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Hearing Loss Experiences - Can you find humor in some of it?
Hearing Loss | Last Active: Jul 28, 2023 | Replies (73)Comment receiving replies
I don't ever hear any kind of music, just various machinery, sometimes like standing in a machine shop. Some of the sounds are identifiable, like the sound of the lawnmower or dishwasher, while others are just noise that I can't ID or remember hearing at some specific time in the past.
As well as mishearing some words (and forming amazing conclusions what from you think you heard!), there's the problem of concentrating so hard to understand the words that you immediately forget things like names, dates, etc. I think it's because my brain is so busy working to decode what I hear that it has no ability to store info. At any rate, it's embarrassing to meet someone you met a week earlier and have no memory of their name. If I hear facts during a phone call in my office, I am good about scribbling the name (or whatever), but I often meet people while I'm out working on the big flower bed I maintain along our road, with no way to make notes.
Another thing I've learned is that I'm much more comfortable watching a series, where I "know" the characters and can sort of expect what they'll say or do. Movies, however, are far more difficult, all new territory, so I avoid them. I wonder if others do the same...
Replies to "I don't ever hear any kind of music, just various machinery, sometimes like standing in a..."
Interesting. Perhaps more music is embedded in some brains than in others. Sounds are what you seem to be hearing; identifiable ones for the most part from past experiences. That can lean a bit towards tinnitus too.
We need to understand that 'auditory fatigue' is very real. We get exhausted from working so hard to hear, especially in challenging situations. When that happens we tune out and take an exit from input and output for a while.That's when others accuse of us not paying attention; not trying, etc. Many people decide to withdraw from social situations because of this. Others work through it.
Although it's not so helpful in group conversation you can use a strategy in one on one situations such a at home communication between spouses. Find a way to get the HH person's attention before starting to speak. My husband often clears his throat while sitting in the living room watching TV when he wants me to listen. For some reason, I can hear that...or have taught myself to hear it knowing that words will follow so I pay attention. (Right now with all the smoke in north central Minnesota from boundary water forest fires, we're both clearing our throats a lot! This too shall pass, thankfully.)
John has mild/moderate hearing loss that finally 'arrived' a year or so ago. I have to laugh because when he wants to hear, the remote for the TV goes on mute. He still hasn't figured out that is a key to my being able to hear him, and has been for years. He doesn't do that when he starts a casual conversation. Then I have to interrupt to ask him to mute the TV and that annoys him as it breaks up the spontaneity. Hearing loss challenges relationship. I say once more that if we don't learn to laugh at some of these things, all we can do is become angry and bitter.
I too enjoy watching series TV programs where I know the characters. I do enjoy movies, but only if they are captioned which most are these days. And, with movies I tend to enjoy true stories or historical documentaries because I can relate to many of them historically. 🙂
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Wow, Joyce, you just taught me something I can use every day!
My dear husband has both hearing loss and ADD, so processing information is laborious for him. I am going to work very hard to shorten my replies to him, so he does not go past his "absorption quota"
Thank you.
Sue