I start any conversation by warning you: “I’m terribly deaf.” But you will not get it significantly. You feel I am exaggerating, or you commence by raising your voice then forget moments later, speaking at a regular pitch yet again, leaving me helpless.
In some 1-to-1 circumstances, I can pass for getting practically regular hearing. But in a restaurant or anyplace with background noise, I struggle. My hearing aids amplify every little thing, so it’s not that I cannot hear – it’s that I am enveloped in a torrent of noise.
I grieve for the loss of my hearing. When I was younger, going to a party would be an unalloyed pleasure. I in no way feel that now. I always feel dread.
Other disabilities are much better signposted as opposed to a wheelchair or a white stick, my hearing aids are so subtle, you can forget I am deaf. I have had encounters that have gone on for ten minutes, and I haven’t heard a word. I go on and on, seeking for clues and hoping I’ll get an thought. Then I think, “Even if I say pardon, how much of it am I going to request you to repeat? The final two minutes or the entire conversation?”
My concern is you’ll say, “So what do you consider?” But most folks by no means do that. If I mutely signify I am interested in what you’re saying by nodding, that’s very good enough for most. Possibly I haven’t heard a word, but I get the impression you go away contemplating, “That fella! He’s great company.”
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What I am really thinking: the guy with hearing aids
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