Observations

Cdodd

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So I make active attempts at taking inventory of my actions and the actions of others. I pride myself on being moderately observant.

I was sitting with a bunch of friends tonight, playing a game... As some of you may know, my hearing is okay for the most part, except when any (and I mean as little as the heater downstairs kicking on) background noise is introduced. The more background noise, the more everything sounds the same. If only two people are talking, I find myself struggling to keep up with conversations.

Well, tonight was one of those energetic nights where everybody thought it would be cool to talk at the same time. After an hour of hanging out there, I was exhausted and frustrated, trying to listen to these people. I felt isolated, frustrated, and a little embarrassed that I kept having to ask "what?" and have people repeat themselves.

:/ This sucks.

Also, slightly related observation: People do a lot of senseless hand-waving. I keep looking for signs, but... It's just a lot of flapping, and that gets tiring to experience, too.
 
So I make active attempts at taking inventory of my actions and the actions of others. I pride myself on being moderately observant.

I was sitting with a bunch of friends tonight, playing a game... As some of you may know, my hearing is okay for the most part, except when any (and I mean as little as the heater downstairs kicking on) background noise is introduced. The more background noise, the more everything sounds the same. If only two people are talking, I find myself struggling to keep up with conversations.

Well, tonight was one of those energetic nights where everybody thought it would be cool to talk at the same time. After an hour of hanging out there, I was exhausted and frustrated, trying to listen to these people. I felt isolated, frustrated, and a little embarrassed that I kept having to ask "what?" and have people repeat themselves.

:/ This sucks.

I sympathize. It definitely sucks when you can't follow the conversation. With me, forget it if there's a group of people talking. One-on-one, I have a better chance of understanding someone speaking. (Not guaranteed, though.)

What kind of hearing loss do you have? Is it moderate?

Also, slightly related observation: People do a lot of senseless hand-waving. I keep looking for signs, but... It's just a lot of flapping, and that gets tiring to experience, too.

Regarding the hand-flapping hearing people do, I have found it entertaining to imagine they are about to take flight. ;)
 
Use that time to think strategy. Well, they want to talk. You want to play. Outsmart them.

Hey, be blessed!! I'm having hard time finding people who want to spend time with me.
 
I sympathize. It definitely sucks when you can't follow the conversation. With me, forget it if there's a group of people talking. One-on-one, I have a better chance of understanding someone speaking. (Not guaranteed, though.)

What kind of hearing loss do you have? Is it moderate?

I don't know how bad it is... :/ I'm procrastinating going to an audiologist because I'm stuck in a mindset of, "what's the point, knowing isn't going to change anything."


Regarding the hand-flapping hearing people do, I have found it entertaining to imagine they are about to take flight. ;)
This cheered me up a lot. Thank you for that. Hahaha.
 
Use that time to think strategy. Well, they want to talk. You want to play. Outsmart them.

Hey, be blessed!! I'm having hard time finding people who want to spend time with me.

Yeah. I'm scared that's going to happen to me. I'm already rough around the edges, I don't need something else that people don't want to deal with. My best friend/brother already told me he's not learning any sign; I better get used to texting.
 
I don't know how bad it is... :/ I'm procrastinating going to an audiologist because I'm stuck in a mindset of, "what's the point, knowing isn't going to change anything."



This cheered me up a lot. Thank you for that. Hahaha.

Don't procrastinate. Go to the audi. You may find that hearing aids are a great benefit. The longer you wait, the more your brain will forget how to process sounds.
 
Don't procrastinate. Go to the audi. You may find that hearing aids are a great benefit. The longer you wait, the more your brain will forget how to process sounds.

Hadn't thought of that. I'll schedule something...
 
Yeah. I'm scared that's going to happen to me. I'm already rough around the edges, I don't need something else that people don't want to deal with. My best friend/brother already told me he's not learning any sign; I better get used to texting.

So did your brother fail to inherit the OI gene? He is certain he isn't going to lose his hearing?

He doesn't sound too nice.
 
So did your brother fail to inherit the OI gene? He is certain he isn't going to lose his hearing?

He doesn't sound too nice.

Nah, we're not blood brothers. We're just... That close. Always have been.

But yeah. He's kind of a dick. It's just his nature. But I'm wondering, if my best friend in the world has this kind of take on what's happening to me, what about everybody else that I associate with?
 
I don't know how bad it is... :/ I'm procrastinating going to an audiologist because I'm stuck in a mindset of, "what's the point, knowing isn't going to change anything."



This cheered me up a lot. Thank you for that. Hahaha.

I'll tell you what... I wore hearing aids growing up. I stopped when I was around 13 or so. Didn't wear them again until a couple months ago.

THEY ABSOLUTELY HELP. I'm understanding my customers better. It's not a cure but they ABSOLUTELY help.
 
I'll tell you what... I wore hearing aids growing up. I stopped when I was around 13 or so. Didn't wear them again until a couple months ago.

THEY ABSOLUTELY HELP. I'm understanding my customers better. It's not a cure but they ABSOLUTELY help.

My uncle has them (he's got the same problems), and he refuses to wear them. He says they don't help with what he's lost, they just amplify what he's got left, and it doesn't help. I guess it's different for everybody?
 
My uncle has them (he's got the same problems), and he refuses to wear them. He says they don't help with what he's lost, they just amplify what he's got left, and it doesn't help. I guess it's different for everybody?

Absolutely is different for everybody but I'm betting your uncle has a poorly tuned hearing aid or a bad audiologist. Your uncle also may not understand the PURPOSE of these hearing aids. That is what they do... amplify. They are not a cure. Once one comes to terms with that fact... they'll appreciate them more. I'm not saying your uncle doesn't understand. Just putting in thoughts on possible issues.
 
NitroHonda said:
Quote:

Originally Posted by Cdodd

My uncle has them (he's got the same problems), and he refuses to wear them. He says they don't help with what he's lost, they just amplify what he's got left, and it doesn't help. I guess it's different for everybody?

Absolutely is different for everybody but I'm betting your uncle has a poorly tuned hearing aid or a bad audiologist. Your uncle also may not understand the PURPOSE of these hearing aids. That is what they do... amplify. They are not a cure. Once one comes to terms with that fact... they'll appreciate them more. I'm not saying your uncle doesn't understand. Just putting in thoughts on possible issues.

Yeah. Well, I'm not sure about it. All I know is he's got one for each ear, and he uses them occasionally, but for the most part they sit in the center console of his truck.


Posted from Alldeaf.com App for Android
 
Yeah. Well, I'm not sure about it. All I know is he's got one for each ear, and he uses them occasionally, but for the most part they sit in the center console of his truck.


Posted from Alldeaf.com App for Android

It's a lot of work wearing them. No doubt. It takes a very HUGE adjustment to using them. Especially being late-deafened yourself. I was born Deaf so my experiences are a bit different. For example... I would think that I'm able to do so because I wore them when growing up. I'm used to them. They do come off the SECOND I get home though but I have a Deaf family so I have that "opportunity" to toss them in the dryer. It's tiring wearing them.
 
Your uncle may have analog hearing aids. Today's digitals are a great improvement, for most, over the analogs. My hearing aids have "sound recover" which transposes high freq sounds into a freq that I can hear. I can now hear the bells on my cats' collars. Not saying that's a good thing :giggle:, but letting you know how today's hearing aids work. Can't say that all hearing aids do this, though.
First thing is to find an audiologist that you're comfortable with and who does not appear to be more interested in selling you hearing aids but is more interested in helping you hear the best you can.
 
Yeah. I'm scared that's going to happen to me. I'm already rough around the edges, I don't need something else that people don't want to deal with. My best friend/brother already told me he's not learning any sign; I better get used to texting.

Yeah, I sell a lot of my bikes to people who text. Yes, people do text!! I know that not everyone texts, but it's not a foreign topic. I'm sure that some people text more than me. Some texts less than me. Life goes on.
 
Your uncle may have analog hearing aids. Today's digitals are a great improvement, for most, over the analogs. My hearing aids have "sound recover" which transposes high freq sounds into a freq that I can hear. I can now hear the bells on my cats' collars. Not saying that's a good thing :giggle:, but letting you know how today's hearing aids work. Can't say that all hearing aids do this, though.
First thing is to find an audiologist that you're comfortable with and who does not appear to be more interested in selling you hearing aids but is more interested in helping you hear the best you can.

Will do. I'll probably see my step-mom's audiologist. I saw him a few years ago when I started having issues... Actually, that's something else that keeps me away. In a sound-controlled room, I hear the sounds I'm supposed to hear, so they can't find anything wrong. :/ That's what happened last time? I mean, what if it happens this time? I don't want to waste my time dealing with something they can't measure beyond calling it CPS (cocktail party syndrome). I dunno. This is really starting to bum me out.

Edit: This is what I found that pretty closely describes what I'm experiencing. Actually, I think all of them apply except that I hear men and women both equally crummy. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003291.htm
 
The people in my life got real pushy about me getting and wearing hearing aids. I was not real excited about them. The cost is horrible. They are visible. They are electronic gizmo's packed into your ears. All in all I was reluctant.
They are much better now and it is kind of nice to hear. At your stage of loss you are probably called moderate loss. This means there is a lot you are missing and most of it is right smack in the range of what could be called social hearing.
It is well worth the hassle of it all to number one get everyone off your back-they will still be a pain because they will be naturally thinking, allright problem solved. No it isn't solved but you are in the right zone - and that is a lot. The HA's now are very good and once you are using them they will be a big help to you.
 

It's possible, but it's very remote.

Going through the symptoms list:
I'm not easily distracted or bothered by loud/sudden noises...

Noisy environs aren't upsetting to me at all, except that I can't pick out more than one or two words in a sentence, depending on the level of noise.

My behavior and performance are constant in any setting.

I don't have any reading, spelling, writing, or other speech-language difficulties.

I'm actually an abstract thinker, no difficulties there.

Word math problems are a problem for me, but math in general is an issue. I'm terrible at it.

I'm not disorganized, but I do forget things if I don't consider them important (who doesn't?).

Conversations are only hard for me to follow if people are all talking at the same time.
 
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