I actually get this question a lot, but I never really gave it a whole lot of thought except... "I just can". Then, Kalee asked me this question the other day and said her friends always ask her that and after that I really started thinking about it and so my Mom put it in a way that I actually understood how I can hear from a hearing aid even though I am deaf.
I have profound hearing loss. In one ear, I have no hearing at all even with a hearing aid. In my other ear, I can hear sounds at 110 decibels, which is the loudness of a chainsaw or a single jet engine. With my hearing aid however, I can "hear" about 55-75 decibels.
They told my parents that it would actually be wasteful to put hearing aids on me because at that level I was only responding to vibrations, not to sounds. Against all odds, with the hearing aids and the speech reading, I can hear. As my mom said, it's a desire to hear and the willingness to put on a hearing aid. If my parents had never forced the doctors to try the hearing aid, I would most likely be totally deaf and not be able to speak and rely fully on sign language. I give my parents so much thanks and credit for where I am today and I'm glad that they fought the doctors to at least try and to give me a chance.
As an added note- My mom says she gives me all the credit for wanting to hear and wanting to know. My first signed sentence was "what's that?" She said that I also had a desire to speak and that I have inflection in my speech which isn't commonly present in deaf people. Thank you Mom for explaining it better and for the sweet comments about me!
I hope this helps y'all understand it better and if y'all have any questions, ask away!
Below are some sites if y'all want to learn a little more about it:
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