Bridging the Gap Between the Hearing & Deaf Worlds
As someone who has had countless audiology appointments for decades, it hasn’t always been a smooth process.
While it’s easier to blame the audiologist and the entire department, it’s true that they have their parts to play. But we as patients can also do our bit to make the whole audiology experience a more seamless and effective.
Learn how to make the most out of yoru audiology appointments here
It is easy to assume that deaf and hard of hearing patients have smooth experiences with their audiologists. But that is not always the case, as *some* audiologists and the audiology department as a whole are (ironically) not as deaf-aware as we wish.
From asking deaf patients to use the phone to talking to us when their backs are facing us, there are various little adjustments that can be made that will make audiologists’ job a lot easier and smoother, whilst making sure that the patients are happier and better looked after. In this episode, I list tips on the various adjustments that audiologist can make to better their relationships with us…the patients.
Learn how audiologists can improve their relationships with patients here
I’ve talked about concentration fatigue and ‘Zoom fatigue’ in the past. But the topic of ‘listening fatigue’ is somewhat similar to it. If you are not familiar with it, at the time of recording, I have been going through a form of listening fatigue where I’m tired of listening.
Just to clarify, I don’t mean I am tired of listening to people talking to me because of what they are saying. It’s more a long the line of I’m tired of the physical action of listening.
Hence why ‘listening fatigue’ (aka ‘hearing fatigue’) is a term that is often used by some d/Deaf and hard of hearing people.
Recently, there has been a rise in the number of video calls. It’s not just by people who are working from home, but also those are away or isolated from their friends and families (particularly as we are going through a global pandemic). So it’s natural that video calls is the next best option to connect with those you can’t meet in-person.
During this period where people are feeling exhausted from all the calls; so much so, that the term ‘Zoom fatigue’ has been coined to label this type of tiredness.
It sounds like a new thing…but for those who are d/Deaf and hard of hearing (and perhaps many others), this feeling is just a normal part of our everyday lives.
It’s hard enough to make the world around us more deaf aware during a normal day-to-day life. It’s a bigger challenge when it’s during a global pandemic.
Even though there have been calls for interpreters and captions when important information are shared, it seems that these are somewhat neglected when attempting to relay the message to as many people as possible.
Only, for those who are d/Deaf, they are ignored.
Some people might assume that it’s impossible for d/Deaf and hard of hearing people to meditate (perhaps more accurately, guided meditation).
Even though there are obvious challenges when it comes to using guided meditation (such as whether it’s possible or not to hear or understand what the audio voice is saying), I have managed to find a system that suits me.
Some of the topics that have been discussed here on this site are around mental health, concentration fatigue and deaf anxiety.
These are also the posts that have been getting a lot of attention lately, especially the latter.
But you also need to look after yourself, and this is why in this podcast, I talk about the importance of being selfish just so you can look after yourself.
Because if you don’t look after yourself, you can’t look after other people.
I learnt a new phrase recently: ‘deaf anxiety’.
After reading and learning more about, I realised that whenever I get anxiety, it is mostly likely because of my lack of ability to hear. And the more I read about it, the more I realised that it resonates with me and it’s definitely a thing.
It also made me aware that it’s a topic that we should be talking about more often, and this is why I decided to open up about it.
In this episode, I talk to Kate Llewellyn-Waters, a businesswoman who has lost her hearing after getting pregnant. She opens up and shares her own story on how that happened, why it happened, her on-going challenges as a mother and shares advice to any other parents going through something similar.
