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Key points
- Hearing loss is not easily understood, but it is worth trying to explain the experience to others.
- Comparing hearing loss to a game of "Wheel of Fortune" or peripheral vision may help clarify the experience.
- Better understanding leads to greater empathy and stronger connections to one another.
Hearing loss is difficult to understand if you have never experienced it. Part of it is obvious—we don’t hear things well—but other parts are confusing. Why do we hear well in one situation but not in another? Why are we sensitive to loud sounds? Why can we hear some people easily, but not others? Why must communication partners face us when speaking? Do we all know sign language? The questions are endless, as are the ways we try to explain our experience to the uninitiated.
Here are a few ideas.
Hearing Loss Is Like Playing Wheel of Fortune
Imagine a game board from the Wheel of Fortune. Some of the letters are filled in; others are blank. This is what a person with hearing loss hears. Then they must combine these assorted and incomplete sounds with lipreading cues and what they know about the topic being discussed to create words and phrases that make sense in the context of the conversation. It takes a lot of brain power and can be exhausting.
I Don’t Have Peripheral Hearing
I learned this one from a friend. It perfectly describes that for people with hearing loss, hearing is not passive; it is an active process that takes concentration and effort. Hearing is not something we do in the background, while performing another activity. It is the activity. This explanation also demonstrates why it is important to get the attention of the person with hearing loss before you speak. Unless they are alertly listening, they are not going to hear you.
Hearing Aids Don’t Work Like Glasses
People often wonder why we don’t hear “normally” with our hearing aids. It is because hearing aids do not work like glasses. Glasses take an image that is blurry and distorted and for most people, turn it into something that is sharp and clear. Unfortunately, hearing aids do not work the same way. Hearing aids make things louder, but not crisper like normal hearing. The sound pattern often remains muffled or unclear.
Hearing aids are also not good at differentiating among sounds, so they augment the unwanted background noise in addition to the important speech sounds. This can often make it harder to hear in a noisy environment.
I’m a Little Bit Deaf
Whether culturally Deaf and using sign language to communicate or not, explaining hearing issues as being a little bit deaf can work wonders. Automatically, requests for accommodations or the use of communication best practices are taken more seriously. Perhaps “deaf” sounds more serious than hearing loss. When using this term, it is important to clarify whether or not you use sign language. Many people incorrectly assume that the vast majority of people with hearing problems know how to sign. The opposite is actually true.
If I Can’t See You, I Can’t Hear You
For people with hearing loss, hearing is both auditory and visual. Body language, lipreading clues, and facial expressions are all important components we use to make sense of the sounds we hear. Another friend recommends saying, “Don’t speak until you see the whites of my eyes,” stating that it is much clearer than simply asking someone to face them. It is also more memorable, which might make compliance with the request more likely.
Hearing loss is invisible and not easily understood, but it is worth trying to explain the experience to others. Better understanding leads to greater empathy and stronger connections to one another.
Copyright: Living With Hearing Loss/Shari Eberts. Reprinted with permission.
