Rose's new hearing aids

For 15 years, I have worked at a middle school with teens of special needs.  I love my job!  With these  students, we learn from each other. From them, I've learned patience, preseverance , and courage.  I hope from me, they've learned achievement, encouragement, adaptability and love.  Since the age of 7, I have worn hearing aids.  Despite of many roadblocks, I was able to graduate from both high school and college with honors. 

Over the years,  hearing aids are becoming costly with most insurance companies paying very little or none.  Hearing aids are my lifeline to my students. Without them, I cannot hear well what they are saying. Some of my students  have limited speech, or heavy accents, or soft voices.  Some have pronunciation difficulties.  I have shown my students my hearing aids and my adaptive listening assistive equipment so they know, too, I have hearing and speech difficulties like them and that I can relate to their struggles. 

Currently, my left hearing aid is 12 years old and my right hearing aid is 8 years old. The average life of a digital hearing aid is 5 years.  Every day my hearing aids become older, makes it challenging for me in hearing; for others, in understanding.  I do not hear clearly; my answers at times embarrassing or confusing.  Most definitely misunderstood. I miss going to comedy shows, concerts, musicals, plays, and movies. I seemed to be a step later than the audience or in a group of family, or friends at a church gathering, or in a restaurant.  It is also challenging at school during meetings and events. 

So I am reaching out to you to help me purchase new hearing aids and assistive accessories.  I have learned over the years, hearing aids do not replace or increase my hearing...it can clarify my hearing to  enhance my interactions with my students and with others. Thus increasing my quality of life. 

I thank you, my students thank you and my family thank you. God Bless.  Rose