Living with hearing loss is frustrating. Living with people with hearing loss offers challenges. Too soft and they wait to see if you actually said something to them. Speaking loudly and clearly when they are not prepared startles them. Speaking rapidly washes them in syllabic sound they do not understand.
We all have experienced quietly thinking our own thoughts. Someone speaks and jolts us out of our reverie. Being spoken to demands a two-stage awareness: I am being spoken to and what am I expected to do. We feel and sound silly as we repeat “what” until we mentally locate their verbal context and understand the message.
Combine hearing loss and short term memory loss in one person. The normal ebb and flow of sound and conversation can be overwhelming. Confusion and anxiety are not desired results. Too much energy and noise and the individual must be calmed before we achieve communication.
Considering the listener before I speak is always a good thing.
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