Replies to 'A WAY FOR THE DISABLED, AND DISADVANTAGED.'
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November 16, 2006, 9:30 am PST
 Quote From: djmatt WELCOME TO MY BOARD, AND THANKS FOR VISITING.
This is what my campaign is all about! I'm shocked and didn't realize the discrepancies in our system with deaf people. I know this must be horrible to live with. People take things for granted until they no longer have them.
With me, my depression and physical pains are also "silent disabilities" and I have struggled hard to survive with these issues.
It's sad that so many people can be so reckless, and I am guilty of that, but to not appreciate what others are going through. You mentioned your husband's loud music; I played in bands for several years and started experiencing some hearing loss. This was so stupid to allow myself to be exposed to such loud music and not appreciate the gift of hearing God gave to me.
My hearing is relatively good still, but there are many times I can understand where you are coming from. Conversations that are at a distance, that most people would hear, or in the car sometimes, I cannot hear conversations and don't realize at times when people are speaking to me. I'm not comparing myself to your situation by any means.
Is your state of deafness recognized by any part of the medical community, or otherwise? Does it have a name?
How long have you been at this stage of deafness?? And when did it start, if you don't mind my asking?
I am not a very good reader, so some posts that I read, I do not comprehend all the points sometimes. Forgive me if I have overlooked anything. I normally will come back later, when I am feeling better and read them again.
What do you think our society and medical community needs to do to help people in your situation?
God bless. Hello.
What I have is called sensenoral nerve damage. I have had it for about 32 years now. It was noticed when I was in about the fifth grade in school.
I think society, each community needs to be flooded with an awareness alert similar to all those cancer/wheelchair/lukemia tv commercials/ads they put on tv all the time. Something to address the issues to everyone that each person is an individual issue, not to treat anyone deaf as if they are 'dumb' and if we can speak that it is a blessing, not a crime; that we are isolated, in terms of making human contacts and learning experiences and more prone to depressions; that there are similarities in needed services for the severly hearing impaired and the deaf and there are also different needs that need to be addressed. There are at least 5 different levels: born deaf, deaf later in life, severly hearing impaired at birth/later in life and then just hearing impaired. There are different needs for all these and different capabilities. Did you know that people born deaf qualify for all kinds of wonderful services but severly hearing impaired people don't? That to get almost any kind of services, we usually have to become legal age and then practically blunder around looking for different things that we can access? Especially when you do not live in a cosmopolitan area? Training for rescue/medical/law enforcement is bad. When the state requires training, they train a couple of top people who are to go back and train the rest of their people. Well, lets say they do this...(or not, there is no follow-up to guarantee they do this), the turn-over rate of people in those professions practically guarantees that there is always still not going to be anyone really trained to work with hearing impaired/deaf people. I have come across this repeatedly. And also, how about this.....the department of vocational rehabilitation, who is in charge of working with hadicapped poeple of all handicaps, when a deaf person calls, a lot of times the person answering the phone has no patience to talk with hearing impaired people and keep hanging the phone up ! (unless it is the caseworker working with deaf people). Aggravating. And then, all these people and businesses you try to call and talk with??? They keep hanging up before you can two words in edgewise. If you apply for a job (without listing you are deaf) and they like your application/skills and would like to hire you until they find out you are deaf? People seriously need to be made more aware. I was denied so many times in my life, things I should have been able to get/qualify for, that could have enriched my life more to the fullest...but society has let me down. I am just so tired of pushing against the machine.
Let me stop now before I get totally carried away. Thank you for your response. I hope that in all my prattling, I answered the questions you ask !
Bless you !
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