Hearing loss peeves
I just have three.
-When people express surprise that I heard something. How did YOU hear that? You HEARD that? You heard me?? Yes. I hear nearly all sounds (with hearing aids in). I hear people’s voices. Understanding what they are saying is another matter altogether. Sometimes I understand the garble and sometimes I don’t.
-People who can never let themselves (AND directly or indirectly, me and everyone around them) ever forget that I have a hearing loss. Admittedly, this is rare. Most people forget or they just incorporate it into a general picture of me as a person. But there are some people who see my hearing loss FIRST, or just mostly my hearing loss. They are always accommodating, always worrying, always prepping themselves or others in advance, trying to talk and be just right. I believe their conscious motivations are usually good and that they are really trying to be helpful. Unconsciously, however, they belabor my loss as an inferiority, a weakness that is important to keep in the forefront of everyone’s awareness. Their unconscious motivations are another matter and I don’t trust it for a second.
-People who start nearly yelling or use the “kindergarten teacher voice” if I ask them to repeat themselves again. It makes all the blood in my body drain away in mortification. This one hasn’t happened in a long time.
Dec 14th 2007Hearing loss & Peeves
