What are the biggest difficulties deaf or HOH people face nowadays?

@123listen For those fast talkers... particular "customer service folks" who have their "script" memorized... I tell them right away... "I am hard of hearing, speak slowly or you will have to repeat your script over a few times...." That usually gets them.. Or you can remind them of the survey you are going to fill out at the end of their conversation... What kind of Marks do you want? Ken

@ken82 I like your suggestions. I expect to use them!

Before Covid, when we were traveling by air, hearing announcements in airports is very difficult for hearing impaired. There needs to be accommodation for hearing impaired the same as those available for other disabilities. Announcements for gate changes and cancellations are a big issue for the hearing impaired and we are usually the last to know.

@nohearing Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect, a place to give and get support.

COVID-19 has caused people with hearing loss to feel more isolated.

May I ask what types of responses you use to let someone know you have hearing loss and they need to change how they interact with you during communication?

I find that in many cases when I let someone know that I have hearing loss, they are very accommodating for a brief period, but then go back to using their normal voice, or speak with their back to me. I just try turning up the sound on my hearing aids. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't.

@sparklegram It's good that you are able to advocate for yourself even if the results are only short-term. I can only imagine that it gets to be very tiresome to have to continually advocate for a basic need in communication. There definitely needs to be more awareness as a whole.

one word - mask

I missed a connecting flight to Washington D.C. one time due to a change of gates. The flight was delayed, and then the gate was changed. I totally missed the announcement about the gate change. Thankfully, I was able to catch another flight without penalty. It was a lesson. After that, not only did I tell the attendant about my hearing loss, I also told whomever I was sitting next to that if anything changed I'd appreciate them telling me. People tend to be kind and helpful. I never had any other issues, except for the few times when I was asked if I needed a wheelchair. 🙂 Lots of misunderstanding about hearing loss. Like many others, I've also been asked if I would like a braille menu. 🙂 FYI: HLAA members in many major cities and some smaller ones have advocated for hearing loops and captions in airports. Many of them have those accommodations. Let them know what you need. That is how they learn.

We need to know what we need. Then we have to be willing to ask for it. If it is not provided because they don't have the accommodation we need, use that to teach them there are solutions. If enough people would do this things would change. Hearing loss is invisible. The majority of people who have it won't talk about it, thus they may be perpetually frustrated. Until that changes, progress is slow. It doesn't help to show anger or to be aggressive. Soft advocacy give a person a chance to teach a lesson. That has been my experience. I'd love to hear yours.

Agreed! I did not realize how much I read lips until I suddenly became deaf in my right ear, which unfortunately happened at the same time the mask mandate began. I am a healthcare worker and am required to wear a face mask (sometimes two) as well as a face shield which makes communicating with my patients, as well as coworkers, extremely difficult. Unfortunately I dont think there is really a solution to improve on this, at least one that is still safe in protecting myself and others from diseases but also makes sense financially to the hospital.