Hey everyone,
I'm a hard-of-hearing person who is looking for resources and support as I continue to lose my hearing (my loss is progressive). I'm currently enrolled in an ASL class, and am learning SO much about Deaf culture that I never knew. I'm learning ASL mainly so that I can communicate with people of all hearing levels, as well as for my own mode of communication as my hearing loss continues to progress.
Anyway, I feel like I'm in this "gray zone" - I'm not Deaf, but I'm not totally hearing, either. I function quite well in spite of my hearing loss, and I speak clearly (albeit with volume issues) but it definitely has its moments. It's maddening, frustrating, depressing, and - at times - funny.
I need help with finding resources. I also am wondering how you go about being "officially" recognized as a HOH/deaf person. I know this is going to sound like I'm being greedy, but I'm not....however, like most everyone, I'm not made of money. I'm in school and there are scholarships and subsidies that are available to deaf and hoh folks, and I'm wondering how one goes about becoming "officially" declared as such. I mean, yeah, my audiologist has it all on file, but do I have to submit that to the state to be recognized as hoh? Obviously, anyone can *say* they're one thing, but I would imagine it has to be documented somewhere. I also get hassled at work sometimes, and people accuse me of "faking it" and ignoring them, but come on - I'll be standing six inches from a timer and someone will walk from 20 feet away to turn it off because it was driving them nuts, and I have NEVER heard what one of them sounds like. Completely out of my decibel and pitch range.
I don't wear hearing aids for a variety of reasons (mainly expense and the fact that they won't really help anyway, since volume isn't my issue so much as pitch and clarity), and my loss is not yet severe enough to gain approval for implants (if I were to even decide to go that route).
I've never really dealt with any of this before. Please forgive me if my questions are stupid, but I really don't know what the heck I'm doing here. For years I've just sort of accepted it, but now I'm learning that it's okay for me to stand up and be recognized as a hard-of-hearing person and to stop hiding behind pretending to know what's going on.
Thanks in advance for all the help you might be able to offer. I'm excited to have found this group!
I'm a hard-of-hearing person who is looking for resources and support as I continue to lose my hearing (my loss is progressive). I'm currently enrolled in an ASL class, and am learning SO much about Deaf culture that I never knew. I'm learning ASL mainly so that I can communicate with people of all hearing levels, as well as for my own mode of communication as my hearing loss continues to progress.
Anyway, I feel like I'm in this "gray zone" - I'm not Deaf, but I'm not totally hearing, either. I function quite well in spite of my hearing loss, and I speak clearly (albeit with volume issues) but it definitely has its moments. It's maddening, frustrating, depressing, and - at times - funny.
I need help with finding resources. I also am wondering how you go about being "officially" recognized as a HOH/deaf person. I know this is going to sound like I'm being greedy, but I'm not....however, like most everyone, I'm not made of money. I'm in school and there are scholarships and subsidies that are available to deaf and hoh folks, and I'm wondering how one goes about becoming "officially" declared as such. I mean, yeah, my audiologist has it all on file, but do I have to submit that to the state to be recognized as hoh? Obviously, anyone can *say* they're one thing, but I would imagine it has to be documented somewhere. I also get hassled at work sometimes, and people accuse me of "faking it" and ignoring them, but come on - I'll be standing six inches from a timer and someone will walk from 20 feet away to turn it off because it was driving them nuts, and I have NEVER heard what one of them sounds like. Completely out of my decibel and pitch range.
I don't wear hearing aids for a variety of reasons (mainly expense and the fact that they won't really help anyway, since volume isn't my issue so much as pitch and clarity), and my loss is not yet severe enough to gain approval for implants (if I were to even decide to go that route).
I've never really dealt with any of this before. Please forgive me if my questions are stupid, but I really don't know what the heck I'm doing here. For years I've just sort of accepted it, but now I'm learning that it's okay for me to stand up and be recognized as a hard-of-hearing person and to stop hiding behind pretending to know what's going on.
Thanks in advance for all the help you might be able to offer. I'm excited to have found this group!
to AllDeaf forum. I hope you enjoy reading and posting all the threads here. Have fun with us. See you around. 
