Hi new and feeling lost

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cottonbud

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I am hard of hearing, have been gradually losing my hearing for at least the last 20 years. My hearing has got a lot worse in the last ten years and apparently I have 40% hearing loss. It's too tricky for the hearing aid people to adjust my hearing aids to work well for me, because I have a very unusual pattern of hearing loss. Apparently it's genetic, I can't hear low pitches so I hear some people's voices well and others they just sound like garble/babble....

Which is why I suppose I feel a bit lost at this point in life...I am not able to hear properly, yet not deaf so I have never learned sign language.

I want to get a job when my youngest gets older, but starting to feel that it will be very hard to find any job I can do easily with my communication difficulties.

Also as I lose more hearing, I am finding that a lot of people act like you're stupid just because you can't hear them! :roll: I find when I talk about it to people who hear easily, they just don't really get the frustration I feel.

Anyway I am just glad to stumble upon this forum and share my feelings here, hopefully get to know some of you better. :D
 
Hi!

I am feeling a little bit like you! I was born HOH but my hearing had been getting worse growing up, and then recently something happened that basically made me almost completely deaf in both ears. I don't know how to sign or anything, but luckily I have a job in data entry so I only have to communicate via email. Everyday communication is a challenge though, even though I am an avid lip reader.

You should look for something in data entry, or editing. Especially by your post I can see you know how to use proper spelling and grammar! :)
 
welcome- you are not alone- I understand exackly what you must be dealing with being deaf myself. Hang in there, something will come along soon work wise- employers can't refuse you work because of your hearing- serious breach of discrimination otherwise.
 
:wave:...welcome aboard....you'll find many HOH and late-deafened members here to help you in ur journey!....
 
I know what you mean. It's been great to visit here and share and learn.
 
If you think it'll be hard to get a job, you're right. You said it so it must be hard. You are what you think you are.
 
cottonbud said:
I am hard of hearing, have been gradually losing my hearing for at least the last 20 years. My hearing has got a lot worse in the last ten years and apparently I have 40% hearing loss. It's too tricky for the hearing aid people to adjust my hearing aids to work well for me, because I have a very unusual pattern of hearing loss. Apparently it's genetic, I can't hear low pitches so I hear some people's voices well and others they just sound like garble/babble....

Which is why I suppose I feel a bit lost at this point in life...I am not able to hear properly, yet not deaf so I have never learned sign language.

I want to get a job when my youngest gets older, but starting to feel that it will be very hard to find any job I can do easily with my communication difficulties.

Also as I lose more hearing, I am finding that a lot of people act like you're stupid just because you can't hear them! :roll: I find when I talk about it to people who hear easily, they just don't really get the frustration I feel.

Anyway I am just glad to stumble upon this forum and share my feelings here, hopefully get to know some of you better. :D
Click to expand...

I know what you mean about dealing with stupid people. Why do people think because a person is deaf or hoh they're S L O W ??? I do meet some people that understand my frustration, there are some smart people out there , I hope you'll find some so you'll not feel so frustrated ..
 
cottonbud said:
I am hard of hearing, have been gradually losing my hearing for at least the last 20 years. My hearing has got a lot worse in the last ten years and apparently I have 40% hearing loss. It's too tricky for the hearing aid people to adjust my hearing aids to work well for me, because I have a very unusual pattern of hearing loss. Apparently it's genetic, I can't hear low pitches so I hear some people's voices well and others they just sound like garble/babble....

Which is why I suppose I feel a bit lost at this point in life...I am not able to hear properly, yet not deaf so I have never learned sign language.

I want to get a job when my youngest gets older, but starting to feel that it will be very hard to find any job I can do easily with my communication difficulties.

Also as I lose more hearing, I am finding that a lot of people act like you're stupid just because you can't hear them! :roll: I find when I talk about it to people who hear easily, they just don't really get the frustration I feel.

Anyway I am just glad to stumble upon this forum and share my feelings here, hopefully get to know some of you better. :D
Click to expand...

I know how you feel. I have about 60% loss which has happened over the last 20 years. I only figured it out recently.
 
I am new to the site, but want to add a few things. I began to lose my hearing in grade school in the 60's. I had one hearing aid by high school, and the doctors told my parents I 'might be trainable'. In college and grad school I majored in the sciences and engineering. Today, I am an exec at a Fortune 200 healthcare firm, despite (or perhaps due to) a 95 dB loss. Deaf people can make a life for themselves in the Hearing world.
Now, a word about the Hearing. Yes, they are often not very bright. They only see Deafies in terms of their own experience, and often they have more experience with stupid, drugged or rude Hearing, so when they see Deaf people being unresponsive, they assume we too are stupid, rude or under the influence. Being Deaf and living and working in the Hearing world is a life sentence to solitary confinement. Yep, it sucks.
But keep on keeping on.
 
I saw your post and just had to comment. I am new here as well and I know how you feel. I was born hearing but lost my hearing at the age of 1yr. (but deafness does run in my family...mainly on in males) I had many surgeries in both ears and gained some of my hearing back at age 8 (right ear) and 15 (left ear). Sadly it didn't last as long as my ENT had hoped but more than I could have expected. I'm almost completely deaf..basically am deaf in my right ear and have minimal hearing in my left ear. I'm 29 now and have a 3 year old son that is also Deaf/HOH. We are still in the testing phase but I know he is deaf/HOH. He can't speak doesn't always hear us and can only hear the tv if it's up REALLY loud and standing right in front of it...among other things. Anyways, you are right, some hearing people do think you are stupid if you are deaf/HOH. They don't understand that being deaf/HOH is NOT some kind of mental retardation. That we do function on a normal level...it's just that we are different in communication. We are NOT stupid; just different. My husband is a hearing person...has the best freakin' hearing in the world, I swear he could hear a pin drop in Asia. LOL We do great together. He is very understanding and had worked to learn ASL. Sometimes I feel a bit lost as well...I'm in between both worlds and sometimes it can be difficult. Because I can't hear most of what anyone says to me and some people look at me funny like I landed from Mars or something. I just brush it off and go on with my life. As far as work goes, well it can be hard to find work that you don't have to rely on in communicating by hearing and speaking on a daily basis. But as one poster pointed out data entry is a great start. As for me, I own my own business so I don't have to deal with that constantly, when I do my husband is there to help me if I need it; to which I am grateful for. I do have a hearing dog and it does make life easier. I have friends that are hearing, and they understand my situation very well and are wonderful making sure that I am facing them when they are speaking so that I can read their lips. And if there is something going on or I turn and they start speaking they a great and tap me on the shoulder to get my attention. I feel really blessed in lots of ways that I have such a great support system from my husband and my friend. (family on the other hand not so much) I am having a hard time getting my husband mother to except the fact that her grandson is deaf. She just doesn't want to get it through her thick head that he has a hearing issue. I told her that it doesn't make him any different than anyone else and it's nothing to be ashamed of and she better stop acting like it is because we (my husband and I) won't tolerate it.. She loves him dearly, she is just in denial and trying to make excuse for why he can't communicate and can't speak and so on and so forth... Sorry, I went in several different directions in this post...lol forgive me I want you to know that you are not alone.
 
Thank you everyone...I am sorry I have taken a while to respond. I have to build a new habit of coming to this forum regularly!

Your responses have helped me enormously, more than you can imagine, as I have never met or communicated before with anyone else with hearing problems; at last I realise I am not as alone as I felt. :cheers:
 
I am new here

Hello everyone lm new here in Rockledge Fl. and hope someone who find deaf or HOH fishing buddy and to hang out sometimes ,let me tell you alittle bit about me Im HOH and I wore hearing aid all my life and I know how ASL so I can talk and I have VP
 
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