"What's the matter? Isn't your hearing aid working?"

I recently attended a networking fair where I met someone from the Center for Communication, Hearing and Deafness.  I asked some generic questions about the center and their services and then we ended up talking about the older clients at St. Ann Center, many who are hearing impaired.  Some people believe that if you just talk louder someone with a hearing loss will hear.  Or, if they wear hearing aids they will be able to hear but there is more to it than needing hearing aids.

In an article I recieved from the center titled, The hearing aid myth, it stated, "many people believe that hearing aids function like eyeglasses.  Most eyeglass wearers achieve 20-20 vision or something close to it with corrected lenses and have their day-to-day visual problems largely eliminated.  Hearing aids, while very helpful for most people who are hard of hearing, do not eliminate hearing problems.  Unlike glasses, the benefits of hearing aids are situation-specific, that is, they are very helpful in some situations, but not in others, such as, in noisy environments."

I also have a son who is hard of hearing and wears hearing aids so I understood this jist of this article but, it made me realize that many people who work with individuals who are hearing impaired don't.  Just because a person is wearing a hearing aid it doesn't mean that they can hear everything.  My son has permanent loss as do most people who wear hearing aids.  This permanent loss affects certain levels of sound and no hearing aid is going to make him hear that sound.

It is very important to remeber that when working or living with someone who is hearing impaired, there are  many different communication tools and strategies to aid and foster understanding and clarity.  The Center for Communication, Hearing and Deafness can help.