HoH and feeling a bit isolated

Moonlit Rosettes

Moonlit Rosettes

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Hi, I go by many different nicknames: Xan, Rose, Nuke, Hey You (variously followed by With The Glasses, With The Wheelchair, or With The Cane); take your pick. Anything but Late For Dinner, lol! I’m 24 and currently in college for my software development degree. I was recently diagnosed with mild hearing loss (in the 40 dB range), but I have an auditory neuropathy that causes significant hearing difficulties in any kind of background noise regardless of volume (obviously louder noise is worse since that’s normal, but I struggle even with quite background noise; and no, I don’t have auditory processing disorder). I’ve known for about a year and a half that I’ve had issues with my hearing, but I was a bit surprised to actually see hearing loss reflected on my audiogram. I’m really new to all this and was recently kind of slapped in the face by how much the neuropathy affects me. I went to visit family for the Easter holiday (they’re Catholic) and I couldn’t hear anything while I was there. It was impossible to follow conversations and I had to ask the family to repeat themselves two or three times before I just guessed at what they were saying and hoped for the best...I didn’t always guess correctly. :/ I’ve been really struggling with my identity lately and that was like icing on the cake. I’m feeling very alone. I’ve tried searching for the deaf community in Kansas City, which is the closest major population center to me, but I haven’t come up with anything. I want to try hearing aids, but they’re way too expensive. At this point I’d just like to know I’m not alone.
 
You should contact your state's vocational rehabilitation office to see if they'll help with getting hearing aids. When my daughter was in college she was able to get help through our voc rehab.
 
I agree, Department of Vocational Rehabilitation would be happy to offer you a free hearing aids, although the process might take a quite while...some people get it within 2-3 weeks.
 
Moonlit Rosettes said:
Hi, I go by many different nicknames: Xan, Rose, Nuke, Hey You (variously followed by With The Glasses, With The Wheelchair, or With The Cane); take your pick. Anything but Late For Dinner, lol! I’m 24 and currently in college for my software development degree. I was recently diagnosed with mild hearing loss (in the 40 dB range), but I have an auditory neuropathy that causes significant hearing difficulties in any kind of background noise regardless of volume (obviously louder noise is worse since that’s normal, but I struggle even with quite background noise; and no, I don’t have auditory processing disorder). I’ve known for about a year and a half that I’ve had issues with my hearing, but I was a bit surprised to actually see hearing loss reflected on my audiogram. I’m really new to all this and was recently kind of slapped in the face by how much the neuropathy affects me. I went to visit family for the Easter holiday (they’re Catholic) and I couldn’t hear anything while I was there. It was impossible to follow conversations and I had to ask the family to repeat themselves two or three times before I just guessed at what they were saying and hoped for the best...I didn’t always guess correctly. :/ I’ve been really struggling with my identity lately and that was like icing on the cake. I’m feeling very alone. I’ve tried searching for the deaf community in Kansas City, which is the closest major population center to me, but I haven’t come up with anything. I want to try hearing aids, but they’re way too expensive. At this point I’d just like to know I’m not alone.
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I think you should definitely try to look for resources to try hearing aids. Try to see if there is a hearing aid clinic that leases hearing aids. They may cost less and I think the advantage is that you will get the upgrades, so you're not stuck with the same hearing aids for years. Like cars, you get a new one every few years.

This might be the one thing that may solve your current issue.

There are apps that act somewhat like a hearing aid and can help you out in the meantime using earbuds and your smartphone.

Good luck!
 
Unfortunately neither of my insurances (cuz I’m lucky to have primary and secondary insurance) cover the cost of hearing aids, but I haven’t looked into voc rehab so I’ll give that a shot. Thanks for the advice everyone! :) Aside from that, though, there’s still all the crazy emotions of having to adjust to the changes. I don’t know anyone around me who is hoh or deaf, so I wanted to connect with people. Anyone here from around the Kansas City area?
 
Have you tried looking into purchasing a pocket talker like William Sound? Google it. Might help in the meantime. It cost less than $200 it seems.

I am not sure about having to adjust to hearing loss at an older age, but maybe if you google online and maybe the HLAA website may have resources about it.
 
HappinessCounts said:
Have you tried looking into purchasing a pocket talker like William Sound? Google it. Might help in the meantime. It cost less than $200 it seems.

I am not sure about having to adjust to hearing loss at an older age, but maybe if you google online and maybe the HLAA website may have resources about it.
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Thanks, I’ll check into it! There’s a chance I’ll be able to afford proper hearing aids relatively soon. I just found out I’m having my appeals court date for my disability case in the coming months, so hopefully that goes well and I can save up money for aids. Thanks so much for the suggestion, though; I’ll definitely be looking into it.
 
Moonlit Rosettes said:
Unfortunately neither of my insurances (cuz I’m lucky to have primary and secondary insurance) cover the cost of hearing aids, but I haven’t looked into voc rehab so I’ll give that a shot. Thanks for the advice everyone! :) Aside from that, though, there’s still all the crazy emotions of having to adjust to the changes. I don’t know anyone around me who is hoh or deaf, so I wanted to connect with people. Anyone here from around the Kansas City area?
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Kansas School for the Deaf is in Olathe. Much more interesting then HLAA, especially for young people. http://www.ksdeaf.org/
 
^^ She’s always putting down HLAA. I suggest you find out for yourself if HLAA is right for you. I suggested it because it’s a large organization with chapters all over the country and members with all degrees of hearing loss, I believe.
 
Why does that hurt your feelings? You know I've been told by members of HLAA that their approach is boring. 90% of the reason why they're members is due to the socialization.
 
deafdyke said:
Why does that hurt your feelings? You know I've been told by members of HLAA that their approach is boring. 90% of the reason why they're members is due to the socialization.
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Clap clap to everyone. This is an open forum.
 
deafdyke said:
Why does that hurt your feelings? You know I've been told by members of HLAA that their approach is boring. 90% of the reason why they're members is due to the socialization.
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And that's what the OP is looking for.

I don't agree with everything HLAA "promotes", but it is a good place to find others with hearing loss. YOU are always promoting a full toolbox, but yet you always put down one of the ways people with hearing loss can get support - from others with hearing loss. *smh*
 
I completely understand but I am almost 47. Hearing aid is a machine that it does not perceive "depth perception" very well. I used to have 40 db loss and now it's 90 db loss. Some noises that sounded like 10 feet away but it's actually next door while some other noises were like 5 feet away while it was actually like 50 feet away. I have often asked my coworkers and my boss, "Hey did you hear that?", they all thought I was crazy.
 
LoveBlue said:
^^ She’s always putting down HLAA. I suggest you find out for yourself if HLAA is right for you. I suggested it because it’s a large organization with chapters all over the country and members with all degrees of hearing loss, I believe.
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Don’t worry, I’ll be checking into all the suggestions you guys have been giving me. Thanks to everyone for the information! :)
 
LoveBlue said:
And that's what the OP is looking for.

I don't agree with everything HLAA "promotes", but it is a good place to find others with hearing loss. YOU are always promoting a full toolbox, but yet you always put down one of the ways people with hearing loss can get support - from others with hearing loss. *smh*
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*snort* No, it's about that particular organization. I know you like it, but it does tend towards older late deafened people simply b/c of the demographics of hearing loss. If there were other groups I'd strongly reccomend them.
 
Moonlit Rosettes said:
I’ve seen KSD pop up on the local news channel for school closings during severe weather before. I’ll reach out to them, but I won’t be able to attend since I’m 24.
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LOL. Sure wish they had a local residental college program. But they are an AMAZING source of Deaf events!
 
BTW, not only is HLAA not exactly interesting, it has connections to AG Bell. Dhh from birth/early childhood are automaticly enrolled in AG Bell's membership. It's also against dhh kids being educated bilingally. It also thinks that there's money to unwrap by keeping dhh young people dependant on an oral exclusive focus, even thou most kids who Sign, also use HAs and CIs.
 
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