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        While having new hearing aids adjusted, I asked my audiologist if she thought I was a candidate for a cochlear implant, and her opinion was that my hearing had decreased, but that I wasn’t at that point yet.

        An intern at that session suggested that it might be helpful when attending a class to give the instructor a device that would automatically increase the amount I’d hear.  Though I’m not auditing any classes right now, I kept that in mind, but at the same time I had reservations about bothering the instructor with what I regard as my problem not his.

        My hearing aids do the job for me in the one-on-one tutoring I’ve been doing for several years.  The audiologist thinks that I should wear them all the time, but I take them off when the sessions are over, as I enjoy the quiet.

        That works just fine as long as no one talks to me, but then it causes problems.  Small talk on elevators I meet with a smile and a nod of agreement, as I assume that the remarks they’ve made warrant it.  But if anyone begins an extended conversation and appears to be asking a question, I’m in trouble until I ask them to wait a moment while I get my aids in place.

        That reminds me of a story that happened while I was still employed. It was also before I came to accept the fact that I had a hearing loss. I was a CEO of a large corporation at that time – attending a gala celebration with hundreds of people there, and I stepped out on a porch to get a breather. While standing there, a very attractive young woman who was employed by the same firm came over to where I was standing alone and started talking to me. I’d never had the occasion to talk with her before, and I guessed that she’d just say a few pleasant things and then pass on so I wasn’t bothered by the fact that I had no idea what those first few things were.

        Then she must have found a topic she liked for she stayed and talked quite a long time until she had talked herself out. I had been nodding, smiling, and agreeing when appropriate, but had no idea what she was talking about.

        We stood there in silence for a moment or too until I realized that she was giving me a chance to say something, so I quickly offered the first general question I could think of. I don’t remember now what the question was, but I’m sure it was innocuous. However, it was greeted with shock, and she abruptly left me.

        On the way home, my wife told me that the young lady had button-holed her to let her know that she thought I was the rudest person she’d ever met, that she couldn’t understand how anyone could put up with it.

        To this day, I have no idea what I could have said that would have upset her so much. I can only surmise that I asked her to tell me about something that she’d just covered in great detail.

        My wife was pleased that I’d gotten the aids, as in her opinion I always had the car radio on too loud.

        Gradual hearing loss (presbycusis) occurs as you age.  According to the National Institutes of Health, an estimated one-third of Americans between the ages of 65 and 75 and close to one-half of those older than 75 have some degree of it.

        Heredity and chronic exposure to loud noises are the main factors that cause it, although earwar blockage is also a factor, as it inhibits the conducting of sound.

        You can’t reverse hearing loss.  However, you don’t have to live in a world of quieter, less distinct sounds.  There are always steps that a hearing specialist can suggest to improve what you hear.

        I bought a phone in which the volume can be adjusted a few years ago, and I have it at the highest point, but still find it difficult to understand callers.  A part of that can be attributed – according to my audiologist – to the fact that as we age, we find it more and more difficult to differentiate between certain consonants.  I have great difficulty with those that sound the same, for example:  b, c, d, e, g, p, t, v, and z.  It must be exasperating for callers, as I ask them to repeat what they’ve said so often.

        Deafness is a genetic defect in my family.  We’ve all had it, and have adapted in individual ways.  My great aunt Laura used an ear trumpet, an older sister has a lamp that lights when a call is received, another sister became an endless talker so she wouldn’t have to listen.  You can get vibrators to alert you, amplified handsets, louder alarm clocks, TV ears to watch your favorite program without disturbing everyone, an amplified power neck-loop to aid your hearing, and telephones (TTY/TDD) that provide a written text for everything a caller is saying.  (TTY means Tele TYpewriter.  TDD means Telecommunication Device for the Disabled.)

         You can even get TTY/TDD conversion modems to provide a connection between your computer and your telephone so that you can type a message on the computer and it will be sent to a TTY/TDD telephone.   

        Regardless of what you do, however, you’ll also be spending money every few months on hearing aid batteries.  That’ll go on for the rest of your life.