I always had auditory training to focus and listen in a noisy environment. However, as I entered the high school years, I realized that I enjoy socializing and being among friends despite the background noise.
‘Hear’ I Am
I wrote a book, “Hear I Am,” several years ago about helping people with hearing loss and other disabilities to be able to graduate from college and work at a job with the proper accommodations in place. In the book I model through examples about how I persevered in college and then in the workplace.
A Silent Noise: Tinnitus
As I type this, I’m currently on an airplane, flying back from Colorado to New York. With each passing second, each word, I can feel myself becoming more aware of the noise around me. It’s a very peculiar sound—loud, but not loud, invisible, but present—existing alongside myself and the other passengers on the plane.
Please Send a Decoder: A Retired Scientist's Experience with Hearing Loss and Tinnitus
A retired scientist rediscovers a love for writing poetry, especially as a way to share her experience with hearing loss and tinnitus. I have worn hearing aids since the 1980s but my story begins long before then. In 1945 both my eardrums ruptured.
The Things I Miss
I formally learned of my mild to moderately-severe bilateral sensorineural hearing loss at age 49. The ear, nose, and throat (ENT) doctor’s verdict was unexpected. Almost 13 years later, I wear hearing aids vigilantly, but there’s still so much that I miss about having typical hearing.
I’m An Audiologist and I Don’t Like Fitting Hearing Aids
I’m an audiologist and part of being an audiologist is understanding how to protect your hearing. While I do protect my ears, I most certainly know what it means to abuse my hearing. High decibel levels from music and other loud sound sources can cause permanent hearing loss.
Keep It With You
Like many of you, this past 12 months have been an almost overwhelming avalanche of change, stress, and “new normals.” While COVID-19 has been a universal experience for all, it has also changed our individual needs and behaviors patterns in both large and small ways.
A Medical Mystery
I am an 87-year-old retired otolaryngologist–head & neck surgeon. I am writing this to present a medical mystery. In 2016 I began to experience several health issues at the same time. I developed double vision, which was corrected using glasses, and after an extensive trip across the country to visit family and friends, an old knee problem flared up. Since my knee failed to respond to a routine cortisone injection, it was recommended that my hip be replaced.
Writing My Own Future
Growing up in the 1980s, the message that I could achieve as much as my typical-hearing peers just did not exist. I can distinctly remember a school administrator telling my mother that I was going to struggle in my classes, as if I wasn’t even there in the room (and I heard him loud and clear).
A Community, Shared
Like others with hearing loss I still sometimes have to fake being able to fully hear, but I have gained much more confidence and do not hesitate to ask people to recognize my hearing loss and make accommodations. I stay current on the newest technology for hearing loss and look forward to receiving this magazine to catch up on the HRP’s research efforts and each year’s new Emerging Research Grants scientists.