Getting Things Done When You Can't Hear

That's good SilverSonnet.. A lot of people swear by them.
Don thanks for the link. Part of the hearing bill is that any aids can be adjusted by any dealer. In other words no proprietary software.
Along with possibly Amazon, Sony, Bose and others are already perched and ready to go when given the word.
Scary times for the hearing industry for sure.
 

Toomuchstuff said:
My father in law lived with us for a few years . He was in his 90's . He got free hearing aids , free batteries - all free from the V.A. He refused to wear the hearing aid . He was so deaf , I couldn't talk loud enough to even hold a conversation. I Actually had to yell at the top of my lungs (and I have a quiet voice - it hurt ! ) That was the straw that broke the camels back . We had to put him in a nursing home. I still feel guilty .
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People automatically think that if they shout or talk louder they will be heard and understood by the hearing impaired person. WRONG!!!
Loss of hearing does not always involve VOLUME
 
That's true. Hearing aids can provide enough power to get the wearer to his or her comfortable volume. That could require twice as many decibels as someone with normal hearing.
Understanding speech is a different ballgame. Even when the sound can get to the brain the brain has to process that sound. If the fitting of the hearing aid is seriously delayed the brain will no longer recognize some sounds and most often speech.
You can help. Get the wearers attention before speaking. Look directly at them and enunciate. Don't talk while walking away or from another room. Keep your hands away from your mouth. The visual cues are very important.
You usually don't have to yell but speak up and speak clearly.
 

Hearlady -- Well put. As Lon said, hearing loss is not all about volume. It's very frequency sensitive. Some frequencies can be totally dead while others are almost normal. So, even though I have trouble understanding people, I have to wear hearing protection to run loud machines like the vacuum or table saw. If I don't, my ears will ring like crazy for a while.

Understanding speech is kind of like working a puzzle. I take what I can get and try to fill in the blanks. That takes some time. So if people talk fast, it makes it more difficult. Some voices sound muddy. My oldest son's voice is hard to follow even when I'm face to face with him. My wife's voice is pretty easy.

Hearlady -- Here is a site I found that seems to be selling hearing aids direct without a prescription already. The reviews look good. Have you heard of them?

Don
 
Speaking up a bit but speaking slowly helps a lot.

I'm retired from an insurance co. that caters to AARP members and we were well trained for the dilemmas and problems of the elderly. Speaking more slowly was often the magic key and in fact, many callers would even tell you they are hearing impaired so please slow down.

Next I'd like to tell you about a claim for stolen hearing aids I had. Theft is of course, a covered peril under a personal homeowner's policy for your contents. But who would steal hearing aids? Someone who thought they were jewelry, that's who!

My lady checked into the hospital. Her daughter placed her mother's hearing aids in a small white box with cotton that she had from a piece of jewelry, you know those white boxes- just before her mother went to sleep.

Someone in the hospital, thinking there was jewelry in the white box, stole it. Imagine their surprise when they opened the box!

As the adjuster, I had to call the hearing aid co to find out if there was any primary insurance on those hearing aids. Yes, included in that huge cost was a one time only, ALL peril replacement coverage. No matter what happened, lost, flushed or run over by a car, she got a new pair.

Sometimes you get what you pay for.
 
Yes radish, slowly, but not so slow as to appear you think the wearer is mentally impaired. Lol

Grandpa Don I'm just not a fan of buying aids online. The ideal situation is reasonably priced aids with a choice of bundled or unbundled local service by a human being. There is no comparison to a correctly fit aid by someone who knows what they're doing.
There's exceptions to every rule but I personally wouldn't do it.
 
Hearlady -- I don't mean to suggest that it's a good idea. I just thought it was interesting that some company is already doing it. Apparently it's legal.

Just for fun, here's what I think would be the ideal situation. Separate the sales from the audiologist. You go to an audiologist for testing. The audiologist gives you a hearing profile and suggests various aids on the market that would suit you. She charges you a fair price for the service. You shop for and purchase the hearing aids from any source you choose and bring them to the audiologist. She fits and adjusts them for you and charges for it plus a series of follow ups. After that, you return annually for retest or repairs and adjustments and pay for each visit.

To me, this seems fairer to both the customer and audiologist. The customer is more likely to get only what they really need and the audiologist is strictly a professional service. It would be similar to medical practice. Doctors prescribe drugs as needed, but you can go anywhere you want to purchase them.

Don
 
Sounds OK to me!
Things are changing. Hearing aids are getting smarter and smarter therefore easier to be fit at a local kiosk or by help online.
I still think those professionals that know the old fashioned "art" of fitting a hearing aid will still be around and your ideal situation is realistic. I definitely see that happening.
 

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