Welcome to The Better Hearing Consumer. You may ask, does ‘better hearing’ mean better than no hearing at all, or better than missing out on only half of what’s being said? Better than WHAT!?
This is a blog that discusses our holy grail – the pursuit of living successfully with hearing loss, and that means aiming for good communication in every area of our lives.
For me, better hearing is the journey to better understanding of my hearing loss, knowing what I need to communicate well, and being able to advocate for what I need. But the journey can be a maze, because being hard of hearing or deaf, a cochlear implant or hearing aid user, means daily and ever-changing communication challenges. Even with the latest technology or the best speechreading skills, hearing loss never goes away. It’s the fountain that keeps gushing, the gift that keeps on giving. Once you’ve handled one communication obstacle – such as finally finding the closed captioning on your new HDTV – another one springs up, like the new boss with a bushy mustache or a strong accent.
This blog is all about sharing those challenges and solutions, a place to read about how others deal with technology, the lack of accommodation, hearing health professionals, and the emotions of hearing loss. Or simply how to get people to face us when they talk. My fellow bloggers on HHM are top hearing health professionals and I suspect that at least one of them also has hearing loss! Hopefully you’ll find this blog a good place to visit, to read and share about communication challenges, practical solutions and points of view. I will have guest bloggers from time to time, and we welcome your comments. Here’s to our ultimate goal – good communication in every area of our lives.
