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As it's already been stated in a similar question, Shouko's not completely deaf, but it's still very severe as she wasn't able to understand people clearly. It seems to be very blurry as shown in chapter 51 of the manga.

But e.g. the scene on the Ferris wheel in which Naoka talks to Shouko, it seems that Shouko is able to understand what Naoka's talking (I'm not sure though, as she only answered "I'm sorry" which Shouko says a lot). Naoka deliberately talked very slowly. So, is it safe to assume that Shouko is and has always been able to understand people when they're talking slow enough?

If it wasn't the case when she was still a child, has her sense of hearing been improved until now to the point in which Shouko's able to understand people clearly when they talk slow enough? If I'm not mistaken, depending on the type of deafness, it is possible to stimulate the regeneration of the hearing ability through medicaments, clinical interventions or sometimes even without any interventions.

And why is she only wearing one hearing aid? Is it a repercussion of the time where Shouya damaged her ear? If yes, how badly injured is that ear?

Eti2d1
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  • maybe this thread will help you out https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/42275/why-did-shouko-use-hearing-aids-even-though-shes-deaf about your question `Actually how deaf is Shouko `. – Gagantous Sep 21 '17 at 14:59
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    Possible duplicate of [Why did Shouko use hearing aids even though she's deaf?](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/42275/why-did-shouko-use-hearing-aids-even-though-shes-deaf) – Gorzius Sep 21 '17 at 15:47
  • Thank you, but I've already read that thread. It did show us what Shouko is able to hear, but it doesn't explain if she's able to understand the people when they speak slowly. And the condition of her right (?) ear which didn't have a hearing aid is left open. I can only assume that the repercussion its suffered from Shouya's act was so severe that a hearing aid would be needless. – Eti2d1 Sep 21 '17 at 15:51
  • To be honest in the question linked by Gagantous two different answers with different opinions. This shows perfectly the state of the community's opinion on the level of Shouko's deafness. But even if she is completely deaf she has been like that for a long time, so it's likely that she learned to read from lips at least to a certain extent. – Gorzius Sep 21 '17 at 20:00
  • To read from lips. I didn't think of that possibility. You might be right. You also stated that the level of Shouko's deafness isn't clarified. But Makoto (the one who's answered the question of Gagantous beside you) mentioned that "we can infer" Shouko's "degree of deafness". Is it true? Did Shouko really understand Naoka in the Ferris wheel through hearing or reading from her lips and is it safe to assume that her right ear has lost its ability to hear because of Shouya? – Eti2d1 Sep 21 '17 at 21:01
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    I forgot what chapter is, but there is a chapter where shouko practiced alot with her grandma, untill shouko is able to understand what people saying by looking from just their lips ( if the people he talked to have ability to use sign language, like ishida, it Will be more easy for shouko to understand. It Will be plus score ). I Will write my answer to explain that soon when I finished my classes – Gagantous Sep 22 '17 at 00:05

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1.Actually how deaf is Shouko ?

Actually, it's already been stated in this question. Well, just some part of it that answered your question. But from your state on the question above comes out a new topic to discuss. But there's another topic to discuss deriving from your question.

If it wasn't the case when she was still a child, has her sense of hearing been improved until now to the point in which Shouko's able to understand people clearly when they talk slow enough? If I'm not mistaken, depending on the type of deafness, it is possible to stimulate the regeneration of the hearing ability through medicaments, clinical interventions or sometimes even without any interventions.

Well, this is kind of true, but in chapter 32.5 there was a scene in which Shouko practiced a lot to improve her sign-language with her grandmother. She is doing this because of Yuzuru. Here are the pages in which Yuzuru confronts Shouko with her voice. (Read from right to left)

Page 1-2 enter image description here

Shouko : Uyuu!(Yuzuru!)... Ah oohh(???)

Yuzuru : I don't think you should speak in front of other people.

What Yuzuru told her has (somehow) motivated Shouko to improve her pronunciation and sign language so it will make her sound not so bad for other people. You can see her practicing a lot with her grandmother. While Shouko was learning the sign language with her grandmother, we can see that they faced each other. I think the reason behind it is that Shouko wants to learn to understand people talking normally and how they pronounce certain words by reading their lips. The result of those practices can be seen on page 3.

page

Here, i.e. after the time skip, she's almost able to say "Yuzuru". Her pronunciation has improved a lot. You can mostly understand what she's saying, but it's neither grammatically correct nor phonetically correct.

And on page 6 you can see her practicing JSL with Yuzuru just like her grandmother did.

enter image description here

To answer your question

So, is it safe to assume that Shouko is and has always been able to understand people when they're talking slow enough?

In the Ferris Wheel scene (chapter 27-28), Ueno said that she will speak slowly, AND she said that she will make sure that Shouko will understand what she's going to say.

enter image description here

The question is, did Shouko really understood what Ueno said?

In chapter 28 Shouko writes a letter for Ueno. This scene happened just after the Ferris Wheel scene. If Shouko didn't understand what Ueno said in the Ferris Wheel, she wouldn't have been working that hard to write the letter.

enter image description hereenter image description here

You can see the content of her letter on chapter 44, page 11-12. The content of that letter really fits with Shouko's conversation with Ueno back then, so it is likely her response to that conversation.

enter image description here

Based on this, it is correct to say that Shouko did understand what Ueno said in the Ferris Wheel.

2. Is it revealed why she is only wearing 1 hearing aid?

It's not revealed officially, yet. I don't know if it has been revealed, but a user said on the MAL forum which discusses a similar topic:

I'm surprised that no one knows the answer, considering how obvious it felt. Near the middle of the movie, there was a scene with Shouko and her grandmother talking with a doctor. After that scene, we see Shouko crying with one hearing aid taken off. This basically means that Shouko lost hearing capabilities completely in one ear. That's why she doesn't use a hearing aid on that ear anymore.

I haven't watched the anime so I can't prove if this is true or not, yet in manga versions, they never mention anything concerning why Shouko only uses one hearing aid. And I think it's a bit different between the manga and the anime version since there was no scene in the manga in which Shouko and her grandmother were talking with a doctor.

Eti2d1
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Gagantous
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    The other question you're (probably) referring to does clarify how Shouko was perceiving her surroundings during childhood and you've added that her hearing ability is improving thanks to her hard work. But it doesn't explain if Shouko's understood Naoka in the Ferris wheel scene i.e. if she's improved her hearing ability to the point in which she's able to understand people when they talk slow enough. Are there any facts or at least hints which could underline this? – Eti2d1 Sep 22 '17 at 21:35
  • in movie she use two hearing aid, not sure if it is shown in manga, (edited: she also use two hearing aid in manga - chapter 2) – Darjeeling Sep 24 '17 at 03:16
  • @Darjeeling until the end of the movie ? – Gagantous Sep 24 '17 at 03:17
  • ah sorry no, only when she was kid – Darjeeling Sep 24 '17 at 03:21
  • @Eti2d1 i have added some explanation about ueno. Sorry for the late answer :') . – Gagantous Sep 24 '17 at 13:34
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Regarding the extra scene in the movie, there is actually part of an author interview indicating that was part of the plan for the manga story, but was cut. It does also offer a little insight on how bad Shoko's deafness is. It is on page 738 in the collector's edition:

Oima: At this point, when she couldn't see Shoya for two weeks [...] There was a part I didn't include in the story because it could only be told from Shoko's perspective, but actually, at this point, Shoko has just learned that her hearing in her right ear has gotten even worse, and she's feeling down. Her ability to hear Shoya's voice will be even more limited than it is now.

Shoko is shown to react to loud sounds in the story. In the one-shots, she asks the teacher and others to speak louder, and to face the class (rather than the blackboard) when teaching. Though she often interrupts because she doesn't understand, and asks other students with her notebook. She even seems to hear the teacher call her a nuisance when he mutters it (it could be she read his lips). It seems she has a little bit of hearing in all versions, but it seems the degree of her deafness might be different.

I don't have enough expertise to evaluate how deaf she is, but I sought to provide a little extra information.

Shaymin Gratitude
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As for why Shoko starts using one hearing aid in the middle of the movie, I think it's because she lost all of her hearing in that ear. After the scene where she's with her grandma at the doctors, we see her crying in her bed and she's tapping on the one ear. She's trying to see if she can hear anything in that ear - but she can't. Remember, a lot of deaf/hard of hearing people can gradually lose their hearing until it's gone.

Jelly
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