by Kenneth McDade on Thursday, August 21, 2008 at 10:23am
I am in my own little world today, not by choice but due to the fact that I left my hearing aids at home. I have had a hereditary hearing loss for several years and wasn't really aware of how bad it had become until this morning.
Thursday mornings I have to get up earlier and rush to work to get on the phone and attend a phone meeting that has nothing to do with me. Great motivation to get there. I like to be on time though and it rushes me because I am also a fan of sleep. Woke up later than I intended to and rushed to work forgetting both of my hearing aids and not even being aware of it. Usually, I don’t come in contact with anyone until after eight o'clock. I enjoy not listening to anything in my car, so I didn’t have the radio on. It wasn't until some Neanderthal tried to plow into the back of me and then run me off the road that I realized I had forgotten the hearing aids. The driver was yelling things at me and I could not understand what he was saying. Judging by his driving, it could be his intelligence level didn't allow for real tangible communication or it could just be that his dad is a bachelor, I am not sure. However, I was suddenly aware that I had no real ability to hear most things today. Now, I am not deaf, but I do have a major hearing loss of about 75% in my left ear and 30% loss in my right ear. It makes everyone sound like they are talking to me from another room.
When if first occurred it was like people were making up words or saying something you know makes no sense, but it is what you heard...i.e. Would you like to shave the car under the TV, on the way to the laundry? Makes no sense, but made me laugh at things I would hear. In this stage, there is a little translator in your head that works like the text on your cell and predicts what it thinks might have been said. This is good to an extent, because you don't answer right away and most people will answer their own questions once they have said it out loud and makes you a great listener and wise in your counsel.
The next stage is losing some sounds all together, not volume necessarily, but sound. In this stage everyone sounds like they are mumbling or they are the parents in a Charlie Brown movie (wa, wa, waaa, wa.). This too can be funny but also aggravating.
Most people don't really talk to you, they talk, but they are looking in other directions or working on something else, you know...multi tasking. Even with the hearing aids, I have to have people face me and speak clearly, if not they and I both get frustrated and aggravated. To say, "never mind" to someone who can't hear you is to say you are giving up on them and they are not worth your time to repeat what you have just said.
Sounds in general get moved around to. I can no longer tell direction of sounds unless I can see it. People sneak up behind me all the time and I never hear them until they speak up or until I see them. This can make for some nerve racking experiences. The hearing aids are supposed to amplify sound, but they do not filter it. Everything comes in through them. You are suddenly aware of air conditioning units, fans, motors, and people clicking pen caps, all noise at once and nothing to block out the bad. People tend to get louder at this point but it will not help, just look at the person and speak clear. That seems to be my running theme.
I was at a concert once with a group of friends, one of them kept leaning in to speak into my ears, and got mad at me when I made them face me and just mouth it. Students would come up to me during tests and say something softly to not disturb the others. That is when I would stage whisper loudly to them, "You're whispering to a deaf man!"
Thursday mornings I have to get up earlier and rush to work to get on the phone and attend a phone meeting that has nothing to do with me. Great motivation to get there. I like to be on time though and it rushes me because I am also a fan of sleep. Woke up later than I intended to and rushed to work forgetting both of my hearing aids and not even being aware of it. Usually, I don’t come in contact with anyone until after eight o'clock. I enjoy not listening to anything in my car, so I didn’t have the radio on. It wasn't until some Neanderthal tried to plow into the back of me and then run me off the road that I realized I had forgotten the hearing aids. The driver was yelling things at me and I could not understand what he was saying. Judging by his driving, it could be his intelligence level didn't allow for real tangible communication or it could just be that his dad is a bachelor, I am not sure. However, I was suddenly aware that I had no real ability to hear most things today. Now, I am not deaf, but I do have a major hearing loss of about 75% in my left ear and 30% loss in my right ear. It makes everyone sound like they are talking to me from another room.
When if first occurred it was like people were making up words or saying something you know makes no sense, but it is what you heard...i.e. Would you like to shave the car under the TV, on the way to the laundry? Makes no sense, but made me laugh at things I would hear. In this stage, there is a little translator in your head that works like the text on your cell and predicts what it thinks might have been said. This is good to an extent, because you don't answer right away and most people will answer their own questions once they have said it out loud and makes you a great listener and wise in your counsel.
The next stage is losing some sounds all together, not volume necessarily, but sound. In this stage everyone sounds like they are mumbling or they are the parents in a Charlie Brown movie (wa, wa, waaa, wa.). This too can be funny but also aggravating.
Most people don't really talk to you, they talk, but they are looking in other directions or working on something else, you know...multi tasking. Even with the hearing aids, I have to have people face me and speak clearly, if not they and I both get frustrated and aggravated. To say, "never mind" to someone who can't hear you is to say you are giving up on them and they are not worth your time to repeat what you have just said.
Sounds in general get moved around to. I can no longer tell direction of sounds unless I can see it. People sneak up behind me all the time and I never hear them until they speak up or until I see them. This can make for some nerve racking experiences. The hearing aids are supposed to amplify sound, but they do not filter it. Everything comes in through them. You are suddenly aware of air conditioning units, fans, motors, and people clicking pen caps, all noise at once and nothing to block out the bad. People tend to get louder at this point but it will not help, just look at the person and speak clear. That seems to be my running theme.
I was at a concert once with a group of friends, one of them kept leaning in to speak into my ears, and got mad at me when I made them face me and just mouth it. Students would come up to me during tests and say something softly to not disturb the others. That is when I would stage whisper loudly to them, "You're whispering to a deaf man!"
And if you make a lot of noise, you can make hearing aids squeal :P
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