Finally Posting...(:

[KikLove]

I've had an account here for a small while, I just haven't quite found the way to want to post without seeming like an idiot compared to the other 2309039 people that seem to come in and annoy everyone here.

I'm HOH and only in the past year have I had a decline in my hearing that I noticed, right when I first started college. At first I started to notice I couldn't understand people (especially in crowded restaurants and working in one) anymore and I was in denial for until I started having headaches so badly I could no longer take it and wondered what was going on.

It was not until I was listening to music back in February did I realize I was actually having problems understanding the lyrics - I wasn't hearing what I knew the lyrics to be. It sort of surprised me and scared me a bit - I've never been exposed to Deaf Culture before. I originally joined here to seek advice about me possibly thinking I had "hearing loss" and I decided not to post due to me reading a few threads and noticing an apparent abundance of people not reading them, so I've lurked on and off the past few months.

Anyways, I went to the audiologist and had a free hearing evaluation done - without telling anyone in my family. I was thinking maybe, "Ohh...it could possibly be sinus problems that make it seem that way."

It turns out I had big "cookie bite" in my hearing apparently. In my left ear, I have a loss of 25dB (mild) and in my right ear, I have a loss of 65dB (moderately severe. To be honest, I don't know quite what to do with this information. I've done a bit research and I do know much about getting hearing aids (if I need them?) nor am I truly HOH. I know don't keep up well in my college classes anymore. I go to see an ENT for more information.

But, I've decided to post here in hope that maybe I receive advice, learn a few things about Deaf Culture, and hopefully make a few friends along the way. To be honest, I'm still so lost on all of this stuff I don't know if I am technically HOH...but I do hope I can from others throughout all of this.

 

[mev426]

 

[Smithtr]

Welcome to Alldeaf

 

[Sarfarigirl2011]

welcome to alldeaf! U may see some users that are cookie biters.

 

[Oc318]

welcome to alldeaf! U may see some users that are cookie biters.

Yup.. I may have ski-slope loss, but I'm a cookie biter too

 

[Oc318]

I've had an account here for a small while, I just haven't quite found the way to want to post without seeming like an idiot compared to the other 2309039 people that seem to come in and annoy everyone here.

I'm HOH and only in the past year have I had a decline in my hearing that I noticed, right when I first started college. At first I started to notice I couldn't understand people (especially in crowded restaurants and working in one) anymore and I was in denial for until I started having headaches so badly I could no longer take it and wondered what was going on.

It was not until I was listening to music back in February did I realize I was actually having problems understanding the lyrics - I wasn't hearing what I knew the lyrics to be. It sort of surprised me and scared me a bit - I've never been exposed to Deaf Culture before. I originally joined here to seek advice about me possibly thinking I had "hearing loss" and I decided not to post due to me reading a few threads and noticing an apparent abundance of people not reading them, so I've lurked on and off the past few months.

Anyways, I went to the audiologist and had a free hearing evaluation done - without telling anyone in my family. I was thinking maybe, "Ohh...it could possibly be sinus problems that make it seem that way."

It turns out I had big "cookie bite" in my hearing apparently. In my left ear, I have a loss of 25dB (mild) and in my right ear, I have a loss of 65dB (moderately severe. To be honest, I don't know quite what to do with this information. I've done a bit research and I do know much about getting hearing aids (if I need them?) nor am I truly HOH. I know don't keep up well in my college classes anymore. I go to see an ENT for more information.

But, I've decided to post here in hope that maybe I receive advice, learn a few things about Deaf Culture, and hopefully make a few friends along the way. To be honest, I'm still so lost on all of this stuff I don't know if I am technically HOH...but I do hope I can from others throughout all of this.

Hi.. so where do you go from here? I guess you could decide whether you want to have hearing aids or not. Brains tend to adapt, so if you don't have them on you may forget how to hear "normally" after a while.

 

[caz12]

from what i have read seen and been told by doctors it advisable to use hearing aids, if it effecting your life which it seems to be..until you try you wont know..others may been told different...if i was younger i would have CI but 30yrs ago i saw some of the first generation ones that failed not that helps you but people since have had good quality of life...your life quality could be enhanced if you got one an h/a
have you had mri scans your ent dr should be looking at the reasons....you dont want feel or get isolated which can happen but first get all relevent tests done

 

[KikLove]

Yup.. I may have ski-slope loss, but I'm a cookie biter too

Well, it is wonderful to know I am not the only one "taking a bite out the cookie" so far.

Thanks for the responses everyone.

Hi.. so where do you go from here? I guess you could decide whether you want to have hearing aids or not. Brains tend to adapt, so if you don't have them on you may forget how to hear "normally" after a while.

I'm seeing an ENT for more information and hopefully to get a better understanding about the loss.

The audiologist recommended hearing aids but I don't know if I could afford them and secondly, I don't know what my family would tell me honestly if I approached them with the idea of hearing aids.

I know they understand that there are different levels of hearing loss but I feel a bit lost because I grew up hearing pretty well - at least, I believe I heard pretty well.

from what i have read seen and been told by doctors it advisable to use hearing aids, if it effecting your life which it seems to be..until you try you wont know..others may been told different...if i was younger i would have CI but 30yrs ago i saw some of the first generation ones that failed not that helps you but people since have had good quality of life...your life quality could be enhanced if you got one an h/a
have you had mri scans your ent dr should be looking at the reasons....you dont want feel or get isolated which can happen but first get all relevent tests done

I'm actually getting all of this done tomorrow (MRI, a balancing test, another hearing test, etc..).

It has been affecting my grades, I mostly sit in my college classes and just watch the teacher. At times I can hear him without getting too lost but by the end of class, I have a headache from trying to understand what he is saying.

I don't know if my loss is bad enough for me to require a note taker or other devices. I just feel so lost doing all of this by myself it seems. That is why I decided to reach out here with people that could possibly help me a bit in ways others may not understand.

Thanks everyone for the welcome and feedback, again.

 

[deafbirk]

What I first thought was that you should see you college student services. About gettting support in your classes. Like transcription, notetakers and I forget what u call it where someone types out what is being said in the class room. You can get a lot of support, frfee, in classes so your life is. Not so disrupted that you lose time in class.
Then get hearing aids. Your aidio, ent will tell you what suits you. Don't bother with ci until you see whatt is happening with your ears.

 

[KikLove]

Thank you. Do the student services provide notetakers, and etc...without being required to show ten million pages of documentation to simply get free help?

On a personal note, I wouldn't ever get a CI. That is something too far drastic, plus I don't qualify. HAs are possible if I can get to where I can afford them. They are so expensive just to "amplify sounds."

 

[Frisky Feline]

Welcome.

My daughter is a big fan of NCIS. I like NCIS too.

 

[LoveBlue]

I believe TX is very HoH/Deaf friendly and you may qualify for financial help in getting hearing aids, especially since you are a student. Do your research. Ask at the ENTs office, the school, Vocational Rehab, Internet, etc.

And don't worry about what your family or others think. If you want to hear and need HAs to do so, then get them.

And assuming you get BTEs (behind the ears), get a color you will enjoy wearing, not the bland beige ones. And get color ear molds too. And don't think you're too old for that. Many here have colored aids & ear molds (I'm in my late 50's and wear blue & black HAs and clear w/blue glitter earmolds). Others here also bling their HAs.

 

[Bottesini]

Thank you. Do the student services provide notetakers, and etc...without being required to show ten million pages of documentation to simply get free help?

On a personal note, I wouldn't ever get a CI. That is something too far drastic, plus I don't qualify. HAs are possible if I can get to where I can afford them. They are so expensive just to "amplify sounds."

Cookie bites often have a hard time using hearing aids. And you will need thorough documentation to get services for disabled students.

 

[AlleyCat]

Welcome! We have a number of other posters from Texas too.

 

[Sarfarigirl2011]

What I first thought was that you should see you college student services. About gettting support in your classes. Like transcription, notetakers and I forget what u call it where someone types out what is being said in the class room. You can get a lot of support, frfee, in classes so your life is. Not so disrupted that you lose time in class.
Then get hearing aids. Your aidio, ent will tell you what suits you. Don't bother with ci until you see whatt is happening with your ears.

where someone types what's being said? that's called CART services.

 

[deafbirk]

where someone types what's being said? that's called CART services.

There ya go kiki. CART. You can get a lot of assistance before you learn signs. As to proof, youraudiogram and doc can provide. Your college should be up to date on accesibility. Lot of work to do though. Hope your college is open to giving you required assistance

 

[KikLove]

CART Services? Thank you. I will definitely look into some more information and research as I go through this process. A lot of this has been helpful, really.

The ENT is talking with my audiologist but I finally got information that I did not have before, thankfully. I have a loss in the mid-frequencies in both ears and that it is sensorineural hearing loss. My eardrum and everything is working alright apparently as well. The MRI came back normal and my balance test was very good as well - except where I am my normal clumsy self when I didn't tie my shoelaces tight enough and almost slipped..that was rather hilarious. :P


Apparently, the ENT believes the loss is from genetics (though I have no known history of extended family members being deaf/HOH until they got older) but he didn't know for sure.

Oh the HAs, I was told like Bottesini mentioned that with my loss, it is going to be difficult to fit me with hearing aids. He wants me to try one aid for now in my right ear. I'm going to revisit again in a few weeks for a few more tests before we order any type of HAs or anything just yet, apparently. He does is helping me get documentation as well, thankfully.

I believe TX is very HoH/Deaf friendly and you may qualify for financial help in getting hearing aids, especially since you are a student. Do your research. Ask at the ENTs office, the school, Vocational Rehab, Internet, etc.

And don't worry about what your family or others think. If you want to hear and need HAs to do so, then get them.

And assuming you get BTEs (behind the ears), get a color you will enjoy wearing, not the bland beige ones. And get color ear molds too. And don't think you're too old for that. Many here have colored aids & ear molds (I'm in my late 50's and wear blue & black HAs and clear w/blue glitter earmolds). Others here also bling their HAs.

Thanks. I do hope there will be a way I can financially afford them. I was told with my type of loss it is rarer and the HAs can be more expensive. I think the BTEs would be my best bet at this point. I'd love to decorate them (you should see me when I've tried decorating my apartment haha).

Welcome.

My daughter is a big fan of NCIS. I like NCIS too.

Thank you! I love that show as well. I love trying to watch the episodes every time a new one airs on TV.

Welcome! We have a number of other posters from Texas too.

Awesome! Maybe I will get to experience a lot of teasing related about Texas.

There ya go kiki. CART. You can get a lot of assistance before you learn signs. As to proof, youraudiogram and doc can provide. Your college should be up to date on accesibility. Lot of work to do though. Hope your college is open to giving you required assistance.

Thanks. My fear is that with me going to such a small and private school, they may not give me the proper assistance. I guess I will find out when both my ENT and now my audiologist help me get the proper documents.

Phew...here goes nothing, I guess.

 

[Oc318]

Well, it is wonderful to know I am not the only one "taking a bite out the cookie" so far.

Yea, I love cookies, so I will be biting them a lot

The audiologist recommended hearing aids but I don't know if I could afford them and secondly, I don't know what my family would tell me honestly if I approached them with the idea of hearing aids.

You might be able to get some form of government help for it

I know they understand that there are different levels of hearing loss but I feel a bit lost because I grew up hearing pretty well - at least, I believe I heard pretty well.

So did I.. my parents didn't tell me about the hereditary hearing loss thing until I actually got it :P

It has been affecting my grades, I mostly sit in my college classes and just watch the teacher. At times I can hear him without getting too lost but by the end of class, I have a headache from trying to understand what he is saying.

Wouldn't it be cool if someone could video the lecture and subtitle it..

 

[KikLove]

Honestly, I don't know if my parents knew I had a hearing loss. They've mentioned it in passing about me seemingly quieter in restaurants but I was most quiet due to me not understanding people half the time when it is so loud.

Yes! I could actually not try and put up with his annoying monotone voice at times. Plus, I could get all the things I needed by simply trying to fast forward through parts of the lecture I miss and pick up from there.

 

[Oc318]

Honestly, I don't know if my parents knew I had a hearing loss. They've mentioned it in passing about me seemingly quieter in restaurants but I was most quiet due to me not understanding people half the time when it is so loud.

Yes! I could actually not try and put up with his annoying monotone voice at times. Plus, I could get all the things I needed by simply trying to fast forward through parts of the lecture I miss and pick up from there.

Yea I don't know why people don't do this more often.. after all there are subtitled lectures on Youtube. so it can be done.