unilateral hearing loss.questions
Bluefuel
my left but not in my right. My sense of space, balance and over all safety is
constantly being affected. I believe my right eye sight has been affected
also. I live in a hearing world. I am not entirely part of the hearing world.
I cannot hear where noises come from. I have a difficult time separating
background noise from other noises. I am sensative to noise. I am 24. I have
been deaf for as long as I can remember. I have the attention span of a
hummingbird. I have a difficult time concentrating. I have been in numerous
car accidents concerning my right side. I have amazing compensation in my left
ear. I hear to great distances. On one side I am very aware. On the other
side I am very vulnderable. If anyone has any information about neurosensory
deafness and/or unilateral hearing loss, please write.
RSiegel663
>Date: 8/16/98 3:06 PM Eastern Daylight Time
>Message-id: <199808161906...@ladder03.news.aol.com>
>
>I have a unilateral hearing loss. I can only hear in one ear. I can hear
>in
>my left but not in my right. My sense of space, balance and over all safety
>is
>constantly being affected. I believe my right eye sight has been affected
>also. I live in a hearing world. I am not entirely part of the hearing
>world.
> I cannot hear where noises come from. I have a difficult time separating
>background noise from other noises. I am sensative to noise.
You are bringing up a number of opints that are common to people hearing
unilaterally. the Localization ability is compromised, and this causes
difficulty in spacilally seperating sounds in compitition with each other.
> I have
>been deaf for as long as I can remember. I have the attention span of a
>hummingbird. I have a difficult time concentrating.
snip<
There may be more to this than the hearing problem. Have you ever considered
being tested for ADD? This can be treated and may help in dealing with the
hearing problem also.
> If anyone has any information about neurosensory
>deafness and/or unilateral hearing loss, please write.
There are CROS type hearing aid fittings and intra cranial CROS fittings that
may be appropiiate for you. Talk with a dispenser or dispensing audiologist in
your area for more information about this.
Bob
Robert B. Siegel M.S. CCC-A, BC-HIS
Family Hearing Centers
2001 Lincoln Dr W. Suite E
Marlton, NJ 08053-1531
K.E....@durham.ac.uk
> > I have
> >been deaf for as long as I can remember. I have the attention span of a
> >hummingbird. I have a difficult time concentrating.
> snip<
RSiegel663 wrote:
> There may be more to this than the hearing problem. Have you ever considered
> being tested for ADD? This can be treated and may help in dealing with the
> hearing problem also.
I have one deaf side, and one moderately deaf side. I know about all
the problems with sound location, etc. And my attention span is about
nil. I don't think I have ADD. It's just a side effect of one-sided
deafness, I think. I'm also 24!
Kathryn.
Tom Woolner
<blue...@aol.com> writes
>I have a unilateral hearing loss. I can only hear in one ear. I can hear in
>my left but not in my right. My sense of space, balance and over all safety is
>constantly being affected.
I know this situation well. I lost my right ear function completely and
suddenly nearly a year ago. My attitude has become "I hear with my left
ear." It is NOT "I am deaf in my right ear." I had to learn to balance
and walk again and still have rough edges where I get caught out. Each
mishap is an opportunity to think through what went wrong and to work
out what must I do to avoid it next time.
> I believe my right eye sight has been affected
>also. I live in a hearing world. I am not entirely part of the hearing world.
> I cannot hear where noises come from. I have a difficult time separating
>background noise from other noises. I am sensative to noise.
So do I. However if you can concentrate on the higher frequencies -
sibilants, children's and women's voices - you can scan with your head,
turning from left to right, to find the strongest direction. The best
direction for me is from my eye to the hinge on my glasses frame, like
looking down the sight on a gun. You will not find it easy to hear
others in crowded, noisy places.
>I am 24.
I am 55
>I have
>been deaf for as long as I can remember. I have the attention span of a
>hummingbird. I have a difficult time concentrating. I have been in numerous
>car accidents concerning my right side. I have amazing compensation in my left
>ear. I hear to great distances. On one side I am very aware. On the other
>side I am very vulnderable.
I can well understand this. All your good senses are on the same side
of your head, leaving your awareness very asymmetric.
I think you should think very carefully whether you should drive at all.
You must consider the safety of others as well as your self.
>If anyone has any information about neurosensory
>deafness and/or unilateral hearing loss, please write.
I get the feeling that you are a young person who has been left to cope
with these difficulties alone. You should seek the support of like
minded people in your own area to learn how they coped. You are not
alone.
Good luck and learn to learn about yourself!
Regards
--
Tom Woolner
K.E....@durham.ac.uk
>
> I think you should think very carefully whether you should drive at all.
> You must consider the safety of others as well as your self.
This worried me. I want to drive, but I don't want to be irresposible.
Mind you, I know a lot of deaf people drive. Maybe it doesn't matter if
you're careful?
Kathryn.
Sandy Kear
>
>This worried me. I want to drive, but I don't want to be irresposible.
>
>Mind you, I know a lot of deaf people drive. Maybe it doesn't matter if
>you're careful?
I don't see the difference between a deaf person driving and someone who
drives with their car stereo at full blast. Neither one can hear a darn thing
that goes on outside the car.
You might want to get a larger rearview and side mirror, though.
Sandy
1000 Islands River Rat
> I don't see the difference between a deaf person driving and someone who
> drives with their car stereo at full blast. Neither one can hear a darn thing
> that goes on outside the car.
Many of the newer cars are practically soundproof anyway.
Roving Reporter
emergency vehicles. (Sirens) I'm not sure where to get it, but if you were
to get on mailing lists for different catalogs of deaf-related items, at
least one is sure to have it. You can find these ads in (what else?)
deaf-related magazines like SHHH Journal and newspapers such as the Silent
News. If you're in another country than the U.S., you will have to seek out
those publications unique to your country. There is also a lot of
deaf-related info on the Internet which you can find rather easily with any
generally good search engine.
You'll learn the "tricks" as you get more experience; basically, you need
to use your eyes a bit more often, but you are right, Deaf drivers do
exist, and they actually have a pretty good track record for safety. It's
the late-deaf senior citizens who have trouble...because their eyes are
usually going at the same time, and their reflexes aren't as good.
On Thu, 20 Aug 1998 K.E....@durham.ac.uk wrote:
>Tom Woolner wrote:
>> I think you should think very carefully whether you should drive at all.
>> You must consider the safety of others as well as your self.
>
>This worried me. I want to drive, but I don't want to be irresposible.
>
>Mind you, I know a lot of deaf people drive. Maybe it doesn't matter if
>you're careful?
**********************************************************
* Therese Shellabarger - tls...@concentric.net *
* http://www.concentric.net/~tlshell/ Shalom chaverot! *
------------------------------------------------
* See Deaf Expo at http://www.deafexpo.org/ *
**********************************************************
SLC Com
>>Mind you, I know a lot of deaf people drive. Maybe it doesn't matter if
>>you're careful?
>
>drives with their car stereo at full blast. Neither one can hear a darn
>thing
>that goes on outside the car.
Sandy wrote:
>You might want to get a larger rearview and side mirror, though.
>
SLC comment:
Deaf people can drive safely, and Sandy is quite correct. You have to look to
your own driving record. If you are at-fault collision-free, just keep on
doing what you are doing, but do get those mirrors if you don't have them. If
you are not at-fault collision-free, you need to reevaluate your driving. Take
a driving course, ask for help in improving your driving.
There can be other issues besides the hearing loss. You may have other damage
in the brain that is preventing you from driving safely, and need to see if
that is the case. There are head injury facilities in the U.S. that will
evaluate your driving skills and help find ways to compensate. Surely our
enlightened cousins across the Pond have similar facilities...
Sharon
Tom Woolner
writes
>Tom Woolner wrote:
>
>>
>> I think you should think very carefully whether you should drive at all.
>> You must consider the safety of others as well as your self.
>
>This worried me. I want to drive, but I don't want to be irresposible.
>
>you're careful?
>
Kathryn,
When my right ear failed the DVLA in Swansea were only interested in my
remaining hearing. They were not interested in the vertigo or the
consequential sciatic nerve injury. These were much more disabling for
me as a driver at the time - much better now, thanks!
For British drivers, get in touch with:
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre,
Drivers Medical Branch,
Swansea SA99 1TU
Phone: 01792 783779
Obviously it is better to clarify your position before something goes
wrong and you find yourself with invalid insurance and up before a
magistrate.
Take care,
--
Tom Woolner
K.E....@durham.ac.uk
probably help me feel much more secure), and I'll get in touch with the
DVLA. I've noted the address.
kathryn.
Roving Reporter
>So, bear in mind that long distance trips that might seem routine can
>turn into absolute nightmares if you have mechanical problems and if
>you cannot use a phone.
First of all, if you're making a long distance trip, you get your car
checked to make sure there's nothing obviously wrong with it. (Even
hearing people do that.)
Then you have a portable TTY; there are a couple made by Ultratec.
If you're not sure the emergency phones are compatible, you can get
a cellular phone. If you're hard of hearing, bring just your own phone,
because any phones on a road are going to be next to impossible to hear
on. (That's from personal experience.)
I really, really hated it when the phone company did away with those phone
booths because the new "open air" design has made use of public phones
impossible.
Roving Reporter
>Roving Reporter <Tls...@concentric.net> wrote:
>
>>On Wed, 26 Aug 1998, Mike Burke wrote:
>>>So, bear in mind that long distance trips that might seem routine can
>>>turn into absolute nightmares if you have mechanical problems and if
>>>you cannot use a phone.
>>
>>First of all, if you're making a long distance trip, you get your car
>>checked to make sure there's nothing obviously wrong with it. (Even
>>hearing people do that.)
>
>Nevertheless, I did have the car serviced before the trip. It broke
>anyway. :-)
>>
>>Then you have a portable TTY; there are a couple made by Ultratec.
>
Australian relay service, in your case.
>>If you're not sure the emergency phones are compatible, you can get
>>a cellular phone. If you're hard of hearing, bring just your own phone,
>>because any phones on a road are going to be next to impossible to hear
>>on. (That's from personal experience.)
>
>You seem to have difficulty understanding that it is precisely because
>I, and many other deaf people people, cannot use any sort of voice
>telephone, that there is the problem I was describing. 'Hard of
>hearing' is not a term that I find helpful to describe my problem. I
>am not hard of hearing...I am profoundly deaf. Euphemisms do nothing
>to help this condition.
True, but you're not the only one reading this newsgroup. Some of us are
hard of hearing.
>>I really, really hated it when the phone company did away with those phone
>>booths because the new "open air" design has made use of public phones
>>impossible.
>
>Well, I really, really hate the fact that nobody seems to care two
>hoots about deaf people and their problems. My message was intended
>to help Kathryn and others like her who don't drive because they lack
>confidence. I wanted to ensure that she didn't make the mistake of
>going from under-confidence to over-confidence. These are serious
>issues that aren't helped a whole lot by preaching to your grandpa
>about car maintenance and the possible availability of, to me, useless
>gadgetry. :-)
Yeah, and top of the morning to you too.