Thread for those of us that are deaf/hard of hearing?

[flamingo40]

I've looked through the health topics and can't find any particular areas for those of us who are deaf or hard of hearing to turn to if we are after advice or just fancy a chat with people who are in the same situation?
I guess I'm asking firstly if I'm missing something or secondly if there isn't an area we can go to would this be something Mumsnet would think about adding?

Having been hard of hearing for years and now a permanent hearing aid wearer I'd love you get help and advice and talk about experiences to other people

Every time I pop back on there's more of us! Thank you all for joining, it's helping a small community of us feel understood.
Reading through lots of us are struggling, I'm trying to find local support but covid seems to be stopping lots if groups, as if we aren't isolated enough.

@LadyEloise1

I find if I'm listening in the car to podcasts on my iPhone , the max volume in the phone just isn't loud enough. The noise of the car and traffic impacts on it. If I put air pods in then it's ok, but sometimes I haven't got them with me. I wish my IPhone volume went a wee bit higher.

I get my iPhone made louder in a local phone shop, it's really effective for me. Interestingly, I moved from the 6 to the 7 model and the guy there cannot get that nearly as loud. The accessibility staff at the Apple store told me the phone part they use for sound is made smaller from the 7 upwards so I can either hear on my phone but it be useless for apps or I get get the latest iOS and not hear. I'm bizarrely carrying both until I find a solution. Has anyone done this with an Android?

Wow I didn't know you could get the volume on your phone altered
Can you do this with any phone?
How much did you pay for this?

I often opt to put it on loudspeaker on calls as I find it easier to hear that way

@purpleme12

Wow I didn't know you could get the volume on your phone altered Can you do this with any phone? How much did you pay for this?

£10 but we are v good customers as we are v clumsy so he replaced a good few screens. I couldn't use it otherwise. I cannot use loudspeaker at all, sounds terribly distorted to me. Also can't easily hear WhatsApp audio calls.

@purpleme12

Wow I didn't know you could get the volume on your phone altered Can you do this with any phone? How much did you pay for this?

Sorry I don't know about other phones only the older iPhones. I can't get captions on Teams with the 6 model and can't hear calls on the 7 model, hoping someone will tell me that it can be done on Androids

Had anyone on here learnt sign language?
I'm desperate to but my goodness the fees!
It seems so unfair that we have to pay when eventually it could be our only way of communicating

@flamingo40

Had anyone on here learnt sign language? I'm desperate to but my goodness the fees! It seems so unfair that we have to pay when eventually it could be our only way of communicating

Totally agree I really want to learn it now

20+ years ago, sign language courses were subsidised for those with hearing loss. There was also a lot more community based classes. But with cuts to adult education funding, this was lost 🙁

I did my level 1 and 2 in my early twenties and now I have time to get back into learning more, I can't afford it. I'd love to learn more.

The other skill that is worth doing is improving your lipreading skills.

Hi!

I have an auditory processing disorder from losing my hearing as a child. Physically my hearing is now ok thanks to an op, but my brain carries on as if I were deaf- I can’t filter out speech over ambient noise, I can’t hear if I can’t lip read etc.

My airpods pro with noise cancellation are my best buy ever.

I would also love to learn sign language. I learned bits as a kid but have forgotten most.

Day to day I usually manage to function ok, a lot of smiling and nodding where I haven’t a clue what people are saying. Especially now with masks.

I also get a lot of people thinking I’m very rude when they say Hi or strangers ask me a question or whatever. If they’re not in my line of sight I can’t hear them so don’t reply. Same when out walking and bikes come up behind me. I took to wearing headphones so people could visibly see I can’t hear, but then I get yelled at for being ignorant and wearing headphones .

hello, can I join this thread please. I was told yesterday at Specsavers I have mild hearing loss in both ears. I'm 34 😭 my mum has had problems since she was younger too so i'm assuming there's a genetic component. I feel really low about it, but i guess it explains a lot tbh. I don't know if it's worth getting aids for mild hearing loss? I will go through my GP anyway and see if I can get a referral to audiology.

Thank you all for sharing your stories I will have a read of this thread again.

How do I keep this thread so it doesn't go off my 'i'm on' threads?
Cos I tired to search for this thread the other day and couldn't find it

Cadburyegg I would get some nhs ones and see if you feel they make a difference. When I first started I just used to wear them occasionally.

Purpleme12 you can 'watch' the thread and then it's easy to find.

Hello all - I'm picking up again as all your advice prompted me to badger my audiology people for a new appt. I hadn't had a review for five years and turns out my hearing aids were waaaay out of date. It has taken a lot of pestering. First they said there were no appointments for months for people my age - basically I'm too young. I said this was age discrimination. They did find one in the end and my hearing has got worse. I now have Bluetooth ones and have just ordered a device from the fantastic Connevans site that means they sync with my phone (I hope!) and will make conference calls and Zooms do much easier, and block out the background noise in our open plan office that make a lot of my work super difficult.

Like others I struggle so much with masks, screens and also men growing beards so I can't see their lips! Wearing a mask myself pulls my hearing aids off and I'm always scuff fling about on the floor to pick them up. I'm terrified of losing my new ones - they're not very special I guess if you're buying privately but to me they're tiny and precis compared to my massive old ones.

Anyway, long post but I wanted to encourage everyone to know that support is out there and to press for it. I too was shocked when first diagnosed (I was in my thirties, and cried when the audiologist broke the news). She was very taken aback and said, 'But I'm offering you help for life now - you should be pleased!' It was still a shock but I sort of saw her point in the end.

Thanks all. So glad I found the thread.

@friskybivalves I’m really pleased you were able to get help. I too had to push and be a nuisance after waiting 5yrs+ for an update and in the “younger” category relatively. It shouldn’t matter how old you are though. I’ve been encouraging my Aunt in mid-70s to ask for what she needs as they were fobbing her off with one aid & no blue tooth options despite her having a modern iPhone which she could easily link up to. It feels like postcode lottery again on the NHS.

@cadburyegg it is a shock when you get told younger I was 40 when I got told it was “old age hearing loss”. Honestly I love my Bluetooth enabled NHS heating aids I can listen to work team calls direct or listen to radio via them. The kids don’t know I’m listening to a podcast as they can’t see my aids under my hair. Only mask wearing is a pain as aids fling off when removing them. If the kids are being too noisy I just take them out and quiet is heaven . Mine link direct to my work iPhone or my person phone via an App from the NHS.

@skirun0077 I'm very jealous that yours link direct via Bluetooth to your phone. Mine link to an app but that only lets me change the volume and so on. I can't listen through my phone - for that I need the extra device which costs £183. Luckily my employer has agreed to pay for It under access to work. I just have to look after it now as I can't see them stumping up again if I lose it!

I also need the additional bit of equipment to link to Bluetooth. I am exhausting all my options of other people paying for it before I pay myself.

Does anyone use a headset with a phone at work?
Do you have adaptations for that?
I don't have Bluetooth hearing aids
I feel quite sad today
Work say I mishear customers quite often on the phone. They want to know if there's anything that can do to help me
I have never really felt 'different' or singled out before because of this but today I have and I feel sad and uncomfortable
I'm too loud which must be because I can't hear as well as other people

I work at home mostly now so I don’t use a headset as I have a Signia App on my iphone which links directly via Bluetooth to my Signia aids. It’s like having earbuds in with the voice/ music etc streamed direct but I can still hear people around me. If I was in an open plan office again id use a noise cancelling headset I think or I’d find it hard to do calls.

I guess perhaps I'll have to go down the double headset route then. Maybe noise cancelling.
I don't know what to do
How do these Bluetooth ones work are they much better. Not that I've got them. But I don't know how they work
I feel so shit

I don't really want to go in anymore

But I have to. Have to pretend no one's said I'm different

@friskybivalves I’m surprised if your app can control theaids via Bluetooth it must be linked? I go into settings on my iPhone and accessibility then it ‘finds’ my aids automatically. Then when I do a Teams video call or phone call they connect up and appear with the headset symbol on my phone. The Signia Ap itself does just do the volume on the aids. I don’t use any other kit to make it connect.

I can change some of my settings on my phone, but need an accessory to hear via Bluetooth. It looks like my uni is going to pay for it which will be great.

@purpleme12 I'm so sorry that I missed your posts on Wednesday. I don't have a headset for work now but I used to.

I've only just got Bluetooth hearing aids - literally a week ago today - and They are much more responsive plus The sounds I hear seem more subtle and multi layered if that makes sense. I actually have to turn them down because The world seems so inside my head now! I had to battle for an appointment though.

Can you start with nagging your GP? How long is it since your last hearing review - it's meant To be no longer than Three years I think. And when you make the appointment just say you need The upgrade to Bluetooth ones because you need the additional connectivity in order to do your job otherwise you are becoming more isolated and it's making you depressed. All of which sounds as if it is, very sadly, true or on the way to being true.

My lasT hearing aids were big old ones but my new ones are much smaller. They still sit on Top of my ear but are smaller in scale. And Bluetooth. This is all assuming you get yours on the NHS? And your employer should be Getting you Thr accessories under access to work and reasonable adjustments.