I was 23 years old when, in 1995, I realized that my hearing had changed. Hearing loss runs in my family, so the greatest challenge was facing the social stigmatism.

A doctor once told me not to have children, despite many people over many years repeatedly reiterating that I will one day make a great father. (A great many people still say that.)

A college professor once told me that graduate school is "not right" for me, despite my having a 3.75 graduate grade point average. And another professor said that writers need to be able to hear in order to be able to write, despite my always getting A's in my writing courses.

I worked my way through college, I run my own business and I am revising my first novel (at a publisher's suggestion).

And I disagree, vehemently, with Dr. David Cameron stating that "deafness tends to be isolating" and the notion that my "quality of life" tends to be less because I happen to have lost some of my hearing.

Having a hearing loss has actually forced me to choose my friends very carefully because I just don't get along with people who are arrogant or impatient. And crowds and I don't get along too well, so the relationships in my life are honestly more intimate now than when I could hear. One-on-one conversations tend to be like that, especially when one does not take sound for granted.

And considering that I always sleep like a baby, I'd say the quality of my hard-of-hearing life has never been better.

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By Michael Freemer