Page 8 - Boca ViewPointe - May '21
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Page 8, Viewpointe                                                    May 2021


      Step Right Up And ‘Hear’ All About It



      By Judy Goldstein                                  about to wait that long. I immediately was fitted with a   battery-operated mom. They were extremely supportive
                                                         pair of high-quality hearing aids and it changed my life   of my choice to help myself. And, many years later when
         Approxim a te l y 30                            for the better. I also discovered that inserting them into   my grandson was just a toddler, he first saw my hearing
      million Americans  have                            my ears wasn’t much different from putting on a pair of   aids sitting on a dresser. I taught him not to touch them
      a hearing problem* and I                           earrings each day.                                and to respect them. To this day, he still does.
      am one of them. I am not                              Whenever I went on a date, or following several dates      A loss in hearing is an individual experience, and
      alone, and I have never                            with the same person, I would tell him I had a hearing   everyone must find his/her way to cope. Although
      been embarrassed to talk or                        loss. I wanted to be honest, and I wanted to see if an   my  bilateral,  high-frequency,  sensory-neural  hearing
      write about my limitations.                        inherent flaw in me would be acceptable. Only once did   loss progressively worsened over time (and especially
      I have addressed them                              I come upon a man who was not understanding of my   following menopause), it didn’t just sneak up on me. I
      in articles previously                             circumstance. Engaged for a time, my fiancé would blast   was already acclimated and realized my limitations. Other
      published in  the  Fort                            music over his car stereo. When I asked him to please   people may not have that amount of time to adjust. As a
      Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, the  Orlando Sentinel, and   lower the volume, he became annoyed and wouldn’t   result, they oftentimes feel anxious, frustrated, depressed,
      Hearing Health Magazine. I embrace my impairment   abide. This happened again and again. He was surely not   tired or isolated. Their self-confidence may also become
      because it is a part of me.                        marriage material, at least for me. (When we broke up,   diminished.
         In  addition,  I  have  never  succumbed  to  the  still-  he did, however, tell me to keep the ring. Go figure!)     Please hear this: If you suffer from a hearing disability,
      existent stigma that having a hearing loss means I am      I knew it couldn’t be easy to live with someone who   you are not alone. While not a cure, hearing aids do help
      “old.” In fact, my hearing problem first surfaced when I   was hearing impaired. My sister-in-law was married to   most people with reduced hearing abilities. So don’t feel
      was 24, just after the birth of my first child. At the time,   my brother for many years before he, too, developed a   sorry for yourself. Help yourself. Due to technological
      my  infant  had  received  a  wind-up  stuffed  animal  that   reduction in his hearing. From the onset, she joked about   advances, there are many more assistive devices on
      played music. I couldn’t hear it. I thought it was broken,   how he went around muttering “huh?” from morning till   the market today, from Bluetooth-enabled hearing aids
      but after mentioning this to my (then) husband, he told   night. Fortunately, he bought hearing aids a few years   and headsets to telephones that translate voice into text
      me it worked just fine. I also couldn’t hear our home   later.                                       (captions).
      telephone ring unless I was directly next to it.      Interestingly, many people in our family appeared to      I am not deaf, and I can see. Hearing loss is a condition,
         It became obvious that something was wrong with my   be predisposed to having a hearing problem – my paternal   not a disease. Surely that is a lot to be grateful for.
      hearing, and I immediately sought help even though I was   grandfather, aunts, and some of my cousins in that same      *Source: The National Institute on Deafness and Other
      young and frightened. (Would I never hear my child’s   heritage line now also wear hearing aids.     Hearing Disorders.
      first spoken word?) I underwent a series of hearing tests,      My children, who were in college when I bought my
      brain and neurological tests. Although no specialist could   first pair of hearing aids, thought it was cool to have a      Judy Goldstein is a professional writer living in La Paz. 
      determine the cause, I had indeed developed a hearing
      loss. Then, as my daughter began to grow, my hearing
      ability seemed to miraculously improve, returning to   How to help someone to hear better
      normal within a matter of months.
         After a decade, my hearing impairment returned. But
      this time it was intermittent and tied into my menstrual      If you have a spouse, significant other, family   him/her. (I usually have to watch the lips of the
      cycle. I was able to predict the days of each month   member, friend or associate with a hearing loss,   person speaking to me; this has become more
      when my hearing would be good, as well as the days   here are some things to help you understand their   difficult when someone wears a mask due to the
      my hearing loss would return. So, what was a girl to do?   circumstance, and to help them as well:   COVID-19 pandemic.)
      The only thing that made sense to me: I set up a dialog      •  Being  hearing  impaired  doesn’t  mean  that      • Practice patience and don’t become annoyed.
      between my audiologist and my gynecologist. I was    the person hears nothing. Many of us hear noise   There is frustration on both sides. You might think
      sure that hormones were affecting my hearing ability.   inside of our ears or head that has nothing to   that raising your voice a gazillion decibels might
      Giving birth surely shakes up a woman’s hormones, just   do with speech, music or our surroundings. I   help,  but  it  usually  doesn’t.  Instead,  rephrase
      as menstruation does. (However, following the birth of   oftentimes hear the sounds of a TV test pattern,   what you wish to communicate. Using other words
      my second daughter, my hearing was okay.) Neither of   or the familiar Snap, Crackle & Pop of my favorite   could make a world of difference. (That works for
      these specialists had heard of hormonal-related hearing   childhood cereal. Others hear ringing. And those   me because I have difficulty with consonants – a
      loss. Nevertheless, together they put me on a low-dose   interior sounds can drown out exterior sounds.  T sounds like a V; an S sounds the same as an
      progesterone birth control pill regimen that returned my      • Adapt  to  using  closed  captions.  (I  cannot   F, and so forth.)
      hearing to normal levels for approximately eight years.   understand most spoken words on TV or on my      •  Be  compassionate.  We  didn’t  ask  for  our
         After that period (no pun intended), the treatment   iPad without them.) Putting the volume on higher   hearing problems! And, who knows…you may
      became ineffective. By then I was in my early forties,   doesn’t usually help.                       develop a hearing impairment of your own
      divorced, and in the working world where clear          •  Don’t  speak  to  someone  with  a  hearing   some day and will want your loved ones to be
      communication was paramount to doing my job. I had   loss  if  they  are  in  another  room.  Be  close  to   compassionate over your condition, too. 
      the needs of co-workers, clients, vendors and the media
      to address. Initially, I did the best I could, but it became
      apparent I required help. I stopped being as “out front”
      as I always had been and avoided challenges I normally
      welcomed, preferring to blend into the background
      whenever I could. And, socially, I started to withdraw.
      I was tired of asking “What?” a dozen times during a
      conversation. I was certain people didn’t like repeating
      themselves. At times I would respond and, from the looks
      on their faces, I had heard them incorrectly. Consequently,
      I believed that I appeared stupid in their eyes.
         After returning to my regular physician and audiologist,
      I told them I was ready to wear hearing aids. Surprisingly,
      they told me I should wait because I was still young. Even
      they recognized the stigma involved.
         Many people are in denial that they have a problem,
      or they simply are too vain to admit it, go to a doctor
      for testing, and then purchase hearing aids. They are
      concerned that they will be perceived as “old” if they
      need these devices. This longtime stigma prevails because
      aging is the strongest predicator of hearing loss among
      adults. I read somewhere that it takes an average of seven
      years for someone to seek medical guidance. But I wasn’t




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