Help for Hearing Impairment

[Deleted User]

katyboo123 wrote: »

She cant learn to drive because she cant hear the driving instructor - we discovered this after a terrible attempt at a first lesson.

I wouldn't give up hope just because of one bad lesson. I know lots of profoundly Deaf people who drive. Ask at your local Deaf Club if someone can recommend an instructor.

A free bus pass is a definite possibility. There have been lots of threads on here re travel passes.

This is from the DirectGov Site:

What is 'eligible disabled'?

You are eligible disabled if any of the following applies to you:

• you are blind or partially sighted
• you are profoundly or severely deaf
• you are without speech
• you have a disability which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to walk
• you do not have arms or have long-term loss of the use of both arms
• you have a learning disability
• you would, if you applied for a licence to drive a motor vehicle under Part III of the Road Traffic Act 1988, have your application refused under section 92 of the Act (physical fitness) on grounds other than persistent misuse of drugs or alcohol.

I don't know what loss level "severely" deaf is but I presume the audiology clinic she attends will provide that info for her to see if she falls into that category.

mouseymousey99

Just to say hello and thanks! I got my hearing aids just over a month ago (had lots of advice from this thread & someone in particular). I wasn't expecting to get two, but, I did get dizzy a lot and it was explained it was affecting my balance. They are really neat snazzy things and you can't see them - I was expecting a house brick. How brilliant is the NHS!!
First huge shock - driving home - I had forgotten that the indicators make a noise! I'm getting used to them now - went for some new batteries today. This is a really good thread, I don't post that often but I do read it - thank you..Mx

naf123

Hi,

Re: driving, profoundly deaf

Don't give up! change for a instructor who is willing to take upon the challenge! I am profoundly deaf, and guess what - I passed first time, in a manual car!!! And it is generally known that deaf drivers often make the best drivers as they are more visually alert! I remember when i started learning to drive, I was a nervous wreck, and 44 lessons later, I took my driving test and 7 years later, I'm still driving! :-) Not one accident, many years no claim bonus etc. Its funny as my whole family (who are all hearing) expected me to crash the car very soon after my test - but the truth is - I haven't and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM (I'm from a family of 6) have crashed the car since!

Re: Hearing aids

I love my phonak supero 412! i had them for donkey years and now they are starting to show signs of ageing. I went to the NHS to request a new replacement pair.

They replied - they dont make them anymore! Try the phonak naida superpower hearing aids.

I thought no big deal - but these hearing aids are a NIGHTMARE! its still sitting nicely on my bookcase collecting dust and i have reverted to my old hearing aids hoping they dont break for some time.

Anyone have any experiences with hearing aids on the NHS (for profoundly deaf people)

thanks.

Savvy_Sue

One tip for driving with hearing aids: my sister has one of these personal loop systems (I think hers is a Conversor but I can't think why the Sonido from the RNID wouldn't work just as well) and when she is driving she wears this, and gives the microphone to her husband. She can't hear a thing otherwise, even with her hearing aids in.

summerof0763

hi everyone,oh how glad i am to have found this site,have had computer for three years and have ben everywhere trying to find information,long story but here we go!!

i am profoundly deaf in both ears,have been deaf since i was diagnosed at 5yrs old,i am now 46yrs old,i started off with the great muckle box radio,for which i got bullied at school for wearing,so refused to wear it,progressed to the bte analogue one which i loved never had any bother with them,got them updated as and when hearing got worse,now progressed to the dire digital ones and i have to say i hate them with a passion,mine continually break down,for some reason always the left one,trying to get an app to get them fixed results in many days wait,which in turn gives me such severe headaches literally when trying to hear.

i had an app early on in the summertime to get hearing aids upgraded as knew i was not hearing out right ear properly,and i have endured such a nightmare since,every sets of hearing aids they have given me has resulted in problems somewhere,have not been able to use the phone,hear my door,go out shopping,walk grandkids to school etc etc,i am in total despair,that i spend days crying and hating myself for being so deaf.
the hearing aids that i currently have are starkey radius 12p,apparently the strongest hearing aids clinic have,there is no more for me to try.

the problems i am having with this ones are that i cannot hear on my phone,cannot hear my door,and most definately cannot venture outside on my own,as hearing aids basically fade away so you cannot hear anything,totally disorientates me i feel very very vulnerable and scared.

since reading on here i have found that you can claim dla for hearing loss,is this true as i have never been told to claim,i am on dla higer rate mobility,long story and not relevant to hearing so i will leave this out.

smoke alarm my local council put on in years ago when daughters left home,but wires trail all up stairway and a conglomeration of a mess in bedroom,can i get help with better ones,know its more vanity than anything else,but honest you should see the mess of wires lol.

i have a bus pass due to my mobility reasons "never knew could get it for being deaf" it has a "c" on bottom corner which apparently means i can have a carer on for free which again i never knew,and obviosly because i feel a danger to myself outside just now,my daughters have been accompanying me anywhere that i have to go,but belive me i have hardly set foot out the door since early summer.

what other things can i claim due to my deafness,any help anyone can pass on i will be most grateful

Errata

Can I suggest you contact your local social work team for the deaf/hard of hearing ?
They will be able to loan you technical equipment like a doorbell and smoke alarm which makes a small wireless gizmo which your carry around with you vibrate when someone rings the bell or the alarm goes off. The technical team may have other equipment which will be useful to you.
It sounds like a chat with them would be really useful to you.

i am in total despair,that i spend days crying and hating myself for being so deaf.

They may also be able to offer, or refer you, counselling to help you deal with the distress your deafness is causing you. Best wishes

summerof0763

Errata wrote: »

Can I suggest you contact your local social work team for the deaf/hard of hearing ?
They will be able to loan you technical equipment like a doorbell and smoke alarm which makes a small wireless gizmo which your carry around with you vibrate when someone rings the bell or the alarm goes off. The technical team may have other equipment which will be useful to you.
It sounds like a chat with them would be really useful to you.



They may also be able to offer, or refer you, counselling to help you deal with the distress your deafness is causing you. Best wishes

hi thanks for your help,all i want is to be able to hear as normally as i can with aids,but audiology seem to be content to fob me off as have been up and down constantly since beginning of summer,i really miss my independence,now have no social life far less anything else

rosieben

summerof0763 wrote: »

... what other things can i claim due to my deafness,any help anyone can pass on i will be most grateful

Hi summer, I can understand why you are feeling so low about your hearing problems. I lost my hearing suddenly about 10 years ago, and its been a real struggle for me to come to terms with it but I finally have come to some sort of acceptance I think.

After reading on this thread last year that SS would help out with equipment, I contacted my local office and within a few weeks I was set up with a wireless flashing doorbell ( I can take it with me from room to room if I need to), flashing/vibrating fire alam, and a flashing alarm clock. The doorbell and the alarm clock have made such a difference to my everyday life. My SS advisor is visiting soon to talk about room loops as I get very little benefit from the crystal she had supplied me. I really can't praise our SS enough, the items have been supplied free and fitted free by their own technicians so its been very easy and the fittings are professional and tidy. Please contact them and see what help they can offer.A personal loop might help a little with conversations.

I have to be very careful crossing the road as I can't judge distance or direction of traffic until I can actually see it. I must admit to turning my hearing aid off when I walk to the shops as the traffic noise is sometimes unbearable.

I second the suggestion to get an appointment with a hearing counsellor too.

I struggle to hear on the telephone, my ds lives away and my dd and dsil and dgd live in Australia so we do most of our communication by email, text, and facebook! We're all on an equal footing on the internet!

Good luck!

summerof0763

hiya rosieben,thanks for your help is ss the "social".
i must confess the loop system or ones i have tried just bounce through my ears,i really need to be face to face with who is speaking.
i have accepted my deafness,but to be honet,with the hearing aids i had before the summer were better i could hear on the phone no problem,door was no problem,but knew right ear was not hearing as good as i had.
apparently the hospital no longer stock the ones i had,i just feel so frustrated at every appointment i have with them,i am not due back till the 23rd dec,and really feel there is more they can do to help me,i am dreading xmas day as booked to go out for a meal,and know it wil be noisy as whole family going,which means the aids will go down as far as i cant hear anything in a noisy situation just now,audiologist said the aids compress the noise and that she had fixed it,yet i still cannot hear in noisy places.
do you not have wires trailling all over the place with the flashing smoke alarm? alison

rosieben

summerof0763 wrote: »

... do you not have wires trailling all over the place with the flashing smoke alarm? alison

no trailing wires at all; the smoke alarm is fitted on the ceiling as normal and has a wireless receiver which I dangle from the headboard post, along with the vibrator pad - I'm supposed to put the vibrating bit under the pillow but I got tired of retrieving it from under the bed

These are the items I have:
this alarm clock - I set it to flash as I wouldnt hear the ringer, and also the flash doesnt disturb the neighbours as I live in a block of flats

this doorbell - its wireless so I can take the 'ringer' with me if I want to work in the kitchen etc. The flash is very strong on this one too.

this fire alarm - its another flasher! edited to say, that isnt exactly my fire alarm, but very similar, looks like mine has been discontinued

and my screenphone which I forgot to mention earlier, but which is invaluable - its great for text phoning but I can also hear much more clearly on this than on any other phone; however a couple of local people I talked to on it complained that they couldnt hear me although calls to my dd in Australia have been fine, weird. I still have a cordless set of phones and I have them dotted around the flat, not to use, but to alert me to an incoming call

I had less than 30% hearing in one ear but that has decreased in the last 2 years; I'm profoundly deaf in the other, not sure how that compares with your situation.:cool:

and sorry yes, SS is social services. I had to contact them in the first instance through the county council and they put me in touch with my local office.