Impact On Others

What's the favorite word of many of us with hearing loss? Answer: What?

It's so natural that we often don't notice we are saying it. Everyone says it once in a while but there at least two things to consider if it happens too often.

First, it should be an indication that our hearing might not be as good as it once was. When we have to frequently ask people to repeat what they just said, we have to work harder to hear than people with normal hearing. And we often feel tired out after a time from just from listening and trying to understand words. In fact, we may reach a point in a conversation where it seems increasingly difficult to understand speech. This is called listening fatigue.

Another consideration is that it imposes more of a burden on people who are continually being asked to repeat themselves and it can become very irritating to them. Sometimes, it leads to responses such as "never mind" or "forget it, it's not important".

We can reduce our reliance on asking others to repeat by using the tools that help to understand words better: prescription hearing aids, OTC hearing aids, and Assistive Listening Devices (ALD).