Steps Towards Managing a Hearing Loss

It can sometimes take a while for us to realise that it is our hearing that has become the problem rather than the other person’s speech – though it has to be said that a lot of people seem unable to speak clearly which, for them, could mean changing a habit of a life time. So we have recognised that we might have a hearing loss after all. What should we do about it?

Step 1. Visit your GP, for them to check your ears to see if there is ear wax that could be blocking sounds you might otherwise hear. If it is wax then that can easily be removed by your GP or district nurse, restoring you to normal hearing. But what if it is not wax – what else could it be?

Step 2. Your GP will probably refer you to an NHS E.N.T department to see a consultant, or to the nearest NHS Audiology clinic to have a hearing test. There could be other possible causes ranging from simple ‘old age’ (normal wear and tear) or noise damage, to illnesses you may have suffered in the past. The audiologist or ENT consultant may then decide that you could benefit from a hearing aid, which today will be digital.

The thing to remember about hearing aids is that they can only ‘aid’ the hearing that you still have left, so the more hearing you still have – the greater the benefit you will receive from your hearing aid. So you will I hope agree that individual benefits from hearing aids vary enormously from person to person. I hope you will also agree that in many cases, despite the amplification provided by the hearing aid to your existing hearing, there may still be gaps in speech that you DON’T always understand, especially in background noise. So what else can you do?

Step 3. You could find out where your nearest ‘Lipreading & Communication’ class might be. Classes held in High Peak and Derbyshire Dales are free, and a list of their locations and contact details are shown further on. So what help can you expect from lipreading? You will learn to watch for, and to interpret, most visual body language – from gestures, expressions and lip-shapes & movements. You have probably been doing this anyway for quite a while – whenever you find yourself in a noisy environment, like a party-pub-club-factory, when for some reason it’s easier to understand what someone says if you can see their face.

But, just as hearing aids have their limitations, so does lipreading! For example there are parts of speech that can look the same to anyone who has to lipread – like: P-B-M – and words like Post-Boast-Most - that mean you could get hold of the wrong meaning. So just as there are gaps in hearing aid benefit that relate to individual hearing losses, so there are gaps in what can be lipread, relating to how clearly or unclearly a person is speaking and whether they are using good communication tactics or not – like facing you and telling you the subject they are going to speak about before they begin.

Therefore, it is important to note that if you use a hearing aid exclusively, without any aid from lipreading – or the other way around – your understanding of speech could be considerably reduced. BUT, IF YOU USE THEM BOTH TOGETHER your speech comprehension, and access to conversation, should improve quite dramatically, as they help each other.

Step 4. Read on and find out where your nearest Lipreading & Communication class is held.
It’s free – so what have you got to lose?

What can you expect to learn in the Lipreading & Communication class?

The areas covered will include: Lipreading practice; Lipreading theory; Hearing aids; Communication tactics; Deafness and how we hear; Telephones; Other equipment to help hear at home; Tinnitus; How to fingerspell; Local support services; Cochlear implants and other new developments.

Most courses run for 30 weeks of the year – from September to June. (Please note – the Cheadle course only runs for 20 weeks up to Easter). The intended outcome of the course is:

• To restore lost confidence and self-esteem where exclusion or isolation, through deafness, has removed a person, who uses spoken English as their first language, from feeling able to mix socially or in other settings.
• To use what is being learned to resume social and other activities, and to pursue any other educational courses of their choice.
• To use the Lipreading & Communication class to progress or maintain those skills through regular on-going practice and attendance. There is no end to the course just as there is rarely an end to deafness.
• To meet and contribute in discussion with other people who share similar difficulties in conversation.

Bill Allen – Lipreading & Communication courses tutor.