<p>I thought I would make my first thread count, so here it is:</p>
<p>I have a 4.0 unweighted GPA (4.2 weighted)
I am taking my first two AP Classes as a sophomore:
-AP Calculus BC
-AP English Language
I also have two honors classes:
-Honors Physics
-Honors Biology
I am involved in many clubs and extracurricular activities. For physical activity I do Taekwondo.
I am deaf in my left ear and I have an IEP (individualized education plan) because of it. It really just means I use a hearing aid in school.</p>
<p>Is there any kind of specialized financial aid I can get for being deaf? I listed other facts about my academic life to make it clear that I'm not trying to get all kinds of benefits just for being deaf; I have the academic record that shows my potential anyway.</p>
<p>At Rochester Institute of Technology, you would get reduced tuition as an hard-of-hearing student ($12,000 instead of $38,000). Otherwise, you will have to speak to colleges individually to find out what they can do for you. I was actually talking to my counselor today about deaf scholarships but I don’t know any good ones for you since you are only deaf in one ear. BTW, I am bilaterally deaf and I wear a cochlear implant. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks Megan, I’ll ask the advisors when I go touring the East Coast on Spring Break. If anyone else has information about a specific university please let me know. I am planning on applying to: Brown, MIT, Stanford, Princeton, and U of Michigan. I know they’re reach schools (not so much U of M), I know not to invest everything I have in them, and I know to have a back-up plan. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Join Fastweb and make sure you indicate that you may qualify for certain awards for those who may be qualified as special needs, disabled, hearing issue, etc. ALso check support organizations for those with hearing issues.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s going to get you very far if its not really causing you any problems. I can say that because I have an uncorrectable complete hearing loss in my left ear. I’ve never considered myself disabled. Heck, people don’t even know if I don’t tell them! Use it for a college essay if you feel like it.</p>
<p>I’m an old lady, completely deaf in right ear since age 8.
I never gave it much thought as a kid. The “IEP” back then was that mom sent a note asking if I could sit at front right of classroom!</p>
<p>In the workplace, I learned to position myself correctly at meetings. I have revealed my partial deafness to my immediate workgroup. My main issue is deciphering speech when there is conflicting background noise, like equipment and overhead paging in our lab.</p>
<p>I know things are different and better now for students with challenges. I am curious to see if you find specific scholarships that might apply. Wish you the best.</p>
<p>I’m a grad student and never had an IEP for my hearing issues (I’m severely deaf in one ear and mild in the other), neither did my roommate who is completely deaf in one ear (she was born without an ear drum). We’re both hs class of 09. Most people catch on to my hearing issue when I turn my head to hear them. No big deal. When it came up in a class, either my mom (in elementary school) or I (middle school onwards) told my teacher and was situated accordingly. </p>
<p>I did look up scholarships but they were almost exclusively for those who were severe to completely deaf in both ears OR who were hard-of-hearing and going in to a very specific field. </p>
<p>Interesting to hear (pun intended) how many of us are “half deaf”…didn’t realize it was a relatively common thing.<br>
Those who care to share, what caused your hearing loss?
I went deaf in my right ear after a nasty, very well remembered case of the mumps.</p>
<p>I had pneumonia at 8 months old. I was told the antibiotic treatment in the 60’s caused nerve deafness in the one ear. It is more of an annoyance than a disability to me.</p>
<p>Mine comes from second hand smoke (mom was a smoker until I was in high school). Apparently it’s quite common. Coupled with my allergy to tobacco and it made it that much worse. They told me the technical details behind it but after 3 surgeries before the age of 10, I just really didn’t care anymore. When my hearing loss happened, they were <em>just</em> starting to understand the correlation between secondhand smoke and hearing loss. They treated me with tubes and the surgeries were to remove scar tissue and… I honestly don’t remember the rest. </p>
<p>Michigan going smoke free was one of the best things that’s ever happened. Even now, if I’m around cigarette smoke, the next day it’ll sound like I have a really bad headcold in my good ear. It’s annoying -.- I have a feeling that now there are better treatments and I could probably even get part of my hearing back, but my insurance hasn’t covered specialists in years and treatments are expensive. I’m getting better insurance next year thanks to the ACA and I’m considering going back after years to see if anything can be done.</p>
<p>^My H has that, too, musicmom, and then some bad ear infections added on top of it. Very deaf in one ear, somewhat so in the other. Most people can’t tell unless he tells them.</p>
<p>Garland, it’s cool that your H can manage well with hearing loss in both ears.</p>
<p>I have 100% loss in R ear and 0% loss in the other, so very lopsided.
As long as I can physically place myself to use L ear I’m OK in most situations.
I have given up trying to hear in a few places: chaperoning alumni dances at DD s old school (LOUDEST DJ EVER), concerts, sidelines of soccer game, etc.
I just smile and nod to anyone thinking they’re have a conversation with me.</p>
<p>Oh, he does a lot of smiling and nodding. He also guesses a lot, sometimes wrongly. But since he was young, he’s been a champion lip reader (he started doing it as a young child before his family even know he had a hearing problem–poor kid, they thought he was just being deliberately refusing to listen and behave). But he hears good when things are quiet. In noisy situations, like restaurants or parties, he has a lot of trouble making out who’s talking.</p>
<p>Okay, I’ve worn hearing aids since I was 12 years old, and never received “special” funding for anything. Back in the stone age of 1984-1988, I was assigned a note taker/grad student for each of my classes that gave me a copy of the professor’s lecture notes before class and another set taken after class. I also was allowed to tape the lectures with a portable recorder. I had testing accommodations that gave me more time, but other than that, nope–no accommodations or money for being hearing impaired. I’m almost 50 years old. Being hearing impaired will get you accommodations, but not likely any monetary perks. A hearing impairment may be a hook of how you overcame a disability to remain at the top of your class, which could bump your academic index up a little bit.</p>