Better Hearing Consumer

I’m a HoH (a person with hearing loss) and I’m a traveler. Last week, as a HoH On The Road, I went to Eugene, Oregon to participate in theatrical accessibility event called Traveling with Hearing Loss. (By now, you get what this article is about: hearing loss, travel, and hearing loops.) Eugene must surely be one of the most looped

Tell me, however much you know about your hearing loss – where did you learn it? From your hearing care professional? Hearing loss-related websites? Facebook? From a book on hearing loss? If you’re like most people, including me, your answer might be All of The Above. But my ongoing and best source of useful information has always been the writing

Whispery voices. Lips half-glued together as they make words. Speed-talkers. Speech manglers! It’s the classic struggle for the person with hearing loss: talking with someone who has ‘poor’ articulation. Even people with typical hearing can strain to understand when speech isn’t clear. For us, well-articulated speech is challenging enough to understand, let alone words with dropped consonants, too much breath

Recently, I had one of those “bad hearing days”. I found an article of mine from February 2015 that reminded me that these days do pass. Here it is, an example of self-help and strict editing. Ever had one of those days? A day packed with hearing boo-boos and embarrassing moments? A day when communication brings more pain than pleasure? When you are

People with hearing loss are flying high once more, although some of us with mixed emotions. Wonderful as it is to finally leave home (in some areas), the stresses of traveling haven’t changed. You don’t want to be late, the airport is cavernous with people going in all directions and you’re not sure where to go, you can’t find your

In these insane times, I’ve noticed an alarming tendency to chunk people into a group, and then assume that they all do and believe the same thing. We blame everyone for every unnerving act that any random person in that group might do. I’m not referring to politics or vaccine mandates or religion. I’m talking about the dividing line between

It’s EASY to convince ourselves that we’re doing ‘fine’ with our hearing loss: That we’re catching most of what’s said, Well, at least the important stuff – the rest’s not really worth listening to And no, we don’t intend to do anything about it Like getting a hearing aid or cochlear implant – Those are for other people, who have real problems.

We struggle to hear. We put our head in our hands as tinnitus rages and hyperacusis makes unbearable sounds inside our skull. Why me? We ask this silently to others but loudly to ourselves. Why does this have to happen to me? Why can’t I have an issue that medication or therapy can fix, or at least eliminate for a

I lose things. It’s a problem. Since I wrote this original article almost 10 years ago, new hearing aids and a cochlear implant have gone by, and it’s time to revisit the subject. Like I said, I lose things. Earrings and gloves are favorite things to lose – not the set, which would be better, but one of each. As

If you find it impossible to run and hide from the unrelenting noise and stress of your tinnitus, here’s something that may help. Tell it to buzz off! Tell your tinnitus you’ve got better things to listen to. Other things that deserve more attention. Easier said than done? Well, yes, if we don’t work at it. This week, for me,