Donna Woods’ world didn’t sound crystal clear a few years ago.
“I started noticing hearing loss in my late 40s and early 50s,” she said.
Although the Bowling Green woman had tried using hearing aids twice, she ended up taking them back within the trial period.
“I didn’t feel like I heard any better, plus it was an ego thing,” she admitted. “I felt hearing impairment was a sign of old age.”
It wasn’t until one day when she was driving and straining to hear her young grandson, who was in the car with her, that Woods began to truly understand what was at stake.
“I could not understand what he was saying to me when he was in his car seat,” she said. “I knew I wanted to do something.”
Woods was one of several people who attended the Hearing Loss Association of America’s new support group Tuesday at The Medical Center’s Health and Wellness Center at Greenwood Mall.
“We focus on education, advocacy and support to the hearing impaired and those around them,” said Ed Schickel, a volunteer hearing assistive technology resource. “Sometimes people around the person with hearing loss is frustrated.”
The meetings, which are at 4:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month, feature a program on some aspect of hearing loss and social time so that people can share ideas that have helped them.
“The support group is important because we don’t always understand our own hearing loss and what’s out there to help us,” Schickel said.
The meetings will be real-time captioned, said Schickel, a former co-state Kentucky chapter coordinator for HLAA.
“Sometimes people are afraid to come to meetings because they’re afraid they won’t understand,” he said. “They will be able to read what the speaker is saying to them almost as rapidly as the presenter presents. We also have listening devices. Individuals can wear a headset with a receiver.”
While the HLAA support group has been available in other areas in Kentucky, it is new to Bowling Green, said Schickel, who works with a chapter in Bardstown.
“We’ve had a couple of people talk about it,” he said. “We have been to other meetings and want to start a chapter in Bowling Green.”
Tuesday’s meeting was designed to help people with normal hearing communicate better with the hearing impaired. Noreen Gibbens, assistant director of audiology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, used a digitally filtered recording to show what hearing loss sounds like.
“For people with normal hearing, the response (to the demonstration) is usually kind of like, ‘Wow!’ The assumption is that a person puts on a hearing aid and it will be better. We’re still sending sound to an ear that is damaged. We’re just changing the sound that enters the ear canal,” she said. “It’s not just slowing down. It’s not just talking louder. Speaking louder tends to create a distortion in speech.”
Instead, it’s more about the range of frequencies, Gibbens said.
“The most common type (of hearing loss) in adults is high-pitch or high-frequency hearing loss,” she said. “This is because of noise exposure.”
Hearing impairment – which can be caused by a variety of things, including age, disease, noise and medication – is hard on those with the problem and the people around them, Gibbens said.
“Listening requires a lot of attention. It’s exhausting by the end of the day to be focused on so much,” she said. “Communication is a two-way street. It’s important to explain what your hearing loss is. Look at the speaker. Ask for clarification. Use amplification. Speak in a manner that maximizes the signal.”
Schickel, who is hearing impaired, said people who can hear often don’t understand how hearing loss can affect someone.
“Sometimes we hear, sometimes we don’t hear and sometimes we get every other word,” he said. “Even with hearing aids, I don’t always hear the doorbell or telephone.”
Hearing loss can rob someone of independence, but it doesn’t have to, Schickel said.
“Some people have been forced into nursing homes because they can’t hear the telephone or the doorbell,” he said. “There are simple things people don’t know exist that can allow people to maintain their independence and safety.”
Eventually, Woods decided to try hearing aids again. She said her latest pair – which fit behind her ears – allow her to hear more, possibly because of improvements in technology.
“These are working much better,” she said. “I miss only about 10 percent of what’s going on.”
Woods doesn’t worry about her ego anymore. If she can’t hear someone well, she doesn’t hesitate to ask him to repeat himself. At home she uses “TV Ears,” a television listening device. When she goes to movie theaters, she uses headsets that are available at the concession stands.
“You can sit on the top row midway and hear the best,” she said.
She is happy that there is a group to offer support for people like her.
“I hope to stay up to date on what is available to me as a hearing-impaired person,” she said. “I hope to be an advocate for hearing-impaired people.”
The next Hearing Loss Association of America support group meeting will be at 4:30 p.m. March 1 at The Medical Center’s Health and Wellness Center at Greenwood Mall. Ed Schickel, former co-state Kentucky chapter coordinator for HLAA, will present “Enhancing Your Life with Hearing Assistive Technology.” For more information, call 846-3800 or 502-349-6792 or visit www.hearinglosskyhome.org or e-mail ed@hearinglosskyhome.org or olivetree@hearinglosskyhome.org.
According to the Hearing Loss Association of America pamphlet “Questions and Answers on Hearing Loss”:
One out of 10 people in the United States has hearing loss.
At age 65, one out of three people has hearing loss.
Hearing loss ranks with arthritis, high blood pressure and heart disease as one of the most common physical conditions.
There are 43 million Americans with disabilities. Of those, 31 million have hearing loss.
It is estimated that 30 schoolchildren per 1,000 have hearing loss.
Copyright 2011 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)
