Hi All,
But has anyone had any success in getting the DFG or having minor adaptions in the house.
I would need to have rails and prehaps a small wet area in my bathroom, as my current mental health and Autism are making it very difficult for me to currently use them plus there's damp which increases my anxiety further.
I would be assessed by an OT but my local council has trained their OTs in Autism yet, so there may be problems with this.
Anywho, any advice?
urspecial
Well, what a wasted experience. I had my report and letter today following my OT assessment.
Apparently, having labelled my auditory sensitivity as hyperacusis, they have stated that the housing adaptations department having commissioned a report (generally, not specifically to me) and the report containing information from a "number of sources which included written literature, abstracts from the 1st international conference on Hyperacusis (2013)" and information sought from a clinical specialist in hyperacusis. Supposedly, this report "showed that the evidence clearly indicates that soundproofing or reducing the normal sounds of life only lead to increased sensitivity and exacerbate rather than improve the symptoms of the condition." Because of this they have refused to help me with the DFG.
Ironically, elsewhere it says in the report that I am at risk of increased stress levels and decline in mental health. So they don't mind leaving me in this situation which will do just that.
So, I thought I would start double-checking their evidence. I Googled "best treatment for hyperacusis" and immediately found www.hyperacusis.org. The specific type of hyperacusis is known as misophonia which leads you to their link to http://www.misophonia-association.org/. There is a part about noise-induced painful ears which says:
Exposure to sound can make this condition worsen over time and should be carefully diagnosed by very highly trained professionals including otologists and audiologists. A person with this condition is advised to be very cautious about pursuing treatments that could worsen the pain and associated difficulties.
I have found this website http://hyperacusis.net/hyperacusis/supplement/ which says:
Hypersensitive Hearing
To the best of our knowledge, these individuals are usually born sound sensitive and do not have tinnitus. This group shares two similarities to people with hyperacusis: they usually have little to no hearing loss; and share the ability, like some hyperacusis patients, to produce an audiogram showing hearing sensitivity at negative decibel levels.
A segment of individuals with hypersensitive hearing are autistic (many of which are non-communicative). Because they are non-communicative, parents of autistic children can learn much from people with hyperacusis to help them better understand what their children are experiencing. We can tell them why their children put their hands over their ears. Not only do these children have difficulty being diagnosed autistic, but many do not get the kind of therapy that might help them resolve some of their sound sensitivity. Auditory Integration Therapy (AIT) may dramatically improve the sound sensitivity these children and young adults experience. To learn more about AIT you can visit this website: http://www.autism.org/ait.html
Often children and adults with hypersensitive hearing have specific problem frequencies that make certain sounds intolerable. AIT involves ten days (2 sessions a day/30 minutes a session) of sound therapy which involves listening to specially filtered music through headphones. The frequencies the patient is sensitive to are filtered out of the music. For some unknown reason after the patient completes AIT, the problem frequencies are easier to tolerate. For autistic children, once their sound tolerances improve, their behavior also improves. Children who have dramatic sound sensitivity should be tested for autism.
Although this special AIT therapy is not a cure for hyperacute hearing, hard data shows impressive results. Unfortunately the founder of AIT (Dr. Guy Berard from France) believes his therapy will work for people with hyperacusis. He is wrong - it makes us worse!!
Children with autism have hyperacute hearing, not hyperacusis! Autistic children are born with hyperacute hearing. Individuals with hyperacusis usually incur a collapsed tolerance of sound through noise injury, head injury or the unfortunate side effects of drugs.
Tinnitus and hyperacusis are almost always made worse by AIT because the therapy involves playing music at levels between 65-95 decibels (too loud for the hyperacusis patient). Almost all people with hyperacusis have tinnitus or eventually develop it.
Some individuals are not autistic but have hyperacute hearing. This is rare. Like autistic children, they have little to no hearing loss and no tinnitus. In some cases these individuals (unlike autistic) are very articulate with high I.Q.'s. They almost exhibit similar characteristics to savants (a phenomena generally attributed to gifted autistic children). To learn more about savants visit this website: http://www.autism.org/savant.html Could it be that individuals who are sound sensitive, articulate and very bright are borderline autistic? Yes, it is called Aspergers Syndrome, which is on the Autism Spectrum.
So they have refused to do anything other than refer me onwards to the Adult Social Care Team for further assessment and have closed my case with the OT team.
I find this appalling. To have an OT diagnose me with hyperacusis based on talking to me and no medical testing, clearly it isn't typical hyperacusis it is hypersensitive hearing which I have had from birth! It's a classic example of the council not having a clue about autism and finding selective snippets (which do not amount to proof anyway) that support their case. Whilst within seconds I have found evidence that supports mine.
I will be contacting their clinical specialist to ask for his feedback on what I have found out. My council did not bank on refusing an individual who is good at research and is high tenacious!
Well, what a wasted experience. I had my report and letter today following my OT assessment.
Apparently, having labelled my auditory sensitivity as hyperacusis, they have stated that the housing adaptations department having commissioned a report (generally, not specifically to me) and the report containing information from a "number of sources which included written literature, abstracts from the 1st international conference on Hyperacusis (2013)" and information sought from a clinical specialist in hyperacusis. Supposedly, this report "showed that the evidence clearly indicates that soundproofing or reducing the normal sounds of life only lead to increased sensitivity and exacerbate rather than improve the symptoms of the condition." Because of this they have refused to help me with the DFG.
Ironically, elsewhere it says in the report that I am at risk of increased stress levels and decline in mental health. So they don't mind leaving me in this situation which will do just that.
So, I thought I would start double-checking their evidence. I Googled "best treatment for hyperacusis" and immediately found www.hyperacusis.org. The specific type of hyperacusis is known as misophonia which leads you to their link to http://www.misophonia-association.org/. There is a part about noise-induced painful ears which says:
Exposure to sound can make this condition worsen over time and should be carefully diagnosed by very highly trained professionals including otologists and audiologists. A person with this condition is advised to be very cautious about pursuing treatments that could worsen the pain and associated difficulties.
I have found this website http://hyperacusis.net/hyperacusis/supplement/ which says:
Hypersensitive Hearing
To the best of our knowledge, these individuals are usually born sound sensitive and do not have tinnitus. This group shares two similarities to people with hyperacusis: they usually have little to no hearing loss; and share the ability, like some hyperacusis patients, to produce an audiogram showing hearing sensitivity at negative decibel levels.
A segment of individuals with hypersensitive hearing are autistic (many of which are non-communicative). Because they are non-communicative, parents of autistic children can learn much from people with hyperacusis to help them better understand what their children are experiencing. We can tell them why their children put their hands over their ears. Not only do these children have difficulty being diagnosed autistic, but many do not get the kind of therapy that might help them resolve some of their sound sensitivity. Auditory Integration Therapy (AIT) may dramatically improve the sound sensitivity these children and young adults experience. To learn more about AIT you can visit this website: http://www.autism.org/ait.html
Often children and adults with hypersensitive hearing have specific problem frequencies that make certain sounds intolerable. AIT involves ten days (2 sessions a day/30 minutes a session) of sound therapy which involves listening to specially filtered music through headphones. The frequencies the patient is sensitive to are filtered out of the music. For some unknown reason after the patient completes AIT, the problem frequencies are easier to tolerate. For autistic children, once their sound tolerances improve, their behavior also improves. Children who have dramatic sound sensitivity should be tested for autism.
Although this special AIT therapy is not a cure for hyperacute hearing, hard data shows impressive results. Unfortunately the founder of AIT (Dr. Guy Berard from France) believes his therapy will work for people with hyperacusis. He is wrong - it makes us worse!!
Children with autism have hyperacute hearing, not hyperacusis! Autistic children are born with hyperacute hearing. Individuals with hyperacusis usually incur a collapsed tolerance of sound through noise injury, head injury or the unfortunate side effects of drugs.
Tinnitus and hyperacusis are almost always made worse by AIT because the therapy involves playing music at levels between 65-95 decibels (too loud for the hyperacusis patient). Almost all people with hyperacusis have tinnitus or eventually develop it.
Some individuals are not autistic but have hyperacute hearing. This is rare. Like autistic children, they have little to no hearing loss and no tinnitus. In some cases these individuals (unlike autistic) are very articulate with high I.Q.'s. They almost exhibit similar characteristics to savants (a phenomena generally attributed to gifted autistic children). To learn more about savants visit this website: http://www.autism.org/savant.html Could it be that individuals who are sound sensitive, articulate and very bright are borderline autistic? Yes, it is called Aspergers Syndrome, which is on the Autism Spectrum.
So they have refused to do anything other than refer me onwards to the Adult Social Care Team for further assessment and have closed my case with the OT team.
I find this appalling. To have an OT diagnose me with hyperacusis based on talking to me and no medical testing, clearly it isn't typical hyperacusis it is hypersensitive hearing which I have had from birth! It's a classic example of the council not having a clue about autism and finding selective snippets (which do not amount to proof anyway) that support their case. Whilst within seconds I have found evidence that supports mine.
I will be contacting their clinical specialist to ask for his feedback on what I have found out. My council did not bank on refusing an individual who is good at research and is high tenacious!
