A s i s t i v

Don’t you hate missing the punch line of a joke? As a hard of hearing person, I would enjoy laughing along with the person telling the joke and everyone else in the room. However, I will guarantee you that I will miss that punch line every time! The micro-second delay of speech through my hearing aid to my brain is enough to miss the punch line because everyone is laughing while I am trying to catch it. This is so frustrating and not much fun. Somehow, a nearby person repeating this joke just doesn’t seem as funny. This is an example of feeling “left out”.

Picture this: Thanksgiving dinner with ten other family members talking and laughing during the meal. Sitting at the end of table (isn’t this the seat where most cooks sit…next to kitchen?) does not lend itself to good hearing situations for me. I can hardly hear whoever is sitting next to me. Needless to say, I really feel left out during these precious family gatherings.

Noisy restaurants: Are there any “quiet” restaurants? I have yet to find one. Under the best of circumstances, there will always be a noisy atmosphere given the other customers, wait-staff, hustle and bustle of busboys, rattling of dishes, silverware, glasses and ongoing conversations bring about calliope of NOISE!! Auugghh!! Sometimes using an assistive listening system will help bring conversation to HOH person with a one-on-one dinner experience but probably not done well for a group dinner.

Being a grandmother can have wonderful rewards. What do you say to a dear grandson who has been talking to you without your knowing it?! So often I cannot hear their high-pitched voices and feel totally inept as a grandparent. How do you tell them to rephrase something when they have repeated so many times already? This happens too frequently and is a source of sadness for me by missing these precious conversations.