produce “phantom hearing” and attribute sounds in my mind in response to evocative visual stimuli.
My memory of sound is so deep-rooted that I can also detect when someone is speaking with an accent even though I cannot hear it. I have to be lip-reading the person speaking, of course. But, I can tell you, for example, if someone is using a British accent or an Hispanic one. The shape of a person’s mouth and the rhythm in which they speak can give away the accent. I often throw people for a loop when I ask them if the person speaking has an accent. “How did you know?” they ask in astonishment! They look at me and wonder if I’ve had a sudden recovery and can hear again! It blows their mind!
It’s really all about the art of lip-reading. I happen to be a pretty good lip-reader. In fact, one of our friends discovered my ability to lip-read and decided to invite me to a San Diego Padre’s baseball game with front-row seats. He provided me with a pair of binoculars and egged me on the whole night begging me to tell him what the players were saying in the dug-out! Most of what I lip-read was rather foul-mouthed, but it was a fun to try! We had a blast!
LaRhonda,
I am in awe of your ability to explain about phantom hearing…it’s something I’ve always accomplished upon myself since I for one have a Hard of Hearing ability…despite the fact that my audiogram recognizes me as profound. I do tend to have phantom sounds…those of animal noises when I catch motions via animal’s mouth. However, your description of human accents intrigues me…while I’m probably in no way of having the ability of accent recognition like you can, but it did give me a worthwhile considerations of lip-reading for practice.
Left by Josh on March 24th, 2007
Hi Josh.
Phantom hearing is pretty wicked-cool. It’s also pretty sad when I realize I’m not able to hear what my mind hears. Still, there are times when I swear I “hear” the sounds as they used to be. I think it’s cool that you can attribute sounds to animals.
~ LaRonda
Left by LaRonda on March 25th, 2007
This most frustrating with phantom sound is when doing an audiogram. Because i keep hearing the beeps… soon, my hearing starts making up beeps that I lose track which real and which is not.
I experience phantom sound whenever I don’t wear my hearing aids. It sounds so real especially when turning on the shower. I often check my ears to make sure I am not wearing a hearing aid since I can’t trust real hearing vs. phantom sound.
Left by meryl on April 2nd, 2007
That’s a very interesting discussion. Like “phantom limb” when an amputee feels pain in a missing leg. It seems that we internalize our own body sensations so thoroughly that we ride on the memory of senses long after they are gone.
I wonder if people with progressive loss of vision deceive themselves into thinking they have seen something when they actually couldn’t have?
Also wonder if the phenomenon of “recruitment” in hearing tests when a subject gives false positive answers is related to that? I have annoying ringing in my ears after taking off earphones, or after hearing a scream or a boom box at full volume by my ears. Even just thinking about these sounds can make them happen again. (I am profoundly deaf to the point where amped up sounds make no sense at all.)
It also depends on association: if you remember the sound of wind chimes, seeing them will replay the sound. So it is with seeing a 4-foot black amplifier at the club: I feel its deep booming noise in my head and have to touch it to see if it actually is off.
Left by Dianrez on April 2nd, 2007
Oh yeah, even though I was born deaf, it happened to me with audiograms like others described and with hearing aid, and then turning it off, it seems like mind playing tricks on it. It’s very interesting.
Left by Dianne K on April 7th, 2007