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I was born deaf. Although both of my parents were deaf, because I responded to some sounds, nobody realised that I was partially deaf for around a year. Or maybe it was two years – I was too young to know exactly how long.
It was only when my speech didn’t develop that my hearing was tested – and I was found to be moderate to severely deaf. After that, I was fitted with hearing aids.
I didn’t like hearing aids at first, and I once tried to flush them down the toilet, which left my mum with a very messy job on her hands.
They felt uncomfortable, and I remember taking them off whenever I could.
But in time, with the passing of weeks and months, they became normal.
They started to feel snug and warm, and comfortable, and I could tell which ear they were meant to go on just by how they felt in my hands as I picked them up.
I’ve worn hearing aids nearly all my life and it’s not always been easy. At school, I struggled to hear people whispering in class, or jokes above the lunchtime hustle and bustle. I still struggle in noisy environments. The rush of the wind or the sound of whistling feedback can be excruciating to hear.
But lately, I’ve started to realise that in some ways, I’ve had a big advantage.
When I listen to elderly people (who have lost some of their hearing with age) talking about the way their hearing aids sound, and the struggle they go through just to get used to them, I realise how hard it must be to adapt to artificial hearing when you’ve been used to hearing naturally.
I’ve heard elderly people complaining about the sound of the cutlery drawer in their kitchens, or the sound of traffic.
To me, it’s just how hearing aids sound. To them, it’s unpleasant and distracting – something that, in some cases, is enough to make them give up wearing their hearing aids for good.
It’s not just hearing aid users who face this challenge of adapting. Some of my close friends have been fitted with cochlear implants, and I’ve found out just how much work they have to do to make sense of the sounds they hear.
Which is why I think I’m the lucky one, because I’ve never had to adapt. I’ve had over 30 years to get used to how hearing aids sound. I’ve been trained to hear this way.
I believe that if I had been born hearing, and became deaf now, at the age of 32, or later in life, and started wearing hearing aids, I would find adapting much, much harder.
What do you think, is it really harder to start wearing hearing aids in old age? Tell us below.
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Martyn
February 3, 2018
My view is yes. I’m from the pre digital age and analogue hearing aids just did not work for me. I lost patience with them quickly and that was it until I got digital aids in my forties. Some years later, I am still struggling with them. I was assessed for a cochlear implant and advised it would ‘restore my hearing to the best it had ever been’. That very tempting carrot was overshadowed by my very challenging struggle with digital aids and the mental scars I still carry from my analogue years. It’s a lot more complex than many people might think.
I think (and hope) that today’s technology, science and understanding gives deaf youngsters a much better chance.
Sue farrell
February 3, 2018
It is harder to wear Hearing aids later in life. I belong to the Philadelphia chapter of the Hearing loss group HLla. . Most of the folks are late deafened folks . I am one of two born with it.( although not correctly diagnosed till 16 as hearing impaired – misdiagnosed Asphasic and MR- had Hearing before 16 to better understand- not to better hear)
A y any situration, growing up a certain way, and then changes happens in your 20 ‘s or whenever , it creates havac because all of the sudden , there are limitations. People treat you differently, you cannot do all the things you used to do without an issue. And then the issue of one spouse becoming hearing impaired- the changes there- Hard process folks goes through there. I hear that all over- Deaf Sense by David Losge gives you a little lersoectative there
Esther Kirshenbaum
February 3, 2018
I started wearing hearing aids at 74! It’s torture!
Anonymous
February 4, 2018
I was born hard of hearing in a hearing family because my mother had rubella. My parents said they learned that I was hard of hearing when I entered school at age 5 or 6 and was tested by the school. I got my first hearing aid when I was 21. I was taught to speak very clearly. Many years later, I was a parent assistant on one of my son’s school trips. At the end of the trip, two of the elementary school students were left on the bus, one with hearing aids and the other a hearing student. They were joking with each other and having fun together, totally indifferent to any differences between them.. When I was that age in school, I was called names. It meant the world to me to see the kids playing around together seamlessly as just two friends. Of course from the first moment of learning one is hard of hearing, there should be hearing aids. As they say, Denial is not a river in Egypt.