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What do you do when someone is in denial about their hearing loss?
Hearing Loss | Last Active: Jun 23, 2022 | Replies (45)Comment receiving replies
Just jumping back in to Mayo Clinic Connect as I've not received any posts for over a month. Not sure why. Just wanted to point that out before commenting.
A big issue we who have hearing loss deal with is negative stigma. Why is there such negative stigma related to hearing loss? It runs pretty deep, but is partly because attitudes about hearing loss and deafness have evolved over generations that often categorized hearing loss as an affliction of the old and feeble minded, or of the dumb. Dumb meaning not quite with it or stupid. Many of us grew up hearing the term 'Deaf and dumb', which is a very negative statement. OK. It sounds like something from the dark ages now, but it was very common not all that long ago. Today, we have manufacturers and sellers of hearing aids marketing the kind of denial that furthers that sort of language. Have you ever seen an advertisement for a hearing aid that doesn't tell you how small it is? How no one will know you're wearing it? Etc.?? Isn't it time to start advertising the benefits without all that negativity? Marketing denial just furthers the stigmas that prevent so many from admitting they have trouble hearing, much less getting help for it.
Replies to "Just jumping back in to Mayo Clinic Connect as I've not received any posts for over..."
@julieo4
Hi,
Everything you said about the stigma of wearing hearing aids is so true and I also blame the manufacturers for the “invisibility “ aspect of marketing which only reinforces and perpetuates the stigma. They haven’t gotten the message yet to stop that type of advertising.
I think a lot of the stigma has to do with the fact that hearing loss is not understood by the majority of people and that hearing loss affects not just the person with the loss but also affects family and friends and employers. This is so unlike wearing glasses to correct vision which just affects the person wearing them. We are a youth oriented society and people who need to wear aids or implants may perceive themselves differently especially if they are being treated differently by family, friends and associates. Vanity comes into play which is a normal reaction. Age bias affects older people.
It’s up to us to educate people but not everyone is comfortable doing so or don’t know how to go about explaining to others.
Hopefully the younger generation who wear aids or implants (and there are more of them than ever) will help to erase the stigma in the years to come.
By the way, American Girl, the doll maker, has come out with a doll that was born with congenital hearing loss and wears a hearing aid. The problem I have with their advertising is that they are marketing her as the first doll with a disability. I’m familiar with these beautiful dolls because my granddaughter had them when she was younger.
Regards from FL Mary
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Well SAID! I am wearing my cochlear processors proudly. I am blond and got my N7 in Black. I’m so thrilled to understand speech again. I’ve always worn my HAs out and proud and have educated so many folks about hearing loss. It IS about time for HA manufacturers to ditch the stigmatizing language and focus on how wonderful assistive devices for hearing are!