I've written before about living with hearing loss and today I go back to this subject.
My main purpose with these post is to give you a real account of what does being hearing impaired can be like. It's only MY account so take this with a grain of salt.
One of the things that I get asked is if my other "senses" have increased. Do I have superhuman eye-sight now?
The short answer is: NOUP!.
The long answer is: NO WAY!.
Well, I wish that this could be a thing but unfortunately this is not case here.
I wear glasses!
I can't tell from a sniff if a coffee is from Columbia or Ethiopia
I can't taste the deep history of an oak barrel in my scotch
And for sure, my tactile sense is nothing to write home about
Now all this does not mean that some people have enhanced senses when they have an impaired one! It might happen because this is such a common myth that I think it must come from somewhere..
I think that in my case, my impaired evolved over time so that could have affected how I responded to this.
YET!! There are thing that some people could consider and advantage. I am not sure I'd ever call them such. I mean, I would never trade normal hearing for this faint benefits...but I also want to always make the best out of a shitty situation so why not?
One really interesting thing is that saying "WHAT?!" over and over again gets tiring very fast. It;s one of those things that everyone who has hearing problems will experience. The "what" phenomena is so common that there are groups all over the world for HoH people that use this as an inside joke: what what what? group and such. It's kind of funny for us but also a bit annoying.
That's why, I tend to let a lot of things pass before I ask the dreaded question...
The art of knowing when you need to ask and when to let something pass hinges on your skill of reading people based on a lot of very subtle factors. Bodylanguage is one of course but also micro-expressions, eye contact, inflection...
Here;s the gist of it: Sadly, most people will talk a lot of non sense shit. It's the way of people. I do it myself!
You could edit 80% of what I say and still get what I say. Not in full and of course i'd be annoyed...but I mean, it does not cost me to talk more :D
This is true for most people, everyone loves to talk talk talk. So a lot of times, you can save yourself hearing stuff you don't want to and just be patient for the important- informational part, as I say - of a discourse. This is very useful at boring parties and random meets with people you don't REALLY like.
With friends, I always want to hear ALL the details.
Because here's the thing! The details is where the essence is. A lot is said in little, microscopic sentences, spread apart in a conversation. At the end, you get it! AHA, that's what this person wanted to say....I get it now!
It's unfortunate that sometimes I can miss the big picture by focusing too hard on each sentence. It can be tiring.
But hey, it saves some effort that i can use to day dream.
Another way to easily escape an unwanted conversation - that is not available for quite anyone else - is the good ol' excuse "My hearing is out of battery!!". That's a fun one too because people don't know how to react. IF they don't know you have an aid, and most don't, they'll be thorn between calling you out on it and they MIGHT even suspect it's all a joke to get out of the convo. But in reality..what can they do?!
Still, beyond the excuse potential, turning the aid off is a great way to get out of noise, conversations, loud music, clock alarms, fights with spouses, yelling bosses, barking dogs, late night construction works, air raid alarms....basically anything. It's not always a serene retreat into silence though.
Silence...is not as pleasant for me. I guess it's a bit confusing because I fear it so much. People want silence because of the certitude of noise waiting down the timeline. I fear it because I'm always a tiny bit afraid, I'll never get back to sounds. It sounds stupid maybe but I think anyone who ever lost anything then got it back it's a bit afraid of losing it again. Sometimes this is rational, sometimes it's not but that's the human nature...
Undeniable though, I do like it that sometimes I can just turn it all off.
Finally, actually not hearing can be a great way to get out of a situation where - like an ASSHOLE! - you did not do what someone asked you to. "Huh,. what? ! " - -> yes, the WHAT CARD! <---
"I did not hear, man/boss/baby/mom/neighbour"
Sorry!
I want to end this by pointing out that all these are indeed quirky advantaged that I wish on no one. It's all adaptative behavior to damage. We take it cause we can.
Don't envy me or anyone else though.
That's just stupid!