Not everyone with severe hyperacusis lives in a crave
Since being diagnosed with severe tinnitus and hyperacusis in April of 2013, I've noticed one of the common mistakes people make who are trying to spread awareness of the disorder/disability is that they try to make people understand just how bad it is.
While they have good intentions, these people sometimes make those with hyperacusis look like they have a mental condition and speak about a small percentage that has extreme issues with coping, accepting and other issues which cause them to live in basements, seclude themselves from the world and hold up in their homes, victims to this disorder/disability.
It's true some people with hyperacusis have extreme issues and do extreme things but not all people with severe hyperacusis should be labeled this way. Many learn to accept their condition, cope and have great determination to overcome the condition. I may not be able to go where there are large groups or where there is a lot of sounds but I don't hold up in my basement, I don't even have a basement.
In fact, it's spring in New York and on a nice spring day I like to "open" my windows and hear the birds outside. The sound of birds chirping might bother some diagnosed with hyperacusis but it does not bother ALL diagnosed with hyperacusis. Such a sound as wind chimes bothers me greatly to the point it sets off my vertigo makes me nauseated and depending on how bad it is I might even vomit but not ALL people with hyperacusis are affected in that way.
That's why it's important to understand each case study is different and more research needs to be done. I do talk softer because sometimes my own voice can cause me pain but my life has not stopped.
I'm one of the many fighting back against this condition. I'm a single parent with three children and a digital journalist. I didn't ask to be diagnosed with this condition and God knows no one wants to have this condition but no one wants to be blind, deaf, or crippled either.
In the UK hyperacusis is already considered a disability while here in the United States it is only considered a disorder. It's time to see hyperacusis for what it is "a condition which affects one's everyday life, people lose their jobs over this condition."
By making hyperacusis a disability here in the United States we will be given the rights to protect our lives and others would have accommodated a person with hyperacusis just as accommodations were made for other disabilities.
While they have good intentions, these people sometimes make those with hyperacusis look like they have a mental condition and speak about a small percentage that has extreme issues with coping, accepting and other issues which cause them to live in basements, seclude themselves from the world and hold up in their homes, victims to this disorder/disability.
It's true some people with hyperacusis have extreme issues and do extreme things but not all people with severe hyperacusis should be labeled this way. Many learn to accept their condition, cope and have great determination to overcome the condition. I may not be able to go where there are large groups or where there is a lot of sounds but I don't hold up in my basement, I don't even have a basement.
In fact, it's spring in New York and on a nice spring day I like to "open" my windows and hear the birds outside. The sound of birds chirping might bother some diagnosed with hyperacusis but it does not bother ALL diagnosed with hyperacusis. Such a sound as wind chimes bothers me greatly to the point it sets off my vertigo makes me nauseated and depending on how bad it is I might even vomit but not ALL people with hyperacusis are affected in that way.
That's why it's important to understand each case study is different and more research needs to be done. I do talk softer because sometimes my own voice can cause me pain but my life has not stopped.
I'm one of the many fighting back against this condition. I'm a single parent with three children and a digital journalist. I didn't ask to be diagnosed with this condition and God knows no one wants to have this condition but no one wants to be blind, deaf, or crippled either.
In the UK hyperacusis is already considered a disability while here in the United States it is only considered a disorder. It's time to see hyperacusis for what it is "a condition which affects one's everyday life, people lose their jobs over this condition."
By making hyperacusis a disability here in the United States we will be given the rights to protect our lives and others would have accommodated a person with hyperacusis just as accommodations were made for other disabilities.
Comments
Post a Comment