Adjustment to late onset deafness

Hi, ya'll. I haven't been around much because I haven't been feeling well. Miss ya'll! :aw:

New rheumatologist diagnosed connective tissue disease based on MRI. No great surprise there. Genetic syndrome (3rd generation that I know about). It's not RA and apparently not autoimmune (for which I'm grateful!). The new I have an appointment with another specialist next week which I hope will pin down a more specific diagnosis.

Heading to an ASL social this evening, which will be good for my mental health. I've worked hard and made a lot of progress. Y'all, hang in there learning ASL. I promise that it gets easier! :D
 
Hey SallyLou,
Glad you are feeling better. Also glad to hear learning ASL gets easier because it's giving me headaches right now! lol

I love your little avatar pic...the I CAN'T HEAR YOU! cat...I needed a good laugh this morning. :D
 
Thanks, Mizwytch. I hung around here about 6 months before I had the confidence to go to my local deaf center. Hope that you find this forum as useful as I did (and still do). I've been using ASL for about a year now. I'm finally getting the hang of it but I'm still slow. lol
 
sallylou said:
Hi, ya'll. I haven't been around much because I haven't been feeling well. Miss ya'll! :aw:

New rheumatologist diagnosed connective tissue disease based on MRI. No great surprise there. Genetic syndrome (3rd generation that I know about). It's not RA and apparently not autoimmune (for which I'm grateful!). The new I have an appointment with another specialist next week which I hope will pin down a more specific diagnosis.

Heading to an ASL social this evening, which will be good for my mental health. I've worked hard and made a lot of progress. Y'all, hang in there learning ASL. I promise that it gets easier! :D
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Glad you are feeling better and have gotten some answers. Knowing what to expect is half the battle of dealing with an illness. You have amazing strength and a wonderful perspective on life. I know you will pull through this and come out on top.
 
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Jillio. I'm looking forward to the holidays and having the kids home from school. Keeps my spirit up. Trips to the dog park are helpful, too. The pure joy of running dogs that are living in the moment is impossible to resist. One of my dogs gets the goofiest grin on her face.
 
:wave: Sally, it's good to see you here again. I enjoy your posts. I feel strength and determination in them. Congrats on your progress with ASL, too!
I'll be thinking of you:hug:
 
sallylou said:
Hi, ya'll. I haven't been around much because I haven't been feeling well. Miss ya'll! :aw:

New rheumatologist diagnosed connective tissue disease based on MRI. No great surprise there. Genetic syndrome (3rd generation that I know about). It's not RA and apparently not autoimmune (for which I'm grateful!). The new I have an appointment with another specialist next week which I hope will pin down a more specific diagnosis.

Heading to an ASL social this evening, which will be good for my mental health. I've worked hard and made a lot of progress. Y'all, hang in there learning ASL. I promise that it gets easier! :D
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Hey, I missed you and I was wonderng what happend to you. Glad to see you again.
 
So I got my new digitals today, WOW what a difference compared to the POS ones I was having to use, very happy the noise is more like what it used to be so very excited.
 
sallylou said:
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Jillio. I'm looking forward to the holidays and having the kids home from school. Keeps my spirit up. Trips to the dog park are helpful, too. The pure joy of running dogs that are living in the moment is impossible to resist. One of my dogs gets the goofiest grin on her face.
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If we could all stay in the moment as the animals do, we would all be alot better off!

Happy holidays to you and yours.
 
Hey everyone, I haven't been around in awhile because of lots of work and having to share a computer with my kids! (laptop is acting up).

I was both excited and annoyed to find that my health insurance will now pay $1000 per ear for a hearing aid, starting in 2011. Since I paid $1300 for mine 6 months ago, I was annoyed...but happy that it will help in the future (since my hearing loss is progressive).
Glad it's not considered 'cosmetic' anymore, like I'm rockin' an hearing aid for kicks, sheesh...
 
sallylou said:
Thanks, Mizwytch. I hung around here about 6 months before I had the confidence to go to my local deaf center. Hope that you find this forum as useful as I did (and still do). I've been using ASL for about a year now. I'm finally getting the hang of it but I'm still slow. lol
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Howdy! I've been gone for a bit and it's good to be back. I've been pretty busy myself. Finally getting some help to get hearing aids and so on. As for learning ASL, that seems to be a bit on the tedious side because all of the people in my life are hearing people and are having a really hard time learning it...which leaves me having no one to really practice with. I am SOOOO SLOOOOOW...and when I watch people who have been signing for ages I get completely lost. :dunno2: I suppose it will get easier..eventually. :giggle:
 
mizwytch said:
Howdy! I've been gone for a bit and it's good to be back. I've been pretty busy myself. Finally getting some help to get hearing aids and so on. As for learning ASL, that seems to be a bit on the tedious side because all of the people in my life are hearing people and are having a really hard time learning it...which leaves me having no one to really practice with. I am SOOOO SLOOOOOW...and when I watch people who have been signing for ages I get completely lost. :dunno2: I suppose it will get easier..eventually. :giggle:
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Be encouraged Mizwytch :) It takes time and patience but it eventually pays off, little by little. I'm in the same boat as you. I watch as many DVDs and Youtube and online videos as I can. Especially reality videos of family life and true life stories (That's where I get the language in syntax and real use. I also build up my vocabulary with online dictionaries/sign banks etc. If I get the chance to meet with other Deaf, I make sure I do.

Persistence is the key to success. Even a gradual improvement is progress. As in any other training, when learning sign language I have discovered that there is vision that you have never used before, perceptions that you never realised etc. You are having to train those 'muscles' as it were. You may not see it immediately but it will become apparent as you persist. When you think nothing is progressing, a bit down the track, you will look back and see there were no 'missing gaps'. Am I making sense? Hang in there!
 
BecLak said:
Be encouraged Mizwytch :) It takes time and patience but it eventually pays off, little by little. I'm in the same boat as you. I watch as many DVDs and Youtube and online videos as I can. Especially reality videos of family life and true life stories (That's where I get the language in syntax and real use. I also build up my vocabulary with online dictionaries/sign banks etc. If I get the chance to meet with other Deaf, I make sure I do.

Persistence is the key to success. Even a gradual improvement is progress. As in any other training, when learning sign language I have discovered that there is vision that you have never used before, perceptions that you never realised etc. You are having to train those 'muscles' as it were. You may not see it immediately but it will become apparent as you persist. When you think nothing is progressing, a bit down the track, you will look back and see there were no 'missing gaps'. Am I making sense? Hang in there!
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Could not have said it better myself.

I just love the fact that while this thread is useful for venting all of those negative emotions, the responses are always so focused on the positive. You guys are great!
 
BecLak said:
Be encouraged Mizwytch :) It takes time and patience but it eventually pays off, little by little. I'm in the same boat as you. I watch as many DVDs and Youtube and online videos as I can. Especially reality videos of family life and true life stories (That's where I get the language in syntax and real use. I also build up my vocabulary with online dictionaries/sign banks etc. If I get the chance to meet with other Deaf, I make sure I do.

Persistence is the key to success. Even a gradual improvement is progress. As in any other training, when learning sign language I have discovered that there is vision that you have never used before, perceptions that you never realised etc. You are having to train those 'muscles' as it were. You may not see it immediately but it will become apparent as you persist. When you think nothing is progressing, a bit down the track, you will look back and see there were no 'missing gaps'. Am I making sense? Hang in there!
Click to expand...

I try to do the same, but I also need the captioning so I know what is being said and what I am following. I have been wanting to do video chats for a while to learn more, but since the computer is in the bedroom and most people are only available in the evening or at night, it's after hubby is in bed and I can't have the lights on. Hopefully he get a shift change soon.

Persistence is key and I have to admit, I haven't been very persistent lately.
 
I think persistence is one of my strengths and helps me in many ways.
In dog we training, one concept is - break it down, don't lump it up-
so I can take that approach here, kinda like what BecLak may be referring to, and see how I can find the little steps, the subtle changes in my awareness and my thoughts.
 
Hello.I've had a Progressive hearing Loss for past 20 yrs...

Hello. Hearing Loss has been getting worse and at this point although I wear Hearing aids, it's more for just sound and in quiet places, one on one, for conversations.
Am learning ASL and love it, but haven't met anyone as of yet to use it with...
and being middle-aged its hard to make connections. I'm on the lookout though. Glad I found this place.
 
MsCDukes said:
Hello. Hearing Loss has been getting worse and at this point although I wear Hearing aids, it's more for just sound and in quiet places, one on one, for conversations.
Am learning ASL and love it, but haven't met anyone as of yet to use it with...
and being middle-aged its hard to make connections. I'm on the lookout though. Glad I found this place.
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Welcome MsCDukes!:wave:
 
So since my hearing has dropped more I am realizing how much I relied on 'voice que's' (think thats what they called it) to lip read, before I missed a lot of the conversation now I miss about 80-90% so I had read something about speech reading classes I was wondering if any one has tried this and if it works?
 
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