If you are a hearing person, there is a chance that your hearing is different from another hearing person.
But for anyone who is d/Deaf or hard of hearing, it’s even more complicated, as different people have their own level of capabilities of what they can and can’t.
In my own personal situation, it’s a bit complex as, even though I can hear many things, there are certain things and scenarios where I would struggle.
So I have shared my journey of what I can and can’t hear in this video.
Check out the video below or read the transcripts further down to learn more about my own hearing capabilities.
Transcripts
I’ve had a few people asking me what I can and can’t hear.
That’s a fair enough question because for every single person, it’s different. For every single deaf or hard of hearing person it’s even more different, and there’s no way you can compare one with the other, it’s not going to be the same.
So, I just thought in this video, let me explain my personal story of what I can and can’t hear.
1. Conversations are generally OK
So, why don’t we get started with what I can hear. I’m lucky, a lot of things I can hear. In terms of conversation, I can hear that fine.
The music, the TV, although with difficulty, I can still hear that.
2. Some surrounding sounds are noticeable
The surrounding sound as well. If I’m outside, maybe driving or walking around, I can hear the general sound, but I’m not able to pinpoint things, but there are a lot of things around me that I can hear.
3. Certain sounds may be more noticeable
But then, that can be a negative thing as well, because I might be able to hear one thing louder than the other, and that’s where we go to the next section, which is what I can’t hear.
Now, this one’s a bit more complicated because of my specific hearing loss. It’s really, most of the time, related to the high frequency sound, that what I’m deaf to and a little bit further deeper than that as well, but it does have a knock-on effect elsewhere.
4. Pedestrian crossing sounds are tricky
For example, I can’t hear the beep at the traffic light. You know when you press the pedestrian crossing, and it’s the high pitched noise?
I can’t hear that.
5. Subtitles are game-changer
I have difficulty hearing the TV without subtitles, I have difficulty going to the cinema, even though I can hear it, it doesn’t mean that I can find out what they’re saying.
That’s challenging enough as it is.
6. Conversations in loud areas? Very hard!
If I go to a loud environment, where it’s a noisy bar or club or a conference, and if I want to speak to people, nah. That’s not even going to happen at all. It’s just way too difficult.
7. Increasing volume is not always the solution
And you think shouting louder would help, not really. It actually makes things, sometimes a lot worse.
That’s a bit of challenge for me, as well.
8. (Sorry I missed your call)
The other thing is the, sometimes, mobile phones there are certain tones, I can’t hear it.
That’s a bit of a challenge, back in the 90s, when we had these old-fashioned “plinky-plonky” music ringtone, that we had on our phone.
Nowadays, it’s a bit different, it’s easier, but still I tend to miss phone calls because I didn’t hear it.
9. Please don’t whisper
Other thing I can’t hear as well is people whispering to you. If you’re gonna whisper, don’t even bother. I’m not gonna be able to hear any of that, at all.
You need to be close to me, face-to-face, I can lip read as well and that would be easier.
10. Stay close to me when talking
At the same time, just because you’re far away and the sound is clear, doesn’t mean I can hear you. I still need you to be closer.
I’ve demonstrated that in a video, when I was talking to my wife, she demonstrate that to me. I’ll link to that video right above, as well.
It’s something to be aware of, if you’re in another room or if you’re further, far away, I can’t hear you. I’m just gonna be completely deaf to that sound, so be aware of that.
These are just a few things really. I can get a lot more detailed, a lot more complicated, but I guess, that’s my situation of what I can and can’t hear. But that’s okay because sometimes with help of hearing aid or the help of the environment around me, I can make the most of a situation.
However, because my hearing declining, I have to adjust every time, so if you have come across with me, seen me, speaking to me, and I don’t hear anything, you will understand why, because it just kind of complex.
I hope that makes sense, if you have any other question, just ask me in comments down below.
I have no problem with answering them.
In the meantime, I’ll speak to you later.
Take care!
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Hi Ahmed ! After reading your transcript I felt like you were me. Everything you described is me, although, I can hear high pitched sounds. My audiologist can’t really adjust my aids accordingly because of environment. It’s usually very quiet in her office and not a problem unless she walks away from me, then it’s a problem. My journey being hearing impaired has been long and confidence has suffered enormously in addition to other problems. With me it totally depends on the environment I’m in. I don’t want to take up your time but thanks for listening.
Hi Jane. Thank you for sharing your story. Many people, including some audiologists, assume that hearing aids can adapt to any environment and we can walk out of the appointment all happy and fine. But that’s definitely not the case. Like you, I had my own confidence knocked down a few times, but I learnt that I had to share my story to show that we are not. We have the same struggles but not everyone is aware of that.
I appreciate your comment. And remember that you are not alone.
40+ yrs of being severly/profoundly Deaf and ve only just learnt that predestrains crossing beep!
what i do get occassionally since i changed from wearing 2 hearings to only 1 now as i found that wearing my second one was more distracting as i couldnt identify what the noises were and whether i needed to hear them. people will say to me well if you put your hearing aid back in you be able to hear more….yes more distracting noises which take my attention away from what i shoud be listening to.
and people being further away from me and not being able to understand as clearly…this is a huge problem at the moment due to social distancing as you can imagine
Oh yes, social distancing (and masks) is making things very difficult for many of us like yourself, Georgina.
I have the same issues about hearing things are too amplified when wearing hearing aids, which then overshadows people speaking to me. That is very distracting.