I believe that with a fairly high level of certainty that I am accurate when I say that I am doing something no one else in the world will do today.
I could be wrong because I’m out of touch with the whole entire world, which is true. However, I refuse to accept that my belief is out of egocentrism or megalomania of relevance. It’s just that this seems like a ridiculous thing to be doing in my self-imposed time frame. I’m pretty sure other people have done it. Just probably not today with a deadline of today or tomorrow.
Today, on a Saturday, I searching both online and by calling businesses to see if I can get (before Monday at 9:00am) a meeting amplifier or convertible personal amplifier that can be a meeting amplifier. There must be better terminology for what I’m looking for and I’m pretty sure that I am closest to what I am seeking when I search with the words “hard of hearing.”
Why?
My hearing ability is getting worse. I am unsure whether it is permanent or related to an infection or some other problem. But ” it” (my hearing loss) is getting in my way. More than usual.
I already wear bilateral hearing aids but mine are the bargain models ($1,500-$2,500) and they are not self adjustable. I mean there is no volume knob on them. Yep. I can’t turn up my hearing aids. And I am struggling to hear wherever I am. I need to make an appointment with an Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) doctor but I haven’t yet. The ENT docs are the gatekeepers to the Audiologists – the hearing test and hearing aid people. I really need to do this. Ans, as we all know, doctors have limited hours during the daytime and our employers give us limited time off.
Excuses aside, I need help.
Monday morning, I have an important meeting with an important person. The acoustical good news is that the meeting is in my office: small and low ceilings. The bad acoustical news is Dr. Important Person talks quietly and I miss half of the things he says. Not only is
he important, the content of this meeting is incredibly important. He may or may not know that I wear hearing aids. But even if he does know or remember, chances are he doesn’t prepare for the meeting with a note, “Raise my voice in this meeting. Q is deaf.” That’s good manners around anyone deaf or hard of hearing. We’ll tell you if you’re being too loud.
In summary, I would love to have a discreet (but not stealth) device that can sit on my desk and amplify the other talker. It could be made to look like a small conference call device and as the person with hearing loss, I could quickly introduce the device with something like, “this helps me hear our conversation better. If you recall, I have a hearing loss.”
But instead, devices are ugly and worn by the person like a Walkman or a beeper or bluetooth phone headset. That’s not the impression I want to make. Plus, it leads to further discomfort because of the attention drawn by something like the devices in the photo. attention = more questions. When I have important meetings with important people, I am prone to nervous talk. You know, non-stop talking when it’s the smalltalk part. And like most nervous talkers, I don’t always choose the comfortable path. “Have you been deaf all of your life?” “Well, you see, my mother was a bit neglectful. I mean it’s no big deal now but, well, then again it is what I call the legacy of neglect so I guess it does bother me…anyway, my hearing….”
Well, I can’t seem to find what I’m looking for through online searching. It doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist but I doubt it’s something I can get in time for the big meeting. I’ll try contacting deaf and hard of hearing advocacy groups. They tend to have devices of all sorts and can likely steer me in some direction.
I can now spend the rest of my working on what I can say to request Mr. Important speak louder. With any luck, this practice will prevent nervous talk.
As persons with chronic illness and/or conditions, we likely do things, need things, think of things or search for things not many other people in the world would readily think of, etc. Care to share?
Best,
-Q
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: disability, hard of hearing, quality of life, living with disabilities, hearing loss, hoh, living with deafnes, nervous talking | 4 Comments »







