The ‘First Cry’, the ‘First Word’, and the ‘First Laugh’ are all more than just a decibel of sound. It is the maiden attempt at communication and means a lot to our loved ones. Unfortunately, if people close to us are not fortunate to hear it, we are slowly made to understand our disability and our family takes steps to help us hear well. As time flies by, when we come to terms with our situation, it is our duty to let our friends and the people around us know that we live in a world of silence.
Most of the time, we feel shy to tell those around us that we have hearing loss. We feel intimidated to let people know that we are wearing hearing aids. There is no point in averting the situation by using sentences like:
It’s very noisy here, let us move to a calmer area
Can you be just a little louder?
Can you be more explicit?
These excuses are not good and it is high time we admit that we are having hearing loss and be bold enough to tell that we are wearing aids to compensate for it. But different people have to be told differently. It is simple and is based on what that person means to us. Here are some tips for telling people and seeing how we work together to make the most out of our relationships.
Family and friends
As stated earlier, family and friends will be the first to notice our problem. Even before we feel embarrassed, they will always be there to assure us about the setback and stand by us to address the problem. Before we begin to wear hearing aids, we should be ready to get used to them. Since not all friends or family will know that we are wearing hearing aids, we should be ready to explain to the second circle of contacts in a calm manner that we have difficulty hearing and we are using hearing aids.
Hard of hearing may not exist for all frequencies. We might have difficulty hearing certain noises or sounds. Therefore, to this close set of people or even strangers, we should pull ourselves up and explain that we are wearing hearing aids as certain sounds are hard to hear, certain environments are difficult to decipher, and certain sounds or noises make understanding speech difficult. While this situation may be embarrassing initially, we can be assured that this will definitely not be an exercise in futility. Instead, it will make people conscious of our hearing aids and feelings, and we are less likely to encounter conflict due to missing words and phrases in a conversation.
We can even seek help from a particularly close person or a friend to let people know that we have hearing loss and are wearing hearing aids. This close friend can act as a pillar of support to us and help our provider get an overall picture of how hearing loss affects our lifestyle.
Coworkers/boss
Now that the pandemic is over and we have all begun to work from the office too. We probably spend more time at work than at home. Our coworkers and boss should definitely know about our hearing loss and that we are wearing hearing aids. It is important that they should be aware of it as it will be the key to our performance at work and at-work interactions.
First and foremost we must explain to our boss how we are trying to improve performance by wearing hearing aids to overcome the hearing loss disability. We can even tell the boss how hearing loss affects the job and how others can help us to perform better.
Suggest that we always want to face the main speaker during a meeting.
Ask people if they can come around and face you directly so that sound waves can directly reach your hearing aids to prevent miscommunication.
We can even ask colleagues to email us before calling in person.
Making such suggestions will help us overcome the problem, make our job easier, and prevent us from getting into trouble (if we miss something important in a meeting or project).
We will also win the trust of co-workers and bosses as we need to rely on them to accomplish our key assignments and tasks.
Strangers
This group will be the hardest to explain as it will cause us some embarrassment. But it is best to tell them immediately about our hearing aids. Especially, if they are work-related strangers (clients or executives) we may not be able to understand them easily as we are not used to their words and speech. It is better to be upfront about our hearing loss than to feel on a different page during work-related conversations.
Hearing aids help us interact better with everyone. It is always good to be honest with people that we are wearing one as we can hear well in noisy environments too. By letting people know that we are wearing hearing aids, we can make our social experience more enjoyable instead of struggling to understand important conversations.
Reminders are good
Never feel shy to tell about the behind-the-ear invisible hearing aids as it will not offend people (if you do not respond the way they expect because of your hearing loss). As listed above, it is a great opportunity to give them a few pointers for better communication.
Realize that not everyone will remember that you have hearing loss! Reminding them periodically is important too.