As reported on this blog, several weeks ago I received a hearing exam from my daughter-in-law Tiffany who is studying to be a speech pathologist. I didn't do well. Tiffany recommended that I get a second opinion in the form of a audiology exam from Kaiser, our health provider. It took a while to get a referral and appointment (although it turns out I could have called Audiology directly and save a couple of weeks).
This morning I had a nice visit with the lovely Tara Roberts, MS, CCCA who administered a battery of tests while I was comfortably seated in a soundproof room decorated with Eeyore, Winnie the Pooh, and friends. Unlike the test that Tiffany gave me, Tara's used a warbling tone that was easier for me to distinguish from the constant low level ringing I've had in my ears for years. So I thought I was doing great. Tara also read lists of words to me and had me repeat them as her voice got quieter and quieter. She also did a test where static was fed into one ear while I attempted to identify a sound in the other ear. It probably took close to a half hour for the whole test.
The results show that I have a mild to significant loss of hearing in both ears - from nearly normal at 250-500 Hz, to 10 dB loss at 1,000-2,000 Hz, to 40 dB loss above 4,000 Hz. Its no wonder that I don't enjoy hi-quality music as much as I used to. I simply don't hear a large portion of it.
Hearing aids aren't covered by our medical plan so we'll have to decide if the $3,000 to $6,000 investment in aids will make that much of a difference in the quality of my life.
On the other hand, I could simply try to change the world by doing such things as handing out the following which Tara gave me as I left her office:
SIXTEEN COMMANDMENTS FOR TALKING TO HEARING-IMPAIRED PERSONS.
1. Thou shalt not speak from another room.
2. Thou shalt not speak with your back toward the person with a hearing problem (or their back toward you).
3. Thou shalt not start speaking and then walk or turn away from the person with a hearing problem.
4. Thou shalt not speak in competition with background noise (turn off the radio/TV/running water, etc.)
5. Thou shalt get the attention of the person with the hearing problem (do not start speaking while they are reading or concentrating on TV, etc.). Call person by name or tap on their shoulder to get their attention.
6. Thou shalt remove obstructions when speaking (your hand from your face, the cigarette From your mouth, etc.).
7. Thou shalt speak distinctly and at a normal or a little slower rate. Do not over articulate since this will distort speech sounds and visual cues.
8. Thou shalt speak face to face at all times with proper lighting and no sun shining in the listener's eyes.
9. Thou shalt speak at a conversational level of three to six feet. Arrange the room for better communication distant of three to six feet from the speaker to the listener.
10. Thou shalt use visual cues such as lip reading, gestures, and facial expression to help understand conversations. Also repeat what you thought you have heard.
11. Thou shalt never, under any circumstances, speak directly and with a raised voice into the person's ear. The listener cannot make use of visual cues. This may also cause an already distorted auditory system to further distort the speech signal.
12. Thou shalt rephrase the statement if the listener did not understand the first time rather than repeating misunderstood words.
13. Thou shalt include the all persons in all discussions about him or her. Hearing impaired persons sometimes feel quite vulnerable. This approach will help alleviate some of those feelings.
14. In meetings or any group activity where there is a speaker presenting information (church meetings, civic organizations, etc.) make it mandatory that the speaker(s) use the public address system. One of the most frequent complaints among persons with hearing difficulties is that they may enjoy attending meetings of various kinds, but all too often the speaker, for whatever reason, tries to avoid using a microphone. Most persons begin to avoid public or organizational meetings if they cannot hear what the speaker is saying.
15. Above all, treat persons with hearing difficulties as adults.
16. Thou shalt take the time to help the hearing-impaired by respecting their hearing loss and to use steps as stated above. Thou shalt be PATIENT, PATIENT, PATIENT.
By Raymond H. Hull, audiologist, speech-language pathologist and director of audiology, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley
While the "thou shalts" are good and quite reasonable for most spouses, one might be honored with sainthood if they followed each and every one of the "shalts" on a hourly basis. My strong recommendation is to spend the money on the hearing aides. It makes communication so much better and in turn, a happier marriage. I promise, it is a very wise investment.
ReplyDeleteWell, my question is whether or not the hearing aide can be tuned for different frequency ranges? Something that just makes everything louder might help some, but would still leave you with distorted sounds. By contrast, if it boosts frequencies according to need, that could make your overall auditory experience much better.
ReplyDeleteLee
The expensive hearing aides operate on that premise....the cheap ones simply magnify the sound. One might make the comparison of buying eyeglasses that magnify at the dollar store vs. eyeglasses thru a optical perscription. It is the same idea. Ron's also self adjust to the different noise levels. If people are clapping or there is an intense burst of sound, the hearing aid determines what he should hear in a split second and makes that change. Not all hearing aides do that. Some require you to make that adjustment. The ones he had thru Kaiser were marginal at best. The clear tone ones he purchased here were 5000.00 and are worth every dollar. They also are nearly invisible so vanity is not an issue.
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