Newbie from Edinburgh :) Hiya

K

KarenG

New Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2010
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Hi everyone!!
Hows everyone doing?
My name is Karen, I am 25 years old and I live in Scotland, Edinburgh.
I am a mum to Jack who is 4 years old and i have been with his dad for over 7 years now. I am currently working full time in childcare as a nursery nurse.
I am partially deaf in both ears, worse in my left ear and I wear a hearing aid.
I have been hard of hearing since I was 2 years old after suffering from meningitis.
I have struggled in life with my hearing being bullied and laughed at in primary school caused me to stop wearing my hearing aid and I missed a lot at school. High school I lacked confidence and again I didn't wear my hearing aid. Growing up i wanted to be like the other girls but I always felt different, felt being deaf held me back.
As an adult i accept that its who i am. I'm not around the children that picked on on me and i have to believe i can get back what i missed through those years.

I joined this site to be able to get some inside into how others cope and how they are still trying to cope. I have been feeling down recently with my new employment. They have been blaming me for things happening, because of my hearing loss. Its horrible because they say things to be like 'listening ears on' and pulling me into the office because i haven't heard people. I have been told that if i do not hear someone i must keep asking them to repeat it yet when someone tries to talk to me for some reason i haven't heard them they go complain to the boss...I do struggle in certain situations noisy rooms, if someone is not facing me and if they have an ascent i struggle.
I feel quite isolated with the situation no one who can understand. Any advice would be much appreciated.
 
Hi and :welcome: to AD!

Yea, I used to have th same struggles as you do until I started learning American Sign Language and getting involved with the Deaf community. Since then, I have learned to advocate for myself and not take any crap from hearing people trying to put the blame on me for any situations because of my deafness.

Where is Edinburgh?
 
shel90 said:
Hi and :welcome: to AD!

Yea, I used to have th same struggles as you do until I started learning American Sign Language and getting involved with the Deaf community. Since then, I have learned to advocate for myself and not take any crap from hearing people trying to put the blame on me for any situations because of my deafness.

Where is Edinburgh?
Click to expand...

Hey Shel90, Its nice to know I am not alone with my situation, its great you can stand up for yourself something I just don't have the confidence to do.
The answer to your question is the UK, Edinburgh is in Scotland in the UK.
 
Hi Karen, im another newbie to the community, good to know im not the only one thats finding my feet :0)
 
:welcome: to AllDeaf forum. I do hope you will get your confidence back on track now that you might learn how to sign BSL (British Sign Language). I don't know if Scotland have a different sign language like we have here in Canada for Quebec (French sign language) as we are using ASL (American Sign Language). It takes courage to stand up and find what you want to do without being belittle and mean from the hearing people. I understand your struggles all too well. :(

Just relax and enjoy reading and posting while you choose any topic to discuss or debate about deafness and Deaf Culture. See you around here. :wave:
 
G'day Karen,
Welcome to AD. Hope you'll find AD useful for yourself and family. I hope you'll come to term as a deaf person, and start standing up to people who have been belitting and blaming you or taking their frustrations out on you. Hearing people don't always have the understanding or patience whilst dealing with a deaf employee. Anyway, hang in there.

Cheers
 
Welcome to AD, Karen. Edinburgh is one of my favorite cities in the entire world! I've been there twice, and I know how to pronounce it correctly: Eh-din-burr-uh. :)

Sorry to hear you're having difficulties at work. When I was younger, one of my first jobs was working at a daycare center. Back then, I had better hearing and I could usually "fool" people that I had heard them, but there were still times when I missed something important, especially when the children were talking to me. The thing was, I never told anyone I had a hearing loss or how it might affect my job and what accommodations I might need. That right there was the biggest problem.

I am wondering, have you had a sort of sit-down with all the people who you work with and explain to them what your hearing loss is and how it affects you? They need to know that it's not okay for them to talk to you when your back is turned, or to speak quickly and with their mouths covered, etc. but it's up to you to tell them what you need.

Currently, I teach university level writing classes. On the first day of class, I explain the situation in depths to my students and tell them exactly what I need from them. I am polite but firm about it, and in the end everybody is respectful and does what I say.

I hope everything works out. Please keep us updated.
 
Back
Top