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Sahara4Ever

Sahara4Ever

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I have profound unilateral deafness and high frequency hearing loss in the other ear. My left ear has zero hearing and is more ornamental. I am a bit scared about the high frequency hearing loss and met a wonderful woman who was twice my age at the grocery store and told me I need to go get my ears checked annually. She also suffered hearing loss from childhood disease and has the exact same issues as me except she is almost completely deaf at this point. Currently, I have a hearing dog in training. The 501c3 program I was working with said some people have more severe hearing loss and have "profound deafness". But I said that is what I have and I can't locate directions of sound or hear much with background noise. Although to an average person, I appear fine because I can still hear without those issues. Upon the encouragement of my fiance, I've decided to join this forum because he told me since we moved in together, that I have a lot of cognitive misinterpretation that I've never noticed before from living on my own. My parents always raised me to pretend I am fine so I'd fit in at school but there has been indeed numerous times where my hearing has been a huge problem. Misinterpretation people and getting paranoid. Almost got hit by a subway because I was looking at the wrong direction to name a few. I am gonna get a Cros/ or Bi-Cros hearing aid as soon as I save up over $3500. So I have a question for the community: What is considered legally deaf? Must you have below certain decibels in both ears or does profound unilateral deafness qualify for legally deaf?
 
Hi ! Is that your hearing dog in your avatar , he/she is adorable ! Your going to love have a hearing dog , I had one and he was trained to let me know when a car was behind me . What is your dog name?
 
Haha! I love your avatar more. How creative! My avatar is indeed my hearing dog! Lucky is my dog's name. This is our training:
1. Basic obedience- sit, stay, heel, come, etc
2. CGC- pass this test --Yay Lucky passed his test the day he turned 6 months. I love how they give you a certificate to frame.
3. Advanced training/ public access - this involves a lot of desensitization. We are working on this right now.
4. Hearing specific training- this is often 1. doorbell, 2. alarm clock, 3. telephone. I need Lucky to do something very more complex: 1. Find and retrieve cell phone, 2. Alert me if someone is getting my attention in public, 3. Locate my car. I've had a bad run in at Disney Magic Kingdom parking lot (4th largest parking lot in the word) and was circling around for 1 hour trying to locate it despite the panic alarm was going off. I finally had to find security and the car. Was a bit embarrassing when the guy found it in 5 min because he could hear the sound.

Living with deafness has been kinda awkward. One time at a restaurant get together for 20 people, I heard someone I've never met talk about their dog and how small it was. I asked what breed is it. My friend sitting next to me freaked out and jabbed me in the stomach and said they were talking about their newborn!!! :confused: Awkward!!! She probably thought I was :crazy: crazy.

I am very paranoid about getting hit by a car or when driving and hitting an ambulance/fire truck/police car. Do other people have this problem too? How do you deal with that? My neighbor said I should get a handicap decal like her. I don't know anything about this because I thought that was for people with mobility issues. Any advice on this? Do you have a decal?
 
Welcome :wave:

There is a thread where this top was discussed: http://www.alldeaf.com/threads/legal-deafness.78149/

I don't think there is a single legal deafness definition. Why you are looking for it can be a factor. If you are trying to determine eligibility for services, different agencies have different requirements. Some look solely at hearing ability while others look at functional ability, e.g. able to use the phone or verbal conversion.

If the question is can you call yourself deaf. My view is it is up to the individual to determine how s/he wants to identify.
 
Thank you for the link. I am not seeking SSN disability benefits. Sometimes I wonder if I am a hazard to others.
 
Sahara4Ever said:
Haha! I love your avatar more. How creative! My avatar is indeed my hearing dog! Lucky is my dog's name. This is our training:
1. Basic obedience- sit, stay, heel, come, etc
2. CGC- pass this test --Yay Lucky passed his test the day he turned 6 months. I love how they give you a certificate to frame.
3. Advanced training/ public access - this involves a lot of desensitization. We are working on this right now.
4. Hearing specific training- this is often 1. doorbell, 2. alarm clock, 3. telephone. I need Lucky to do something very more complex: 1. Find and retrieve cell phone, 2. Alert me if someone is getting my attention in public, 3. Locate my car. I've had a bad run in at Disney Magic Kingdom parking lot (4th largest parking lot in the word) and was circling around for 1 hour trying to locate it despite the panic alarm was going off. I finally had to find security and the car. Was a bit embarrassing when the guy found it in 5 min because he could hear the sound.



Living with deafness has been kinda awkward. One time at a restaurant get together for 20 people, I heard someone I've never met talk about their dog and how small it was. I asked what breed is it. My friend sitting next to me freaked out and jabbed me in the stomach and said they were talking about their newborn!!! :confused: Awkward!!! She probably thought I was :crazy: crazy.

I am very paranoid about getting hit by a car or when driving and hitting an ambulance/fire truck/police car. Do other people have this problem too? How do you deal with that? My neighbor said I should get a handicap decal like her. I don't know anything about this because I thought that was for people with mobility issues. Any advice on this? Do you have a decal?
Click to expand...
:rofl:I would had thought that was very funny about the baby and dog ! I was going on a trip to Mexico with my b/f and I asked a friend if she knew of
good place to bring my dog . My friend started telling me about this real great place where you got nice meals etc. My b/f was trying his best not to died laughing !
My friend was telling me about hotel for people and I thought is was a kennel for dogs and was thinking boy my dog going to love this! LOL ! My friend watched my dog for me. You should have your hearing dog trained to let you when your smoke alarm goes too I am surprised that not part of her training . My hearing dog was also
trained to pick up small items like keys this came really in handy when I hurt my back . My dog loved picking up things b/c it meant getting a cookie ! LOL!
My dog wore his working vest which had 'Hearing Dog' on it 3 times . People started to follow me out of the grocery store I used and I didn't like this . I spoke to the store manger about this and he said I didn't have to put the vest on anymore b/c the store knew my dog was a hearing dog . I don't see why you would need a handicap decal for being deaf or hoh . No I wouldn't put a handicap decal on my car for being HOH , this doesn't affect me being able to walk . What kind of disability
does your neighbor have ? If you have another disability that made it hard for you to walk very far I could seeing having a handicap decal , I honestly don't think you can even get a handicap decal just for being deaf or hoh . Your neighbor much think being deaf or hoh affect your feet too! LOL !
Why would you feel you're a Why would you be a hazard to other people?
 
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They said I could pick three initial issues and go on from there. I can hear the fire alarm pretty well so we decided with quieter things i.e. Door bell and phone but the smoke alarm is definitely on the list.
I agree I don't think I need a handicap decal. My neighbor is a lot older than me and has pots and faints but I think she was thinking about training her pets to be medical alert dog.
 
My hearing dog was trained to let me know if anyone was calling me from behind , for the doorbell , phone smoke alarm , cars behind me . He took his job so seriously
that he would let me know when anyone in the hallway or outside of my building. He was a Standard Poodle is your a Poodle mix? I was trying to call my daughter once
and my hearing dog came over and started pushing his cookies contain , I told him it doesn't work that way . He get a cookie when he tell the phone is ringing
and not when I am making a phone call.
He didn't like that so he started to push the phone with his nose to made it ring and my daughter call me back at the same time! :rofl:You should of seen the look on
his face ! He thought he made the phone and was so pleases with himself and he got his cookie . What does pots stand for I am thinking of two kind of pot and I don't that what you mean . LOL!
 
Lucky is indeed a poodle mix. Good eye. My dog is very obedient but is afraid of everything. He does not like strange places i.e. He hates pet stores that sell puppies. We go to pet land to pickup toys sometimes bc it is close. I taught him target and also to close cabinet doors so now he closes doors all the time even without being prompted. He likes using his paws for just about everything. I do wish he has the slightest guard instinct but he gets scared and hides underneath the table when guests arrive unless I command him to heel
 
Sahara4Ever said:
Lucky is indeed a poodle mix. Good eye. My dog is very obedient but is afraid of everything. He does not like strange places i.e. He hates pet stores that sell puppies. We go to pet land to pickup toys sometimes bc it is close. I taught him target and also to close cabinet doors so now he closes doors all the time even without being prompted. He likes using his paws for just about everything. I do wish he has the slightest guard instinct but he gets scared and hides underneath the table when guests arrive unless I command him to heel
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Yeah my eyes sight is a hella of a lot better than my hearing ! LOL!
 
You're not unilateral. You have a bilateral loss, with no hearing in one ear. If you were unilateral you'd have perfect hearing in the other ear.
 
Oh... I am bilateral. So I am hoping that the high-frequency hearing loss is temporary? I am having a really bad allergy season. The doctor said it shouldn't be caused by that but typically caused by loud sounds ie operation of heavy loud machinery...etc. I work from home and never go to concerts. I have no idea what this loud sound could be. I'm having some issues with drainage this allergy season and it really does affect my hearing. When I don't take any medicine it is like being on an airplane and I can make my ears pop from yawning. Does this happen to others?
 
welcome, Sahara4Ever, I like your doggie pic too :) I'm a dog trainer and animal shelter volunteer. Some years back I volunteered with a service dog group - mobility and cross-trained dogs, generally. Both my girls <two Rotties> Target and will open and close things for me - though they are not service dogs.
 
I'm in Orlando, FL. SilverRoxy, I'm entering my dog in a Halloween contest. He is going as uncle sam.
 
Hey there!
Welcome to AD! I am completely deaf in one ear and I have sl hearing loss in the other, which is absolutely aggravated by my severe allergies in spring/summer and tendency to ALWAYS have a cold of sorts in the winter. I have a cross aid that is completely outdated that I tend to despise and regret purchasing.
I share many of your concerns -- direction being most frightening. I also have three toddlers to keep alive on a daily basis so that is unnerving in itself.
I also work as a dental hygienist which makes it very difficult to lip-read due to the fact that my co-workers wear masks.
I usually tend to describe myself as hard of hearing ... though I am not really caught up on labels. I can not generally hear my phone or an alarm. I usually do not hear people knock. I have a very difficult time understanding speech.
Hearing dog! Awesome ♡
 
Sahara4Ever said:
I'm in Orlando, FL. SilverRoxy, I'm entering my dog in a Halloween contest. He is going as uncle sam.
Click to expand...
That's cute. Post a picture of him in costume! You are lucky that you are in warm place. It snowed here in upstate New York for the first time. Ugh!
 
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