Hearing Aids

Hearing Aids………

Hearing Aids………. Some may need them, and some won’t wear them because of pride. You know what you’re missing….

Well, some of you have read my blogs about how I was born with hearing impairment. Anyway; I wear hearing aids because I cannot hear well. I was born with Rubella Syndrome which is the birth defect that was contracted by my mother during her first trimester of her pregnancy. Yes, my mother has had contracted German measles.

I didn’t get to wear my hearing aids till I was nine years old. For the first nine years; they had really thought that I was mentally retarded or disabled. It has taken my mother and several of her friends to continue to convince them that I was really hearing impaired. My mother has tested me on her own talking normally as she would be talking to a normal hearing person or child. She increased her voice volume by speaking louder until I hear her voice. Of course, she was standing as a distance behind me doing this.

I got my first hearing aids at nine years of age when they finally realized that I have severe hearing impairment. So it has taken a lot of times for me to relearn how to speak and to listen to new things.

I was startled when I first heard a car-horn and asked what it was. I told that it was a car-horn! I was amazed at how much I missed hearing what I needed to hear.

So over the years, I had to learn a lot of my academic skills and do a lot of catching up after I’ve been moved to the regular elementary school when I was in 5^th grade. Yes, it has taken me about up to two years to bring my academics up to par with most of the students my age. Oh, yeah, I was introduced to……… peer pressure and being picked on!!! (Yes, that is another blog for me to get to).

There is the good and the bad in wearing hearing aids. Good maintenance is the key when I’m in the high humidity area such as Florida. Remembering to change the batteries when it’s needed is another habit I had to develop since I used to keep forgetting to pack a package of batteries in my purse, and I seldom carried purses!!! Until I began my womanly-cycles, and that is when it was necessary to carry a purse. Then, it’s remembering where I last put my hearing aids when I go to bed and had to remember where I had placed them the next morning, especially when I had to go to school. Of course, I got chewed out for misplacing my hearing aids a few times.

One time; it got lost in the back-yard. Another time, they got washed along with the laundry. And the last time; I’ve really lost my hearing aids was when I went to my first day of high school and it was RAINING!!!!! I had no purse to put them in and I had no pockets either!!!! AAAACCCCCKKKK!!!! And, yes, they were found along the road as I have had to run home as fast as possible to get out of the rain. The, next day was spent on taking the hearing aids to the hearing dispenser to have them dried out.

And there is another advantage to wearing my hearing aids that almost everybody cannot do. Turn off the hearing aids when you find that your parents are yelling at you. I know that I have done this a number of times and they about drove my mother up the wall. LOL…. I also done that to aggravate a few of my teachers in school and, yep, I’ve gotten written up for it. Heehee. (Naughty, naughty.. I’d hear from some of yas). Heehee…

Well, I’m still claiming the healing from the Lord and I am waiting expecting the miracle. Until then, I’ll be wearing hearing aids for a very long time.

I have gone through about 9 pairs of hearing aids give or take a pair. I know that is a lot of money that has gone to pay for these hearing devices. Like I said, good maintenance is the key to having hearing aids that’ll last long.

Anyway; for those who have been listening to loud rock concerts, extra-loud stereos, and IPODs, please turn down those volumes otherwise you will regret losing your hearing later in life!!!!!!!!

I know that they will have to pay for the consequences of having to lose their hearing from listening to too much loud music and loud rock concerts. I’ve been to one rock concert and boy, it was LOUD and I had to take out my hearing aids!!!! So I don’t know if any of you have read about my hubby, Ken, wearing those toilet papers stuffed into his ears because of the loud bass from the speakers at the church. Those bass are bad on our hearing if you have them too loud.

Well, Ken is almost ready to get hearing aids, but his hearing isn’t severe enough to warrant the need for the pair.

And, going from the analog to digital hearing aids sure has made a difference in my hearing!!! I have worn analog hearing aids for many years since I was nine years old. I mean these digital hearing aids do sound ten times better than what I have been so used to for so many years! There were certain ranges that I have not pretty much heard until I started wearing these digital hearing aids in October of 2006, and, yes, my hearing has improved with a bit of training my brain; it has taken me a while to get used to them.

So anyway; that is the story about me and my hearing aids. Oh, I don’t like wearing hearing aids, but they are necessary for me to hear what I’m supposed to hear.

So now you know about my hearing aids and how I’ve used them. I’m thankful that I will not be taking what is left of my hearing for granted, and they are the gift from God. So be thankful for the hearing that you have. You will never know how useful that your hearing will be in many situations and occasions such as listening to music or somebody singing, or a quiet laughter.

Well, that is about it for now about my hearing aids. I will catch you all laterz. Y’all take care and have fun. God bless.