Am I hearing impared?

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ajokinmom

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I have tons of questions. I have had hearing aides since 2001 only up till two mths ago did I not wear them, now I have some awesome aides and I can hear tons more and asking all the time what's that noise. lol Well since 2001 my hearing has decreased so much they think I might go deaf in 5-10 years they think it's genetic. I believe I've always had this loss, but never got tested. Ok here's the questions ironically I just am starting to go back to college to be a sign language interpreter.Now that I may go deaf I am going to have to find a new career choice. I want to teach children to communicate with their parents when they find out about their children or a professor of sign. Is there such a career or even is it under a special disability I would have to do such as education in disabilities? I know sign and can lip read amazingly enough. lol my mom asked me one day if I could I told her I didn't know so I tried it and yes I could. My kids know some sign as I have always loved sign language. I've communicated with some deaf people but not well enough to be fluent.I need help in the education part and is this a disability that can help get me assistance in social security, or learning asl privatly? I'm in Arizona and it's hard to find anything here. I have already been discriminated against in my church from a close friend who thought it was a joke when I asked for prayers not knowing that I may become completly deaf. It's very different feeling and not sure how to take it. It was cute when I whet to my daughters 2nd grade class and I had my hair pulled up and they saw the clear wire thing that stick's out of my hearing aide's they asked what is that and I replied well I am hard of hearing and I have to have hearing aides. They asked me if I've been deaf all my life. My daughter was so close to saying no duh she just said she's hard of hearing not deaf. I was so proud of her keeping her mouth shut. lol Well here's my story! I appologize for such a long drawn out letter but I really could use some direction.
Thank You!
Stephanie
 
Honestly, I found your post a bit hard to follow.

You are asking if you are hearing impaired, right? You wear hearing aides and have been told you have a hearing loss by a healthcare professional. That seems to constitute a hearing impairment to me.

As for SSI, a hearing impairment would qualify you as disabled under the ADA. You can apply for SSDI, but whether or not you receive it depends on your individual application process. I hear that for some it is an "open and shut case" and for others it is very difficult and time consuming.

I don't understand the part about being discriminated against in church, nor do I understand why it was so imperative that your daughter not tell people you are HOH and not deaf.

As for the part about teaching or learning ASL, there are several online resources you can utilize to learn ASL. Perhaps you would like to get a teaching certificate and teach ASL or deaf students?

I am hard of hearing and in the interpreter program. Yes, it is frustrating, and yes I will be limited in the assignments I can accept, but it is also what I love to do. I have strengths that I can bring to the profession (English is my first language and I speak well). There are Certified Deaf Interpreters too. Just because you *may* lose all of your hearing in 5-10 years doesn't mean you have to abandon your career goals right now. My prognosis is uncertain and my hearing fluctuates. I am fortunate to get a good deal of support from fellow ITP students and the program director. I use whatever services I need to ensure I have access to all information at all times.

Hope this helps some...
 
to the OP:

if your hearing loss ever reaches the point where you are unable to hear speech effectively, you could always be a Deaf interpreter who copy signs a platform interpreter. when i attended my first american association of the deafblind (aadb) convention, i had a Deaf interpreter who communicated to me by watching a platform interpreter in the front of the room. i'm sure you could do the same.

as for whether or not you are hearing impaired, as long as you wear hearing aids and have a documented hearing loss, you are most certainly hard of hearing. understand though that some deaf people find the term "hearing impaired" offensive because it implies that a person who can't hear is impaired in some way. if i were you, i'd identify yourself as being either deaf or hard of hearing instead. :)
 
Hear Again said:
understand though that some deaf people find the term "hearing impaired" offensive because it implies that a person who can't hear is impaired in some way. if i were you, i'd identify yourself as being either deaf or hard of hearing instead. :)
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This is definitely true. I will typically just tell people I am deaf as it saves explaining and frustration on my end. I find that people don't understand what it means to be hard of hearing and will shout or "forget". I personally don't find the term "hearing impaired" offensive, but I know several people who do. Always good to respect individual preferences!
 
My state considers your hearing to be impaired if you have more than 35dB hearing loss in both ears.

I wouldn't go around telling people I'm hearing impaired though. If you need somebody to speak more clearly, and they're not bright enough to figure it out on their own, I'd use the term "hard of hearing."

What kind of hearing aids do you have? If they're like mine (behind the ear), those clear wire things that stick out of the hearing aids are called sound tubes. I had many others in the past, but I've had these kind for several years now. I know many one-size-fits all generic <30dB in the ear ones also have a clear thingo sticking out of it used to make it easier to take it out, but I'm not sure what that's called.

Something is robbing me of my intelligence presently, and I think it's my medication :tears: Sorry if my post sounds stupid.
 
OpheliaSpeaks said:
This is definitely true. I will typically just tell people I am deaf as it saves explaining and frustration on my end. I find that people don't understand what it means to be hard of hearing and will shout or "forget". I personally don't find the term "hearing impaired" offensive, but I know several people who do. Always good to respect individual preferences!
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exactly.

for the longest time, i had a very difficult time calling myself deaf (when my hearing loss was considered severe-profound), so the director of the deafblind center i was training at helped me deal with my feelings so that i felt more comfortable calling myself deafblind. i found that when i called myself deafblind as opposed to blind and hard of hearing, more people understood the fact that i couldn't hear and were willing to do whatever was necessary to help facilitate communication.
 
yep I call it plastic tube
 
Sorry about that not being clear. I don't mind that my child tells everyone that I'm hard of hearing but to her classmates she can be really rude when children don't understand, and she thinks she's smart because she does. I have cic mind hearing aides. Thank you so much your advice helps a lot!


OpheliaSpeaks said:
Honestly, I found your post a bit hard to follow.

You are asking if you are hearing impaired, right? You wear hearing aides and have been told you have a hearing loss by a healthcare professional. That seems to constitute a hearing impairment to me.

As for SSI, a hearing impairment would qualify you as disabled under the ADA. You can apply for SSDI, but whether or not you receive it depends on your individual application process. I hear that for some it is an "open and shut case" and for others it is very difficult and time consuming.

I don't understand the part about being discriminated against in church, nor do I understand why it was so imperative that your daughter not tell people you are HOH and not deaf.

As for the part about teaching or learning ASL, there are several online resources you can utilize to learn ASL. Perhaps you would like to get a teaching certificate and teach ASL or deaf students?

I am hard of hearing and in the interpreter program. Yes, it is frustrating, and yes I will be limited in the assignments I can accept, but it is also what I love to do. I have strengths that I can bring to the profession (English is my first language and I speak well). There are Certified Deaf Interpreters too. Just because you *may* lose all of your hearing in 5-10 years doesn't mean you have to abandon your career goals right now. My prognosis is uncertain and my hearing fluctuates. I am fortunate to get a good deal of support from fellow ITP students and the program director. I use whatever services I need to ensure I have access to all information at all times.

Hope this helps some...
Click to expand...
 
I have cic mind hearing aides. the clear tubing is to pull out the hearing aide and it's long so people see it first rhen ask what is that clear thing which then goes into a story on which I just say I'm hoh and now I hear better. lol
 
First Time BTE User

I wear a BTE in my right ear (really it's an OTE, but it's not a CIC anyway) and I do not try to hide my hearing loss at all. I can be very open about it. In a way, I consider it part of being "out" about my Deafness. I usually tell people that I am Hard-Of-Hearing, but that I am a member of the Deaf Community. I really like my church, because I can just be "in between" and feel comfortable being myself. I do not feel "impaired," so I tend not to use the term "hearing impaired." Technically, "hearing impaired" means anyone with a hearing disability, but Deaf usually reject this label. I don't like it either.
 
I agree

I never liked the term "hearing impaired" it's not an impairment you can do just as much as any other person it's just to me a different way of life. you can see, smell, touch, etc so impairment is a bad term. I love my church but there are always people who will be mean. What this guy did is when I asked for prayers for my hearing to not get worse, this guy during the lunch line asked me something and then got louder and came back and said hey you know why I came back the 2nd time it's because I knew you couldn't hear me. I was hurt so bad and a joke that didn't go over well. I was having a hard time dealing with the news that I may lose my hearing all together. It may sound bad and I hope no one takes this badly but I love sign language but when you have a choice if you want to sign or not and when you may have that choise taken away with hearing, I was suddenly going through, I'll never hear my children's laugh, or hearing her say I do at her wedding when she gets older, and how will I teach my family and friends. I'm still in that frame of mind at least as far as how do I teach my family and friends and where do I get the help to learn the sign that I need? I don't mind so much more that I might become deaf, just because the posters earlier said why dwell on something that might happen. They are right so I just enjoy the time I have with who knows how long. but I need to prepare others to accept this and I'm not sure how. I guess that's what I want to know is how do I get my family to learn? any idea's is there any programs that will help with that?:hmm:
 
I was having a hard time dealing with the news that I may lose my hearing all together. It may sound bad and I hope no one takes this badly but I love sign language but when you have a choice if you want to sign or not and when you may have that choise taken away with hearing, I was suddenly going through, I'll never hear my children's laugh, or hearing her say I do at her wedding when she gets older
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Bottesini trying to be tactful.
Never mind, not good at being tactful, sorry.

It isn't that big a deal. You can enjoy your family perfectly well without hearing them laugh or say I do.

You can see them do this. I don't think too many people here can relate to this.

(having said this, now people will probably come out of the woodwork to encourage you)
 
Bottesini said:
Bottesini trying to be tactful.
Never mind, not good at being tactful, sorry.

It isn't that big a deal. You can enjoy your family perfectly well without hearing them laugh or say I do.

You can see them do this. I don't think too many people here can relate to this.

(having said this, now people will probably come out of the woodwork to encourage you)
Click to expand...

My son has never heard me say "I love you." But he has seen me sign it several times a day since the day he was born. It means just as much. And, since he prefers ASL to spoken English, I doubt that, when the time comes, I will hear him say "I do" to his bride. But I will certainly see him sign it. The committment will be just as strong.
 
jillio said:
My son has never heard me say "I love you." But he has seen me sign it several times a day since the day he was born. It means just as much. And, since he prefers ASL to spoken English, I doubt that, when the time comes, I will hear him say "I do" to his bride. But I will certainly see him sign it. The committment will be just as strong.
Click to expand...

clapping.GIF
 
jillio said:
My son has never heard me say "I love you." But he has seen me sign it several times a day since the day he was born. It means just as much. And, since he prefers ASL to spoken English, I doubt that, when the time comes, I will hear him say "I do" to his bride. But I will certainly see him sign it. The committment will be just as strong.
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I'm on the opposite side, Jillio, but I could see my hearing daughter say I do.

I can see my granddaughter laugh, and she loves to sign to me. "Elf" being her favorite sign because it is me. My daughter told me they went to a library story hour and it was a book with elves. My granddaughter screamed and signed "Elf" for the duration. I am pretty sure that is as good as if I was hearing her laugh.
 
Bottesini said:
I'm on the opposite side, Jillio, but I could see my hearing daughter say I do.

I can see my granddaughter laugh, and she loves to sign to me. "Elf" being her favorite sign because it is me. My daughter told me they went to a library story hour and it was a book with elves. My granddaughter screamed and signed "Elf" for the duration. I am pretty sure that is as good as if I was hearing her laugh.
Click to expand...

Absolutely, Bott. ;)
 
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