People don’t understand hearing loss.
Many people think that when you have hearing loss, hearing aids fix everything.
Just like glasses can give you 20/20 vision, they think that you pop them on and have perfect hearing.
But we know it doesn’t work like that.
Even with hearing aids, there will be times where you struggle, or your listening tech doesn’t work the way it should.
In noisy environments you struggle to follow the conversation and feel left out. You struggle at work with the telephone or in meetings. You worry about making mistakes or saying the wrong thing because you misheard the other person.
You often feel that you have to hide your hearing loss from others, or worry about people making assumptions about your abilities.
You’re putting up with daily frustrations and worrying about misunderstandings. Dealing with the attitudes of others, who make jokes or change topic to cover their own awkwardness
The reactions of others can be difficult to handle. Being told ‘nevermind’ or ‘it doesn’t matter’ is dismissive, as if you’re unable to work out what matters for yourself.
You’ve been pretending nothing is wrong and trying to muddle through, but it isn’t working. It’s taking a toll on your work, relationships and your wellbeing.
You try and keep up with everything and manage as best you can, but it’s exhausting.
You don’t have to do this alone.
18 million people in the UK (or 1 in 3 people) are deaf or have hearing loss. According to the WHO, 1.5 billion people worldwide are affected. Studies have shown that having hearing loss can increase your risk of depression by 47% yet after getting hearing aids there is little emotional support.
Why isn’t this talked about more?
This could be because hearing loss is invisible, or it could be because the stigma surrounding hearing loss makes people want to hide it and stay quiet.
But as a group of people who share something that affects nearly 20% of the global population, maybe we should be making more noise.
By advocating for yourself you can build the confidence and resilience to untangle yourself from the negativity surrounding hearing loss. By speaking up for your needs you can take control of your future and your wellbeing.
When you advocate for yourself, you are also advocating for others who are going through the same thing as you. By educating people and raising awareness to improve things for yourself, you’re also making others lives a little bit easier.
Like throwing a pebble in a pond, who knows how far the ripples of your small actions could reach.
These skills don’t come naturally to everyone, but they can be learnt.
Hi, I’m Sue. I grew up with single sided hearing loss. I coped well and many people didn’t notice. But when I began to lose hearing in my good ear, things changed. I couldn’t pretend things were fine anymore.
I had to adapt and learn to put my wellbeing first. My own journey with hearing loss and anxiety has motivated me to help others.
My training in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Coaching and Mindfulness was put to good use when I was going through my own struggles with hearing loss. I’m still on this journey and learning something new everyday.
By becoming your own advocate, you can build the confidence and resilience to challenge assumptions, speak up for your needs, improve your wellbeing, and create a life you love.
I know from experience that advocating for yourself isn’t easy. So I’ve put together an interactive workbook with exercises and techniques to help others like us develop and improve the skills of self advocacy.
It’s completely free, and I’m here to support you if you need it.