Hi! My name is Stephanie, I'm a 23 year old college senior, who hopefully will be graduating this spring
. I am hard of hearing, very hard of hearing. It doesn't run in my family and I actually used to not be hard of hearing. When I was 15yrs old I started losing it slightly, my friends used to make fun of me and call me "beltone" or "deaf steph"... kids. My hearing gradually got worse. By age 19 I had finally decided to get a 'in the ear' hearing aid. (I needed it very badly and should have had one before that but I was in a state of denial). By the time I was 21 I had to trade in my 'in the ear' hearing aid for a much stronger behind the ear one. I still have that one but, my hearing continues to get worse and its cranked up, so I don't know how long it will last.
I have been trying to teach myself sign language because I know I should, but right now I am having trouble not knowing if I should teach myself contact signing or ASL or what? I also do not know anyone else who signs or is hard of hearing or deaf to help me or practice with. Lately I have been searching the internet for topics on careers and work related to deaf and hard of hearing. As I said above I should be graduating in spring and I am deathly afraid that I wont be able to find a job because of my hearing loss. I'm confussed because this is all new to me. And freaked because I have an absolute ton of $ in student loans to pay off. Anyway, to get to the point, when I was searching on my internet quest I came across this site! This community of lovely people. It is great to know that it is possible to meet people who I have somithing in common with!
. I am hard of hearing, very hard of hearing. It doesn't run in my family and I actually used to not be hard of hearing. When I was 15yrs old I started losing it slightly, my friends used to make fun of me and call me "beltone" or "deaf steph"... kids. My hearing gradually got worse. By age 19 I had finally decided to get a 'in the ear' hearing aid. (I needed it very badly and should have had one before that but I was in a state of denial). By the time I was 21 I had to trade in my 'in the ear' hearing aid for a much stronger behind the ear one. I still have that one but, my hearing continues to get worse and its cranked up, so I don't know how long it will last. I have been trying to teach myself sign language because I know I should, but right now I am having trouble not knowing if I should teach myself contact signing or ASL or what? I also do not know anyone else who signs or is hard of hearing or deaf to help me or practice with. Lately I have been searching the internet for topics on careers and work related to deaf and hard of hearing. As I said above I should be graduating in spring and I am deathly afraid that I wont be able to find a job because of my hearing loss. I'm confussed because this is all new to me. And freaked because I have an absolute ton of $ in student loans to pay off. Anyway, to get to the point, when I was searching on my internet quest I came across this site! This community of lovely people. It is great to know that it is possible to meet people who I have somithing in common with!


to AD! Hope everything works out. I was born with a severe profound bilateral hearing loss. I have always been able to get jobs easily...it depends on how you present yourself and confidence in yourself.