Zumba Hearing

I am a writer with moderate hearing loss, which I have had since I was in my early 30's. Now in my mid 50's I want to create a blog where we can have open discussion about what it is like in the world of the hard of hearing. This may be humorous stories or poignant ones and hopefully there will be some useful advice on how to avoid the isolation which occurs when communication becomes difficult. Please interact with the site. It's for you and me to talk.

Today my zumba teacher asked me a really considerate question. She asked whether the volume of the music was too loud for my hearing aids. Apparently some of her devotees wear ear plugs as it disturbs their sensitive hearing - these are not necessary in my case.
I wear my hearing aids in these exercise classes because they are also a major part of my social networking. My zumba buddies often speak to me during the class and if I didn't wear them I wouldn't be able to respond. However, wearing them during exercise is problematic as they become very damp, affecting their efficiency. I also suspect that adding volume to loud music is not the best thing for my already severely diminished hearing.
I noticed one accessory available is a air puffer which in theory clears damp out of the vent tubes of the aids. Has anyone used one of these? What do you think?

Table Conversations

I am a writer with moderate hearing loss, which I have had since I was in my early 30's. Now in my mid 50's I want to create a blog where we can have open discussion about what it is like in the world of the hard of hearing. This may be humorous stories or poignant ones and hopefully there will be some useful advice on how to avoid the isolation which occurs when communication becomes difficult. Please interact with the site. It's for you and me to talk.

 I was talking with some friends the other day about funny conversations with older people who have difficulty hearing each other. One observation was that in between a couple of older people sitting around a dinner table he observed that each was having his or her own private conversation because none could hear what the others were saying. But the important thing was that they were still happily chatting away with each other, smiling and laughing and interacting. Is conversation just about the words or is it the gestures and expression in between?

Dancing To The Music

I am a writer with moderate hearing loss, which I have had since I was in my early 30's. Now in my mid 50's I want to create a blog where we can have open discussion about what it is like in the world of the hard of hearing. This may be humorous stories or poignant ones and hopefully there will be some useful advice on how to avoid the isolation which occurs when communication becomes difficult. Please interact with the site. It's for you and me to talk.

 I have realised after a night out dancing that it doesn't matter if you don't hear every nuance of the music because some people don't have a sense of rhythm anyway. And no one cares; they just want to see you having fun.
So get out there, swing your arms in the air, get those feet going and do your thing.
And whatever you do, make sure that you smile. People will forget that you can't hear them. They will just think that you are a very nice person.

Emergency Alerts for the Hard of Hearing

I am a writer with moderate hearing loss, which I have had since I was in my early 30's. Now in my mid 50's I want to create a blog where we can have open discussion about what it is like in the world of the hard of hearing. This may be humorous stories or poignant ones and hopefully there will be some useful advice on how to avoid the isolation which occurs when communication becomes difficult. Please interact with the site. It's for you and me to talk.

 Last week's terrible news about the difficulties caused by Hurricane Sandy made me think about how people with hearing loss are alerted to danger. I am fortunate that my own hearing would allow me to hear someone knocking loudly at a door or perhaps a loud bell. But how do others with a more severe impediment receive news alerts? I would imagine that in many cases such individuals rely on good neighbours or relatives. This made me think about good neighbour schemes and how they could help in such emergencies. 

Do you know of what schemes there are in your area? Are there people living near you who would be vulnerable in an emergency situation? Do you think that there should be a central record kept of such people? And what about communities where the people are so poor that alert systems are prohibitively costly? 

Please feel free to send me your comments.