Speak up!!!
Jan. 25th, 2005 06:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sildilWell, a VERY interesting afternoon. I finally got my hearing test appointment, and was most surprised to find out that firstly, I have ‘substantial hearing loss in both ears, more in the right’, and secondly (and this was most surprising) that it is congenital and I have always had it.
I have obviously developed ways of coping, I know that I always like to see people as they speak and I think I have used lip reading more than I realise to fill in the gaps. I hear consonants, and certain pitches of voice are fine, but others are not. For example, I can hear Ilye perfectly well on the phone, but I can’t hear my eldest son who has a very soft, even voice. (That’s NOT to say Ilye is loud!)
It’s only been a noticable difficulty to me since taking two jobs that involve talking to unknown people on the phone or interviewing them, as in my last job, hence the fact its only been discovered now. I am getting a hearing aid for my right ear to begin with, typically in this country this will take weeks, but I have managed OK the past 49 years, so a few more weeks won’t matter! (Unfortunately, when the Doc said I should browse the RNID website to find things that will help with hearing the phone, I kept thinking of an old ‘Not the Nine O Clock News’ comedy sketch, ‘This Man is Deaf’, which had me giggling away stupidly…anyone who remembers it will realise why.)
Luckily it will get no worse, except in the usual way, possibly, as I get older, which was very good news. Anyway, please make sure I hear any comments you might leave by annunciating clearly, and please do speak up!!!
I have obviously developed ways of coping, I know that I always like to see people as they speak and I think I have used lip reading more than I realise to fill in the gaps. I hear consonants, and certain pitches of voice are fine, but others are not. For example, I can hear Ilye perfectly well on the phone, but I can’t hear my eldest son who has a very soft, even voice. (That’s NOT to say Ilye is loud!)
It’s only been a noticable difficulty to me since taking two jobs that involve talking to unknown people on the phone or interviewing them, as in my last job, hence the fact its only been discovered now. I am getting a hearing aid for my right ear to begin with, typically in this country this will take weeks, but I have managed OK the past 49 years, so a few more weeks won’t matter! (Unfortunately, when the Doc said I should browse the RNID website to find things that will help with hearing the phone, I kept thinking of an old ‘Not the Nine O Clock News’ comedy sketch, ‘This Man is Deaf’, which had me giggling away stupidly…anyone who remembers it will realise why.)
Luckily it will get no worse, except in the usual way, possibly, as I get older, which was very good news. Anyway, please make sure I hear any comments you might leave by annunciating clearly, and please do speak up!!!
