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Staying Motivated: 5 Tips for Learning How to Live with Hearing Loss
Hearing loss is something many people will deal with to some degree during their lifetime. Typically, it will happen in the later stages in life. However, hearing impairment can occur earlier due to reasons such as genetics, damage to the inner ear and even a buildup of wax.
In very rare cases, the hearing loss is reversible. Most often, it is not only irreversible but also will continue to progressively get worse as time goes on. Hearing loss is one of the invisible disabilities that can make life difficult for someone who is used to relying on their hearing to maneuver through social situations, relationships and life in general.
If you’re concerned that you may be losing your hearing, the Mayo Clinic lists the most common symptoms that may indicate a visit to an audiologist is in order.
Hearing loss can be a lonely and scary maze to find your way through. It can be easy to get lost and disoriented by your new surroundings. These five tips can provide you a map for finding your way through the labyrinth of living in a hearing world with hearing loss.
Learning to Live with Hearing Loss
Hearing loss can be a scary idea for anyone who has depended on their ability to hear and recognize sounds their entire lives. However, many people who suffer from impaired hearing will admit that it’s nowhere near as dire as they had imagined. But even so, it takes motivation and perseverance to get to the point of acceptance.
- Embrace assistive listening devices. – Innovative technology to assist those who suffer hearing loss is created all the time. Many cell phones come with accessibility settings, such as flashing lights and voice-to-text translation apps. One assistive listening device that has come a long way since the clunky, uncomfortable earpiece that rested behind the ear is the hearing aid.
Hearing aids are now discreet and nearly invisible hearing solutions that barely garner a second glance. It is important to note, however, that not all types of hearing loss are right for hearing aids. An audiologist can tell you more about assistive listening devices that could improve your hearing.
- Let your other senses pick up the slack. Many people don’t know that hearing impairment doesn’t prevent one from driving, watching TV or many other everyday activities. The body’s other senses – smell, taste, touch and sight – work together to overcome the loss of hearing.
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In fact, hearing-impaired people often consider their sense of sight a superpower of sorts. They are more likely to notice subtle changes or dangers in their environment than a hearing person who relies mostly on their sense of hearing to alert them to dangers.
- Take control of the conversation. – Communication is hands down the most difficult hurdle to overcome when one person in the conversation suffers from hearing loss. It requires patience, compassion and often repetition to keep the conversation flowing.
Unfortunately, the burden is often placed solely on the shoulders of the person with hearing loss. The person with perfect hearing will ask, “Do you read lips?” and then expect the hearing-impaired individual to understand them.
The truth is lip reading is like assembling a puzzle with half of the pieces missing. It’s important to be upfront about the best method of communication and never fake understanding someone. That’s a hole you can’t dig yourself out of if it gets too deep.
- Don’t isolate yourself from the hearing world. Who doesn’t want to climb under the blankets from time-to-time and stay there as the world passes by? Hearing loss is an extremely isolating experience. It’s important to continue your regular activities and hobbies, often with some minor adjustments required.
- Accept your new normal. This goes back to the idea of hearing loss being worse than the reality of it. One of the biggest struggles is accepting that hearing loss is likely irreversible.
The best way to do that is to let go of what could have been and focus on what is. Easier said than done, but it’s necessary if you want to learn to live with your hearing loss and be productive in life.
It’s Not the End of The World
Deaf actress and activist Marlee Matlin often says that the only thing she can’t do is hear. Of course, being hearing impaired and being completely Deaf are two different things, but the sentiment is the same.
Hearing loss doesn’t make someone less than, though it can be a blow to the self-esteem. Learning to live with hearing loss demands a type of confidence many people don’t know they are capable of until they need it the most.
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