# Rush is DEAF??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 8, 2001, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-deaf/86167 "2001-10-08T19:22:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-deaf/86167/1 "2001-10-08T19:22:03Z")
Saw this on Drudge, but it was one of those “developing” stories. Do y’all know any more? Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Zambezi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Mr.Zambezi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Zambezi)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-deaf/86167/2 "2001-10-08T19:37:46Z")
They just announced that he has an affliction that made him deaf in one ear and almost deaf in teh other. THey are going to discuss it later this afternoon. ---
**Author:** ![fandango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b5ac83/32.png) [@fandango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fandango)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-deaf/86167/3 "2001-10-08T19:43:04Z")
It’d explain a lot… ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-deaf/86167/4 "2001-10-08T20:03:13Z")
No wonder. Almost 30 years of performing loud rock concerts is bound to affect hearing. Is it the whole band or just one or two of them? Oh, you mean Limbaugh. Who cares… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Zambezi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Mr.Zambezi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Zambezi)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-deaf/86167/5 "2001-10-08T20:12:42Z")
He has some disease that has been developing for 3 months. He is completely deaf in one ear and can’t understand anything out of teh other. His career is probably voer. Even if you do not like him, It is a very shitty thing to have happen to you. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-deaf/86167/6 "2001-10-08T20:18:10Z")
I don’t see why his career would have to be over. As long as he can still speak clearly, a radio career is not at all out of the question. He might not be able to take live callers anymore (unless there is some speech-to-text device that would make such a thing possible for him), but he can still speak into a microphone, look at VU meters, and take visual cues from a producer. The word is “deaf,” not “death,” after all. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Zambezi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Mr.Zambezi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Zambezi)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-deaf/86167/7 "2001-10-08T20:25:50Z")
I would imagine that the problem would be enunciation and volume control. I imagine that the callers word could be transcribed. But it is tough to talk when you can’t hear yourself. This might not be a problem this week, but a year down the road it may. ---
**Author:** ![evilhanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba8739/32.png) [@evilhanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilhanz)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-deaf/86167/8 "2001-10-08T20:38:49Z")
Read Rush Limbaugh’s statement: [I am a Lucky Man](http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_100801/content/lucky.guest.html). > [@](#): > > I cannot hear a thing in my left ear. Hearing aids, the most powerful made, mean nothing. I have the ability to recognize sound but not identify it in my right ear. I cannot communicate with people. I can occasionally talk to people in person one on one if their voice frequency happens to fit the range that I can still hear, but I cannot hear radio; I cannot hear television; I cannot hear music. I am, for all practical purposes, deaf - and it’s happened in three months. > [@](#): > > I’m not going to explain to you how we’re doing this. Put two and two together, if you wish, but as long as the passion exists to do it, then we’ll find a way. I’m at that point now. This is where I am. What do I do about it? Now, I’ve been luckier than most people will ever be in life. I can retire if I wanted to and not suffer. I don’t have a worry in the world when it comes to finances. That’s how fortunate I’ve been, and as such, I have options. > > … > > I can do this radio program every day without taking a phone call, if I have to - and in my mind, still out rate 99% of the people who do it. > > Or, if I want to take phone calls, we’ll find a way to do that. In fact, we already have. That’s what I was doing all last week was rehearsing ways in which to conduct this program in a way that would allow me to perform in such a way that it would meet and hopefully continue to surpass the expectations that you have. If you’re like AWB or fandago and don’t have anything constructive to add, take your comments to the place where they belong - the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-deaf/86167/9 "2001-10-08T20:59:35Z")
Could that explain why he’s trying to speak more clearly and distinctly? ---
**Author:** ![evilhanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba8739/32.png) [@evilhanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilhanz)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-deaf/86167/10 "2001-10-08T21:05:05Z")
Guinastasia - a explanation is contained in the link above, or you can read the excerpt below: > [@](#): > > … there are some people who are writing who are saying your voice pitch is lower, or you sound like you’re speaking slower than normal, what have you. My friends, it could well be that my voice is changing. I don’t know. I cannot hear myself well enough to know. As far as I’m concerned, my voice is as normal as it’s ever been. My energy level is as normal as it’s ever been. And when we were in rehearsals last week out in Los Angeles, we discovered, in fact, that some of the people in the rehearsal were also concerned about the voice quality, and they were stunned as how normal I sounded last week. > > So we’re looking at technical things. Is there something in our technical circuitry, in the connections from here to New York, to wherever our signal goes to get the program to you that’s causing some of these fluctuations to take place, in addition to whatever may be happening with my voice? But as far as today is concerned, everybody that’s surrounding me tells me I sound as normal as I always have when they’re in the room with me, that there’s no change whatsoever today. > > We have made some technological changes, because people have been complaining about the lower octave, so I think we’ve made some minor changes to raise the pitch of the voice electronically today as were trying to figure out what’s going on but as far as I’m concerned there’s no change, it’s very frustrating my voice is my voice and I’m not trying to change it in any way, shape, manner, or form. ---
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-deaf/86167/11 "2001-10-08T21:54:16Z")
As an audiologist, I feel like I have to clarify something that Rush Limbaugh said (in the second page of his annoucement): > [@](#): > > There’s always the last resort - the cochlear implant. It’s the last thing they do, because it’s irreversible. Once you do that, you’re finished, and if it doesn’t work, then nothing they can do to go back and put you back the way you were. > > So you must wait until you are entirely deaf for approval for this. I mean, the FDA even gets involved in this, because it’s surgery which involves the brain. Rush is right about one thing. Cochlear implant surgery is irreversible in the sense that it will destroy any remaining residual hearing. Hence the criteria established by the FDA that it should not be implanted in anyone with any usable residual hearing. (That’s the reason why I was rejected as a cochlear implant candidate in 1981, even though I’m severely to profoundly deaf. I get enough benefit from hearing aids.) However, cochlear implant surgery does NOT involve the brain. Not even close. The implant is placed in the cochlea, and nowhere near any portion of the brain. There is a variation of the cochlear implant called the auditory brainstem implant (ABI), where the electrodes are implanted in the brainstem, but that device is still highly experimental. Cochlear implants are not hearing aids. They don’t amplify sounds the way hearing aids do, so if Limbaugh does get a cochlear implant (and in my opinion, judging from his report, he is likely to be a good candidate), he is not going to perceive sound the same way a person would with hearing aids. He would have to “re-learn” how to hear with the cochlear implant, and that would take time. I feel bad for the guy. I’m not a big fan of Rush Limbaugh, but this is not a good thing to have happen to anyone. ---
**Author:** ![fandango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b5ac83/32.png) [@fandango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fandango)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-deaf/86167/12 "2001-10-08T22:41:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by evilhanz \* > > If you’re like AWB or fandago and don’t have anything constructive to add, take your comments to the place where they belong - the Pit. \*\* ??? I was saying that it’d explain a lot about the quality of the show degrading. I.E. more rants, fewer meaningful interactions. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-deaf/86167/13 "2001-10-08T22:47:54Z")
Slight hijack, out of admiration and curiosity: **Atreyu** , how is it possible for someone with almost no hearing to function as an audiologist? ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-deaf/86167/14 "2001-10-08T22:49:59Z")
Opinions about the Rush Limbaugh show belong in IMHO, GD or the Pit, depending on content. Jokes about confusing Rush the conservative radio personality with Rush the Canadian rock band belong pretty much anywhere, as long as they’re funny, which that one pretty much was (if predictible). ---
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-deaf/86167/15 "2001-10-08T23:23:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ElvisL1ves \* > \*\*Slight hijack, out of admiration and curiosity: > **Atreyu** , how is it possible for someone with almost no hearing to function as an audiologist? \*\* Well, as I hinted in my earlier post, I do get enough benefit from hearing aids to be rejected as a candidate for cochlear implantation. Without my hearing aids, I hear nothing at all, except for exceptionally loud sounds that are close by. The way I’ve often described the extent of my hearing loss to others is to say that if I wanted to hear the television without my hearing aids, I would have to turn the volume to the maximum level, and then put my left ear (the better ear) next to the speaker. With my hearing aids, I still do not have anything resembling normal hearing. The best way for me to understand someone else is to takke what I can get from my hearing aids and combine it with lip-reading. That doesn’t mean I’m helpless on the telephone, though. I can have conversations on the phone, but since I can’t lip-read on the telephone, I have a preference for telephones with built-in volume controls and for having telephone conversations with people that I already know. Hence my immense dislike for telemarketers. I also generally do not use the telephone to chit chat. I generally only use the telephone to get something done…if I want to visit with someone, I do it person. (I make an exception for my relatives in Florida…like a good boy, I call my grandparents to keep in touch.) With regards to audiology, there is really only one main area of testing that could have posed a problem for me. The administration of word recognition tests require the patient to repeat back the word that they think they hear. I have to make sure that I heard their response correctly in order to ensure that the results are accurate. For this reason, I always have the patient sitting towards the window in the soundbooth (many audiologists have them sitting sideways relative to the soundbooth window), and I always adjust the lighting so that I can easily see their face. In addition, there is a headphone conencted to the audiometer that allows me to hear what the patient is saying inside the soundbooth. I can adjust the volume on that headphone, and usually do, up to the maximum setting. There have been rare occasions where I had no choice but to turn over the word recognition testing to another audiologist. In all cases, it was because the patient had facial paralysis secondary to a stroke, and lip-reading them was damn near impossible. When I started my clinical fellowship, my CF supervisor wanted to make sure that word recognition testing would not pose a difficulty for me. For the first two days, another audiologist scored the results alongside me. The results were virtually identical, and they never had concerns about me after that. [/end of long hijack] ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2001, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-deaf/86167/16 "2001-10-09T00:09:38Z")
If he can’t hear himself speak eventually he’s gonna have a deaf accent unless he has a voice coach, which is he probably does. ---
**Author:** ![Corrvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bbce88/32.png) [@Corrvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corrvin)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2001, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-deaf/86167/17 "2001-10-09T01:13:35Z")
That’s odd, I thought the deaf “accent” came from learning a language while hearing impaired. If someone already knows how the language sounds, why wouldn’t they be able to continue to speak it the same way they had while hearing? A good friend of mine is deaf, but has worn hearing aids from infancy, and although I tease him about his accent, it’s because he’s from BAW-stin, not because he’s deaf. He talks just like everyone else I know from there. Corr ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2001, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-deaf/86167/18 "2001-10-09T02:21:08Z")
First thought that came to mind when I heard this news was, “Hey, did Rush ever listen to anyone anyway?” Tacky, I know; but 'twas the 1st thought that came to mind. 2nd thought was, “Deaf ain’t dead, he should be able to cope.” ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2001, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-deaf/86167/19 "2001-10-09T02:34:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Atreyu \* > Hence my immense dislike for telemarketers. > > \*\* That has nothing to do with being hearing impaired! For what its worth I can relate to some extent. The Little Lagomorph, 19 months old, has a mild to moderate hearing loss. ---
**Author:** ![Neurodoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/848f3c/32.png) [@Neurodoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurodoc)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2001, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-deaf/86167/20 "2001-10-09T02:57:46Z")
I’m worried about good ol’ Rush. He should get an MRI of the posterior fossa to rule out an acoustic neuroma. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-deaf/86167.md?page=2)