I am deafblind and feel like there are no resources out there to help me.
(May cross post this to r/deaflind).
I’ve been blind in one eye all my life, I can still do most things. I can drive a car but I can’t get a CDL license for forklifts, buses, semis etc. not that I would want to anyway. But I have a hard time knocking into things because I can’t see how close they are to my right side. Even my family home that I’ve lived in and out of for 26 years - I still knock into things.
I started losing my hearing 6 years ago. It’s always just been my left ear, but back in April 2025 I was told not only did my hearing get worse, but both ears are going now. I finally got hearing aids in December.
I feel more deaf having them in than I do without them.
I’ve lived my whole life being expected to live normally but I’m tired of yelling when my family can’t hear (hearing loss in hereditary in my family, 3 hoh and 2 deaf). They all refuse to learn sign language.
I tried to get assistance from DVR, and they offered to pay for my hearing aids but it still ended up coming out of my pocket. I then asked about ASL classes and they denied me saying that I cannot do that unless I want to switch jobs and become an interpreter. But I like my job, and DVR is about not only finding you work but also keeping the job you currently have. Every single counselor I’ve had keeps trying to convince me to get away from the field I’ve been working most of my adult life and I don’t understand why. I kept being asked what stuff I want from DVR but I don’t know what they offer. Because I couldn’t answer that question, I was dismissed.
I was introduced to the Helen Keller National Center, told that they can, not only help argue my case with DVR because they are practically depriving me of communication by not allowing me ASL classes. But also HKNC have sources of their own.
I had a meeting with them and the entire time they were talking about ASL but that’s not the only thing I want. I’ve lived my entire life pretending to not be disabled, I don’t know what’s out there. Both HKNC and DVR expect me to just know everything they offer and ask for it. I got put on the back burner because of it. I didn’t get any help about my DVR case like I was told I’d get either. Only received sympathy for my situation.
Even with that, not one of the people I spoke with in the meeting was deaf or blind? They even admitted that nobody on staff is deaf, not one of the 4 people on this call knew ASL either.
I know that I can still walk, talk, kind of hear, and see. But I still have limitations and feel nobody is listening to me. Even anytime I go to an eye doctor, they don’t believe me when I say I see absolutely nothing in my right eye. No shapes, no lights/shadows. It’s like that eye doesn’t exist at all. They don’t believe me.
I don’t fit in the physically abled category, nor do I fit in the disabled category. I don’t know what to do.