How to Adjust To Hearing Aid Problems

The normal ear is designed to hear. This organ enables one to enjoy the sound of the chirping bird, the rush of a waterfall and the rustle of leaves in the wind, all delightful sounds that enhance appreciation for being alive.

Because of its ability to gather sound and to transmit this to the brain, the ear is indeed a marvel. But it does much more than just permit one to pick up sound. Its full use is experienced when a person listens to and engages in conversation. His hearing ability enables him to detect the interchange of feelings, concerns and emotions. However, when the sense of hearing is lost, feelings of helplessness, frustration and even anger may result.

To illustrate: What if the words "make," "rake" and "lake" all sounded the same to you? What if the only way you could tell what was being said would be by seeing the speaker pronounce the word? How would you feel? Needless to say, there would be some frustration.

To ascertain the effect of a hearing problem, read the following sentence out loud: Jo--ua -aw the -mo-- on to- of Moun- -inai. Do you have to read the sentence several times to get the sense of it by supplying the missing letters or sounds? Truly, those missing sounds are needed to understand what is meant. The sentence is, "Joshua saw the smoke on top of Mount Sinai."

The foregoing illustrates the usual problem experienced when a person loses his hearing ability. Seldom does he lose all sense of hearing. The most common problem comes from not being able to hear all the sounds adequately. Hence, what is heard sounds distorted and confused. A victim of this type of hearing loss observed:

"We think we have understood but have not. For example, when I was courting my wife, I heard her ask me, 'Do you like people?'-a type of pretentious gambit I am chronically loath to answer. I replied vaguely and was probably a little abrupt. She looked surprised. What she had actually said, as I learned a few minutes later, was much more promising: 'Do you like pizza?'

"The result of such mishearings-and they are perennial with us-is often robust laughter, good-natured ribbing and a dinner-table anecdote. But the result can also be a serious miscommunication, an inaccurate appearance of slow-wittedness or indifference and the end of friendships."

Drawing on his own experience, a deaf author relates the following about this handicap:

"In group discussions where you alone are deaf, you do not exist. Because you cannot present your ideas through a medium everyone is accustomed to, you are not expected, much less asked, to contribute to them. Because you are deaf, they turn deaf. Just do what your parents, friends, fellow workers-who can hear-tell you . . . While everyone is talking or laughing, you are as far away as a lone Arab on a desert that stretches along every horizon. Everyone and everything is a mirage; you see them but you cannot touch or become part of them. You suffocate inside but you cannot tell anyone of this horrible feeling. You do not know how to. You get the impression nobody understands or cares."