How Much are Deaf People Costing Our Society?

[Tuberski]

I have a profound congenital dengenerative sensorineural hearing loss.

Congenital -> It's inheritable. From what we understand it's a dominant gene meaning my kids would have a 50 percent chance of inheriting it as I have a dominant gene from my father and a recessive one from my mother. We're not sure where the mutation is, there's been some studies done today, but one of us would have to go in to do genetic testing to confirm where the mutation lies and we've not done that. Perhaps sometime in the future.

Profound, I have a primarily upper register high frequency specific loss. It means that while I can hear low pitches, I cannot hear anything about 1250 HZ. It's completely lost to me. This includes things like fire alarms. I can sit right in the middle of class 2 feet from a fire alarm and hear nothing. I have some residual hearing in the lower frequencies, which is what I rely upon on my day-to-day life. I have difficulties with telephones and any form of communication that is not either written or face to face. The profound classification looks at the total loss across all frequencies up to 3k HZ, and I easily qualify for more than a 50 percent loss in both ears.

You also don't hear the high pitched whine of your hearing aids turned up too loud.

Yes, he is well and truly deaf.

ACK!

[Ben Kenobi]

You also don't hear the high pitched whine of your hearing aids turned up too loud.

It's actually feedback coming from the molds when they don't fit correctly. Because the volume is pretty high small gaps make feedback so it's hard to get a good fit. One of the reasons I've moved from wearing them all of the time to not wearing them most of the time is so that people don't have to listen to that when they talk to me.

Yes, he is well and truly deaf.

Thanks. It's blindingly obvious to anyone who's met me in public from how I talk and from the aids.

[SlowwHand]

Deafness and autism are a sham. Can you imagine how all the cancer patients that have died will feel when they find out cancer is a sham?
For that matter, who made my chest feel like exploding, and how, when I go that sham heart attack. Damned doctors. Tricky bastards.

[Ben Kenobi]

Yes, you don't want me to infect you I have AIDS. Hearing AIDS.

[Kidlicious]

Yeah, because no one likes you because you are deaf.

[Ben Kenobi]

I suspect a plurality here regard conservativism as a crippling disability.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

You know how Ben really loves to rip quotes wildly out of context and put them in his sig?

Thanks. It's blindingly obvious to anyone who's met me in public from how I talk and from the aids.

[regexcellent]

And we all know AIDS is God's punishment for gay people.

[-Jrabbit]

It's actually feedback coming from the molds when they don't fit correctly. Because the volume is pretty high small gaps make feedback so it's hard to get a good fit. One of the reasons I've moved from wearing them all of the time to not wearing them most of the time is so that people don't have to listen to that when they talk to me.

Ben, if you get hearing aids that are properly fitted, with a full seal, you can eliminate acoustic feedback. I actually know several very good audiologists in Austin; email or PM me if you need a referral.

[onodera]

Ben, won't Obamacare help you get cochlear implants?

[Alexander's Horse]

The deaf, I mean Ben, are costing us A LOT.

[Ben Kenobi]

Ben, won't Obamacare help you get cochlear implants?

No. Obamacare won't even help with things like molds (expensive), or an audiologist's appointment (which is expensive), let alone buying new hearing aids (which run 1-2K), batteries (not cheap) over the year. Same as in Canada, which also doesn't provide any support.

Implants are around 24k, for the implant, not counting surgery on top of it.

For me the priority is my eyes not my ears. I can function fairly well without the ears. I cannot function without my eyes, which means, good glasses, having an optometrist, etc.

The other problem is would I get an implant if the surgery were paid? It's not a guarantee of hearing. If something goes wrong with the implant, it will mean that I can't hear anything, whereas I have some residual hearing now. Am I willing to risk that for the possible benefit of being able to hear correctly?

I would be more comfortable if it were a removable device - I could always go back to where I am now if it does not work. But that's not the case here.

[Ben Kenobi]

Looking at the benefit list:

Hearing ranges from near normal ability to understand speech to no hearing benefit at all.
Adults often benefit immediately and continue to improve for about 3 months after the initial tuning sessions. Then, although performance continues to improve, improvements are slower. Cochlear implant users' performances may continue to improve for several years.
Children may improve at a slower pace. A lot of training is needed after implantation to help the child use the new 'hearing' he or she now experiences.
Most perceive loud, medium and soft sounds. People report that they can perceive different types of sounds, such as footsteps, slamming of doors, sounds of engines, ringing of the telephone, barking of dogs, whistling of the tea kettle, rustling of leaves, the sound of a light switch being switched on and off, and so on.

I can't hear any of these at present, save footsteps and doorslams. I can't hear a phone when it rings.

Many understand speech without lip-reading. However, even if this is not possible, using the implant helps lip-reading.

Many can make telephone calls and understand familiar voices over the telephone. Some good performers can make normal telephone calls and even understand an unfamiliar speaker. However, not all people who have implants are able to use the phone.

I can hear a telephone with an unfamiliar speaker on the other end. It has taken me a long time to learn it. I am not good with it, but I can get by. Mostly I cheat by using bone conduction. Easier still is the current setup I have with this laptop here. I can conduct interviews face to face, I can hear conversations, and I can set the volume to whatever I like, and am not limited by a phone. Skype is a phenomenal boon, and it's nice to see my lipreading work paying off.

Many can watch TV more easily, especially when they can also see the speaker's face. However, listening to the radio is often more difficult as there are no visual cues available.
Some can enjoy music. Some enjoy the sound of certain instruments (piano or guitar, for example) and certain voices. Others do not hear well enough to enjoy music.

I can listen to music at present. I can't follow a TV, but TV has captioning. So it's really a non issue.

I think for me the big, and the only selling point of the implant - is restoring the upper register which I cannot hear - it would be hearing things I never have been able to hear. I have quite a bit that could be lost so I really don't think it's worth 24k for the chance of it working well with me.

Will depend on batteries for hearing. For some devices new or recharged batteries are needed every day.

Meh, this really sucks.

During a person's lifetime, the manufacturer of the cochlear implant could go out of business. Whether a person will be able to get replacement parts or other customer service in the future is uncertain.

If I can't hear without the parts, then this is a bad deal.

May develop irritation where the external part rubs on the skin and have to remove it for a while.
Can't let the external parts get wet. Damage from water may be expensive to repair and the person may be without hearing until the implant is repaired. Thus, the person will need to remove the external parts of the device when bathing, showering, swimming, or participating in water sports.

This is just like swimming. I have to say it is a profoundly freeing experience to be able to swim and do things without having to worry about the hearing aids. With an implant, I would be even more vulnerable. If my aid breaks, I can take it off, and my hearing is just what I have now. With an implant, that's not possible if something goes wrong.

[DaShi]

Yeah, because no one likes you because you are deaf.

I don't like deaf people because of Ben.

[Ben Kenobi]

I don't like deaf people because of Ben.

Haven't you heard? According to Sava I'm a deaf Faker.