A better quality of life

For 30 years ive been wearing hearing aids.

For 30 years I did without.

 

Which was better?

 

As a child I always made eye contact with everyone, we were taught it was polite. It was a great way of lip reading process. Furthermore, a lot of observing was going on, and seeing what other people did not see. You are looking so serious they said to me, as a small child. I was always frowning to check what was going on.

 

Apparently I had a small hearing loss.

 

At school things went good and slow. I enjoyed writing written dictation, and apparently the teacher realised she had to stand next to my desk. For mathematics it was a different matter, the teacher had to explain the sums several times, the same for algebra and geometry.

 

So I often went home without a clue.

 

Luckily my parents would talk to the teacher, and I would get some extra teaching. But typically things went by unnoticed.

 

At secondary school the dutch teacher called me one time, and asked me did I hear all right?

Me still denying.

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When I was thirty I had two small children, and I did not really hear the baby talk. What I did hear was the crying. So I was very keen on listening and watching what was going on. Anyway, they were happy babies, what with the attention.

 

Now recently I got my first granddaughter, and I hear her talking ah ohh and chatting away like Pebbles flintstone, making some small talk and sounds.

 

I was wondering, is she the only baby that talks already, but after checking with all friends I hear all babies do this. A big miracle, and lots of happiness to hear this!

 

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A big step forward was made when I got a hearing aid at 30 years of age.

The moment I put this hearing aid on, the world opened up, and the next morning it was wonderful.

 

The children seemed to be talking a lot more to me, and I could hear the neighbour whistle again. The cows mooed as they had not done before, this was funny because we had lived between the farms in Ireland and I thought they were rather quiet. When I got the hearing aids I had moved back to Holland already.

 

I could communicate with the neighbours, they knew I was hard of hearing, but now we could have a lot of conversations with coffee. Taking the kids to school on the back of my bike, and discussing their progress with the teachers and other parents.

Also the local gossip was shared by all the neighbours on my only free morning, being single with two toddlers. I was able to say no thanks to that coffee morning.

 

--Joining the regional association for the hard of hearing, and becoming a volunteer.

 

Going to town, and hear what people were saying, and noticing at the sale if new bargains were brought up.

 

At work, there was more communication, and also more noise. It was great to be able to communicate with the colleagues. Turn on the radio, tv and understand words.

 

- It did take a lot of energy to work, and trying to catch all gaps at communicating, but some employers were better than others. What I did think was that everybody seemed so nonchalant, indifferent.

 

Go on holidays, and hear people talk in all languages, not that we could understand all Babylonian languages, but the folklore music was great to hear.

 

Now after 12 years of sharing and looking for information, my experiences and advices from hard of hearing and deaf people, I find that its very important to

 

- give good information about hearing aids.

 

- On telly theres a lot of commercials about free hearing aids, and hearing 100% . These are standard hearing aids, and often most sounds are enhanced, so it can easily become very painful to hear cups and spoons rattle, and the sounds in the background are too strong for your ears.

 

- It remains extremely important to fit on different hearing aids on the individual person. It is very important to go back to the specialist, the audiological centre and later to the shop.

 

- They can readjust the different sounds and timbre, so that it will match better with the individual’s ears, and their home and work situation.

 

- This makes ALL the difference.

 

 

People don’t always realise its possible and necessary to keep going back to the audiologist and shop, after they have found the proper hearing aids, because once you get used to the ‘new’sounds provided by the hearing aid, they should get reset.

 

Also, what is very important, is a course for lipreading, and total communication.

What happens naturally to hard of hearing or deaf people is lipreading, but to improve one’s life it is very important to practise and improve one’s lipreading skills. It also saves a lot of energy from the ears, but it also improves one’s social life.

 

Even when watching television one can practice this, apart from the course. In television programs often people speak very fast, and one cannot do but try and lipread, and watch the person’s body language.

 

It is also very important to learn sign language, and ideally everybody should learn this, even if to a lesser extent. People often say: oh.. a hard of hearing person does not need to learn this, but it is so much easier to keep up a conversation, and makes it much more livelier.

 

For example, after 30 years of enjoying the hearing aids, the hearing went down significantly, so when I take the hearing aids of for swimming or so, I am practically deaf.

 

What I have noticed and experienced in my work with deaf sports people, and deaf teachers, is that communicating by means of sign language and finger spelling, makes life so much better. After conversations with deaf environment, and deaf people, I feel a lot lighter and more energetic, than after trying for 3 hours to keep up with the hearing world.

 

So I would advise everyone to learn sign language, and total communication.

 

Internet and facebook is an extensive way to keep informed and social, but its much nicer to be able to keep up a good conversation personally, ideally supported by the individual proper hearing aids, other technical devices, and total communication.

 

There is a lot of technical devices, which the audiologist could inform you on, and which make a lot of difference, like hearing loops etc.

 

Also subtitling makes the telly and film situation a lot better. There is a SOAP association, which internationally keeps improving the subtitling.

 

The Cochlear implants make a lot of difference, and ive known old people enjoy a new life after their new implant. Many friends profit from this. Of course its very important that these appliances get tests after implementing.

 

These days many young children and even babies get cochlear implants, because it is also better with their language development. Often this works out very well, even though there is a lot of hard work to be done by child and environment.

 

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For a better quality of life, I find it very important to give a lot of after check ups and control of hearing aids and all equipment. Often it is a matter of a simple battery, a plastic connection between hearing aid and mould, which appears to make a person’s life a misery. (when the plastic tube was cut off too short).

 

That’s why it is very important to keep up a social program to inform medical professionals and volunteers of associations of hard of hearing people, and late deaf people, and to keep their knowledge up, and renew the latest information.

That’s why the NVVS dutch association for hard of hearing people installed a program for health care for the elderly and hard of hearing people. This implies that the association and its volunteers approaches homes for the elderly, staff, residents and manager, about giving speeches and assistance to these groups.

Their volunteers have worked with hard of hearing people, both on individual basis and for groups, very solidly.

 

This new program was made to keep up the good work in a national way, so that everone can benefit from this information and personal assistance. For instance, in a home for the elderly when a group of residents is unable to attend these speeches, a volunteer can join them and during coffee, they can check batteries, cut off a new piece of plastic tube to connect to the hearing aid and the ear mould and turn the hearing aid on. (often the apparatus is a bit awkward to handle for the fingers when people are rheumatic etc).

So a better quality of life could be made by more personal contact,

Testing the hearing very well,

Providing the hearing aid which fits and matches the individual client,

Teaching lip reading and total communication (in small groups for social contacts)

Teaching sign language and finger spelling and

Enjoying all events which are organised by deaf and hard of hearing (sports, theatre) organisations

 

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Conclusion:

 

So I have come to the conclusion that for many people the proper hearing aids and devices will suit many people, but only if plenty of time and energy is spent at fitting on the exact size and type of hearing aids, or other devices as CI. Also as much important it is to teach all about sign language, watching expression of face and posture, and looking at each other.

 

Also what I find just as important is to have good lights, so that one does not have the sense and feeling of crawling through the dark.

 

Maybe my most important conclusion is: if people turn only candles on, or stay in the dark, I’m off.

 

 

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