LOOK VERY CLOSELY. DO YOU SEE ME IN HERE?
RIGHT . . . YOU WON’T!
I
have had my hearing aids almost seven months now. I’m happy with them
most of the time. When I bought them seven months ago, I was really
excited to be able to hear sounds like my kids playing, my wife’s kiss,
my cats meowing, and the phone ringing. But, even with hearing aids, I
still struggle. It feels like it takes me 100 times more effort than a
hearing person to get through a day.
The
people I speak with have no idea how much effort it takes me to listen
to them, to concentrate on each word and make sure I understand what
they are saying before I respond. I find myself either putting my foot
in my mouth or asking a lot of questions, which can be frustrating to
everyone. I have high quality ReSound hearing aids and assistive
technology but even they have their limitations. I don’t regret having
hearing aids, but people seem to think that with them my hearing is
back to normal. My first method of understanding what people are saying
is lipreading and watching body language, then I call upon my hearing
aids. It doesn’t work the other way around - most hearing people don’t
understand that. I have to read lips, use my hearing aids to listen to
sound, and draw upon all my learned skills during the day, whereas a
hearing person just has to listen. Hearing aids are not like corrective
lenses - you don’t get “20/20” hearing. Sorry, but the technology is
not there yet.
There
are some nights after working an eight to nine hour day taking
multiple phone calls, that I can’t wait to get in the the car and pull
out my hearing aids so that I can enjoy the World of Silence the rest
of the evening. I guess I need to lower my own expectations. I want
to make my wife, my kids, myself, my company, and parents proud, but
given how new I am at being deaf I need to re-examine my expectations and clearly communicate my boundaries.
It will take time to adjust to being deaf after 41 years of hearing,
and it will take time to adjust not only to using hearing aids and
communication devices, but also to compensating for their limitations.
Drum Roll please . . . . . !
After several
sleepless nights and numerous instant messages back and forth between
Monica Hood and me, we finally came to a decision. But before I
announce the winner let me first say a few works in review of your
comments on my post Hearing Aids Are Expensive.
In
my post I mention how expensive hearing aids can be, and for many of
you having to pay out of pocket can make it impossible to buy what you
want or get the type of service your ears deserve.
We are
fortunate to live in a country that offers hearing aids, organizations
that help people with hearing loss, ASL classes, educational access for
the deaf, and the internet to keep us connected. There are so many
countries that have so much less. I believe we can agree that we are
blessed.
Our personal debt did not accumulate overnight and my
wife and I both knew that it would take time to to dig ourselves out of
our mess. Once we received the Dave Ramsey book Total Money Makeover,
my wife and I got on the same page and our relationship changed - it
got better. We started working together and developed a plan to get out
of debt and stay out of debt. My prayer is that you also will develop
a plan, not just for saving up for hearing aid devices, but for peace
of mind.
I want to thank Monica Hood for allowing me to host this contest on Deaf-Insight. I look forward to hosting others in the future.
Now I have to admit I had to bend the rules a little bit because the entries were really, really good. So the book winners are:
Michelle
Trzecinski, Britt Hastings, Chazz Griffith, Pearl Feder, Jessica
Congdon, Kathy Patrick, Kristina Bow, Amanda Donaldson, Tracy Downs,
Cynthia Dixon
Congratulations! You all really put
forth a lot of effort in writing your responses, and I appreciate your
honesty. You will receive an email shortly requesting a mailing
address so that I can ship you your book.
There is one story that really stood out above the rest and she will receive a Deaf-Insight T-Shirt. And that person is:
Drum Roll please . . .
Kathy Patrick
One
of Kathy’s comments was, “Hearing aids bring back a special ‘quality
of life’, with being able to hear what you couldn't, but the price is
just too expensive for many people.”
Again, thank you for everyone who read my blog and participated in the contest. I had so much fun
