The Way I Hear It
The Way I Hear It
Gael Hannan (The Way I Hear It) is a hard of hearing advocate that understands both sides of the fence between the consumer and the hearing health care professional. Gael’s columns are humorous, sometimes cutting, but always constructive and to the point.
When Hearing Loss Becomes a Way of Living
This week, I gave what has become an annual presentation to the first-year audiology students at UBC. Talking to future audiology professionals is one of my favorite things to do; it’s my kick at the can for helping them distill a passion for a person-centered care approach with their future clients. (One of which could very well be me; it’s happened before.)
This is my chance to explain that while we are grateful for our hearing aids and cochlear implants, technology is not the only fuel that drives our success in living with hearing loss.
It’s a journey, with many components, barriers, opportunities, and small victories. It becomes a way of living…
When hearing loss enters our lives,
When it takes hold and grows roots,
It becomes more than a medical condition or disability.
It transforms into a way of living, of being.
Hearing loss is what we have, not by choice,
But because we are organic creatures, vulnerable to changes
So, we have it and will have it until the time when science breaks through
The walls of its mysteries.
Until then, this way of living influences our actions,
Our responses and our interactions
With other people and the world.
Every day, or every hour, or sometimes minute-to-minute
We act and react because of our hearing loss –
What to do, where to go, and what we ask for from other people.
That person mumbles, has a soft voice, avoids eye contact,
I won’t go to that show, that restaurant, that party,
I can’t do that job, this relationship
Because it’s too hard. I’m tired of the energy I need to expend
In order to hear and understand.
Yet…
There should be no judgement on this way of living.
We were dealt this human condition, it is ours.
We can and must learn to handle our hearing loss
In as many ways as it affects us,
(Except, for now, how to get rid of it.)
We have the power to change and create
Listening environments that work.
We can revolutionize how we interact with other people – and they with us –
If we understand how to lean in to the rhythms of communication –
It’s a tango for two, a folk dance for many
When we assess and express.
We ask. They repeat and rephrase.
We move a chair, a seat, turn down the noise and turn up the light,
We speak face to face, eyeball to eyeball
We have tools, we have knowledge.
New technology. Behaviours and mindsets.
And we have people, those with hearing loss and those without,
Who walk with us because they want to talk with us.
This is the rhythm of hearing loss – it’s our way of living.