13.02.13. Martin Devlin, Hauraki FM, bus shelter ad, Memorial Ave
How much did Hauraki FM & the advert agency pay you to prostitute your face, insulting deaf people Martin? How about completing your bad job by touting Hauraki FM bus stop adverts insulting wheel chair citizens, blind citizens, paedophile abused citizens, wife beater victimized citizens, brain damaged citizens Martin?
Martin followed a long line of crass morons who thought it alright to insult, snigger & sneer at deaf people.
Over 30 years ago Martin, in 1982 I went deaf after industrial conveyor noise & loud music at Kibbutz Grofit onion-packing shed, on the onion-packer conveyor line.
Martin, when I applied for NZ citizenship in 1993, NZIS accepted my deafness, after I did the NZIS required medical report. No problem. But NZIS didn't advise that hearing aid costs were astronomical in NZ & that I could expect all sorts of garbage from NZ doctors, like WINZ designated doctors, GPs, Christchurch Hospital ENT surgeon & welfare agencies Workbridge & WINZ regarding my deafness. Never mind employment opportunities curtailed by deafness.
I had to jump through other NZIS hoops too - SA-NZ police checking, wealth, value of chattels, NZQA qualifications checking, work experience, age, Scottish sponsor rip off, NZIS residence visa costs, immigration agent rip off, MAF checking of chattels. Never mind hoop jumping in SA, settling affairs before emigration.
1995. I arrived in Christchurch with a useless analogue hearing aid. A kind audioloigist John Gourley gave me two shop-soiled, Phonak hearing aids, which I used until they expired. 1997, after digital hearing aids evolved, I bought only one expensive Widex digital hearing aid. I couldn't afford 2 digital hearing aids Martin.
Later on my wife acquired two Phonak analogue hearing aids for me, after a deaf person she knew died. I used them as back ups for my Widex digital, which was repaired only once over the years. I still used just the one Widex digital hearing aid Martin, although it was rather tired from daily use. For years I've had no back ups.
According to internet searches, digital hearing aids lasted about 6 years. Martin I've use my Widex digital daily since 1997 - 16 years. Occasional replacement of cracked, plastic tubing by audiologists' receptionists & occasional puffing through tubing to remove moisture was all the maintenance needed.
2011. I went to a Bealey Ave, Bay Audiology audiometrist, who didn't listen to me when I asked him to adjust my digital hearing aid to give me effective hearing. Other Christchurch audiologists had done so over the years, no problem, Martin.
Instead the audiometrist huffed & puffed, shuffled papers & made another appointment for me to be hearing-tested again. On my return, he hearing-tested me ($79) then tried selling me expensive hearing aids, ranging in price from just under $2000 for one digital hearing aid, up to $10 000 for 2 very expensive hearing aids.
When I exclaimed that the hearing aids were more expensive than a second hand car, the audiometrist crossed out the $10 000 price on his list, recommended I consider his cheaper hearing aids & advised I should see my GP to try & get A WINZ subsidy for one hearing aid. Why WINZ subsidized only one hearing aid was beyond me?
Off to my GP. He couldn't help, as my hearing loss wasn't caused in NZ, therefore no WINZ subsidy for one hearing aid. Never mind that my family & I had paid taxes in NZ for years. The GP palmed me off to his wife, who supervised office reception: "My wife deals with hearing aids." Thus ended my visits to that GP.
Check out digital hearing aid prices Martin. Use the few grey axons you have before insulting deaf people by advertising "Music should make you deaf not dumb."
The fact you condone loud music making others deaf, makes YOU dumb Martin.
March 2011, my Bay Audiology report for my GP:
"Mr Esslemont was seen recently at Bay Audiology for a compete audiological assessment. He reported experiencing difficulty in hearing in all environments, including in quiet one-to-one conversation, and he hoped to find a way to improve this situation.
Test Results
Pure tone audiometry revealed a gently sloping profound to severe hearing loss in the right ear. The left ear revealed a profound hearing loss in the low to mid frequencies, rising to a severe hearing loss in the mid to high frequencies.
Speech testing was consistent with the pure tone audiometry and revealed poor discrimination abilities in the right ear at increased volume levels and moderate discrimination abilities in the left ear at increased volume levels. [The report didn't say I wore my Widex digital in my left ear].
Acoustic immittance audiometry produced Type A tympanograms in both ears consistent with tympanic membrane compliance.
[In other words, I couldn't hear without hearing aids. As the old Widex digital wasn't good enough, my wife developed her own sign language to communicate with me. Despite the old Widex, my adult sons yelled at me for me to hear them. Never mind my daily embarrassment dealing with strangers while shopping, banking, etc. Result reclusive existence, although I'd been a professional communicator, acting, teaching & personnel, for 20+ years of my adult life].
Summary and Recommendations
The test results revealed a profound to severe hearing loss in both ears and explained the great difficulty that Mr Esslemont experiences in day-to-day communications. With these results in mind I demonstrated a pair of high powered [rip off] hearing aids in the Clinic, and although they did not provide easy hearing on a one-to-one basis they did make a significant difference to his ability to communicate. [BS the expensive hearing aids enabled me to hear better, but didn't improve my already excellent speech, lip reading, nor interpretation of body language].
He has a history of occupational noise exposure, unfortunately much of this took place outside New Zealand. My aim is to try and have him hearing better [at rip off cost to me] in at least one ear [my suggestion, not his aim] depending on how finances allow. If you know of any funding means that may be able to assist him, I would be grateful if you could advise me accordingly as he reported to me that finances were not available to reach the minimum specification aid/s that I believe he needs. [That after ignoring my request to adjust my Widex digital].
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me...
Audiometrist"
Expensive hearing aids the audiometrist tried to flog me were another brand, not Widex. My experiences with audiologists in SA & NZ over 30 years: Audiologists did all they could to flog expensive hearing aids to me. Captive audience, hard sell tactics, huge mark ups, with retailers having cosy deals with manufacturers. In NZ the retailer, audiometrist or better qualified audiologist, wasn't obliged to divulge his / her relationships with manufacturers. Which left deaf people at the mercy of greedy retailers & manufacturers.
As nerve deafness such as mine was incurable, the problem with expensive hearing aids was that medical & audiology parasites leeched deaf people, keeping hearing aid prices exorbitantly high. Hospitals, clinics, audiologists all condoned the greed, to the detriment of deaf people.
Never mind morons like Martin Devlin, Hauraki FM, advertisers, transport organizations taking cheap shots. Raucous tinnitus was the only "music" left Martin, after loud music destroyed hearing.
Two years after the hearing test & report, I still couldn't afford new hearing aids, I still wore my one old Widex digital hearing aid, still too weak for effective hearing & listening.
Why was the medical establishment, WINZ, deaf MP Mojo Mathers, Deaf Association, Van Asch Deaf Education Centre so quiet about expensive hearing aids & patronizing Martin Devlin at Hauraki FM?
Coda:
2023. Southern Cochlear Implant Programme (SCIP): After referral by a Timaru audiologist, I was on the SCIP waiting list for 5 years before SCIP gave me a Cochlear Implant (CI) for free at St George's Hospital, Papanui, Christchurch. Since my CI op (Oct 2021) & many visits to St George's Hospital for audiology mapping & rehab, my CI has greatly improved my "hearing" & communication. Cost: approx NZ$50 000, about half for the CI device & half for operation & hospital costs. (Double costs for CI ops on both ears!) Wealthy patients must pay their own costs, incl transport, hospital, CI device, audiologist & rehab visits.
I now enjoy Spotify music & podcasts played direct into my CI, family conversations, natural sounds, communication with strangers, even cell phone calls! Like hearing aids, background noise is still a problem: eg. kitchen noises, busy restaurants & cafes, loud transport, but I have a Cochlear cell phone app which cuts background noise volume. I am now wedded to my CI & cell phone for the rest of my life.
Content & pic Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.
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