I am severely hard of hearing in both ears. I wear two aids. I also have a speech defect that people notice?

Your attorney sounds right to me.I’m sure your doctor will sign disability papers for you and I don’t think you will have any trouble passing the governments tests.

A person can have a Disability but still not be Disabled.

Talk to the doctor to see if he/she think you should go on Disability.

You are considered disabled. If your severely hard of hearing, and hearing aids are not helping, you could opt for a cochlear implant. As for the spinal, you should talk to the doctor about this.

I agree with “Person With Disabilities” - you can have a disability and still not be disabled. My father is also severely hard of hearing. It runs in my family, and he started out just being slightly hard of hearing when he was a kid. But when he became an adult, he started needing hearing aids to help him, although he was too vain to wear them for a very long time. But eventually, he just couldn’t function without them any longer, and he got two very high-powered aids. Then, about six years ago, he just woke up and one of his ears was completely deaf. He went to his audiologist and decided to get a cochlear implant (after lots of research, lots of interviews and testing to make sure he was a good candidate, and talking to others who had had the surgery). When he first got it, I had never seen others with them before. But now, every so often I see someone else with one. The decision to get the implant was hard for my father, but was made easier by the fact that he had completely lost his hearing in that ear. Those who have the surgery BECOME completely deaf in the ear that the implant is in - when my dad takes out his hearing aid in that ear (to have a shower, go swimming, or go to bed), he is totally deaf since he has since gone deaf in the other ear.

Anyways, I know that was a long bit about the cochlear implant, but it is something that may be worth looking into in order to perform your job to the best of your ability. Not only does deafness (or partial deafness) affect your job because you can’t hear as easily, but I also know how EXHAUSTED my dad used to be when he came home from work, after straining so hard to hear people all day, and having to ask them to repeat themselves all day. He is in charge of sales for a company and it is necessary for him to speak on the phone as well as in person to customers all day. I know that at first, he sort of regretted his decision to get the implant since everything was really loud and hard to get used to at first, as well as the pain of the surgery. But now that the audiologists have adjusted the settings to what works best for him, I don’t remember the last time that he could hear so well! It has really improved his job performance and satisfaction with work as well as social functions and time with his family.

If you are asking if you are able to go on disability, we can’t answer that until you go to a doctor and see if they can fill out the necessary paperwork for you. But if you are asking your question to find out what can improve your life at work, I really hope this helps, about the hearing part at least.