midnitexvz
New Member
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2006
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Ok, here's a doosy for ya... I haven't gotten an answer yet. As in my previous post you know that I have a CDL license to drive the bigger trucks. I wear a hearing aide. Now i was from FL and the last time i got my physical (the physical that DOT requires for CDL drivers to obtain a license) the nurse that checked me up, just went ahead and passed me, didn't even do the hearing test. Now im in North carolina and my 2 years is coming up. I have to go do another physical. I've been to 3 places so far. And they do your normal check up and then do a "forced whisper" test, where they had me face the wall and cover my aide and tell them what they said in a whisper. I can hear things, and believe it or not i heard the whisper but i can't make out what they say. I have nerve damage and have never been able to actually distinguish words, just hear sounds. So they went ahead and did the hearing test. Now being in the booth with headphones on just makes my ears ring (a common thing im sure you know with hearing impaired/deaf people) So of course i had a hard time hearing the beeps because it blended in with the ringing. So she put me at 70db when im supposed to hear 40db!!!!! Neither of the 3 doctors would pass me because of my hearing. But yet it doesn't affect my driving and doesn't affect how i do my job. Can they do this? Do you think an audiologist would sign off on it? (they said my only other alternative would be to have my audiologist say that i can hear well enough to obtain my NC CDL) Everyone has been stumped on this. you would think they'd have special provisions for us folks.