Life as a military spouse

[crazyadrainy]

hello all,

I am new to the forum so I will give some info about myself first.

I am currently a student in school and will graduate in a year and a half. I have moderate to severe hearing in my right ear and severe to profound in my left. I wear hearing aids. My boyfriend of 2 years will be graduating after me, and after that he will be commissioned into the U.S. army.

So far in my research I have not found anything pertaining to spouses with disabilities, etc. besides what is covered under Tricare. I was wondering if there was anyone here that could tell me about their experiences as a hard of hearing/deaf spouse? More specifically if there has ever been difficulty with PCSing in country and overseas and that sort of thing. I'd also love to be directed to any support links if they exist! I just want to be as prepared as possible.


Thanks for your help.

 

[Reba]

Welcome to AD.

Your boyfriend will be graduating college in a couple years, then will be commissioned? Is he in AROTC? When will you be getting married?

I'm hearing but I was a Navy wife for many years. Now, I'm an interpreter.

Since the military is a Federal agency, you should be able to get accommodation services whenever you need to meet with hearing people, such as to make PCS moving plans. What accommodations, if any, do you use?

In the US, you'll be eligible for whatever each state provides (it will vary). As a military dependent, whatever state residency requirements there are, they should be waived for you.

Overseas, it might be harder to get all the accommodations that you're used to in the States.

Overseas tours will be a great opportunity to meet deaf people of different cultures.

 

[crazyadrainy]

Yes he will be commissioned. He is currently in AROTC and has a contract for 8 years once he graduates, but he plans to make it a career. We are planning now to get married probably 6 months-ish before he graduates.

I do not need any accommodations usually, I hear about 99% with my hearing aids, but when/if I have children I think I will want to have in-house accommodations for emergencies.


I am mostly concerned with not being able to PCS with him somewhere or even restrict his career choices in the Army. I know with the EFMP program they do not allow you to go anywhere they cannot provide care for you, so I am just wondering how that may impact me/him. An example I know of is a woman who was not able to go with her husband to Alaska because she had bipolar disorder and they could not provide her counseling there for whatever reason. I just wonder if there is ever this type of situation for hard-of hearing/ deaf people? We would really love to go overseas but I wonder if its a possibility.

 

[Reba]

Yes he will be commissioned. He is currently in AROTC and has a contract for 8 years once he graduates, but he plans to make it a career. We are planning now to get married probably 6 months-ish before he graduates.

I do not need any accommodations usually, I hear about 99% with my hearing aids, but when/if I have children I think I will want to have in-house accommodations for emergencies.

I am mostly concerned with not being able to PCS with him somewhere or even restrict his career choices in the Army. I know with the EFMP program they do not allow you to go anywhere they cannot provide care for you, so I am just wondering how that may impact me/him.

For the exact information you want, you should meet with an EFMP counselor.

However, I can give you some general opinions.

First of all, there's a good chance that your husband will have to do an unaccompanied tour at some point in his career. Some duty stations are either to remote, rustic, or dangerous to include families. That's a possibility that every spouse must face, whether or not the spouse has a disability. That's just a fact of life in the military.

I don't see how your hearing would be a problem with PCS orders. If you don't have special medical needs, then there's no problem. At most you would require a special communication system (amplified phone or CAPTEL, for example), and special home notification system (doorbell, smoke/fire alarms).

What the military doesn't want to deal with at remote locations is medical problems that will require sending the family members to expensive, long distance medical facilities that may even require special flights.

From what you've described, your situation shouldn't be any problem.

An example I know of is a woman who was not able to go with her husband to Alaska because she had bipolar disorder and they could not provide her counseling there for whatever reason. I just wonder if there is ever this type of situation for hard-of hearing/ deaf people? We would really love to go overseas but I wonder if its a possibility.

The only way I could see it being a problem for deaf/hoh family members would be if there were other medical complications, or, in the case of children, a lack of educational facilities that could meet their needs, especially overseas. People who depend on interpreters might be stuck without them overseas, which could be a hardship but that should be up to the family member to determine.

What accommodations (if any) do you require now in your day-to-day life? That will be an indicator as to how much problem you will have with PCS orders.

 

[birdlady]

hello all,

I am new to the forum so I will give some info about myself first.

I am currently a student in school and will graduate in a year and a half. I have moderate to severe hearing in my right ear and severe to profound in my left. I wear hearing aids. My boyfriend of 2 years will be graduating after me, and after that he will be commissioned into the U.S. army.

So far in my research I have not found anything pertaining to spouses with disabilities, etc. besides what is covered under Tricare. I was wondering if there was anyone here that could tell me about their experiences as a hard of hearing/deaf spouse? More specifically if there has ever been difficulty with PCSing in country and overseas and that sort of thing. I'd also love to be directed to any support links if they exist! I just want to be as prepared as possible.


Thanks for your help.

welcome to deaf chat , I used to be married to a guy in the air force we were stationed in germany ,Italy and many places in the us.. In germany and italy I had no problem getting any thing i needed. they call it the economy in military . The Dr on base are good . They sent me to a german hospital to have pt tubes put in .but that didnt work for me they also gave me hearing aides at no cost to me at all. In italy had no problem either. there is good medical in the military and lots of help else where, so dont let that alarm you .. I was married for 10 yrs and spent 9 yrs over seas..

 

[DARNELL]

i got nothing but respect for the army. lots of my friends are in ROTC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!