As time goes on I feel more and more obliged to inform people of my SSD in the hope that it excuses me occasionally ignoring them! Among the bad days (and there are quite a few) I do find myself using it to my advantage, may as well make the best of a bad situation.
I often forget that SSD is considered a disability and that every day situations that everyone takes for granted are suddenly taken away. This got me thinking about the pros and cons of hearing loss, we'll start with the cons...
Locating sound direction - I often spend my work day spinning around in a circle trying to figure out where a noise is coming from, I know someone is calling me but where they are in the room is a mystery!
Headphones - These are no longer useful. People with SSD hear in mono-aural not in stereo meaning that we cannot pick out one sound amongst others or cannot hear one persons voice in a group. Songs play different parts in the left/right ear and so before you know it you've missed your favourite verse altogether!
Loud environments - All noises, voices, music and conversation noises blur in to one meaning that the person sat opposite at a party may as well be speaking Chinese. I end up nodding and agreeing just hoping that I wasn't being asked a question!
Crossing the road - I laughed when someone advised me to be careful of this but in actual fact Iv nearly been ran over more times than I can actually count, I never knew how much I took my left ear for granted before now.
Tinnitus - compared to some I'm quite lucky with this but lm forever hearing noises that aren't actually there. I jump at 'bangs' and 'knocks on doors' and have no idea if they are real or not. The buzzing, rings and beeps just add to my everyday craziness.
Driving - not only is road noise SOOOO loud to me now but I can't hear my passenger, especially if the radio is on. My hearing aids come in handy here.
TV and films - since having SSD iv noticed that certain films are impossible to watch. The background noises/sound effects and action noises are often louder than the dialect making it hard to concentrate. A few loud huffs are normally enough to get my boyfriend to change the film!
Answering the phone - I have always, for as long as I can remember, used my left ear for the phone. This took me a long time to get used to and even now I answer calls and say hello 10 times before realising I have it to the wrong ear.
Pro's... While there arent many, they can be quite useful...
Me time - Some days when I get home from my very noisy work environment I like to sit quietly and chill in the peace and quiet. This helps me relax and reset before moving on to whatever I'm doing next. In doing so i find i sleep better and feel more relaxed. I'm naturally a busy, always on the go kind of person so this is a positive for me.
Sleeping - I have always slept on my 'good side' meaning that once I have turned over I don't hear a thing until l the morning. I used to (still do a bit) sleepwalk a lot and so being able to sleep deeply means less 3am conversations with ironing board!
Priority seats - On a recent trip to New York i found out just how helpful this could be. After mentioning my SSD to the box office we were upgraded to 4th row seats :)
The last year has taught me to learn to laugh at myself, without humour I'm not sure how i would have coped. Of course I'm sad sometimes but as long as they say, 'A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures for anything'
I hear you…no pun intended. Then there is the problem that if someone comes to talk to you and you explain you have a hearing problem, they say ' oh, sorry' then walk away.
ReplyDeleteHaha yes! Iv had that before too 🙈
DeleteMy friends are getting pretty good at talking to me on my god side x
I've been 'dancing' for over forty years. Even people that know me well (including family that I wish should know better) keep approaching or walking on my deaf side so I have to scoot across to their other side so I can hear them. Returants are interesting. Due to being shy, I just used to take pot luck of where i sat but now I'm like, please let me sit either there or there (on one of the corners so my good ear faces towards everyone. I still struggle to hear though when the room is noisy. Clubs are horrendous and thank god im at an age where I do not care for going to them. I used to get neck ache from always twisting my head to anyone that spoke to me.
ReplyDeleteHi, thanks for the comment. I never thought about the neck thing before but funny you should mention it as this week Iv been co planning of a really achey neck! Exactly the same as you, my boyfriend knows and has got used to it well as we live together but people I don't see as often need reminding! Agreed, clubs are awful and background noise is horrendous! Good luck for the future :) x
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