Friday, April 2, 2010

Hearing Aids

Well, I suppose it finally had to happen. After years of denial, frustration and poor guidance, I went and had another hearing test, and confirmed what I had previously thought - I need hearing aids. I can almost hear (I said "almost") you guys saying "finally"!
I've got to say, probably the most confronting and frustrating personal experience I've ever had. But I also have to say I have had unbelievale support both prior to and now post testing, from everyone. Thanks all, I really appreciate it.
Below is a copy of my hearing results audiogram. An audiogram is a chart that shows the softest levels at which you can hear a range of pure tones (pitches or frequencies).







The major sounds of speech are contained within the audiogram’s test range. These speech sounds are shown on the audiograms above, indicating their approximate loudness (decibels) and pitch (hertz). Once the audiogram is plotted, it is possible to identify which speech sounds are difficult to hear. You can clearly see that I have had major difficulties up until now, especiually with any background noise or multiple conversations, and obvious frustration for myself and you alike (although I never realised it was that bad). Words such as "path and pass", "bed and fed", "dot and got", "heap and heat" all sounded so similar I couldn't distinguish them as single words and had to use the sentence context to get them right and understand.

So, the big day is April 13th 2010. Be prepared for me to hear those little snipes I normally miss, and you have had so much fun with - especially Hamster and BT.

Still a little apprehensive at this stage, but I know it will be a big step forward for the better. Stay tuned for more details as they become available.