Understanding Hearing Loss

I was diagnosed with Asymmetrical Sensorineural Hearing Loss 14 years ago. It took me a long time to come to terms with it. In the beginning, I preferred to struggle on my own and didn’t tell people. Then I reached the point where I had to start talking about it, because I was suffering.  

There were times where I ended up in tears because I was frustrated, overwhelmed, and disorientated. The hearing loss has had a huge impact on my social life. Now, I prefer very small, quiet gatherings. Every day is different with hearing loss. I think the biggest misconception people have is that they need to speak more loudly.   

Environmental noise can have a big impact on me. I am a work coach and I deliver universal credit. I am also an outreach worker. If I am with other work coaches, there can be a constant change in noise levels with different people walking in, different accents and noise levels which means I have to constantly adjust. It becomes difficult to catch the words, so even though I am not trained in lip reading or sign language, I need to look at the person speaking to hear what they are saying. Similarly, if I am on a Teams call, the lighting and how close the person is sitting to their camera can all have an impact on my ability to understand what they are saying.

The workplace adjustments I need can vary. We have a small office, so when I am meeting a customer, I ensure there is a partition next to me to create separation from other waiting customers. In team meetings, I sometimes ask colleagues to put their hand up or take turns in speaking. Wearing a hearing aid helps my hearing in general, but there are days when I can’t wear it, which is difficult with many people around.

People are generally responsive if I ask for changes in the beginning and help them understand why it will make a difference for me. So many people live with health conditions on a day-to-day basis, so there is no need for people to say sorry when they learn I have hearing loss. It is okay to ask questions, if you do it in the right way and with the right intention. Personally, I love it when people ask questions, because it means they are trying to get a better understanding of how they can work with me.

Author: Lynette, DWP