Help for Hearing Impairment

Greta

altocumulus wrote: »

Has anyone here managed to get any dla, mainly for being deaf?

DLA is about *attention*. Ultimately your audiogram is not going to prove this; instead what modification to communication and other means do you need? And this attention needs to be *frequent*.

E.g. person needs to look at you when talking, and frequency throughout the day. Tap you on your shoulder for attention, modification of language, etc etc. Basically, stuff that requires a change in behaviour to accommodate you.

If you sit at home all day and don't see anyone or do anything ... then you're going to have a harder chance. If you have contact with people on a daily basis, where you need to communicate ... put all that down. 40, 50, 60 etc times a day.

With DLA it doesn't matter if you're getting the assistance e.g. interpreter, someone to explain what has been said if you go shopping, missing subtitles on the tv, etc etc. You need to show need, which is sufficient. That includes, what you would do if you had the support you needed.

altocumulus

I have a need to walk along side the road each day. The road has no pavement, has blind corners and summits along it, and is classified at 70mph. Without the accompaniment of my wife or daughter I am in a dangerous situation. The DWP accept this danger exists, but because I recognise it, I need no assistance....

norangeduck

norangeduck wrote: »

Hey all, glad I found this thread - can anyone offer any support/advice?

Im 23 and have been struggling with my hearing for a while, saw a ENT consultant on monday, says he thinks I would benefit from hearing aids (to trial for 9 months so see how i get on) I have more problems with low tones.

Even though I knew from previous hearing tests there was a prob, I sopose I never thought I would need a hearing aid - and I sopose Im feeling upset by it - to be 23 and needing a hearing aid.

I have to go in to be "moulded" - I know I must sound really superficial and I know im lucky that I have hearing even if i do struggle, but what will they look like?, I assume they will be bog standard NHS ones? How does everyone here feel about their aids?

I sopose im really stressing about what others will think too, as in family/ work collegues, to have to suddenly start weraring hearing aids, im just feeling nervous about it all,

Is there anyone on here with experience?

Thank you

Hey all, thought Id just give you an update on my progress, after posting on her before xmas.

I got my aids last friday, I chose pink ones! They feel strange, everyone sounds "tinny" and things like carrier bags and paper sounds strange. Im doing well at hiding them. I went to work yesterday (Im a nurse) and thought I best tell my manager, she didnt notice I was wearing them. I have found the phone very hard to use, and Iv started to avoid picking it up.

Though Im finding that when im out, in pub, I can hear everything like background noise and glasses and stuff, but can hear the people im trying to have a conversation with, can anyone help me with this? I took them out in the end as I was better off without them!

I dont sopose anyone on here knows about stethescopes? I know there are ones about, but dont really know how they work etc.

I still feel really anxious about them, I was told that I need to wear them all the time as my brain will get confused if I only wear them when I want (I had a plan to only wear them for work) I just dont want to rely on them if that makes sence, what if i get to a point where i can be without them, I want to be able to choose, does that make sense?

thanks for listening xxx

altocumulus

Gradually build up time with wearing your aids - it is correct, the brain does need to 'tune' into their use.
You should have a "T" switch on the aid - and the telephone handset should contain a telecoil (If not then your employer should get you one).
Look around you - You will find hearing aids are more common than you think - contrast this with the 1960s when I started ....

Errata

dont sopose anyone on here knows about stethescopes? I know there are ones about, but dont really know how they work etc.

If you need to use one for your work, your employer has to provide you with one that's compatible with your aids.

Savvy_Sue

altocumulus wrote: »

Gradually build up time with wearing your aids - it is correct, the brain does need to 'tune' into their use.
You should have a "T" switch on the aid - and the telephone handset should contain a telecoil (If not then your employer should get you one).

Initially, audiology set the middle setting on my aid for telephone use. I never got on with it, and so continued to do what I'd started when I first 'lost' my left ear: hold the phone to my right ear! Obviously that will be no use if my right ear goes the same way, and I never tried it on the T setting, so I will do that one day soon.

As for the background noise, I now have the middle setting supposedly set to only pick up what's right in front of me. It does cut out some background, but not enough to make conversation in noisy situations bearable.

rosieben

norangeduck, it does take a while to get used to aids. I was advised to get used to mine gradually, ie wear them in a quiet situation for a couple of days and move onto 'noisier' environments bit at a time. I thought I'd never get used them, but once I figured out how to control them then it got a little easier. The switch that is meant to cut out background noise, as Savvy_Sue says, doesn't cut out enough of it to be really useful.

I grew my hair longer over my ears to cover my aids too

forgot to say that there are lots of telephones around that will mean you can manage calls quite easily (my employers have bought one if need be) and my mobile phone is great with my digital hearing aid.

Greta

norangeduck wrote: »

I dont sopose anyone on here knows about stethescopes? I know there are ones about, but dont really know how they work etc.

Sorry I'm confused here. Are you a medical services? If so, this might be of use (its American): http://www.amphl.org/

Access to Work, get an assessment. The person assessing you should be able to recommend suitable equipment.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/Employmentsupport/WorkSchemesAndProgrammes/DG_4000347

Greta

altocumulus wrote: »

I have a need to walk along side the road each day. The road has no pavement, has blind corners and summits along it, and is classified at 70mph. Without the accompaniment of my wife or daughter I am in a dangerous situation. The DWP accept this danger exists, but because I recognise it, I need no assistance....

a) has DLA treated this as mobility (instead of care)? If so, claiming for mobility under deafness got much harder since c. 2002.

b) Attention needs to be frequent and recurring. How many times do you go walking per day? Need to bundle this with other dangerous activity.

c) In terms of care component above, it still doesn't remove the need for attention. (Hence question which component it was).

Get this: many DLA claims fail in the first instance. I lost count the number of times I've been to tribunal.

kyssyn

norangeduck wrote: »

Hey all, thought Id just give you an update on my progress, after posting on her before xmas.

I got my aids last friday, I chose pink ones! They feel strange, everyone sounds "tinny" and things like carrier bags and paper sounds strange. Im doing well at hiding them. I went to work yesterday (Im a nurse) and thought I best tell my manager, she didnt notice I was wearing them. I have found the phone very hard to use, and Iv started to avoid picking it up.

Though Im finding that when im out, in pub, I can hear everything like background noise and glasses and stuff, but can hear the people im trying to have a conversation with, can anyone help me with this? I took them out in the end as I was better off without them!

I dont sopose anyone on here knows about stethescopes? I know there are ones about, but dont really know how they work etc.

I still feel really anxious about them, I was told that I need to wear them all the time as my brain will get confused if I only wear them when I want (I had a plan to only wear them for work) I just dont want to rely on them if that makes sence, what if i get to a point where i can be without them, I want to be able to choose, does that make sense?

thanks for listening xxx

I've worn hearing-aids since I was a toddler and to this day whenever I visit ENT I'm the youngest person there by quite a margin. Don't stress yourself out about other people noticing your aids, people are shockingly unobsevant. I've had to tell 90% of the people I know that I have them.

The advice about wearing them all the time is good. I've had several different hearing-aids and each time it was horrendously difficult getting used to them. The best solution I found was to throw myself in the deep end and wear the new ones all the time. I hated being able to hear myself blink, anything that rustles, my own voice etc but that all faded away quite quickly and within two weeks I was happy with the sound.

I know you don't want to rely on your aids all the time but the fact that you even have them says you need them whether or not you're choosing to embrace them. I don't think I've ever met anyone who's regretted getting hearing-aids once they've gotten used to them. I'm sure you'll be just fine

As for your issues with the phones and background noise in pubs - I'd strongly suggest going back to ENT and telling them about your difficulties. Your hearing-aid can have different settings and one of those cuts out background noise in noisy settings. There are phones compatible with hearing-aids and you can get induction loops etc to help with that sort of thing. There's even a cool gadget called a Phonak Smartlink (very expensive though!) which works with mobiles to transmit the sound directly into your aids!