Audiologists – A lesson they need to learn

I have in my position had to deal with these people regularly, and I have to say my feeling towards them is getting worse and worse as time goes on.

I have been profoundly deaf since I was born and thus been wearing hearing aids for 99% of that time, I was wearing an aid at the first opportunity I could. This makes me quite the expert in knowing what sounds right, comfortable for me, and what doesn’t.

In my years I have had to suffer numerous Audiologists who think they know it all, and that they know better than I do when something sounds right or wrong. So when I tell them that the sound isn’t loud enough, or the sound is echoing, or the sound isn’t clear, lacks clarity, I expect them to listen because I am the one wearing the damn bloody aids. Do they, not a bloody chance, they obviously think I am stupid, that I am not willing to make an effort.

Lets change the scenario a little, imagine you go to an optician and get glasses to see, if you were to tell the optician that you couldn’t see clearly with the glasses, or that they seem to lack focus, something would be done, very quickly and with a great deal of attention to what you say. Audiologists, well I don’t know, maybe they have a different agenda, and that someone like me, who wants to be able to hear, rather than just take what is given, means they actually have to do their job. I am very picky with my hearing, and I expect to be able to hear, it has always been a comment that I drive them nuts, because I expect to have it all, well, in my mind, isn’t that what a hearing aid is meant to do, make it possible for me to hear, not make it so that I can’t hear what is going on, kind of defeats the purpose of them.

I refer to this, because last Thursday I was given new aids, and at the time I made it clear I felt I wasn’t hearing all I should, that they lacked clarity, and seemed just wrong. The response I get back was typical, you will get used to it, you are a power junkie, you always want more, well no actually, I just want to be able to hear when I am talking to people, I don’t expect it to cut-out on me, and I do expect that my life is worth sufficiently enough that you do your job so that I can communicate with the rest of the world. Well, lo and behold, in an interview on Friday, I struggled to hear the interviewer, and that was in a room with just me and them, no background crap to deal with, on Saturday I suffered again in a selection process for the Samaritans, and I also have two interviews this week, though I still don’t know the details for one on Wednesday, which is a little concerning and I have asked. But the point I am making is that as a deaf person trying to find a job, I need to be on top of my game and not missing anything and no amount of expecting them to be understanding or giving, is going to help me get the role, they will dismiss me, as has happened in the past before. It isn’t right, but that is life, so the less reasons I can give them the better, not hearing what they say, is a big reason for them to think I am either arrogant or stupid, and it isn’t a good idea to be that way in an interview. I can’t really say, oh do you mind talking louder to me, because my hearing aids are screwed up, no.

So, I am sure this won’t be seen by Audiologists, but on the off chance, here are some pointers to you.

1) Listen to the patient, they know what they are hearing, dismissing them as being picky, power junkies and whatever other terminology you want to use, doesn’t make you a good Audiologist, it makes you arrogant and dismissive
2) On your training course, you are taught to listen to the patient, and whilst you know the technology, or are supposed to, listen to the patient, they are the ones wearing the damn things, not you. You will never have to wear them, most likely so listen
3) Imagine yourself in the shoes of the patient, being told them aren’t making the effort, or are being problematic, just because you think you are right. When it comes to ears you aren’t, the person wearing the aids is the one whose life is turned upside down, not yours
4) Lastly, turning around to patients and saying you will not adjust them, is plain wrong and that they have to persevere with the awful settings you have given them, not right.

On a slightly related issue with regards to hearing aids, Audiologists, etc. Can someone please tell the RNID to stop experimenting with the deaf? The RNID have control over which digital aids each hospital has, and thus each hospital is different, and instead of catering to the needs of the deaf person, you try and squeeze them into categories for the aids which don’t fit all. I am such a case, telling me that you only have four options of digital aid, none of which I can hear with, is no option at all. The government should never have handed you the reins for this, the audiologists should be allowed to find the best aid for the person. It works in Denmark and many other European countries, so why not here?

And the last issue on entry. I have an issue with the Deaf Wannabes, yep, there are such people out there whom actually want to be Deaf, ACTUALLY WANT TO BE DEAF!!!
Wow, I am not someone with has prejudices, usually, but please go back into your little hole and leave the world alone. If you were doing this and not affecting others, I wouldn’t mind, but your actions are affecting others. By faking hearing tests, pushing for aids, you are taking resources away from those who need it. In this country there is a two year wait for digital aids, yes, two damn years, many people can be dead before they get their aids, and you are making that much worse, much worse. The time spent doing your tests, fitting you for aids, which you don’t need, just to fill your sickness. You need to see a psych, not an audiologist, you need help. To purposely make yourself deaf, you have no idea the life of a deaf person, not a smart move ever. If you want to be deaf, then do so, but don’t ask for hearing aids, tests, moulds, etc, which are meant for those who really need them, not some faker, who thinks it would be a good idea to fake. It is sick, and there is no other way to describe it.