A good way for you to understand….

A good way for people who visit my blog that are hearing is visiting Phonak at http://www.phonak.com where you will come across Hearing Loss Demos. I think this helps to understand exactly what we hear, depending on how deaf we are.

To get onto the Hearing Loss Demos, when your on Phonak site, choose your country, then when it gets onto that page, click on ‘Consumer’ and scroll down to ‘Hearing’. Once there click on ‘Hearing Loss Demos’ which appears in the column on the left hand side of your screen.

For me for example, while wearing hearing aids I can still hear some birds but they need to be nearby, but without my hearing aids I could be sitting in a living room with 2 canary’s in a cage, and hear nothing as I discovered for the first time last year and found upsetting at the time, as it was a shock.

Another example is a clock ticking. I have a clock on my kitchen wall and while there standing near it, with no other noise going on I can hear it ticking, but if I take my hearing aids out I can hear nothing.

I’ve got another new blog

I have another new blog that’s ideal for anybody who likes making their own greeting cards. So hopefully the blog will give you ideas and inspirations for your next card. You can see this at https://l1zcards.wordpress.com

Still not a word

After sending my latest letter back to the woman higher up, because I did not hear anything and also an explanation as to why she put a phone number at the end of the letter, when I clearly stated already I can’t use the phone. I’ve still not heard anything even though I know they received it because I sent this one recorded. I have now took my complaint to the Financial Ombudsman in which all copies of communication has been sent to them now, with a letter to outline the problem I have with my bank. So lets see what happens next.

Looks can be deceiving

I have a zipped up black jacket that comes to my waist, with a removable fur trim hood, which slightly kind of puffs out, which I bought last year from Dorothy Perkins that I like to wear until recently this year.

Now there’s not many coats I’ve had since through my teens and upwards that I can say I’ve felt completely comfortable in. Many coats I’ve had in the past I’ve felt either fat or like a sack on me. I’m a size 12 on the waist, although lately some have been a size 10, and in tops I’m a size 14. This jacket I felt good in when I bought it last year, because it was fashionable and the style is what people still wear even now. But a comment was made to me by an old bloke from around the corner where I live. “Fatty” he said. And although I still wear it, cos my boyfriend says I look great, and other friends of mine in the past have commented on how nice it is, and where did I get it from, I don’t feel the same about this jacket as before. To top it off this bloke who said it was fat! Has he looked in the mirror a lately?

Struggling to find who I am

Since last year I’m struggling to find who I am. With the stress of work I had 4 months continuous in a row,  while dealing with the process of my DLA that ended up going to the tribunal stage at the same time, which with the help of my Welfare Rights Officer I knew I would have to raise stuff I kept hidden for a long time in regards to how I feel since being profoundly deaf. Which this particular stuff I had kept hidden meant that for the first time my Mum would possibly hear this, since I had my hearing aids exactly how I feel in detail.

After my Welfare Rights Officer prepared me for this day, telling me who I’d expect to see in this room, and where they will sit, and where we will each sit with our interpreters, and questions I would probablly get. I was told I may find it upsetting as regarding the questions they ask, because how I felt, but I wasn’t to hide it. If I was to end up crying, let them see she told me so they know how it affects me. My Welfare Rights Officer was brilliant in the support she gave me. When I was originally turned down, I wasn’t going to take it to the tribunal stage because I was in the process of moving into my own flat, and I was getting stressed with work in how I felt I was being treated at that time. So with that I did not want anymore stress on top. But she encouraged me to go further as I was entitled to DLA, and so I should go. Which I did and won.

But since this, because of raising exactly how I feel about my deafness for the first time ever in detail, and the emotions with it, I’m struggling to find who I am again. I had this once before in the early stages of wearing hearing aids, but quickly moved on. But this time when I feel I’m getting there, and I start to feel confidence, it seems to quickly go again.

I have approached my G.P. in regards to counselling. Someone who I can talk to that understands deaf issues. In which I’m on the list for and have been warned there’s a bit of a waiting list. How long I don’t know. But I will be going back to my G.P. this Friday to see if I’m able to talk to this counsellor about other things that have affected my life in the past, that’s resurfaced after a dream I had, which has made me feel its happened to me all over again, and how I feel about work sometimes too.

I really hope I’m able to speak to this cousellor soon, but I have a feeling it could be the New Year before this happens, as I have a friend who’s also on the list which she will probablly see just before Christmas. All being well when I see this counsellor I can get back onto the road of recovery of knowing who I am, to get my confidence back, and find me again.

Working Tax Credit

How do you find our Working Tax Credit? I’m aware from when it first started there were lots of problems, where people were paid too much, and ended up having to pay it back. Some being in debt because of this problem. I know I’m entitled to Working Tax Credit myself, but I dare not apply for what’s rightfully mine, in case this happens to me. I don’t want to be in debt.

I’ve looked up reports on Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, and since the first report, they’ve have made changes since in areas. Although its supposed to have improved, it gave me the impression still that they may still do mistakes, as so why I still don’t have confidence to apply for it myself.

Saving it instead of spending it, has been suggested to me. That way if you do end up paying you too much, your able to give it back, gaining the interest on it why its sat there doing nothing. I’m thinking of this option.

I’d be grateful for your views on Working Tax Credit. Good or bad. How are you finding it for yourself? Have you had problems where you had to pay it back? Or is everything fine?

Any card making entrepreneur’s out there?

Any card making entrepreneur’s out there in England only?

I like to make hand made cards, and have been doing this for years. I once tried it for a year as a business in my spare time, after realising what was a hobby and how I was doing it, I had to register myself as a business because of paying my taxs.

Although I did not take it serious much in that first year, because I still seen it more as a hobby, I enjoyed the experience of it all, the paperwork you have to keep for the tax man extra, and selling cards that although still small, it was getting bigger very quickly in regards who I was selling them to. I always said to myself if I was to continue another year and see how I go in that year, then I knew I would have to have more of a business head on me. Which I knew I wouldn’t have a problem with. But when that new year was coming, I decided to not continue as a business and instead just carry on making cards myself.

Inside me though, there is still that burning desire to do it again as a business, but although I’m aware of the paperwork etc.. before, the only thing stopping me from doing it, is because where I live my tenancy agreement says I can’t work from home. If I was to decide to move in the future and go into a property where the landlord is happy for me to work from home, then the next thing on my mind would be the paperwork I would have to fill in regarding my council tax and housing benefit. I know in addition to the main form you normally fill in, there would be also a separate one for the business side. So they have details of your income and outgoings.

How does your council tax and housing benefit affect you? for those who do start their card making business at this early stage. As I’m aware from the year I did my card making business, profits go up and down regularly. Is it too much paperwork for nothing, and are you left short? Or are you finding that as you go along, your card making business starts to generate a good income?

Has anyone started to do this full time by chance? And how are you managing now with the credit crunch?

Whatever your comments about this, whether it’s good or bad about your business, I would appreciate hearing from you, so it helps me decide what to do in the future.

Advertisement from Oliver Riley-Smith

Here’s something that was sent directly to me, that me be of interest to other readers of my blog. I enclose the full letter wrote to me, with details of what he wished for me to display on my blog. If your interested then please contact this person directly.

Dear Liz,
I hope you can help me. I am making a documentary, funded by Westminster Arts, about deaf raves – clubbing events run specifically for the deaf and hard of hearing – in order to raise awareness of this phenomenon and let both the hearing and deaf community involved. We are desperately looking for a subject to take to a deaf rave in Holland on the 22nd November, and I would be hugely grateful if you could post the message below on your blog.
Thank you so much,

Oliver Riley-Smith

Palpitation Productions

OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL DEAF SOCIALITES!

Dear All,
Would you like the opportunity to go on an all-expenses paid trip to the SenCity deaf rave event in Groningen, Holland, on the weekend of the 22nd-23rd November?
Funded by Westminster Arts (www.westminsterarts.org.uk), we are making a documentary about deaf people who go clubbing, and are looking for a participant to film attending this deaf rave event (http://www.stichtingskyway.nl/index.php?page=sencity-2). If you are deaf person of any age, and want to experience the phenomenon that is a deaf rave, complete with bands, DJs, live dramatic performances, incredible visuals, and an ‘Aroma Jockey’ (DJ who mixes smells!), all you have to do is email us at ollyriley@hotmail.com and let us know why you think you would be the perfect candidate to star in the documentary. We will provide travel, accommodation, food, drink, and club entry, and the film will be screened at the Curzon in Soho in March, and then at festivals around the world.
The deadline is November 16th, so get in touch, and get your moves on!
Good luck,

Olly Riley-Smith
Palpitation Productions

Audiology Access. What’s yours like?

What’s the access like at your Audiology? Until I started having more hearing difficulties, and using my mobile phone wasn’t an option to contact them, when making an appointment, I did not realise just how difficult accessing mine was. Unless I have a landline phone and use typetalk (which I don’t, and at the moment don’t want), then the only way you contact them is phone.

I wrote to Head of Audiology back in June this year about this communication difficulty for me, and I’m sure I’m not the only one, and suggested email or texting as another option to contact them. I had a lovely email back in acknowledgement. He said that he would look into this texting option, and told me they used to have a textphone facility, which was used by one individual until it became irreparable in 2003, so an Audiology Email account was set up. (I’ve been using them since 2002, and did not even know that this existed). The person monitoring it retired last year, and a nominated person to deal with it went on long term sick, in the new year. This was before they managed to get an I.T. to enable access, but she’s just returned to work, and he said he would get her to expedite this.

Well since that email, I’ve asked the receptionist on two occassions about this email account. The first occassion after saying they have not got one, she said you could always come in and make an appointment. I doubt she would do that if she wanted to make an appointment with someone, I bet she’d pick up the phone and do it that way. So why should I be treated any different? The last time I asked she said they don’t have one. I replied you do, cos I wrote to Head of Audiology, and he said he’ll get you to set it up. After that with a disgusted look on her face, she said, well we are moving next week into the new building. (which they were) So I ended the conversation there.

Well I go to Audiology tomorrow, after my boyfriend kindly made the appointment for me on my behalf, as my left hearing aid is not working. So when I get there, I shall be asking again about the email account facility, because they been settled in that building for nearly two months now, where they are close together with other departments, so it’s now an Ear, Nose and Throat. And if I get the same answer again, then as promised in a recent email to Head of Audiology, I will take this matter further.

It’s disgusting that Audiology of all places has poor access like this, when it’s supposed to cater for the Deaf. I don’t have this problem with my mobile company, when I need to get in contact with them. So why of all places should I have this problem with Audiology, and end up fighting for my right which is clearly been broken. These are the people who are supposed to understand our deaf needs.

Thank you WordPress

Thank you WordPress.com for help with my blogs today, and also for the help when I not long started up blogging. Its appreciated very much.

To anyone reading my blog and coming across this post. If your unhappy with who you use for your blog, then I strongly recommend WordPress.com who’s service I think, is of a very high standard.