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Do You Know Hearing Aid Options to Consider Prior to Purchase?
Hearing Loss | Last Active: Jun 22 3:42pm | Replies (14)Comment receiving replies
Behind the ear hearing aids are more helpful because they have more options. Tiny hearing aids that are so small they may not have all the options you need for your hearing loss. I was diagnosed with hearing loss at age 4. I started wearing hearing aids in college. I joined the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) is a non-profit organization for people who speak but have a hearing loss. Most do not know sign language. I retired 30 years ago as a microbiologist and am now age 90. Movies and TV are now captioned and this helps folks with hearing loss and the Deaf. You can find the website and phone numbers of hearing loss groups on the internet. Thanks for listening. Hermine Willey.
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@hedy Thanks Hermine. HLAA has made life so much better for so many people, but they must be open to talking about hearing loss and learning from one another. Like you, my hearing loss started in childhood, but wasn't diagnosed until I was in college. Then I was told that hearing aids would not help me, so I didn't get them until I was in my mid-30s. Learned about HLAA in my early 40s and it was life changing to be able to talk to people who understood my challenges. Hearing loss is definitely a challenge; was then and still is now. One of the main reasons for that is that it is stigmatized. It's also invisible, so people can hide it. (Or think they can) Signes of hearing loss are quite visible and obvious. We misunderstand. We respond out of context. We start avoiding social situations. We stop doing other things we once enjoyed. Our friends and family members can't figure out what on earth is happening to us. They know we say 'what' a lot and ask for repeats. You know that drill.
Education from others who have gone through this is very helpful. Hearing aids do not correct hearing loss regardless of what the advertisements say. They do help but people need to learn how to use them. And those who sell them need to take the time needed to tell their clients what can help them.
It is frustrating to continuously hear stories that focus on frustrations. Sharing our success stories is so important.
It is time to stop trying to hide hearing help. Those tiny hearing aids are often lacking some of the most important options. How do we change that?
Julie Olson