What Is Your Story ?

There is much I learn from my patients. I may not have a hearing loss but if I listen to my patients I gain a greater understanding of what their struggles can be like. I have a patient who shared this story with me. We were talking about some things that were difficult for her relative to her hearing and how she coped with them, what strategies she used. Keep in mind that this particular patient has a severe to profound hearing loss. So many of her daily situations are ones I never thought about.

Problem: going through a Time Hortons drive through. What do you do once you put your order in and  the person at the other end wants to tell you something or ask you something that you can not possibly hear? place your order and start your can moving before they can say anything.

Problem: how do you know when your seat number for your airplane trip is being called? Ask a friend to hear for you.

Problem: how do you hear your husbands conversation at bedtime or nighttime when the lights are out?


Coping strategies vary depending on the degree of hearing loss as well as the cognitive abilities of the impaired individual, as well as the complexity of the situation and so many other variables. We have all met people with hearing loss and may or may not recognize the strategies that are being employed.

Strategies

Talk too much : I have many patients that seem to talk a lot being gregarious with so much to say, so much so that you may not a get a word in edgewise. Sometimes this is a strategy to get by, as it is too difficult to listen it becomes easier to talk keeping the subject matter under ones own control.

Smile and nod: Here is another strategy, not a good one but a strategy non the less. We have all met that individual with a hearing impairment that seems so jovial, that seems to smile and nod a lot but not have a lot to say that fits the conversation. The problem is when you smile and nod and that universal response was not appropriate to the other end of the conversation. Who knows what one might have agreed to do  or how a smile and nod might not have been appropriate to the gravity of the conversation.

Not respond: I have had many a patient that one might have thought to be unfriendly or stuck up as they did not seem to want to respond in conversation when the reality is they just could't hear.


So I ask the question "how do you get by" or "what is your story"?

I would like to start a forum of dialogue where these experiences can be shared. It is good to know that you are not alone in your struggles and that the strategies we end up having to use are ones that many use. Please share this post on your facebook page and invite your hearing impaired friends to contribute to this dialogue.