Hearing Loss in Adults: Should You Ignore It?

Loss of hearing is an extremely common disability, but it is also a challenging one to diagnose. Unlike many other issues, hearing loss is an invisible disability-there is no easy tell-tale sign like a wheelchair.

There is also the widely accepted idea that older people must necessarily be less physically able and responsive than younger people, which only further incapacitate people with, for example, hearing loss. So, the older the individual, the more shame and self-censorship is likely, causing isolation on a daily basis. The more they also reject any medical attention more so the idea of wearing hearing aids.

 

Hearing Loss in Late Life

Hearing loss that occurs in later life presents its own set of problems for the mental well-being of the individual. We know that community is crucial to the happiness of people with many kinds of disabilities, but older adults with hearing loss can be uncomfortably stranded both from the more able-bodied population and from, say, groups that represent deaf individuals.

The casual insensitivity of able bodied strangers often leads adults with hearing loss to cope entirely alone in inadequate ways. One might be surprised to hear of how many do not actually wear aids – Siemens hearing aids, Phonak and Panasonic among the most famous ones - simply because it has not occurred to them that it is one of the available solutions.

Full accessibility for the disabled, no matter what the disability, is a worthy goal. Obviously an enormous amount of nuanced thought and planning must go into this-as the case of adults with later life hearing loss, as opposed to adults who have grown up with some understanding of their disability shows, there's no one-size-fits-all answer.

Nevertheless, that adults with hearing loss are often left to curb their own social lives to avoid embarrassment is extremely sad. This is precisely where Siemens hearing aids hope to step in and begin a longer process of engagement with the issue.

 

What to Do if You Experience Hearing Loss

If you are an adult with hearing loss and you need a discreet, effective beginning solution to the problem of how to engage with 'normal' people without going into your entire back-story-because let us face it, you do not always have the energy for it, and you're not obligated either-or you know someone like this, consider reaching out to us.

• Siemens hearing aids cover a broad gamut, including in-the-ear devices that are customized for the individual based on their precise needs.
• Do remember that adults with hearing loss are much more common than you would imagine-you may have sat on the train next to a total stranger who shares your frustration with the same kinds of social situations.
• Asking someone to repeat what they have just said seems trivial to most, but can be highly stressful when you have loss of hearing. The attitude many hearing-privileged people slip into-such as shouting at the hearing-impaired person or even thinking of them as 'stupid'-can be downright hurtful and exclusionary.

The psychological impact of these encounters can build up over time, and this is unacceptable. Assistive devices such as Siemens hearing aids can open up new possibilities for participation in a richer social life, but at the client's own pace. Behavioral techniques worked out with professionals can additionally boost the confidence and self-assertiveness that the use of hearing aids promotes.

Ernest Poh founded The Hearing Centre Pte Ltd. The Hearing Centre is your one-stop centre for complete hearing aids and hearing conservation services. Ernest has been fitting hearing devices since 2004. Visit his website at http://thehearingcentre.sg to learn more about the different types of hearing aids and the possible causes of hearing loss.