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Topic 29667 Living With Hearing Loss
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BEGIN TRANSCRIPT:
INTERVIEWER:Today’s subject is living with hearing loss and I’m speaking with Pam Mason.Pam is the Director of Audiology Practices for the American Speech Language Hearing Association.And Pam my first question to you is from the people that you’ve seen as a professional, as an audiologist, what is it like to have hearing loss?
RESPONDENT:Well hearing loss comes in all sizes and shapes.Some people consider themselves deaf, utterly deaf.They use sign language and may or may not wear hearing aids.But most adults with hearing loss have acquired the loss over time.Sounds diminish slowly over time and hearing loss is most often like that.You may feel that your hearing is fine and you lay blame on other people. “They’re not speaking clearly.” Still others may wake up one morning and find that their hearing has dropped significantly and quickly overnight.If you lose your hearing suddenly go to the doctor immediately.There are certain medications and treatments that can save you from further hearing loss or even improve your hearing.
Unlike vision, we can’t close our ear lids to experience deafness.It’s more subtle.You can’t - the way we can close our eyes and see what it’s like to be blind.With a hearing loss you may hear but it’s not clear.You may make rhyming mistakes.Just missing one sound in one word like the ‘th’ in the word thumb or the ‘f’ in the word fun.If you miss recognizing those two similar sounding words it can mess up your whole understanding of the conversation.So one sound in one word can confuse you.So you want to make sure that you can hear all of the sounds clearly to keep you intact and communicating and socially interacting with others.
INTERVIEWER:Well Pam as you know AARP and the American Speech Language Hearing Association have jointly polled AARP’s membership about the state of their hearing and it’s pretty revealing.One thing that it shows is that there are tens of millions of people who are older Americans who are living with untreated hearing issues.But that also means that there are millions of people who are living with those people or are friends of those people.What mistaken assumptions do people commonly make about those with hearing issues?
RESPONDENT:Well I’m going to talk first about the person with the hearing loss.Sometimes they think that they can fake it.But really what’s happening is maybe they’re missing the joke or they’re laughing inappropriately.They think they are covering it up.Maybe they are monopolizing conversations.If I’m doing all of the talking I don’t have to do any listen.So I’m going to just keep on talking.And some people have known somebody whose tried hearing aids years ago before all of the new technology that’s available today.The hearing aid failed for that person so they have a negative experience.Even hearing about somebody else’s negative experience can keep you from seeking out treatment.But family and friends can provide support.They can help in understanding and encourage you to seek out help.Loved ones don’t really want you to suffer and withdraw from family activities.But sometimes people that maybe aren’t quite as loving will make the assumption not, “Gee I have to increase my volume because this person can’t hear.But hmm what’s the matter with person, he’s ignoring me?Is that person a snob?He doesn’t understand what I’m talking about and he didn’t get my joke.”
So there are a lot of misinterpretations about hearing loss because you really can’t see it.You can’t really see the hearing loss the way you could see somebody maybe in a wheelchair.So as you begin your journey to seek treatment for hearing loss enlist the support of family and friends.Most likely they’re going to be very pleased to help you because they too have suffered with your hearing loss.
INTERVIEWER: I would assume too that the same sorts of scenarios that you’ve just drawn would happen in the workplace.Would it not?
RESPONDENT:Absolutely.Absolutely.And it can be even more critical if you’re in important business meetings and you miss some important nugget from your boss.It could be financially disastrous if you are not able to communicate well in the workplace.And bosses may misinterpret hearing loss and the need to accommodate you in some way or to suggest that you do something.They may think, “Why did I hire him?Why did I hire here?She’s not up to speed on what we’re talking about in these meeting all day long.”
INTERVIEWER:Well the polling that I referenced a moment ago indicates that people are reluctant to talk with family members and friends in particular about hearing issues and that a significant percentage of people who know someone with hearing loss don’t suggest that they get help.That’s about forty percent of the older Americans that we polled.What’s going un-addressed here and what are effective ways that family and friends can approach someone they know about their hearing problem?
RESPONDENT:It may be a reluctance on the part of family and friends because they arbor their own person negative stereotypes or stigma associated with hearing loss.Aging, maybe they don’t want to say something to a friend or family because they don’t want to input their negative feelings about hearing loss on to somebody else.Maybe they don’t want to point out, “Well you’re getting older.” Or something of that nature. I really don’t know why people are hesitant to talk about it.The family and friends may definitely be feeling the effect of the hearing loss.They can get frustrated.They have to expend the extra energy, they have to repeat themselves, speak up.And finally they just might say, “Oh the heck with it, never mind.” That’s a real bad situation that breaks down communication.
INTERVIEWER:Well could it be that just as the person with the hearing problem is trying to cover it so to speak and thinks they’re getting by the people on the other side, the people who are living with this person think it’s just more expedient not to deal with this situation.You know don’t want to offend Uncle Bill or mom or dad and you know it’s no big deal.
RESPONDENT:Except that they’re the ones that are expending the extra energy.They become the hearing aid.
INTERVIEWER:Yeah.
RESPONDENT:And that drains your energy.So there’s a fine line where you start to invest or to think about your investment of energy and if you are just saying never mind or I’m not going to talk to you anymore, that really breaks down friendships and communication and you end up just barking commands back and forth.And it’s time to go and let’s get in the car now and the hearing impaired person that has untreated hearing loss may think, “Why are you yelling at me?Why are you so angry at me?” So there can be a lot of misconceptions that float around in our personal interactions that are related to hearing loss.
INTERVIEWER:Right.Well if you are someone who has a hearing issue or if you are someone who knows someone who has a hearing issue where can you get information and help?
RESPONDENT:Well there are a couple of suggestions that I have.First if you are unsure whether you have hearing loss but you maybe perceiving that you have a hearing loss, I recommend that you take the self-test.The self-test will help you to identified if you should seek out the services of an audiologist.ASHA has a self-test available online.Just go to and use the search term, ‘self test’.And this self-test asks questions like, do I have problems hearing on the telephone?Do I listen to the television so loud that I push people away?They don’t want to enjoy T.V. with me because I play it so loud.Do I miss the doorbell ringing if I’m cooking in the kitchen?Do I feel that other people are mumbling?So that’s a good conversation opener.If you think that you may have a hearing loss you can take that self-test and then discuss it with family and friends.And that may open up the dialog and you may get the support and encouragement from your family and friends to seek out help.
INTERVIEWER:Pam Mason that is very helpful information.Thanks very much.
RESPONDENT:Thank you.
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