Deaf, hard-of-hearing, and deafened denote distinct functional categories

Evidence

1. A person who is hard-of-hearing has a hearing loss ranging from mild to severe. Some degree of residual hearing is left, and thus speech communication is usually possible, but a hearing aid may be necessary. 2. A deaf person has little or no functional hearing. Sign language is often the primary form of communication. 3. A deafened person is a deaf individual who has lost the hearing abilities after learning speech. Lip-reading may provide additional cues in communication. — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 2640