My brother, last year, discovered he has hearing loss and it will only increase with age. I'm not sure to the degree of his hearing loss, but I think it's interesting that someone could go 18 years and not realize they couldn't hear well. Maybe it becomes the norm to not hear. Maybe he was so used to ignoring what people said if he couldn't understand them that he just didn't care. I'm not sure the thought process on that, but I think it interesting.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Hearing Loss Identification
Sometimes I wonder why people wait so long to be tested for their hearing. Hearing loss, I've discovered, runs in my family. However, we didn't know this until about a year ago. My mom has a slight hearing loss, we've known that for about 5 years. Really, that's not that long ago. Things have gotten harder for her. She's partially deaf in one ear and probably headed towards completely in one and partially in the other.
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I think whats real is that people go as long as they can go without facing the music because when they finally turn on the radio its something that they don't want to hear. I am sorry that hearing loss runs in your family. That can be hard. I remember naively thinking that "I know sign and if my hearing declines I will still be able to communicate." Although my reality changes and I can easily adapt because of my exposure to the culture the reality of my family does not change and they dont know how to sign. I think your post is relevant to the reality of life. Thanks for being transparent.
ReplyDeleteMy mom never wanted to admit it, that's true. My brother was a bit different. It started getting worse and worse. Having spoken to him about it recently, he said that he didn't realize it. He said he got his hearing checked because mom noticed he couldn't hear. Sure, they may not want to admit they are heading towards slight deafness, but I think he is okay with it while mom is not. To her, hearing aids identify her as being old. She didn't want them, and now regrets not being able to get them. My brother doesn't care one way or the other, he said. Says he'll just deal with it when it happens. Different opinions, I suppose. Not sure how I would react. And for now, I don't think about it because my hearing is still well above average. They aren't sure if it will ever decline to the extent of the others, hopefully that will remain.
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