Having been nearly def in one ear myself, I feel sorry for her. I had a very hard time with loud noises, they were all coming from one side and it really disoriented me. I've had several operations (another one pending) and have regained a lot of my hearing. I also have a hearing aid, but I barely need it at the moment fortunately.
I am severely/profoundly deaf in my left ear and moderately deaf in my right ear. I recently just got hearing aids. Holy shit...I poured a can of Coke into a glass and I heard the bubbles. I just about cried. The world is very loud lol
People who can hear with both ears may not understand how problematic being half deaf can be. I’ve been this all my life. Nothing medicine can do about this.
You would not believe how many times people have been personally offensed when I have declined going to a nice rowdy bar. The problem is that while the atmosphere means a nice night out for you, for me it is extremely irritating and I can only do it in small doses.
You would not believe the amount of hurt people when I have asked really nicely to someone please let the other person speak and not speak over them. Or how personally some people take it when I insist a certain chair on a table or to walk only on their right side.
Things like I cannot locate my phone at all when it rings are funny while irritating. Couple of times I have fetched a neighbour to locate a phone I can hear going on, but I can’t locate where.
The social situations can be the most troublesome, though. A lot of half deaf people end up developing a mild form of social anxiety. On the plus side I can read from lips and am an expert in figuring out muddled recordings and strange accents.
The problem is the lack of depth in hearing. Think about it this way: you can only hear the loudest sounds, because there is no 3D separation. So it becomes impossible to follow a discussion if there are two or more of them going on at the same time. As a result I often come off as irritable in social situations, while I am only following a conversation and I would like you to be quiet to be able to do it.
After being an extended period with a lot of people around I get so exhausted from trying to be sharp that I have to go home to take a nap.
Anywhere with background noise is troublesome. A quintessential example for me is ordering food in an airplane. There is a constant hum in the background, and as a result to me the stewardess is like a fish in a fish tank: the mouth makes the moves but there is no sound. I’ve learned to write my order down on the paper bag in the chair pocket.
Another troublesome feature is that I can’t adjust my own voice to the background noise. I either speak too quietly or too loud. Experience has taught that being too loud is the bigger transgression, so I tend to speak very quietly and for many people that’s a sign of a weak person.
I also have to take periodic speech therapy, because the problem tends to muffle my speech.
Thanks for reading. You might have a friend or relative that has the same thing and it is good for you to know this. Depression and social anxiety rates are well above the norm for half deaf people, so just try to understand some of their quirks if you can. It’s not all that they are shitty people.
Bobby_Rotkop on December 19th, 2020 at 11:34 UTC »
Having been nearly def in one ear myself, I feel sorry for her. I had a very hard time with loud noises, they were all coming from one side and it really disoriented me. I've had several operations (another one pending) and have regained a lot of my hearing. I also have a hearing aid, but I barely need it at the moment fortunately.
lc1981265 on December 19th, 2020 at 13:50 UTC »
I am severely/profoundly deaf in my left ear and moderately deaf in my right ear. I recently just got hearing aids. Holy shit...I poured a can of Coke into a glass and I heard the bubbles. I just about cried. The world is very loud lol
MyDogMadeMeDoIt on December 19th, 2020 at 15:02 UTC »
People who can hear with both ears may not understand how problematic being half deaf can be. I’ve been this all my life. Nothing medicine can do about this.
You would not believe how many times people have been personally offensed when I have declined going to a nice rowdy bar. The problem is that while the atmosphere means a nice night out for you, for me it is extremely irritating and I can only do it in small doses.
You would not believe the amount of hurt people when I have asked really nicely to someone please let the other person speak and not speak over them. Or how personally some people take it when I insist a certain chair on a table or to walk only on their right side.
Things like I cannot locate my phone at all when it rings are funny while irritating. Couple of times I have fetched a neighbour to locate a phone I can hear going on, but I can’t locate where.
The social situations can be the most troublesome, though. A lot of half deaf people end up developing a mild form of social anxiety. On the plus side I can read from lips and am an expert in figuring out muddled recordings and strange accents.
The problem is the lack of depth in hearing. Think about it this way: you can only hear the loudest sounds, because there is no 3D separation. So it becomes impossible to follow a discussion if there are two or more of them going on at the same time. As a result I often come off as irritable in social situations, while I am only following a conversation and I would like you to be quiet to be able to do it.
After being an extended period with a lot of people around I get so exhausted from trying to be sharp that I have to go home to take a nap.
Anywhere with background noise is troublesome. A quintessential example for me is ordering food in an airplane. There is a constant hum in the background, and as a result to me the stewardess is like a fish in a fish tank: the mouth makes the moves but there is no sound. I’ve learned to write my order down on the paper bag in the chair pocket.
Another troublesome feature is that I can’t adjust my own voice to the background noise. I either speak too quietly or too loud. Experience has taught that being too loud is the bigger transgression, so I tend to speak very quietly and for many people that’s a sign of a weak person.
I also have to take periodic speech therapy, because the problem tends to muffle my speech.
Thanks for reading. You might have a friend or relative that has the same thing and it is good for you to know this. Depression and social anxiety rates are well above the norm for half deaf people, so just try to understand some of their quirks if you can. It’s not all that they are shitty people.