Call your Senator, Congressperson now.. yeah but, what if

[madmax]

one is hearing impaired and doesn't use the phone, or doesn't have tty or tdy.

How many voices are NOT being heard. Mine for one and damnit I'm getting really pissed off about this.

I wasn't born deaf, I'm hearing impaired, not due to age but, something called cochlear nerve deafness. It was slow and progressive. Started in my mid 20's. Now I'm 60 and people talk to me as if it's due to age.

Tired of explaining this freaking disease to every tom, dick and harry and half of them are nit wits and don't understand anyway. They talk to me as if I'm mentally challenged. I can hear SOUNDS - some of them, I can't understand speech.

Back on topic. I want my putz rep's or the ones I agree with to HEAR ME. Sorry :rantoff:

The arthur i tis is bugging my hip so I'm going to lay down with my my hot water bottle and my clapper thingy and get a little rest :P Ya know us 'ol timers' go to sleep with the chickens and I'm past my bedtime.

Thanks for allowing me to vent my spleen - as usual.

[Blue-Jay]

1. Write a letter.

Seriously. An actual letter written on paper, signed and mailed. That will get more attention than a call or an email.

[madmax]

2. I do that sometimes but,

when I get an email 'URGENT' call NOW - they're voting today. grrrrr.

Thanks, lovey - I'm in one rip roaring cranky ass mood today. Had to do with a person I was speaking today who thought I could hear them better if they talked to me like a 3 year old. I wanted to slap him silly.

[fredamae]

4. Can someone call on your behalf?

[tblue37]

6. What pisses me (another deafie) off are the videos posted

with exclamations about how wonderful they are--but no summary, not even a little one, of what is in them.

Every few months I post a thread asking fellow DUers to please provide a summary for us deafies (and those with slow dial-ups, or those who are in a situation where they cannot view videos). I remind them that we deafies would also like to be included in the DU conversations, despite our deafness.

My threads always get around 200 posts, and many people (including many hearies) chime in and say they too would like a summary--but nothing ever changes.

The Cenk Uygur threads are particularly annoying, perhaps because they are ubiquitous. Whoever posts his stuff never provides any summary, no matter how often I request that they do so. It has made me dislike and avoid anything related to Cenk, though I realize it's unfair to blame him for his fans' rudeness and ignorance.

[csziggy]

3. Do you have access to a TTD or TTY system?

Using those systems, you should be able to get to a Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) which can relay your message to your elected officials.

Email is accessible, of course, but I don't think they pay as much attention to it. And of course, there is always old fashioned letter writing.

My Dad is profoundly deaf, maybe from cochlear nerve deafness though it cannot have been helped by being depth bombed while in a submarine or by years of working in noisy industrial environments. He started losing his hearing in his 20s also and has worn hearing aids since he was in his late 60s. They no longer help much. He mostly stays in tough with email these days. I have not encouraged him to contact his elected officials - he's very conservative and the guys he's voted for are doing enough damage without his help!

[madmax]

8. I believe I can get acess to it but, it sounds like a major

PITA but, it's time to really look in to it. I NEED to use the phone, not just to call my idiotc reps in DC but, important things LOL.

[csziggy]

9. It's probably worth checking into

I know very little about it. we were never able to convince our Dad to get one since he always has Mom around to take care of anything that needs a voice. But I know thousands have used the system over the years and it can be invaluable.

Good luck!

[rustydog]

5. WOW, two of us! I get tired of people who know I have a hearing

deficiency making fun of me. My issue was an undiagnosed infection that reached the mastoid. I don't hear much of anything in the right ear and the hearing aid (which is nothing but an amplification device) is slowly turning my "good" ear deaf.

When i don't wear the hearing aid, I can hear but do not comprehend speech. I cannot tell which direction sounds come from. Very frustrating.

[madmax]

7. I totally understand.

It pisses me off to no end when my friends do things like that to me. But,I realize they can't possibly understand hearing loss the way people can understand blindness. I just flip'em the bird.