Hi Lou, Welcome to 'Connect' and 'conversation'. Hearing loss is common among people who are over age 60, but it also affects many who are younger. The National Institutes of Health tell us there are 48 million Americans with some degree of hearing loss. FYI: Fewer than 2 million of that number are culturally deaf people who use American Sign Language (ASL) by choice. Because hearing loss without ASL is pretty invisible, that confuses a lot of people into thinking that manual communication is what everyone with hearing loss should do to get along. Not true. Because hearing loss, especially that of adult onset, is an invisible condition, people often waste years trying to hide it or deny it; meaning they probably don't seek help. In most of those cases, everyone else knows the person doesn't hear well. It helps a lot to talk to other people with adult onset hearing loss. It also helps to talk to their partners and family members. You will learn a lot from them. Many of us have spent considerable time in this world of poor hearing, and have had experiences; both good and bad, that we are willing to share. The same size doesn't always fit all, but it does help to learn. We are fortunate to live in times when technology has advanced enough to include us in most things we are used to hearing. While hearing aids are not a cure all, they can be wonderful helpers IF they have all the components necessary to connect, and are fitted properly. As someone who was diagnosed with adult onset hearing loss at a rather young age, I have been using hearing aids for over 40 years. While my hearing loss is profound, I function fine in the hearing world thanks to technology. Feel free to ask questions.

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