1. < Hearing Loss

Sharing the burden of hearing loss

Posted by thodson3 @thodson3, Aug 9, 2019

Hello, I have been hard of hearing all of my life. I have held my current job as a report writer for and environmental company for 11 years. I am upset that I still occasionally face negative comments from coworkers about my hearing loss. Recently, I had a manager tell me in front of a room full of co-workers that I "needed to get new hearing aids" because mine "don't work". I was so shocked I didn't know how to respond immediately. In thinking about this since it happened, I have started wondering why the onus for accommodation in the workplace only seems to lie with me. Why isn't it partially my employer's responsibility to accommodate me? Has anyone else faced similar hardship? Does anyone here work somewhere where the employer shares the responsibility?

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bookysue | @bookysue | Aug 20, 2019
In reply to @imallears "@bookysue Hi, I have a friend in her late 50s who was being pressured to resign..." + (show)
@imallears

@bookysue

Hi,
I have a friend in her late 50s who was being pressured to resign as IT librarian after 30 something years. She chose to retire rather than work in such an environment but was worried about her health benefits as she has MS along with her hearing difficulty. I told her she could apply for disability social security. She wanted to sell her house and car and move into an independent facility but did not want to deplete her savings waiting until she was of social security age. She hired a disability lawyer and , to my surprise, was approved for full time disability insurance because of her hearing, not her MS.

It took only 4 weeks for approval . These lawyers who specialize in this area really know their stuff. If you apply on your own the consensus is that you will be turned down the first time around.

Just putting this out there.

Regards from FL Mary

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Wow. It’s too late for me- shoots. Wish I had done the lawyer bit- I did at first with Silver and silver-they turned me down. Just remember that.i do hav leverage now-encourages me to retire at62.now they are putting me off duel coverage for Medicaid/Medicare. I filed an appeal.we will see

REPLY
joangela | @joangela | Aug 21, 2019

Hello. I am trying to understand your message. Are you talking about SSA or your employer?

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1 reply
thodson3 | @thodson3 | Aug 24, 2019
In reply to @joangela "Hello. I am trying to understand your message. Are you talking about SSA or your employer?" + (show)
@joangela

Hello. I am trying to understand your message. Are you talking about SSA or your employer?

Jump to this post

Hello, I am talking about a coworker at my job

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