My experience with hearing aids

[dalbino83]

I've sandbagged for years about getting hearing aids. I remember flunking my first hearing test back in grade school. My parents were so upset that I got a bad grade on the test that I decided I had to study harder to pass it the next time. Watching other kids, I learned that I should just nod and say I heard things when I really didn't, and then

Comments

[oldhalloween]

Yay! Isn't is just a whole new world?
I remember jumping out of the chair when I heard a toilet flush in another part of the building. Plastic bags still bug me. I tend to turn mine down when around a bunch of plastic bags. The last visit they set the software to filter wind on mine for driving with the windows down. That made a big difference.

[dalbino83]

It's not like glasses, that's for sure. I got my first pair of glasses when I was in fourth grade, and I remember vividly how marvelous it was to see such detail. Every leaf, every blade of grass - I had no idea everyone else could see like that! Even though my eyesight was only 20/30, or 20/40, it was a HUGE difference.

I wish the hearing aid experience could be like that. I can't say I love the quality of the sound; it sounds like a microphone, in that it doesn't sound organic. But it definitely is a lot better than nothing.

[podmeister]

We don't have hearing tests at school in the UK, but I think this would be a really good idea.
I'm sorry though that they put it across as a test that you either pass or fail, or get a bad grade on. As it's not something that can be changed, I can imagine it had a nagetive impact on quite a few students.
So glad that you've managed to get some relief in the end though!

[tiffanyharvey]

To bad you can't adjust the volume yourself. Maybe not right now, when you'd want to keep turning it down rather than training yourself, but later on when you are around abnormally loud things or quiet speakers.

I had a friend online that had hearing problems as a child because she was born with a cleft palate. Even now she is horribly embarrassed that she has hearing aids & hides the fact if at all possible. It makes me sad ~ I suppose she must have gotten picked on as a kid, because there is no reason to feel so bad about that!

[dalbino83]

The reason I don't need to adjust the volume (after the acclimation period I'm going through now) is that the volume is adjusted automatically in the device. If a loud sudden noise happens, the aids detect it and damp it down. It won't damp it down to complete muffling - if a normal-hearing person flinches at an oncoming police siren, so will I - but it will make it tolerable. The earpiece that goes into my ear is not a solid device. It has a crescent-shaped opening in it so that some of the sound waves reaching my ear are natural ones, so it wouldn't be possible to completely cut off the incoming sound.

This is not quite the style I have, but it helps you picture what I described.

[chienne_folle]

When I first got hearing aids, I was astonished at how loudly the pages rustled every time I read a book. It turns out that the world is FULL of noise! Who knew? :-)

[bandvamp01]

Good for you!! I don't understand the whole aversion to hearing aids; who the hell cares what other people think