The photo below shows CART in action! Real time captioning of an ALDA-Maine meeting. The text of our discussions is projected onto the wall. It is being typed by a special professional who has the skills of a court steongrapher, and also additional skills and training to provide verbatim real time captions for ALDA meetings. If you would like to request CART for YOUR meeting or group, please contact us soon! Email alda-maine@caregiving-online.com

COME ALONG WITH ME - YOU ARE NOT ALONE WITH ADULT HEARING LOSS

Lauren E. Storck, Ph.D. Online Consultant for Life Transitions,[1]President, ALDA-Maine[2]; Staff, Center on Aging, UMaine; Member, HOH/LD Ad Hoc Committee of the Division on Deafness, Maine[3]

THE FACTS AND NOTHING BUT

Hearing loss is one of the most common conditions affecting older adults. Roughly one-third of Americans over age 60, and 40 to 50 percent of those 75 and older have hearing loss. Across all ages, thirty-one million Americans, about one in three to ten (depending on age), are affected by hearing loss or deafness. This is a significant and large percentage of people, more than most of our neighbors realize.[4]

INTRODUCTION

I am a psychologist and have a long career working with people and groups in many different settings. You might imagine how surprised I was when, about seven years ago, I was told that I was losing my hearing, and it was already a serious loss of hearing for speech sounds. The audiologist actually started to cry. “Wait a minute!” I said. “I’m not ready to cry yet! Tell me more and let’s keep talking.” My husband and I walked out of the specialty clinic in a stunned silence. What to do next?

Suffice it to say that my hearing loss changed my life and my work. That day described above introduced me to new journeys. Hearing loss has tested my faith in myself, and it has strained many encounters with others. At the same time, it continues to teach me so many new things, and to introduce good new experiences.  We are never too old or too deaf to learn, to love, and to share life with our families and our communities, with or without good hearing.

I qualify as an older adult now also – and I hope I also can say, in future years, what my mother used to say when she reached 80. “I am beginning to feel old,” she said, and she lived until age 90. She became hard of hearing during those final ten years, and it was a form of high frequency hearing loss. My father however suffered from a more serious (and isolating) hearing decline for many years (from about age 50), though he denied it and told us how we “mumbled.” I inherited his form of hearing loss --losing hearing for middle frequencies, for all speech sounds, and I "progressed" from being "hard of hearing" to being "deafened."  

Hearing loss remains a confusing topic for everyone - including me, including my family, and including many specialists (with ‘normal’ hearing) who offer products and services. Like everything else in our lives, some products and services are great, and some are not. Each person with acquired hearing loss needs to find the right mixture, and other people to provide good information and support. 

THE EXPERIENCE OF ADULT HEARING LOSS (WE ARE NOT BORN DEAF)

Instead of ignoring or denying hearing loss, many of us know it is important to talk about it more. We want to educate ourselves, find supportive networks, keep healthy and active, and also find the best medical, rehabilitative, and social systems of support and care. Being deafened or hard of hearing is nothing to be ashamed of, and we do not become “daft” or “dumb” because we lose clear hearing. Neither are we, most of us, members of the Deaf culture that speaks sign language. While some learn sign language, most of us need and have a right by law to other "equal access communication" systems (such as captioning).

Adult hearing loss is not a new fact of life. However, it now affects many more people now who are living longer and longer lives, and also the population bubble of many ‘baby-boomers” (the high birth rate between 1946 and 1964) is NOW adding significantly to the number of adults with hearing loss. Also, it is only in recent years that our deafened and hard of hearing voices are joining together and being heard, to explain our needs.

Adult or acquired hearing loss is different from being born without hearing (different from being born deaf and learning sign language to use with all family and friends). Our needs and experiences are different, and just as important, For example, we live in the ‘hearing’ world and use lip-reading as best as we are able. Many of us do not consider ourselves sick, nor disabled (though our hearing is disabled). Some of us believe that new models of adult hearing loss are needed, as well as new resources to help us communicate with others.

Our hearing loss is often confusing, since our hearing may vary from one situation to another. Our ability to use our reduced hearing depends on many different factors - a person’s voice, the size of the room and other acoustical features (glass or carpeting). It also depends on the amount and type of background noise (e.g. most restaurants are uncomfortable; even at home, some humming and buzzing of different appliances can be discomforting). Other important factors are how much the speaker articulates (moves their lips), if they have a mustache, if they turn away or cover their mouth, etc. It’s very important to ask people to speak as clearly as they can, and to locate a little extra patience.

WHAT TO DO AND LEARN

Many techniques and assistive technologies are available to try and to use, such as hearing aids, “listening systems,” and cochlear implants (the latter require surgery) These technologies do one thing primarily - they make sounds louder. Some also focus on increasing the loudness of selected sounds, and help make conversation easier in some situations by improving our ability to hear and also understand what others are saying. However, speech discrimination is still one of the major concerns of all people with hearing loss, and it is vital for our lives as ‘social’ beings. 

Therefore, other ‘helpers’ are just as important and not widely understood, nor provided for all, such as special telephones with ‘text’ to display the speaker’s voice, readable and consistent captions on television channels), and good captioning in all public places (see Link on this website about the Law on the "Musings" pages). A few other very significant ‘helpers’ include asking others to face us when they speak, learning to lip read, explaining to others the importance of speaking clearly (not to shout).  Their patience will be returned with much appreciation, and in kind, when they need our help for other things.

Adult hearing loss is not only an individual change – hearing loss affects our whole family – our friends, and work associates, and all the people who offer us services every day. It takes courage to explain that you have a hearing need, and it requires understanding on all sides. Sometimes some extra counseling is needed to face the strains, and to build new solutions.

Adult hearing loss is an opportunity[5] also – it helps us learn so much more about how the world is full of people, each with a “spectrum of abilities”  We all have strengths and weaknesses, and even hearing loss, often devastating and depressing at first, can become a rest-of-life learning pathway. I invite you to learn more about it with us, and join us to communicate together.  

APPENDIX

Modified from this resource: http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/older.asp

Do I have a hearing problem?

Ask yourself the following questions. If you answer "yes" to three or more of these questions, you may have a hearing problem and it is suggested you have your ears checked by a physician, and your hearing tested by an audiologist. .

A Newer Technology - Cochlear (COKE-lee-ur) implants are a newer assistive technology that involves surgery. Older adults with profound or severe hearing loss are beginning to receive these implants more often. Consult with a specialist (an Ear, Nose, and Throat Physician).

The phto below shows how easy it is to chat real time on the Internet also. We use IM systems (instant messenger) or make 'chat calls' using one of our sponsors (see links pages please). Modern technologies are needed in many places in Maine, e.g. high speed wireless Internet connections in all meeting rooms. This is not a luxury any more in our modern world. We need technology for equal access and real time communications for all.