« Inner Ear Problems | Home | Metabolic Syndrome »
Coping With Hearing Loss
By peace | November 20, 2006
Hearing loss is a sudden or gradual decrease in how well you can hear. Depending on the cause, it can range from mild to severe and can be reversible, temporary, or permanent. Hearing loss is also known as hearing impairment, which includes being born without hearing (congenital hearing loss). This topic focuses only on gradual hearing loss.
Gradual hearing loss affects people of all ages and is the third most common long-term (chronic) health problem in older Americans. It affects up to 40% of people age 65 and older and up to 80% of people older than 85.
If you have hearing loss, you may not be aware of it, especially if it has developed gradually. Your family members or friends may be the first to notice. For example, they may notice that you are having difficulty understanding what people are saying, especially when many people are talking at the same time or there is background noise, such as a radio playing.
Hearing loss can affect what and how much you do in the workplace and at home and can also affect your personal safety. Because it may result in less social interaction, hearing loss may contribute to loneliness, depression, and loss of independence. However, hearing aids and other devices are available to help you hear.
Living With Hearing Loss
The first step in coping with a hearing loss is to acknowledge –openly– that it exists. This statement is not as simplistic as it might appear. Our society is full of people who deny to themselves the fact that they are hearing impaired, while still others, who are aware of their hearing problems, do their best to disguise its presence to the world at large. Without self-acceptance, a successful adjustment to a hearing loss is impossible.
If you have hearing loss, you may find that it takes extra effort and energy to talk with others. Hearing may be especially difficult in settings where there are many people talking or there is a lot of background noise. The increased effort it takes to be with other people may cause stress and fatigue, and you may begin to avoid social activities, feel less independent, and worry about your safety.
Hearing devices you may want to use include:
- Hearing aids. Hearing aids make all sounds louder (amplify), including your own voice. Common background noises, such as rustling newspapers, magazines, and office papers, may be distracting. When you first get a hearing aid, it may take you several weeks to months to get used to this.
- Assistive listening devices. These devices make certain sounds louder by bringing the sound directly to your ear. They shorten the distance between you and the source of sound and also reduce background noise. You can use different types of devices for different situations, such as one-on-one conversations and classroom settings or auditoriums, theaters, or other large public spaces. Commonly used listening devices include telephone amplifiers, personal listening systems (such as auditory trainers and personal FM systems), and hearing aids that you can connect directly to a television, stereo, radio, or microphone.
- Alerting devices. These devices alert you to a particular sound (such as the doorbell, a ringing telephone, or a baby monitor) by using louder sounds, lights, or vibrations to get your attention.
- Television closed-captioning. Television closed-captioning makes it easier to watch television by showing the words at the bottom of the screen so that you can read them. Most newer TVs have a closed-captions option.
- TTY (text telephone). TTYs (also called TDD, or telecommunication device for the deaf) allow you to type messages back and forth on the telephone instead of talking or listening. When messages are typed on the TTY keyboard, the information is sent over the phone line to a receiving TTY and shown on a monitor. A telecommunications relay service (TRS) makes it possible to call from a phone to a TTY or vice versa.
Take Control
Most hearing-impaired people are quite aware of the consequences of their not making an assertive effort to improve their communicative reality. The resulting anger, frustration, and isolation are all too well known to people with hearing losses. Taking what control one can of one’s problems is a healthier and more mature response than just doing nothing. It is not necessary to make a big deal of it. Just the comment that “I don’t hear very well” or “You know I have a hearing loss” or any similar statement lets a person know why a specific request is being made. Actually, most people will be pleased to know what they can do to improve the communication situation. If they are interested in talking to you, they are interested in being understood by you.
Be Assertive
One of the biggest problems faced by hearing-impaired people in a small social gathering (not a party) is the amount of cross talk which takes place. It is extremely difficult for people with impaired hearing to participate in a group discussion when more than one person talks at a time. Assertiveness in this situation means that the group be informed of this fact and for the participants to try to refrain from too many side-conversations. They will find this difficult, and it will be necessary to remind them of this fact from time to time, but it must be done if the hearing-impaired person is to fully participate in the conversation. As a bonus, group cohesion is enhanced when all the members can participate in the complete conversation, either as a speaker or as a listener.
It is not sufficient to say “What?” when something is not understood. This does not indicate to the speaker the source of the communication breakdown. Did the hearing-impaired person not understand. Did he or she miss someone’s name or a particular location? Lacking specific information, the speaker does not know what should be repeated, and if other people are involved in the conversation and the What?” happens too many times, a feeling of general annoyance is soon generated. The better strategy is to frame the “What?” as a specific request, such as “What was that name again?” or “Did you say that happened in Podunk or Poland?” or “I missed the last sentence. Would you repeat it?” Such a strategy is flattering to the speaker - someone is actually listening - and can expedite the conversation.
Topics: All Posts |
