Hearing Loss is a Disability

[Henry Kisor]

I'd argue we deafoes need visual forms of announcements. Some stations and trains do have those, but most don't. It's incumbent upon us to be constantly aware of where we are so we get off at the proper stop.

 

[TheVig]

How about stop expecting the rest of the world to cater to your needs, and just travel around with one of these. All jokes aside, I know the frustrations of not being able to ear announcements sometimes. Years of being around industrial equipment, even with proper protection has destroyed my hearing.

 

[Trollopian]

I'd argue we deafoes need visual forms of announcements. Some stations and trains do have those, but most don't. It's incumbent upon us to be constantly aware of where we are so we get off at the proper stop.

I agree. (My hearing loss stems from childhood measles...two years before the vaccine. Folks: measles and mumps and polio whooping cough and so many other diseases are now avoidable thanks to modern science. Get the jabs.) I once missed a flight entirely out of DCA because its status wasn't updated onscreen. Other flights were; mine wasn't. Apparently called just once, in a crowded and chaotic terminal, and yeah, I noticed a stampede to the escalator (this was at notorious Gate 35X, Farewell to the misery of Gate 35X, the only thing everyone in Washington could agree on - The Points Guy) but thought it was for a different flight. Ever since then I've swallowed my pride and checked in at the desk. Or with whomever is controlling the boarding process at Amtrak stations. Sometimes the result is that I "pre-board," with the very old and the very young and the mobility-impaired and so forth. It's embarrassing but it beats missing a departure.

More common, of course, is age-related loss. "About 2 percent of adults aged 45 to 54 have disabling hearing loss. The rate increases to 8.5 percent for adults aged 55 to 64. Nearly 25 percent of those aged 65 to 74 and 50 percent of those who are 75 and older have disabling hearing loss." (Source: NIH.) It's incumbent on Amtrak and other carriers to communicate clearly and by multiple methods.

 

[Henry Kisor]

Sometimes the result is that I "pre-board," with the very old and the very young and the mobility-impaired and so forth. It's embarrassing but it beats missing a departure.

Amen . . . but since I employ a service dog for my deafness, preboarding is very convenient, even though we're stared at. We get our choice of overhead storage, anyway.

Often upon deboarding I am greeted with a wheelchair. Evidently airline manifests list deaf passengers as "disabled," which triggers the wheelchair posse. Fortunately, Amtrak doesn't do this.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Amen . . . but since I employ a service dog for my deafness, preboarding is very convenient, even though we're stared at. We get our choice of overhead storage, anyway.

Often upon deboarding I am greeted with a wheelchair. Evidently airline manifests list deaf passengers as "disabled," which triggers the wheelchair posse. Fortunately, Amtrak doesn't do this.

I, too, have been allowed to preboard when I’ve let the gate agents at airports know I’m deaf/HoH. I’m not embarrassed and do like the ease of boarding.
And, yes, there have been wheelchairs waiting for me when I deboard. Once, while waiting to board, there was someone walking around with a boarding wheelchair apparently looking for someone who needed one. I wondered if they were looking for me.

I contacted that particular airline to suggest they do a better job of identifying which disabled passengers need wheelchairs. But like you say, I think the system just tells them “disabled” or maybe it says disabled / deaf and the employees ignore the deaf part.

I’ve had some flight attendants acknowledge they’re aware of my disability. I even had a gate agent ask me, using sign, if I signed. I told her no so she wrote on a piece of paper about preboarding. I thought that was really nice.

 

[Qapla]

I have not been offered any additional assistance on Amtrak even when I tell them I am hard of hearing - often they don't speak any clearer, louder or look in my direction - however, walking with my cane has gotten me a ride on the cart to/from my train car.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I have not been offered any additional assistance on Amtrak even when I tell them I am hard of hearing - often they don't speak any clearer, louder or look in my direction - however, walking with my cane has gotten me a ride on the cart to/from my train car.

Sometimes conductors will ask me if I need assistance. I usually just say only if the announcements are critical.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I have not been offered any additional assistance on Amtrak even when I tell them I am hard of hearing - often they don't speak any clearer, louder or look in my direction - however, walking with my cane has gotten me a ride on the cart to/from my train car.

Do you have it on your reservations that you're deaf/HoH? In addition to getting the disability discount, they will put it on your ticket and on the manifest. When I traveled on one of the eastern LD trains in coach the conductor used a special colored seat tag and I think indicated on it that I was deaf. In addition to that letting each conductor down the line know, it made it easy for me to find my seat whenever I got up for a walk.

 

[Qapla]

No, I usually don't use the "disability" designation even though I do have some hearing and mobility issues, since I just ride coach - the "Senior" designation gets me the same discounts without having to fill out the extra form on the website.

If I were riding in a sleeper, I would probably declare one of the disabilities.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

No, I usually don't use the "disability" designation even though I do have some hearing and mobility issues, since I just ride coach - the "Senior" designation gets me the same discounts without having to fill out the extra form on the website.

If I were riding in a sleeper, I would probably declare one of the disabilities.

You can save the disability info to your profile.

 

[Henry Kisor]

I've never declared my deafness as a disability on the Amtrak site because it doesn't get me any accommodations on the train. But I do declare my mobility disability and use of a service dog because that gets me the H room.

Many years ago on the Lake Shore Limited, a conductor put a large handwritten sign saying "DEAF" in the check holder above my seat and refused to remove it, saying it was for my safety. When the next operating crew boarded, I complained to the new conductor, who quickly removed the sign. He was appalled. Now if I'm alone with my dog I'll tell the sleeper attendant that I'm deaf and ask him or her to let me know of any vital announcements. They never remember—they're just too busy.

The conductors usually (but not always) make sure to come by to let me know that my stop is coming up. But I can't rely on that.

 

[Qapla]

I'm not deaf - I do wear hearing aids most of the time

I do not need a wheelchair - I use a cane when needed

I have never used a sleeper - only ridden coach

SO

declaring hearing or mobility does not get me any additional perks/discounts that being a senior already gets me so I usually just use senior

Walking with the cane gets me a cart ride in Tampa without having to ask.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I'm not deaf - I do wear hearing aids most of the time

I do not need a wheelchair - I use a cane when needed

I have never used a sleeper - only ridden coach

SO

declaring hearing or mobility does not get me any additional perks/discounts that being a senior already gets me so I usually just use senior

Walking with the cane gets me a cart ride in Tampa without having to ask.

On their website "I am deaf or have hearing loss." If you wear hearing aids, you have hearing loss. Just saying.

Definition of DEAF

having total or partial hearing loss; also : of or relating to people who have total or partial hearing loss; unwilling to hear or listen : not to be persuaded… See the full definition

www.merriam-webster.com

Definition of deaf​

1: having total or partial hearing loss

 

[Ryan]

Yeah, I’m not sure if you can complain about not being offered help while simultaneously refusing to indicate that you need it in the specified manner.

 

[Qapla]

You should not have to indicate you have hearing problems to expect a clerk or other service personnel to look at you when they talk to you instead of looking down and/or away like they are distracted ... I don't complain I do not "get help" - only that many don't look at you when they speak, especially when there is a plastic shield blocking their voice.

Also, even people with perfectly good hearing can have problems hearing announcements if a busy lobby that echoes - having the announcements posted visually in a train depot only makes sense.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

You should not have to indicate you have hearing problems to expect a clerk or other service personnel to look at you when they talk to you instead of looking down and/or away like they are distracted ... I don't complain I do not "get help" - only that many don't look at you when they speak, especially when there is a plastic shield blocking their voice.

Also, even people with perfectly good hearing can have problems hearing announcements if a busy lobby that echoes - having the announcements posted visually in a train depot only makes sense.

Welcome to the world of the disabled, not just the deaf & hard of hearing. This is why ADA exists, though it’s still a struggle to get appropriate accommodations.

Remember, hearing loss is a hidden disability. It’s not something people notice so they don’t know to speak up, speak clearly, look at you unless you tell them.

Though I’m late-deafened, I still don’t always remember how I should best communicate with others that I know are deaf/HoH.

 

[cirdan]

This is true.

I have a tendency to speak too quickly and indistinctly, even when speaking to people with normal hearing.

When I have reason to believe the person may have hearing issues, or may have a first language other than English, I do make an effort to slow down and speak up and articulate clearly. But that is a conscious decision I have to take.

 

[Qapla]

I have found that many, even after I tell them I am hard of hearing, still look away, down, at the computer or whatever they were looking at other than me - and do not speak any louder or clearer than before I said something

Since I do not use "sign language", I have also found that, if I list my hearing as a "disability", people just assume I use sign language and still do not speak up or clearly.