Katherine Ryback, guest speaker at The Rotary Club of Madison West Middleton’s Friday meeting, quickly read the room. She noticed several people, like herself, wearing hearing aids. Ms. Ryback’s hearing problems were discovered, while being tested for kindergarten. Many surgeries followed that discovery. Ms. Ryback’s career included work as a special education teacher, later focusing on deaf and hearing-impaired students. A member of the Hearing Loss Association of America - Madison Chapter, Ryback talked about some problematic statistical data. She said 14% of adults aged 20-69 have a hearing loss. Some 28.8 million adults in the United States could benefit from using hearing aids. Yet, despite a diagnosis in hand, most people will wait 7 to 10 years before addressing the problem. Maybe that’s you! This dawdling can have a negative impact on one’s physical and emotional health. It can stress family interaction, self- esteem and the ability to work with others on the job and/or at school.
Clues you may have a hearing loss might include regularly accusing others of mumbling, turning television volume way up, trouble following what people are saying, asking others to repeat, and having a feeling of being excluded from conversations. When listening to someone speak, you may find yourself puzzled by not hearing all of a sentence or even of a word, requiring your brain to mentally search for a word that fits the context or a sound to fill in what was missing. This is a taxing undertaking for the mind, and likely a source of exasperating irritation. Of course, while asking someone to repeat, you may solve your immediate issue, but it’s not the complete answer.
There are different types of hearing loss. An audiologist is key to helping one diagnose the problems. Getting the right hearing aid is more than simply buying a device over-the-counter. Ryback said hearing loss covers a wide spectrum. She used technical terms to include “sensorineural” and “conductive.” Audiologists, she said, will determine where on a scale your hearing loss exists, from slight to profound. Are the sounds you hear more difficult when they are low or high? The need for help isn’t always about volume, but may require enhancing clarity.
Besides hearing aids, there are other helps available for the hearing impaired. One simple assist is the availability of captioning on your television set. Even those without severe hearing problems may find captioning helpful. Your church, classroom or auditorium may be equipped with a T-Coil. This is an induction loop system, or a wire surrounding a room in which an audience is seated. The system transmits to tele-coil equipped hearing aids of audience members. One person Ryback spoke with told her she worked with a church to acquire such an installation, and it wasn’t as expensive as she expected. No numbers were given. Other helps might include alerting devices, pocket talkers and more.
Once you get hearing aids, don’t expect immediate gratification. Set your expectations for less than perfection. You have to learn the device. Practice! Realize there is a “six-foot rule,” meaning there is a rapid drop-off in clarity beyond that distance. If you are part of the “What and Huh” generation, see your local audiologist! Get the help you need. Your family and friends will thank you.