So what's it like to be deaf?

I get this question a lot. Most of the time they ask in terms of what it's like to not hear anything, not in terms of communication or how I live my life.

Ironically, I had never been able to explain it properly because being deaf was all I knew. Having no meaningful point of reference, I would fumble or grasp at straws in my answers, only to get blank stares in response.

Until I got my cochlear implant. Now that I've been on both sides of the coin, I have some basis on how to explain what it's like to be profoundly deaf.

To answer this question, imagine that you're in a room full of people and everyone is talking loudly. Then, all of a sudden, everyone stops talking and moving. At the same time, the A/C and all appliances are turned off, so the hum of electricity stops, the wind outside dies down suddenly, and the birds outside stop singing. Everything goes silent. It is at this point where you would say that it's so silent, you could hear a pin drop.

Profound deafness is sort of like that, except you don't hear the pin drop.