The BiPolar Express PodCast

@Dainbramadge From what I have seen, the grommets and bobbins of today are different to what I have, though.

There's no way for me to know if waiting that bit longer might have made a difference for me, though.

On the average day, I'm able to function quite well with my hearing... but I know that my next infection is just around the corner. Up until a few months ago, they were pressuring me to find work.

I don't have any problems with working per se... but, they couldn't answer me two questions:-

1) What work is available for someone who is a fall/collapse risk???

2) How many sit down jobs do you know of that don't require answering the telephone???

Unfortunately, they never saw me like this.

I'm hoping to find myself something that I can do on a self employed basis because even M&S not touch me as I am.

Yes, I was trained to lip read from an early age... and I'm more or less totally reliant on that right now. I can hear your voice and the sound of it, but I can't make out words very well at all - not even in an otherwise silent room.

Even with lip reading, some people still get uncomfortable with me "staring" at them - even when they know that I'm only trying to listen to them the only way I can.

Of course, lip reading only goes so far, though... especially when it can take me a while to get used to people's mouth movements as they speak - and it's useless in group work. I hate trying to read the lips of 10-20 people at once. I hate that DWP think that you can cope with hearing loss in an office based on a few years without an ear infection and how well you can manage on the average day.

They seldom see that, yes, you're managing, but you're not just listening to them - you're reading their lips as well... and the amount of focus that requires can be draining in its own right. Watching lips, listening to sounds and trying to marry that all together in a way that makes sense isn't easy. Worse still when you get someone who talks with their hands or wants to enter something you tell them into the computer - which distracts you from what you are focusing on.

Just swap places with me and let me put my own data in system - it was only a survey type thing anyway.

If your hearing impaired person is young enough, I recommend sign language classes. Even if he never needs to use it in his own right, it is a useful skill to have for communicating with other people who do need to use it. It will also look good on a CV, too... or as a silent means of communication in times of danger.

I have some gestures that mean nothing, but also convey something to those around me who know what they mean.

@HootyTheNightOwl Wow. People, for the most part, have a hard time understanding the struggles others of us suffer daily. Empathy isn't a very common trait I am afraid.

I am sorry you struggle with this to this degree.
I understand what you mean about trying to receive information from someone and then trying to enter it into a system. That would be so hard.

My daughter learned to sign before she was able to speak. I had seen it somewhere and so we taught her a few things to help along until she could talk.
There was a segment on one of her kid shows that delt with it too and she learned a whole bunch of stuff me and her mom had no idea what she was saying. LOL.

She doesn't talk to me any more but I do wonder how much of it she retained.

I sure hope things smooth out for you.

@Dainbramadge The most difficult part was having one pair of eyes and trying to read his lips and the computer screen at the same time... this guy wasn't deaf aware.

Lol, it sounds like someone had taught her some Makaton somewhere along the way. I know a little BSL and met Makaton as an adult - I had to be told what he was saying... 🤣

@bookerdana The master of the road says " Go around the block ". LOL

@Dainbramadge You'll just confront the same problem.Master of the Road...the roads here are beastly!

@OogieBoogie I guess life is too short not to laugh at this crap. LOL.
Tune in next week it gets better. :-)