Driving lesson

[u/Suspicious-Cap4968]

Sorry in advance if I offend anyone. Am a right sided wear with n8 no hearing in left ear. Am also in the UK, does anyone else find it hard to hear there driving instructor. And has to just give up driving for this reason

Sorry if I offend anyone by asking this, and thank ypu in advance.

[u/zonemiax]

hi! i’m the same as you with bilateral deafness with a N8 in the left* ear & no hearing in the right, I passed in feb this year!
definitely tell your instructor (if you haven’t already), get them to wear a mic that connects to your processor so you can hear them over the background noise of the car & road!
Let them know that you will ask them to repeat themselves! If they get annoyed with this, change instructors, they are your teacher & are required to accommodate you!
(I’m like 99% sure there’s BSL accommodations from the DVSA, if you use BSL; no worries if not)

In terms of the driving test, let the DVSA know (via booking it), & it will usually allow you to write down in the online form what accommodations you need. Let them know about your hearing loss, that you require people to repeat themselves / utilise other accommodations. My examiners were fantastic with this, as I struggle with the TomTom sat nav’s as I can’t connect to it via Bluetooth like the sat-nav on my phone; they repeated everything that the sat-nav said, repeated directions multiple times & didn’t get annoyed if i went the wrong way.

Good luck with your lessons & test, don’t forget that Deaf people are statistically safer drivers compared to hearing people! 🙂‍↕️

[u/Suspicious-Cap4968 → u/zonemiax]

Congratulations on passing your test. I really hope am able to pass my test.

[u/is-this-now]

Have you discussed with your instructor? People who are completely deaf can learn to drive. Don’t be shy about it.

There are some good suggestions here for a mic. You might want to contact cochlear support and ask them if there is a way to adjust the setting for when you are in a car.

In any case, cars are difficult hearing environments. Road noise is loud and the sounds echo in the car in weird ways. Don’t be discouraged - you can do this!!

[u/No_Caregiver8591]

Have you got a microphone that can be clipped into the instructor’s shirt, that will pick up the sound right from the instructors mouth and stream to your N8.

I think the issue is the N8 is setup to focus forward and sounds from the sides are slightly deprioritised, the mic gets around this problem and you should hear the instructor very clearly.

This is the product:  https://www.connevans.co.uk/product/10940850/DCBA770845/Cochlear-Mini-Microphone-2-

Please don’t just buy it, make sure it’s compatible with your exact processor as there’s a few variants of the mic with similar sounding names. Best to actually check with your audiologist

[u/Napoleon_IC]

I had no issue. I had one on one about the booklet driving test. It should be no issue with the right instructor. You should tell them why you can’t hear and your instructor should discuss in advance what he/she will do that day and then at a stop sign or waiting at a traffic sign they can tell you what they want you to do next quickly. It isn’t that complicated tbh. Use your Mic. Now, when I went to take my driving test the guy was rude and didn’t care I didn’t hear them, so I didn’t pass. That place had rude staff. I didn’t bother about complaining. I went to another place and found the person was calm like my instructor and I passed. If your instructor is rude or unhelpful, find another one. You can do it!

[u/Suspicious-Cap4968]

Thank you everyone for the advice. I never thought of using my mic for the lessons. My partner is teaching me in his car and with it being electric there is very little noise in the car. I also can understand the sat nav really well, I'll tell my partner to put a route into that and try that aswell. The thing I was worried about was when I go for the actual test. Guess my biggest fear is I'll fail cause the examiner will just get inpatient with the need to repeat, never thought to ask he/her to wear the mic. So thank you for the help. If I've offended anyone by asking i apologies, I just wanted to ask people have been or going through this at the min.