In the hospital, our daughter, Saghar, passed the otoacoustic emissions (OAE) test, while our son, Sina, needed a follow up after failing his. The doctors indicated there might have been amniotic fluid left behind his eardrums. Always an optimist, I didn’t give Sina’s test results a second thought. However, Keyvan has always been a realist. He was worried. He was right to be.
Advocating for Relief from Noise
When I was 8 years old, an audiologist declared that I have hyperacusis, a rare hearing condition that makes noise unbearable with no available cure. Eight years later, loudness is still completely intolerable for me, and I am committed to improving the lives of everyone in my situation through online education and advocacy.
The Day It Happened
My hearing had been gradually declining. I knew that because I would hear ringing in my ears, and I knew what that meant. (Scary organ chord here.) It meant hearing loss. But how bad could it be, I figured. I’m still hearing. I’m still on the phone. I’m still talking to people. I can manage, right? This had been going on for several years and it was my new normal. Sure, I have to say “What?” a few times, but so what.
New Connections
I am remaining social and engaged in the world from the safety and comfort of my home. This is so important to do when you have a hearing loss. For almost three decades—since I was in my early 50s working as a secretary in a bank—I’ve so appreciated the value of hearing aids to stay connected and to be able to function. Now, I’m feeling immensely grateful for electronic communication, too.
Les Paul in His Own Words
Les Paul, whose birthday was June 9, 1915, was famous for the solid body electric guitar and many innovations related to recording music. He also had compromised hearing, and wore hearing aids in both ears. Although his hearing loss was not caused by loud noise, almost all of his rock musician friends had some level of hearing loss from performing and being around loud music. Les and most of his musician friends also had tinnitus.
The Challenge of Communication During the Pandemic and Beyond
In New York City, we are required to wear face coverings in public and practice social distancing to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Non-essential work, like my own part-time job as an educational researcher for a university, must be completed remotely. With these vital public health measures emerge new challenges for people with hearing loss, and I’m advocating for myself and creating solutions when and where I am able.
18 Years Later
Our twins, James and Riley, were born on August 23. They did not pass this initial hearing screen, so auditory brainstem response (ABR) tests were administered in the hospital. Two weeks after a second ABR with our audiologist, they were both diagnosed with moderate bilateral sensorineural hearing loss.
Paint Has a Sound
I wear hearing devices but over the years as I have struggled with my hearing, I could feel and see changes in how I interact with others, in social situations, with family, and, more personally, in how I started to withdraw and become more introverted and retrospective.
Parenting With Hearing Loss: It Is What It Is!
I was diagnosed in my late 20s, and my boys have lived their entire lives with a mother who hears differently than them. There’s never been a big conversation or explanation, and they’ve never had to adapt to anything new. It is what it is. We’ve had conversations about the genetic risk. My mother, her sisters, my grandmother, and my great aunts all have hearing loss. So my sons are tested once a year to make sure I didn’t pass it on. Day to day, though, it’s our reality, and my boys don’t know an alternative.
Hearing the Passion
For Alex, each new language is a hidden art with its secrets and beauty waiting to be discovered. Alex was in elementary school when he developed an interest in foreign television cartoons, including programs from Italy and Japan. His discovery of their cultures soon evolved into a fascination with their languages.