In June 2010, I stepped off a plane in Los Angeles with a painfully full left ear, muffled hearing, throbbing eyes, vertigo, and a migraine. I also got off that plane with no idea I would straddle the line between a nondisabled and disabled identity for the rest of my life.
Family and Friends Don't Understand Your Hearing Challenges?
If, like me, you have a hearing loss, you know what your hearing challenges are. But what about your friends and family? Do they have challenges communicating with you? I bet the answer is yes. Why wouldn’t they? Hearing loss is a communication disorder that affects all the people in our lives.
Just Because Hearing Loss Is Invisible Doesn’t Mean It’s Less Real
I think because I was in my 20s and thought working at a nightclub was fun and interesting, and I was surrounded by talented musicians and entertainers, I didn’t stop to consider that I was going to the equivalent of four concerts a week. Not even concerts with two-hour sets—more like multi-day music festivals with four bands each performing two-hour sets!
’Should I Get a Cochlear Implant?‘
For Alex, getting a haircut in town becomes an opportunity to talk about his cochlear implant with a curious stranger as well as reflect on his own experience getting an implant at a very young age.
Helping Others Has Helped Me
Despite all this, including owning earplugs, it didn’t occur to me until working on the Keep Listening prevention campaign for Hearing Health Foundation how damage to your hearing is cumulative, and that I’ve been doing additional damage to my hearing through some of my daily routines.
Let’s Let More People Learn About Hearing Loss
I would tell someone with a new diagnosis of hearing loss to persevere, know that you can get used to it, and think about the positives and not the negatives. It’s important that you don’t let people bring you down for wearing hearing aids. Take the opportunity to explain about hearing loss and using hearing aids. Let them know more about it!
You Are Not Alone!
Do you think that you are too young to have hearing problems? Don’t believe it! I was just 50 years old when I began wearing hearing aids… and my hearing problems began long before that.
How I Cope When They Can't See That I (Sometimes) Can't Hear
I said, “I have a hearing problem. I couldn’t catch what you said. Please can you look this way and repeat that?” It’s amazing how this combination inspires an appropriate and thoughtful response. I almost always find people are pleased to accommodate the differently abled, once you’ve given them the information they need.
It Goes Both Ways
I’m always thinking about how hard it is for me not to hear him, which happens pretty often. It’s just constant conversational static that we try to deal with as best we can. Not perfect, by a long shot. But it’s hard for him, too. It must seem like I’m not paying attention, or not trying hard enough.
A Veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq Urges Better Hearing Protection for Soldiers
We often hear about the devastating injuries sustained by soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. Their suffering is profound and should be a bigger part of our national consciousness. We Americans should also talk about the most common disabilities experienced by veterans—hearing loss and tinnitus. These are less visible but insidious conditions that can seriously upend every aspect of veterans’ lives: their overall physical and psychological wellness, along with social interactions, even work performance.