For Those of us who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing Part 2

[Violinist64]

The original thread is almost full and I have found it extremely helpful so have started this new thread.

Does anyone else experience the occasional noise like a chirp or squeak in their ears? I get a short rushing as if the ha are checking for connections but also the odd other noise which apparently no-one else hears!

To become registered for a disabled rail card, you can take a photo of your brown book from the hospital. If you don't have one of these, a photo of either a letter from the audiologist or, l would imagine, your audiology report would also be ok. If you go online, you can fill in the form there.

It's not being registered, it's showing proof you wear hearing aids.

I used an audiology letter as my proof.

You can also use your clubcard points from tesco to pay for your railcard

You don't need to register as disabled for a railcard but you need to prove you wear hearing aids.
You can (or you used to be able to) register with your local council as deaf as they used to have support services and equipment to help. I think this varies across the UK though.

Thanks I'll have a look and see if I can find an old letter. My book is ancient but should be round somewhere too

Does anyone else have misgivings about applying for things like Disability railcard? Almost like imposter syndrome. Am I just perhaps not the best to judge the impact my hearing loss has.

I did for a while, but actually I am very grateful for it. My hearing loss is classed as moderate. Yet it has a pretty severe impact on my life. Even with my hearing aids in, if someone's back is turned to me or their voice is of a particular pitch or timbre I am fairly lost. By the end of the day, I am frequently exhausted. I think things like the disabled railcard are not given to us to make that particular journey easier. They are an ackowledgement that life overall is just that bit harder to manage and we deserve a bit of a financial nod as a result. And actually, the railcard discount does directly help. Sometimes i have staggered off a train, more shattered with the effort of having lip read my way through a day of multiple meetings with many bearded mumblers and thought: yes, I will treat myself to an Uber home.

Do it! Apply!

I don't have misgivings about the Railcard honestly. Life is expensive enough as it is. The rules are if you wear them you can get it so there's nothing wrong with getting it. And let's face it unless the hearing loss is very severe it's the only concession we're going to get from it anyway so may as well take it!

Please dont feel bad - if you are deaf it does impact on what you earn (and you will get carted off to places you dont want to be because you couldnt hear the announcement of changes of route !

... and two more thoughts.

First: apologies if this isn't the case but haven't I seen you around very often giving people excellent legal advice about their rights? This is your right!! Don't lose it... because -

Second: chances are it may be snatched away in some budget cut soon enough. So you may as well benefit while you can.

Nope didn’t feel guilty getting a disabled rail card it gets used mostly for work travel and like ftisky after a day of face to face meetings I’m exhausted my brain working overtime do process all the speech and noise input around me. No one has ever challenged me using it.

Definitely don't feel guilty. That's what they've chosen the criteria to be, I meet it, so I'm going to use it.

I don’t feel guilty, either. I enjoy travelling by train and the fact is that I cannot always hear the ticket collector until he has to give me a gentle nudge if he is coming from behind. Similarly, I don’t always realise that another, impatient, passenger is trying to get past me on the platform when they are behind. I don’t like to apologise for my deafness; I would rather not have to acknowledge it to strangers. As for announcements…. We meet the criteria, so I, for one, gladly make use of my disability rail card.

@LIZS So today actually the perfect case in point. Found myself in a small but weirdly echoing room with some very merry and lovely colleagues who were screeching with laughter about something funny going down at work and all talking over each other at top speed. It was impossible to keep up or discern what the hell was going on for the most part. Then had a boatload of Teams chats - lots of processing. Tried to get train home. Points failure at Woking so multiple cancellations and when train did come it was totally stop start with long delays to let random freight trains through. Dammit, I thought. That blooming discount is mine, all mine.

Thank you for the reassurances and sharing experiences. I can particularly identify with the sensory fatigue and difficulties in meetings and social settings. I had a long meeting last night and feel drained today. Also sometimes get migraines after a night out or event, which hopefully will become less common with my ha.

I think my perception of disability needs to change. I have lived with progressive hearing loss for over 50 years and developed coping mechanisms but now wonder how much I must have struggled and missed out in the meantime. It seems particularly unreasonable that I can now qualify for a Disabled railcard yet dh with obvious mobility issues cannot.

this thread is very useful - I'm expecting to be given hearing aids soon for the first time (aged mid 50s) after a diagnosis of hearing loss. I completely appreciate how tiring it is, trying to keep up / understand when there is a lot of overlapping conversations at work or similar.

Does anyone use forums / chats which are specifically for people with hearing loss (in addition to MN) ?

@LIZS I too have a lifelong, worsening (now profound in high tones) loss, wearing 2 aids. I had the same qualms as you regarding eligibility for disabled railcard; I now make a point, when travelling alone, of asking the guard to make sure I'm aware of any changes which will affect my route, as I won't be able to decipher announcements.
If you're travelling with someone, they get the discount too BTW. They're your 'ears'!

No one is forcing you. Don't apply if you don't want to.

I will get one , as I have a few solo trips coming up. Normally we use a Two Together railcard but this is more flexible.

Can anyone advise on cleaning the rubber tips, or how frequently they should be replaced. They feel a bit greasy, despite wiping with a tissue each night, and I suspect they will get more so in warmer weather.

Just ordered the Disabled railcard to be sent by post, uploaded a copy of my audiology card but I now realise it did not ask for a photo. Do you need to produce other photo id when a ticket is checked?

No they just ask to see the card, nothing else

I think I change mine every 2mths or so

But k don't clean them daily

They cost barely anything off eBay or can get free from certain places

I change the domes monthly, and the wax guards behind them every two months. It's what I was told when I got them so I have reminders in my phone calendar as I am awful at remembering.
I do find in the summer they seem more greasy sometimes but just give them a wipe each night.

My audiology told me that the tubes should be changed every 3 months.