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JamesJM
My type of hearing loss, unfortunately, can not be addressed by hearing aids. Or so it was THEN...
I hear they are very improved since my last checkup. I'm planning a revisit to see if technology has caught up.
I'm like you... I couldn't care less how 'visible' they are. My constant "huh? what? can you repeat that?" is a much bigger give-away than the sight of a hearing aid.
I apologize a lot.... when meeting new people these days I always start by telling them I have hearing problems... that if they could speak very clearly it will help a lot. And in a crowd I explain that if more than one person is speaking at a time all I'm going to hear is - "ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm". I also joke about it a lot -
After the person speaks I'll make up some absurd interpretation, (hopefully funny), to indicate I didn't quite catch what they said.
This didn't help at all, did it?
Well... knowing several people who now wear them ALL of them report great improvement... their only gripe, and it's a big one, is the discomfort in wearing them... or rather, more than the comfort it's the 'hassle' of wearing them that drives them nuts. - JamesJM
For years I would use the same joke to ease the moment when I had to tell someone to speak up.
After telling them I have trouble hearing, I always add "I even have a joke about it--it's:
my doctor told me what the problem is, but I couldn't hear him."
Youngsters these days talk lower. The one type I have the most trouble with is the shy 20-something young woman (let's say as a cashier in a drug store) and when I say I have trouble hearing, this type will get embarassed and as a result, speak lower than before. I then say (all smiling and friendly) "you may have to do what you personally usually consider shouting."
....
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/07/2019 04:33PM by zn.