need hoh information!

maggie

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hi everyone, im not really joining, just REALLY need information. im 19 years old with no family history of deafness, and have been hearing all my life. however, i was recently told that the i have some hearing damage (i believe the medical term is "attenuation"?) - just enough to be borderline hard of hearing (several reasons but mostly related to excessive noise due to living near air bases and jets my whole life). this doesnt bother me, but since i will lose a more significant portion of my hearing in time i do need to be prepared to accommodate that. as it stands now i can understand people as long as theyre looking at me but not when multiple people talk at once, can't hear music played in stores, turn the telly and the phone ringer up too loud, and so forth. since my hearing will continue to gradually decrease and i am only halfway through university, plus still have to acquire a career, etc, would it help me to learn to lipread, just to "fill in the gaps", of what i may miss? ive heard this skill is both difficult to acquire and strenuous to employ, would it be a worthwhile investment for me or should i just keep watching my friends' faces and turning up the volume? or maybe there are other suggestions/options i overlooked? i have checked the a.l.d.a. website and the internet in general, but there isn't much information out there on how best to handle gradual hearing loss, or it only covers hearing loss in the elderly. thanks for your time!
maggie
 
Hi maggie,
Why not do EVERYTHING? Learn Sign (I've noticed a small albielt signifcent percentage of teens with aquiired losses becoming very interested in ASL and Deaf culture) speechread, etc etc!
 
Hey there, I know what you're talking about! I started losing my hearing gradually at the age of 9yrs. old. I, at one time used a hearind aid to help amplify sound for right ear. As time went on no hearing aid helped. In aug. last year, I lost all of my hearing in left ear and I have about 30% hearing in right ear now. I am now 38 and I am learning sign, I have been reading people's lips for years. My suggestion is learn as much as possible(sign,lip reading etc.) also may I suggest buying a t.v. that has close captioning. I am the only deaf person in my home, my hubby and my daughter(9yrs. old) are normal. We have 3 t.v.'s in our home and each is close captioned. I can watch and enjoy t.v. w/out making every one else deaf by turning the volume louder. A little tip on lip reading: ask the person to speak slow and clear, 9 out of 10 times you understand completely. Good Luck and God Bless!!!! Kathylee Lutsko :cheers:
 
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