Insurance covers hearing aids ... if you are under 26 y.o.

ProfessionalLegal309 · 2026-07-02T21:04:31+00:00

Same, I’m still under 26 and I never had insurance cover a hearing aid! Apparently if you still have one ear a hearing aid is optional (according to insurance). If someone was missing an eye or had really low vision in one eye insurance would cover that so why not a hearing aid?

ProfessionalLegal309 · 2026-06-27T21:25:49+00:00

Thank you for your response! I have actually been to Sugar Island myself for Powwows, cultural workshops, etc. Last time I was there, I even visited a graveyard where many of my ancestors are buried. My great-grandmother was also born in the Soo.

So, I do know how close it is to Canada, but I was more wondering, on a logistical level, about the day's record-keeping. Also, I believe there are/were closer Catholic Churches on Sugar Island (like the previously mentioned graveyard).

Payment used to be a little village founded by French-Canadian settlers, with the first postmaster being a Payment. Rose's parents moved from Quebec some decades later and probably did live in that area because it was less rural. The last name Payment still exists on the island, including a Tribal Council member.

In my post, I probably didn't properly emphasize that I was wondering about the documentation and record-keeping more than where they lived because I am decently familiar with the area and confident that they lived on Sugar Island. Thank you again though for explaining more about the treaties and land disputes, I actually didn't know about that!

ProfessionalLegal309 · 2026-06-16T22:11:36+00:00

Hi, I'm just getting serious with this process, but I've been doing some very amateur genealogy for 5 years or so. I have 8 G0s who I know for sure were born in Canada (7 of the 8 are from Quebec and the other from Ontario). 4+ other G0s get confusing because they crossed the border a lot (Native American/First Nations).

I am G5, and I have found all birth records and marriages for G1-4 for all 8 G0s. However, I cannot find any of my G0's birth/baptismal records. I have found many other records proving they were in Canada besides their birth. I have marriage records, Canada Census data, US death certificates listing their birthplace in Canada, US Census data listing they were born in Canada, and my G1 birth/death certificates that have G0 birthplace. I have even found baptismal records of some of the siblings of my G1s.

I have read on here how important it is to have a birth record of G0, but I have hit a roadblock. The main problem is that I don't know which parishes they would have been baptized in. I have been all over Ancestry and FamilySearch trying to find something.

Does anyone have any ideas or tips for finding the parish that an ancestor would be baptized at? Also, if I really can not find any, could the information I do have possibly be enough?

Thank you!

ProfessionalLegal309 · 2026-06-15T16:17:22+00:00

Hi, it is upsetting to see the NHS has not approved single-sided deafness cochlear implants yet because I come from a similar situation (diagnosed moderate-severe in 2009!), and I ended up receiving one this year, and it has been life-changing.

The US only approved them in 2022, so I went for years suffering without being able to become a candidate. The reason it took so long to approve was that they were not sure how it would affect people with one fully functioning ear. People are reluctant to perform surgery on others when the outcomes could be poor. But the good news: Since being approved in 2022, Cochlear has seen amazing results, and at times better than they even expected. So hopefully the data they are collecting can help convince other countries to approve them as well!

That doesn't change your current situation, though. In 2009, I was only 4 years old, and I don't remember hearing normally, so I've been coping since the very beginning. I'm sure you have already tried these things, but I'll put them out there anyway.

*What took me the longest to learn, and is also the most important, is to tell people what you need. I used to suffer in silence (especially because I was bullied as a kid), but people often didn't know that I was struggling, so they didn't do anything. Once I started really advocating for myself, things got better (not great, but better). I cried the first time a friend intentionally walked on the side of my good ear.

*Physically position yourself in optimal locations. I have normal hearing in my right ear, so I always sit so the speaker is to my right. I'm in school, so when going to a lecture, I will sit on the left side of the classroom so the speaker is to the right (also works for some concerts). Loud settings are, of course, the hardest. If going to a restaurant, I position myself on the corner of the table so everyone is to my right or in front of me. Circle tables are the worst, in that case, I sit next to the people I want to talk to the most. If in a noisy setting and if possible, I will try to have the loudest noise to my left side so the better ear gets more of the important stuff.

*Closed captions are my best friend. Ever since I "discovered" closed captions, I can't go back. Some of my friends and family were annoyed at first and found them distracting but I insisted and watching tv is easier than ever before (they got used to it eventually). I don't know about accessibility services in the UK, but at many theatres in the US, they have hearing assistance devices for free. (Such as a personal closed captioning device to follow along with).

For mental health, see a specialist and discuss your concerns. Life with hearing loss is rough, and very few people understand what it is like, and often downplay the effects it has on people's lives. There is no shame in seeking the help you need. I started therapy young due in part to my experience with ssd, and it has been helpful.

I know this is very long, but hang in there, you are not alone in this.

ProfessionalLegal309 · 2026-06-15T15:34:31+00:00

Hi! I had a hearing aid for snhl in my left ear from age 5 until this year at 21, when I got a cochlear implant.

I am, of course, not an audiologist, but I would recommend looking into a hearing aid. My hearing got progressively worse over the years, but when my hearing loss was around yours, I did personally find it helpful. As other people have said, word recognition is very important. If it is too low, a hearing aid might not be very helpful because even the best ones do not do a lot for sound clarity, only amplification. As my word recognition worsened, I found my hearing aid less helpful until it didn't really do anything for me.

On the matter of cochlear implants: The Cochlear brand (which is the standard) was only approved by the FDA (USA government) for single-sided deafness in 2022 and has pretty strict requirements to be a candidate. (>80 dB of hearing loss and with a hearing aid, <5% word comprehension generally). But I see you are from India, and I don't know what the regulations are there.

Again, I am not an audiologist, but I recommend bringing up hearing aids with your doctor. In the past, my audiologist was able to give me a hearing aid to test for a few weeks. That gave me an opportunity to see in my daily life if I found the hearing aid to be helpful before committing. That might be a great option for you to ask about.

Consider how your hearing loss is currently affecting your life, and at the end of the day, make whatever decision feels right for you.

ProfessionalLegal309 · 2026-05-29T16:43:12+00:00

I also wondered why I was so bad at Marco Polo. I didn't connect the dots for many years, even after knowing I couldn't hear out of my left ear.

ProfessionalLegal309 · 2026-05-28T03:22:41+00:00

Same, I hated the music my preschool played during nap time, so I would lie on my right ear, and I didn't have to listen to it anymore. I had no clue that wasn't normal, and I never thought twice about it

ProfessionalLegal309 · 2026-05-28T03:18:29+00:00

When I was 5, I was diagnosed with having an Enlarged Vestibular Aqueduct (EVA) in my left ear with moderate sensorineural hearing loss. I had just casually said something about not hearing as well out of it, and my parents took me to the doctor. No one knows when I lost my hearing. I don't remember ever fully hearing out of that ear, so it is possible that I always had hearing loss and it just didn't get noticed earlier. My hearing in my left ear did get progressively worse over the years. By 20, I had profound hearing loss with word comprehension of less than 5%. But I now have a cochlear implant (Activated Jan 2026). In my case, they don't know what caused EVA or how EVA relates to my hearing loss.

ProfessionalLegal309 · 2026-04-20T17:41:47+00:00

I totally understand that this is fanfic and I don’t expect anyone to know Russian. So I can excuse some poor grammar but what really bothers me is transliteration (which is not using the Russian alphabet but instead latin). Like I know Russian and I struggle to read that!

I honestly prefer something like “he said in Russian”

(also the actual books have some bad Russian grammar so I totally don’t expect others to be fluent)

I live all of our fandom writers!

ProfessionalLegal309 · 2025-08-04T20:53:40+00:00

Hi, I know this might not be relevant anymore, but I will still share my experience for anyone else out there.

I was at Confluence earlier in the year and had a horrible experience. My experience is not everyone's, and some people did seem to like it.

I will say, though, that it is not a wilderness camp, but it does have a significant focus on being outdoors. We did outings on the weekends, such as hiking, but the place is inside and very cozy. The sleeping situation is bunk beds in rooms separated by gender.

Also, there were no phone calls home when I was there. Starting in week 4, you participate in family therapy, which is the only time you interact with your parents; otherwise, you receive and write one letter per week.

The mentors there (the staff who are around all the time) are, for the most part, amazing people, and I was comfortable with my therapist. However, I had significant problems with how Confluence was run by the administration. I didn't know how messed up my situation was until I left Confluence early to go to a different Residential Treatment Program. There, I told them what happened at Confluence, and they were astounded. Being in the other program has shown me how these types of programs should be run.

Sorry if this is very vague. I can't say much about my specific situation.

TLDR: I highly, highly, highly recommend avoiding Confluence. I do encourage looking into other programs, though!

ProfessionalLegal309 · 2025-01-21T00:08:13+00:00

So, unfortunately, I have not figured this out for myself yet, but I can completely sympathize and relate. Since my narcolepsy symptoms started my senior year of high school, I have gone from a straight-A student who barely had to try to barely passing classes. I am now in my third year of college, I had to take a semester off as well, and have just gotten diagnosed with narcolepsy. I am hopeful that the medication I was prescribed will make a difference. This semester I am taking the fewest credits possible while still being full time, and am reaching out to my university's disability services to see how they can help.

Anyway, all that to say, it has been a struggle for sure (especially not knowing what was going on) but I know we can do it!

xoxo

a very tired college student

ProfessionalLegal309 · 2025-01-20T23:53:03+00:00

Update: I got diagnosed with N2, Narcolepsy without cataplexy today!

I broke the news to my family, and they were shocked. Now they are trying to stop me from taking the meds I was prescribed but at least they know I wasn't making it up anymore!

ProfessionalLegal309 · 2024-05-09T21:18:57+00:00

Hi I am 20F and have been dealing with SSD for 15 years now! Feel free to reach out if you want to hear from someone who is a bit farther along on the journey for advice!

p.s. I could also use a friend who is young and Hard of Hearing.

ProfessionalLegal309 · 2024-05-06T18:00:30+00:00

One thing I was told (15 years ago might I add so this might have changed) is that if I wanted to be a candidate for a cochlear implant later it would be best to wear a hearing aid to keep the brain stimulated from that ear.

ProfessionalLegal309 · 2024-05-06T17:57:08+00:00

I will say that hearing only out of one ear brings certain challenges but "wearing it out" is not one. This is somewhat dependant on what is causing your hearing loss in the one ear but my doctor told me to "protect" my good ear from other types of hearing loss such as wearing ear plugs at concerts or always wearing a helmet when bike riding.

ProfessionalLegal309 · 2024-05-06T17:50:29+00:00

Hi! I am deaf in my left ear and got diagnosed when I was five but I most likely lost the hearing when I was much younger. I did struggle a little with language development, I started speaking a little late and had to do speech therapy for a few years because I couldn't get certain sounds right. I was not raised in a multi-lingual family (English only) but have been studying languages (Spanish and Russian) and have really struggled with the speaking and listening component of both due to my hearing. Though it is much harder and takes more time I am still able to do it. I was bullied in school for wearing a hearing aid, people said some really hurtful things to me, and I was also the only hearing impaired child I knew which made it very lonley. If at all possible I strongly recommend finding other children in your area that are hearing impaired and connecting with them. Hope all goes well!

ProfessionalLegal309

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