Hearing is integral to communication. How we hear things as well as how we interpret what we hear can have a significant effect on our response and where the conversation goes from there.
Perhaps 11 years ago, I was doing some work on our house and had borrowed a neighbour's jigsaw and after I was finished with the jigsaw, I put it and all the attachments back in the case in which it came. My boys had been "helping" me with this project and wanted to continue to be helpful. I asked the two older boys to take the box across the street, deliver it to the neighbour and thank him for its use. My oldest son was five and his brother four at the time. Ours was a quiet neighbourhood and a dead end street but still as a responsible and concerned parent I sat in my living room at my piano and began to play while I had the chance while keeping an eye on the boys crossing the street. . A few moments later I heard a blood curdling scream and saw the younger of my two boys running across the street with a horrified look on his face with tears streaming. My heart may have skipped several beats as I jumped up and ran outside to see what had happened.
In haste, my oldest son, Sammy had run across the road spilling the contents of the jigsaw case while tripping and falling down. When Sammy tried to stand back up he snagged a blade in the bottom of his foot causing the blade to go through the bottom of his foot vertically.
In the emergency room the physician examined the bottom of the foot while Sammy lay on his stomach. The concern was that the blade may have interfered with a nerve or significant blood vessel. The doctor asked Sammy, my five year old son, "Do you think you can wiggle your toe?" Sammy, after giving the question careful consideration replied "I don't think so". The physician looked a little worried. After checking the foot out thoroughly, he decided to wait a little before removing the blade. Some time later the doctor returned, checked the foot and asked again about the ability to wiggle the toe, and again the answer was "I don't think so". The doctor was somewhat concerned but decided to remove the blade carefully. With the area in question locally anesthetized, he excised the blade without consequence upon which he cleaned and bandaged the wound.
With the concern for the ability to move his big toe still primary Sammy was moved onto his back with his foot propped up. The question was whether the ability to wiggle that toe had yet returned. Once the anesthetic was thought to have worn off the doctor returned and asked Sammy again "Ok, now do you think you can wiggle your toe?" Sammy replied "I...........I will try." At this point this five year old proceeded to sit up and while getting a hold of his big toe between his thumb and fore finger began to "wiggle" his toe back and forth. Indeed he could "wiggle his toe". The very serious doctor couldn't hide a mild chuckle and the very relieved father couldn't help but understand his child's literal interpretation of the request in question.
This story is a wonderful lesson in the art of communication. The person initiating conversation asking questions may think that their question is well understood while in reality the person interpreting the question may have come to a completely different understanding. The hearing impaired individual experiences added complexity in communication given that their hearing loss causes the speech signal to be inherently compromised.
I recently had one of my staff call a patient to book their annual hearing test, my patient responded by saying they would be happy to come in for their annual urine test. Hmmmmm......... Choose your words carefully.
