I know how you feel. I received my first pair of hearing aids when I was 15. Like you, I was the only student in my entire high school who had hearing aids.
I agree with Shel about the value of learning ASL. I learned PSE (Pidgin Signed English), ASL and SEE (Signed Exact English) after my hearing loss reached the severe-profound range and it was one of the most beneficial skills I could have ever learned. Thanks to my signing ability, communicating with others was no longer a struggle.
You might be asking yourself why I chose to get CIs when I already knew sign. One reason had to do with the fact that some alternative communication methods I used were extremely slow. More importantly, I decided to get CIs for my own personal safety at home and when traveling outdoors. (I'm totally deafblind and often veered into traffic when using my white cane.)
If a CI is what you want, visit a qualified CI center for an evaluation. (See website above to find a CI center.)
Hearing loss/deafness isn't the end of the world. I know it might feel that way to you right now, but if you look at various threads here on AD, you will see that there are plenty of deaf/Deaf and HoH individuals who are living happy, successful lives.
