communication strategies Tag

family

Hearing Together: Support for Families with Hearing Loss

Hearing loss ranks as the third most common chronic health condition globally, according to the World Health Organization. Its impact extends beyond individuals, touching the lives of countless families. If you're a family member of someone with hearing loss, you're intimately familiar with the challenges and frustrations that come with impaired communication. You share the desire for your loved one to enjoy the highest quality of life possible, but you may feel ill-equipped to provide the necessary support. In this blog, we seek to provide support for families, empower you, encourage you, and offer valuable resources to help you understand hearing loss better and enhance your ability to support your loved ones. What is Hearing Loss Like? Imagine being in a movie theatre as the credits roll on the big screen. At first, you can read the names as they appear, but distractions quickly pull your focus away. You fixate on a single name or title, and suddenly, the text races ahead, leaving you struggling to catch every word. It's an overwhelming experience, and you know you've missed a lot of information. This scenario provides a glimpse into the daily reality of someone with hearing loss, but the full picture is far more complex. Hearing loss goes beyond occasional missed words; it affects every aspect of life, from conversations to social interactions and personal connections. To truly understand what your loved one experiences, you can use hearing loss simulators (Try these from Starkey and Hearing Healthcare). These tools allow you to...

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Communicaton

They have hearing aids, but still don’t hear me!

"They have hearing aids, but still don't hear me!" Have you found yourself saying this before? Or more frequently now during the Covid-19 quarantine? Or asking your spouse, parent, friend, etc. with hearing aids if they have them in? It may not be them... it might be your conversation style... just track with me for a minute (even us in the hearing industry need these reminders too). Hearing aids are just that, AIDS. Those with hearing loss are doing their part by wearing their hearing aids, now those of us around them have to do our part to help them hear.  Communication has 2 parts! Communication, regardless of who with, is a two-way process. Each person has their part to play. When one person isn’t effectively doing their part that’s when breakdown and frustration can occur.  When someone has a hearing loss, the communication partner may need to take extra steps or ownership to ensure good communication strategies are being used so both are able to equally participate in the conversation. Lets swap shoes for a second. You're the person with a hearing loss having a conversation at a restaurant... (don't touch that volume dial). You can also view the video on Youtube here. https://youtu.be/PbBZjT7nuoA What did you notice? How did you feel?  Hearing aids can do a lot to make sounds louder and clearer, but even the best hearing aids can't make hearing perfect or compensate for poor communication. This is why you are so key to the conversation.  Walk...

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