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.
Well, there are two reasons. Firstly most of the people I work with have got used to me 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.
It’s great that people have started compensating. Most of them turn to look at me when they’re talking to me and if we’re sitting anywhere they’ll sit opposite me so I can see them clearly. If they can’t be sure I can see their lips then they speak a little louder. It all helps.
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.
It doesn’t help that it fell out my pocket and I drove over it.
I have noticed recently that my hearing is actually getting worse and it does worry me quite a lot. There’s not really anything I can do about it though is there.
