Everyone has good and bad days, no matter who you are. For those of us who are hard of hearing or deaf, sometimes communication can be difficult, but hopefully we don't let it get the best of us. I'm a 'glass half full' kind of person and always try to see the optimistic side, but sometimes I just need to vent.
I guess I want to find out some way to improve things beyond lipreading and using hearing aids.
I'm tired of asking people to repeat what they say to me.
I'm tired of sometimes missing out hearing the punchline to a joke and watching everyone laugh. By the time I ask what the punchline was, the moment has passed.
I'm tired of ignorant people assuming that I'm stupid or less intelligent because I wear hearing aids, or that something is wrong with me when I misunderstand what someone says and try to guess.
I'm tired of ignorant people assuming hearing aids are just for the elderly, or that when others notice my aids, they mention that the only people they know who wear them are their grandparents etc. I would really like to meet some other young people like me who wear hearing aids, but I don't know where to start.
Sometimes I'm just tired of missing out on life.
All this makes me think of my childhood. I'm taken back to a time where playing games was the norm as I was a kid. Take "Marco Polo" for example - that game where you try and find another person in a pool with your eyes closed. If you're in you say "Marco" and the person you're looking for says "Polo". I hated that game, basically because winning it relied solely on something that I do not have - directional hearing. I used to have to "cheat" and dunk under the water, looking for the other person with my eyes open. It was either that or I got teased and ridiculed for not finding the other person, and my role as the person in was retired.
Most people have directional hearing. I do not. Being able to know what direction a sound is coming from relies on 2 functioning ears. The sound arrives to one ear a split second earlier than the other ear, so you can gauge not only the location of a sound, but how far away it is. As I was born with one deaf ear, it's literally an impossible task. If someone calls me and I can't see them, I will literally spin around in a circle looking for them until I find out where they are. Unless someone creates some great miracle hearing aid or implant etc. that can fully restore directional hearing, I will never experience this, but I accepted that a long time ago. I just rely on my vision to cross roads and watch out for cars etc. There are some things that I will never be able to do, but that is life. It's best to learn to accept that and establish manageable and realistic goals in life.
All this being said, the best way to improve communication is to get the attention of a deaf/hard of hearing person before you begin speaking. I clearly remember last year being at a shopping centre with some friends in the city I have just moved to. One of my friends had obviously been trying to call my name because she then walked into my line of vision and tapped my arm to get my attention. I realised she must have been standing behind me and I generally don't hear people unless I see them, especially if they are behind me.
So rule of thumb, if I can't see you I probably can't hear you either!
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Clear Surgical Mask for Lip Readers
9 years ago
Jen, some people are drastically affected by single-sided deafness (SSD); while others adapt to it with little apparent problem.
ReplyDeleteWhat is unusual about you is that you were born with SSD, and should do reasonably well due to your brain developing around what was (is) presented to it in your first six years of life.
I still want to see an audiogram with your left ear results. Also, I just noticed you have tinnitus and recruitment (uneven growth of loudness): This is similar to hyperacusis. Is the recruitment in your left ear, your right, or both ears? Do you have measurable thresholds in your right ear?
Incidentally, one of the people I introduced you to is Bill Raymond, who is an audie right in Brissy. What sets Bill apart is that he is one of only a handful of audiologists in the world who is totally deaf; yet he hears well through his cochlear implants.
Hey Dan,
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my page! To answer your questions, my recruitment is in my left ear. As an example, whenever I hear a smoke alarm or go into a noisy bar where the music is quite loud, it is immediately excruciatingly painful to my hearing. I have a custom-made musicians earplug that I wear in places with loud noises like that otherwise I can't stand it for more than a few seconds. As for the tinnitus, I used to get it every night, but since I've moved out of home in the last 6 weeks and therefore changed heaps about my lifestyle, I don't get it much at all. Do you think it can be affected by environment and/or diet changes?
So cos I just moved interstate I didn't really have scanning audiogram results into my computer as a priority! Stay tuned for audiogram images!
I have no measurable thresholds in my right ear. It's stone cold deaf, so the audiograms (which have never changed over the course of my life for either ears) always say "no response" for the right ear.
That's pretty cool about Bill. I haven't chatted to him yet but must do that! I tried to get some work as an audiologists assistant in Brissy, but no-one hires!
Hi Jen!
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit concerned about the tinnitus and recruitment (or hyperacusis) in your left ear, as it could be coming from exposure to loud noise -- Maybe from the hearing aid turned up a bit high.
I'll post more in your comment in The Hearing Blog.