I went back and had a look at my old LiveJournal and found this entry from 2009. See after the post for my comments on it.
Feb. 24th, 2009
I got asked the other day at work why I don’t wear my hearing aid as much as I did when I first started.
“Two reasons. Firstly most of the people I work with have got used to be now and seem to compensate for my deafness; they talk a little louder or directly at me so I can see their lips. Secondly I think my hearing is getting worse and the hearing aid isn’t doing as much as it should. Either that or it’s broke,” I answered.
I’m right on all of the above.
Some people have started compensating, they turn to look at me when they’re talking to me. If we’re sitting anywhere I’ll sit opposite me so I can see them clearly.
My hearing aid is actually broken. There are two switches on it. One is a volume wheel but the other is a little special. In position one all the inputs are open and the hearing should be as close to normal as possible. In position two it cuts out background noise. This is useful in bars and clubs as it means the person I look at is the voice I hear the loudest rather than all the noise being at the same level. The downside is that if someone behind me calls me then it’s doubtful I’ll hear them. The third position is for T-loops in cinemas and/or big shops. A t-loop is a telecoil which bascially means the cinema can broadcast the audio directly to the hearing aid. It’s great as long as it’s set up correctly – which it rarely is! Position three is totally useless without the loop.
Well position one seems to have stopped working, position two doesn’t give me enough of a hearing boost and I rarely go anywhere that would warrant using position three. Already my hearing aid appears semi-redundant.
I have noticed recently that my hearing is getting worse and it does worry me quite a lot actually.
When I first got my hearing test results I was told by the consultant that my left ear would go in about five years – at his best guess – my right ear could be anything from ten to twenty. This was two years ago. I think he was wrong. Going from how I feel now I think it’ll be sooner.
In fact, I think my left is nearly totally gone and my right ear is nearly at the state my left ear was this time two years ago.
At least Bert and I learnt sign language when we did. I think it’s time to take it further though.
I really don’t know what is going to be worse. Not being able to hear him anymore or not being able to listen.
What I find interesting about this post is that although my hearing has got worse it hasn’t gone as quickly as this post suggests it would.
I’m on two hearing aids now and they work well.
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