April 30th, 2008
Does it really matter?
I have heard many comments about hearing loss, but the most heart-breaking come from people who feel that is is not important to hear better-as if it doesn’t really matter.
Hearing enables a communication, and the lack of hearing promotes isolation. Is it crucial to communicate with others? Absolutely!
I saw a woman today who was not able to communicate with others. Granted, her health had failed her greatly. But chances are, several things in her life slowly deteriorated, and now she is just existing. A person does not have to have severe health challenges to move out of the communication arena.
When it becomes too difficult to understand speech, and when a person gets tired of constantly asking someone to repeat something it is easier to just withdraw from that situation. This is where isolation begins.
Recently I fit a 91 year old man with a hearing aid. It was his first one. He was very fortunate in that he probably has had hearing loss for a long time, and he still understands speech pretty well-and much better with the help of the hearing aid.
When a person has had hearing difficulties for a long period of time, they often lose the ability to understand speech, which also lends to one isolating themselves from others. This is a serious problem.
We are made to interact with people. When we lose the ability to do that, our drive to live decreases.
If you have a loved one who has hearing loss, please encourage them to do whatever they can to hear better.