Deaf/Hard of Hearing

hi i am an audiologist in long island, new york and i would love to see more information on the site regarding hearing loss and the latest technology in hearing aids and assistive technology.  I am always excited when i can be a source of information and education to anyone. 

Lori, I live in tornado alley.  While my hearing was still declining I had a weather alert radio with a LOUD alarm and text display for what weather issue was of concern.  Now I can't hear that  any more, and have found that most emergency weather information on the television is not captioned.  I see the radar map and the colored areas, but I don't know for sure what is headed my way - flood (seek higher ground), tornado (go to the basement).  You get the idea.  And while sleeping, of course, I am totally unaware of the storm outside.

Do you know of any assistive technology that could help me feel more secure in this area?  My dog is no help, she hides under the bed the first sign of a cloud!  

 

I just got the Harris Communications catalog today, havent had a chance to look at it yet or contact the company, Harris Comm. is local for me, but I will look at teltex.  thank you for your input.

Tara

 

i would suggest you contact the League of hard of Hearing in NYC. They have a catalogue with all these assistive technology products for hard of hearing and deaf individuals. It is called Soundbytes.... give it a shot. Good luck and hope this helps.

Lori

Yup.  I'm here for deaf/HOH info.  Hope there is some here.

 

HI I THINK I started to loose my hearing in my late 20's but at first no one believed me. I even got tested and they said I just didn't push the button hard enough because all of a sudden I stopped responding. Duh!  This was back in the 70's and you had to push a botton when you heard a sound. Anyway I left it until I was in my late 30's and a co-worker noticed something was wrong and was kind enough to tell me. I went to get the testing and sure enough I had moderate hearing loss. They say the nerve is dying as a result off damage from noise. As most of you know this means there is nothing that can be done to correct the problem and at some point I will likely be totally deaf.

I am 51 now and the hearing is much worse but still able to hear with hearing aids. My partner keeps asking me to go with her to learn sign language. I'm afraid I won't be able to learn it because it looks so complicated and my memeory isn't what it used to be.

So my question is, Is there anyone out there who managed to learn sign language around my age

Boo-Boo 

 

Hi, Boo boo.  I started losing my hearing at age 48 and I began to take some freebie sign language classes.  Firstly, it is important your partner attend classes with you, otherwise who are you going to use it with?

By age 51 I had 100 percent hearing loss in both ears from Meniere's Disease.  (You can view my website at www.menieresresources.org)  I started ASL classes with fervor, and I can tell you that you are NOT too old! LOL and also that it is much easier to learn when you still have some hearing than when you don't have any at all and the rest of the class is talking and you are not fluent enough in ASL to understand them and not able to hear either.

Hopefully you will not lose your hearing. 

Anyway, go for it!  I know you can do it and it has some advantages too - you and your partner can talk across the room without anybody knowing what you are saying

 

Such a good question......I suffered "sudden onset deafness"  with acute tinnitis in 2000, I was 60 years old then. 

The doctors believe it was either from a major car collision that I was involved in, two months prior to the deafness starting or that it was caused by a virul attack on the nerve......Doctor's don't know as much about hearing loss and tinnitis and how to cure it, as we'd like or, at least, as I would like.......Can you sense my frustration?

I was told that eventually, I may go completely deaf.  I now hear about 50%, in one ear and 0 (zero) in the other.......I was so frustrated.....I heard about hearing dogs from watching a special from Barbara Walters, in 2000 and applied for one and received my "wonder dog" in 2002.

Besides all that my dog does for me, I wanted to learn sign language as well.....I agree, it's tough to learn...I must admit I stopped after only one class.....I was so frustrated....And, because I can hear some, albeit with a lot of tinnitis attached (boats pulling into docks, dishes breaking, bells whistling and God knows what else) trying to get in the way of whatever hearing I have left......I believe it's a matter of consistency.....I gave up too soon....I really want to go back....

Boo Boo:  Where do you live?  I need an insentive!

Take care and "hears" to a life filled with some sound!!!!!