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If we had a Hearing Loss Anonymous meeting the speakers might start off with: I stayed as far away from the boss as I could get. I didn't need to give him any excuses to fire me. My sales were going down. I was falling behind. One
day I was writing an order and the boss kept lurking around trying to overhear
the conversation. When I had to ask the customer to repeat the address
several times I knew I was history."
It's hard on everyone involved and no one's fault. There is so much bad information out there about hearing loss (and good information too). The world is full of hearing device salesman. People like my mother live in near soundless isolation will buy anything that any predator shows her. Hearing Loss Anonymous is a free service to anyone directly or indirectly involved with this problem. Employers, families, friends, manufacturers, physicians, therapists anyone is welcome to make a contribution. We are looking for opinions, case histories, information, books, anything and everything about hearing loss including advice on how better to cope with it. I had
a hearing test today. A real Hearing Test! It was in a doctor's office.
I was not listening to sounds that could raise the Titanic with a
headset . Even a stone could feel some
of those blasts that amplifiers pound into dead ears.
This test involved conversational sounds. Words that sound alike
repeated at different volumes. The result of this test confirmed what I
already knew. I had lost much of the conversational range of sounds in
both ears. The audiologist "mapped" the weakest spectrum. Now new digital
technology that didn't exist years ago possibly
can amplify just the right range of sounds
that may work for me. Wouldn't that be wonderful! It should be for nearly FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS!
No
one with this problem no matter what they may say is really happy about
it. I use to joke that hearing
only half was the secret of my successful
37 year old marriage. But the social and financial upheaval of the
bread winner losing his or her hearing is a severe test for any marriage.
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Going
deaf is thankfully a slow process.
It usually doesn't happen overnight. You can recognize symptoms in others if you know what to look for. You may have assumed they indicated something else.
Wearing a hearing aid particularly a large powerful one doesn't mean you are old and worn-out, it means you want to hear what others are saying... you want to be able to interact. To be on the team. You may find wearing a noticeable hearing aid alerts others to try speaking clearly. Still the world is full of mumble-people and they aren't going to change. So you have to if you want to stay in the game. Get
a job where your hearing loss won't affect your work is another solution.
Computer and word processing jobs require mostly visual and reading skills.
Many writers artists and other creative people have severe hearing losses.
Finally being the boss is by far the best way to get those around you to
adjust to your disability. Losing your hearing is not the end of the world
but its an end for some things.
I don't sell hearing aids, but I have opinions about them. THEY ARE WAY TOO EXPENSIVE!! Here's Why: Go
to Amazon.com and checkout the small amplifier they sell called "ListenUp".
Its like an IPOD and but fits in your shirt pocket and amplifies
all sounds around you (like my mother's $1400 hearing aid ) AMAZON
Price..$15. Now go Dell.com or IBM.com and see what $1500 can buy. Then go to Wall Mart and see the $79 color TVs and $39 DVD players on sale.
SO WHY ARE HEARING AIDS $700 to $2500?
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