Thank you for sharing your dad's story. It's a common story, but people need to hear it more often. A reality: When someone in a family (or relationship) has a hearing loss; everyone in that family (or relationship) lives with hearing loss. We who have it are frustrated. Those who communicate with us are too. The longer we are in denial about it the more frustrated everyone gets.

The longer the brain goes without hearing well, the harder it is for the brain to interpret speech because the hair cells in the cochlear start to deteriorate. This is typical of sensorineural hearing loss. Waiting for years to get hearing aids will likely make them difficult to get used to or even to use well.

It begins with losing the consonant sounds. Those sounds define speech. The vowels give it power/volume. Try this. Copy a paragraph from a familiar document. Then eliminate these letters and combinations: s, f, th, cr, sh, v, ph, Ask someone with normal hearing to read that paragraph aloud and time them.

With a familiar reading such as the first paragraph of The Gettysburg Address, it will take them nearly twice as long to read it than it will take to read when it's complete, even if they have it memorized. As hearing gets worse, more sounds become garbled even when spoken loudly.

We are constantly trying to fill in the blanks. We have a better chance when we are aware of the subject matter. However, in general conversation that context changes rapidly and we, the person with HL can easily speak out of context. That makes us look stupid and out of it. So, it's easy to simply tune out and not participate. That makes us look like we can't think.

It is so important for people who associate with us to understand that we cannot hear from another room. We need to see the face of the person who is speaking. We cannot hear and understand speech when there is background noise. We get exhausted trying so fatigue is a big issue. When we're tired we tune out.

Are there some solutions? Yes. You can help by understanding this. Turn off the TV or music. Fill us in on the topic of conversation when we appear to be confused or speak out of context. Encourage us to get hearing help. That comes from technology and also from associating with other people who have hearing loss. Mutual help and understanding is priceless.

I have used hearing aids since the late 1970s. They have improved considerably. However, they do not correct hearing loss. I learned about HLAA in the mid 1980s. Meeting other people with hearing loss gave me back my life. I learned about assistive technology through HLAA. I had no idea that there were assistive listening systems that could be used in group settings. I watched the development and acceptance of cochlear implants and received a cochlear implant in 2005. It has been an incredible improvement for me.

We are all different, so my story may not be your story. However, it's a story that tells people to learn, to be open to learning in the first place, to reach out to help others and to advocate for the right to hear in public venues. The hearing assistive technology I embrace includes FM systems, Infrared Systems and Hearing Loops. Also captioning and automatic speech recognition. (ASR) These technologies work with hearing aids and cochlear implants, but they go beyond them. They are priceless! Why don't providers and professionals tell us about them? What do you think?

Again, I mention HLAA because that is where I have learned 99% of what I've learned. It has not come from the sources we expect it to come from. It's come from other people who get it because they live with it. HLAA is The Hearing Loss Assn. of America. Chapters are located around the country, and anyone can start a chapter if they are interested. Lots of information at the organization's website. http://www.hearingloss.org

Living WELL with hearing loss is possible, but you have to learn the ropes and be open and willing to learn them. Time to get rid of the beliefs that tell us to deny it, hide it and not talk about it. 🙂 Are you ready?