Dear Eric: I’m responding to your reader “Raising Voices.” Raising Voices had two friends who refused to wear hearing aids, and RV was frustrated trying to talk with them. You were right in your advice to RV to tactfully encourage them to see an audiologist because hearing loss can lead to dementia as well as a greatly diminished quality of life.
As someone who has worn hearing aids for 15 years and got them in my early 40s, I would like to also add that, when people ask you to repeat yourself, please don’t say the same exact words only louder—it’s frustrating for both the speaker and the listener.
Oftentimes, it’s certain sounds in words, like the S and F sounds, that are difficult to distinguish and make understanding difficult. If someone asks you to repeat yourself, use different words that mean the same thing. My husband sometimes yells at me, and I still can’t understand him even with hearing aids (and he should know better since I’ve had hearing loss since I’ve known him, but that’s another story).
Speakers don’t have to yell, just enunciate and use different words. It’s also helpful if you don’t turn your head away while talking with the hearing-impaired.
—Thanks for Listening and Enunciating
Dear Thanks: This is very helpful guidance, thank you. A number of readers wrote letters expressing a similar sentiment. No one is asking to get yelled at, and sometimes people who aren’t hearing impaired allow annoyance to slip into their delivery of a repeated phrase. That doesn’t help anyone. But your advice will.
(Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at eric@askingeric.com or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.)
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