Hi, Linda,
This is a very interesting article. I recently had a hearing test and
found out I have a very mild to moderate hearing loss but I'm not to the
point where I need a hearing aid yet. I do have a bit of trouble with
speech at midrange. Thanks very much for sharing this article with us.
Rosie
On 2/22/2016 4:02 PM, Linda Gehres wrote:
Deaf-Blind Access Technologies and Strategies
Out of Sight or Out of Sound: There Is Always a Way--Living with a Secondary
Hearing Impairment
By Deborah Kendrick,
AFB'S "Access World, February 2016"
Ask any seasoned deaf person if they would prefer coping with no sight or no
hearing and, pretty consistently, you'll get the answer that it is far easier to
be deaf than blind. On the other side of the sensory arena, ask any seasoned
blind person the same question and you will get an absolute declaration that
blindness is the easier sensory loss to address.
In either case, part of the solution to "working around" a sensory loss is to
use the other in its place. Blind people learn to "see" what is around them by
using sound. Deaf people learn to "hear" what is around them by fine-tuning
their sense of sight.
When the sensory input channels for both sight and hearing are diminished or
diminishing, the challenge of finding methods for communicating, participating
and, in short, fully engaging in the joys of life loom larger, but are never
insurmountable.
In the 21st century, where technology blossoms exponentially on an almost daily
basis, there are plenty of work-arounds to be found. Because AccessWorld
regularly addresses the use of technology for those who are blind or have low
vision, this article will look at the combined vision/hearing disability from
the vantage point of someone who has little or no hearing and a secondary
disability of impaired vision.
Approaching the problem is simply for perspective in this article. There are an
estimated four million Americans with combined vision and hearing disabilities
and as we live longer, that number is steadily increasing.
Tell It Like It Is
With any disability, candor simplifies. If you have central but no peripheral
vision, carrying a long white cane informs those around you that you have
difficulty seeing, rather than allowing them to assume that you are rude or
clumsy.
Similarly, if you tell those around you that you have difficulty hearing, they
will generally speak up. If you don't tell them, you leave room for the mistaken
assumption that you are not paying attention or not very smart!
Take Charge of Your Own Sound Environment
When you are blind or visually impaired, your hearing doesn't magically
increase, but your attention to what you hear does. Hearing becomes more acute.
In a social context, this means you listen more carefully to what is being said
and how. Many blind people work in professions where the nuance of communication
is essential-- psychology, social service, law, and journalism--and individuals
find that these nuances can be gleaned using clues other than the visual ones of
body language and facial expression.
But if your hearing has decreased, the game changes somewhat. Perhaps you can
hear just fine in a quiet room if the person speaking to you is three or six or
perhaps eight feet away, but if the environment is noisy or the person
addressing you is at a greater distance, their voice is inaudible or
unintelligible.
The solution is to do everything you can to take charge and create an audio
environment that works for you. At a meeting or in a restaurant where there will
be ambient noise, choose a seat with a wall behind you. Thus, only the sound in
front of you will come into your ears. Select a seat that is centrally located,
placing you within equal range of as many of the voices as you want to hear as
possible. If there is a choice, always choose smaller rooms over larger ones,
and smaller groups over larger ones as well. In a lecture or performance
situation, sit in the first or second row, and as directly in front of the
person speaking or performing as possible. If background music is playing (and
competing with the sounds of human voices that you want/need to hear), ask if it
can be turned off or the volume decreased. Apply the same principles in your own
home or the home of a friend or family member. If people are gathered for a
meal, choose the most centrally located seat at the largest table. If the focus
of the gathering is to share a movie, sit close to one of the speakers.
Sound Technology
It may sound clichéd, but there has been no better time to experience hearing
loss than in the 21st century! Digital hearing aids are tiny and powerful. Many
of them are nearly invisible and, while the sound may not be exactly what it
would be if your biological hearing was perfect, the enhanced volume and clarity
such devices can provide is astonishing.
As with any change, there is an adjustment period involved in learning to hear
with hearing aids. You may experience the sense that your clothes are crackling
or your hair is, that your own footsteps are clattering, or that the commonplace
sounds of running water or opening food packages are suddenly raucous. When
hearing aids are new, fine-tuning them to the individual takes a bit of time and
expertise. Three or four trips to the audiologist, along with some patience and
a willingness to analyze the situation, will improve your experience and have
you reveling in the joy of hearing birdsongs and human conversation again with
ease.
But hearing aids are just the tip of the technological iceberg when it comes to
hearing loss. Bluetooth speakers and headsets can enhance the volume and audio
clarity of your TV, telephone, audio book player, and more. A high performance
Bluetooth sound bar, for example, can be paired with your TV, tablet,
smartphone, and more, to deliver room-filling sound that is loud and clear for
everyone.
Similarly, both wired and Bluetooth headsets can bring the sound from most
electronics directly to your ears. Using a headset with your iPhone, for
example, makes it much easier to hear and understand any audio from the phone,
whether you are listening to music, an audio book, spoken GPS directions, or the
other person in a phone conversation. In addition to the earbuds included in the
purchase with most smartphones, there are a number of high performance wired and
Bluetooth headsets to augment volume and clarity. Look for ones with inline
volume controls.
Direct Connections
In addition to the variety of external speakers and headsets designed to enhance
sound for everyone, the person who wears hearing aids has even more options for
a direct connection to sound. From wearables to mini microphones, the hearing
health marketplace is exploding with a smorgasbord of direct connection devices.
Want to be sure you hear every word of a movie playing on your television? There
is a device that can plug into the auxiliary port on your TV and deliver its
audio directly into your hearing aids. The same technology can be used for
direct delivery of sound from virtually any electronic device in your home or
work environment.
Want to be sure you hear everything a presenter has to say? Ask him or her to
clip a small microphone-like device to a jacket (or wear it around the
neck) and every word will sound as though it is being spoken directly into your
ear. Again, the same device could be used by a friend or family member walking
with you through a mall or amusement park. Even though he or she is
20 feet away, with a direct-connect FM or Bluetooth device in hand, all
commentary regarding the route you are taking or the description of sights
around you will be easily heard and understood.
The guidance of an audiologist will be needed to select the best wireless
hearing accessory, and to make sure that one is selected that is compatible with
your particular hearing aids. You will also need the assistance of an
audiologist or other hearing professional to pair your new accessory
appropriately with your hearing aids. Phonak makes several excellent accessories
but there are other manufacturers as well.
Sometimes, tweaking your hearing technology to play nicely with your vision
technology can be a challenge, but as more people experience a combined vision
and hearing loss, the larger the pool for sharing tips and tricks becomes. The
bottom line is, just as you learned that life can be lived to the fullest
without perfect vision, so you will also learn in time that impaired hearing can
be accommodated with technology.
Whether out of sight or out of sound, there is always a way!
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