rosebee
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2009
- Messages
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I registered a while ago, but never got around to doing an introduction post (as far as I can tell).
The last few years I've started to have significant trouble with hearing in anything but quiet with only a few people in the conversation.
In March 2009 I went to get my hearing tested.
As far as I recall these were my results (left & right ears were about the same):
250 Hz - 30 db
500 hz - 25 db
1000 hz - 15 or 20 db
2000 hz - 10 db
4000 hz - 15 db
They said my lower frequencies were borderline/minimal hearing loss, but not enough to be worth fitting aids for.
However, I was still have extreme difficulty in noisy situations, especially. During the Summer of 2009 my husband & I started learning ASL together. That's been a BIG help.
At the end of our first term, August 2009, we went to a Silent Picnic. Normally any group event I find extremely exhausting/overwhelming and can only stand it for an hour or two. I ended up staying at the picnic for FOUR hours... and I wasn't exhausted afterwards!
That's when I realized that there was something else going on with my hearing.
I had previously been taking Adderall and diagnosed with ADD (thought the Adderall never really seemed to help much). Once I realized how commonly APD is misdiagnosed as ADD I stopped taking the Adderall to see if I noticed any effects... and I did NOT notice anything. This led me & my psychiatrist to discontinue the Adderall (he never said anything about what it meant about my ADD 'diagnosis').
I first went to a local audiologist that sort of knew about Auditory Processing, but really only in children (I'm in my early 30s). They said that I had significant problems hearing in noise (1st percentile on the Speech in Noise portion of the SCAN-A APD Screening test)... but that because of the ADD diagnosis in my past they couldn't give a conclusive result.
I continued studying ASL, and continued struggling to hear my husband in noisy places (or anywhere that there was even a minimal amount of background noise).
I found an audi specializing in APD in a bigger city an hour and a half from my home. I saw here and an intensive battery of tests was completed, and I was diagnosed with a mild Auditory Processing Disorder. That was roughly a year ago.
I've been continuing to have problems and frustration in my daily life related to my APD. I avoid group outings (like the office Christmas Party last year, the volunteer appreciation picnic this year, etc etc etc), and my husband & I resort to our basic ASL skills more & more often. It's been *wonderful* that he's been willing to study ASL for me. I'm VERY grateful.
I recently got back in touch with my audi due to all my frustrations hearing.
She recommends FM systems for children with APD, but for adults with APD she recommends low-gain open-fit hearing aids!
I have an appointment to go up & see her in about a month for a hearing aid consult. I'm eager & excited to see if this is something that will help me. The theory is that modern fancy hearing aids are better than my poor APD brain at distinguishing noise from speech, and the aids can amplify the speech making it easier for me to hear & understand people.
The aids she recommends for adults with APD are Oticon Agil Pros, Vigo Pros, and Hit Pros. The Agils are too expensive for me right now, but I'm hopeful the Vigos or Hits will help me out.
Anything that can reduce the fatigue I have after a day of trying to hear people will be MOST welcome. Most hearing people just can't understand exactly how exhausting & how much effort it takes me.
As part of my ASL studying, I went to a Silent weekend early last month. It was AMAZING! I only understood about 1/3 to 2/3rds of what folks were signing, I didn't get the best sleep, and I had 3 VERY long people-filled days. I expected to be utterly exhausted by the end of the weekend. But I wasn't at all!! Understanding the signing (assuming I knew the vocab) was so effortless compared to understanding speech that I was just dumbfounded.
That's me! I'm starting to identifying as HoH, especially now that I'm seriously considering hearing aids to help me out.
The last few years I've started to have significant trouble with hearing in anything but quiet with only a few people in the conversation.
In March 2009 I went to get my hearing tested.
As far as I recall these were my results (left & right ears were about the same):
250 Hz - 30 db
500 hz - 25 db
1000 hz - 15 or 20 db
2000 hz - 10 db
4000 hz - 15 db
They said my lower frequencies were borderline/minimal hearing loss, but not enough to be worth fitting aids for.
However, I was still have extreme difficulty in noisy situations, especially. During the Summer of 2009 my husband & I started learning ASL together. That's been a BIG help.
At the end of our first term, August 2009, we went to a Silent Picnic. Normally any group event I find extremely exhausting/overwhelming and can only stand it for an hour or two. I ended up staying at the picnic for FOUR hours... and I wasn't exhausted afterwards!
That's when I realized that there was something else going on with my hearing.
I had previously been taking Adderall and diagnosed with ADD (thought the Adderall never really seemed to help much). Once I realized how commonly APD is misdiagnosed as ADD I stopped taking the Adderall to see if I noticed any effects... and I did NOT notice anything. This led me & my psychiatrist to discontinue the Adderall (he never said anything about what it meant about my ADD 'diagnosis').
I first went to a local audiologist that sort of knew about Auditory Processing, but really only in children (I'm in my early 30s). They said that I had significant problems hearing in noise (1st percentile on the Speech in Noise portion of the SCAN-A APD Screening test)... but that because of the ADD diagnosis in my past they couldn't give a conclusive result.
I continued studying ASL, and continued struggling to hear my husband in noisy places (or anywhere that there was even a minimal amount of background noise).
I found an audi specializing in APD in a bigger city an hour and a half from my home. I saw here and an intensive battery of tests was completed, and I was diagnosed with a mild Auditory Processing Disorder. That was roughly a year ago.
I've been continuing to have problems and frustration in my daily life related to my APD. I avoid group outings (like the office Christmas Party last year, the volunteer appreciation picnic this year, etc etc etc), and my husband & I resort to our basic ASL skills more & more often. It's been *wonderful* that he's been willing to study ASL for me. I'm VERY grateful.
I recently got back in touch with my audi due to all my frustrations hearing.
She recommends FM systems for children with APD, but for adults with APD she recommends low-gain open-fit hearing aids!
I have an appointment to go up & see her in about a month for a hearing aid consult. I'm eager & excited to see if this is something that will help me. The theory is that modern fancy hearing aids are better than my poor APD brain at distinguishing noise from speech, and the aids can amplify the speech making it easier for me to hear & understand people.
The aids she recommends for adults with APD are Oticon Agil Pros, Vigo Pros, and Hit Pros. The Agils are too expensive for me right now, but I'm hopeful the Vigos or Hits will help me out.
Anything that can reduce the fatigue I have after a day of trying to hear people will be MOST welcome. Most hearing people just can't understand exactly how exhausting & how much effort it takes me.
As part of my ASL studying, I went to a Silent weekend early last month. It was AMAZING! I only understood about 1/3 to 2/3rds of what folks were signing, I didn't get the best sleep, and I had 3 VERY long people-filled days. I expected to be utterly exhausted by the end of the weekend. But I wasn't at all!! Understanding the signing (assuming I knew the vocab) was so effortless compared to understanding speech that I was just dumbfounded.
That's me! I'm starting to identifying as HoH, especially now that I'm seriously considering hearing aids to help me out.
rosebee and Bott!
to AllDeaf forum. I hope you have fun reading and posting all the threads here. See you around here.