Advice on disability allowance.

DX2

RazWaz wrote: »

There ARE extra costs in relation to being deaf. I need someone with me when I'm outside as I can't hear traffic (been hit by two cars and pulled out the path of several others). The worst place is car-parks, people seem to think if they speed up you'll hear them, nope, you'll just hit me harder.

You can't say what needs a deaf person has if you are not deaf, just like I can't say what needs you have as I don't need glasses.

If you can't hear them, how do you know if they are speeding up?
Do you also have a problem with your eyesight aswell?

RazWaz

DX2 wrote: »

If you can't hear them, how do you know if they are speeding up?
Do you also have a problem with your eyesight aswell?

I know they were speeding up because I saw them, doesn't mean I have time to get out the way.

Hear-Hear

I think BLT's post makes a really valid point.

One may not be able to see well enough to cross the road safely. So, one goes and gets glasses, for which there is no longer a government subsidy. If the vision is so bad that glasses cannot make it safe to cross the road (or the car park!), then DLA is likely to be payable.

Analogy to hearing >>>> One may not be able to hear well enough to cross the road safely. So, one goes and gets hearing aids. Interestingly, there is still currently a government subsidy for these. :j If the hearing is so bad that hearing aids cannot make it safe to cross the road (or the car park!), then DLA is likely to be payable.

The OP suggests that the person can hear nothing without her hearing aids in, so it follows that the hearing aids themselves are the benefit that is needed. What additional benefit, payable by the taxpayer, does the OP need ? And for what purpose ?

BLT_2

RazWaz wrote: »

There ARE extra costs in relation to being deaf. I need someone with me when I'm outside as I can't hear traffic (been hit by two cars and pulled out the path of several others). The worst place is car-parks, people seem to think if they speed up you'll hear them, nope, you'll just hit me harder.

You can't say what needs a deaf person has if you are not deaf, just like I can't say what needs you have as I don't need glasses.

Can't say that your justification holds much water. When I cross the road I use the highway code and look left, right, then left again. I don't listen out for traffic. You just have to be more careful, very much the same as an older person who can't move as quickly.

To say that someone needs a companion with them all the time to help them cross the road because they can't hear is just risible, it sounds to me from your history of misses and near misses that you are just careless. We have all seen blind people making their way around town with just a stick, now that takes courage, and they do it without a companion

The situation you outline is just laughable. You honestly think cars speed up when they see you walking through car parks?

You may need to log onto www.im-a-paranoid.com

MrsManda

BLT wrote: »

We have all seen blind people making their way around town with just a stick, now that takes courage, and they do it without a companion

This comment reminded me of my grandmother in law. She's 90 in January and the last couple of years she's lost most of her sight.
She still does all her shopping herself, goes to church by herself and is still as independent as she was with her sight. Her only problem is boredom as she can no longer sew or read so she has to go out more

Her doctor has made her carry a white stick, not because she thinks she needs it but because it makes people more aware of her as without it she looks like she doesn't have any impairment at all.

johnnysmum74

Analogy to hearing >>>> One may not be able to hear well enough to cross the road safely. So, one goes and gets hearing aids. Interestingly, there is still currently a government subsidy for these. :j If the hearing is so bad that hearing aids cannot make it safe to cross the road (or the car park!), then DLA is likely to be payable.

Hi, havent posted on this board much so i dont know how to quote whats been said but to the person who posted this........hearing aids do still dont give 100% hearing also be aware that they wouldnt just pick up the noise of an oncoming car they also pick up all the other noises round about.

Secondly you are wrong regarding saying if hearing aids make no difference then dla is likely to be payable. My young son was assessed for a hearing aid and went to get it fitted only for it to be discovered he has NO hearing in his right ear. This makes it difficult for him to know what direction any noise is coming from be it a car or someone speaking to him when not face on. I applied for dla for him, it was refused.

Also about the eyesight he also wears glasses, his eyesight is not as bad as some but i was told when we discovered just how bad his hearing was to make sure (not that i wouldnt anyway) he had regular eye tests to make the best of the senses he does have.
Im sure the op said they didnt need glasses, that would be why they could see a car speed up, they wouldnt have to hear it!

Hear-Hear

johnnysmum74

You are absolutely correct in saying that "hearing aids do still dont give 100% hearing", but in all fairness, I haven't actually said that at all, so I'm not sure what your point is, other than to remind other readers of this fact.

Your idea that hearing aids will "pick up all the other noises round around" was certainly true of the old-fashioned analogue aids and even current basic digital aids. However, mid-range and top-range aids nowadays have really good noise suppresion software built in. A reputable audiologist would now almost certainly be recommending Directional Microphones on each aid, so that they will focus on the desired sound signal and reduce the wanted noise considerably. Try googling Directional Microphones for information. I can't think of the last time I haven't recommended these - it musy have been quite a few years ago.

The DLA situation I described is for adults. I do not work in paediatrics, so what you say may well be correct. (I actually have no idea if DLA applies to children at all!). Please bear in mind that I try to give 'general' advice on here, so specific situations will often demand a different solution.