I recommend that anyone with loss or have friends or family with hearing loss read this book.
Hear & Beyond by Shari Eberts and Gael Hannan
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Ordered. Thanks. Hope it is helpful with more ideas.
WH
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You’re a hell of a salesman cv.
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I wish I had this book to read 20 years ago. I would not have made so many miss steps
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hearing loss is just that—a loss that has affected their ability to function easily in society, to connect with loved ones, and to enjoy intimate moments and entertainment. It is a loss of freedom, of confidence, and even of feelings of self-worth. It can be devastating, especially if you are also plagued by feelings of stigma, fearing others will view you negatively because of your hearing loss.
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I think it’s the same story with every high ticket item. There’s always someone waiting to rip us off
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That is why we have to educate ourselves and know what to look out for. I was trained to understand electronics, computers and even communication equipment but not how my hearing related to it. It wasn’t until I retired that I made the time to get the fundamentals of my hearing issues. But it was worth the time spent. I can now explain my hearing issues to my audiologist and I have even learned to know when an audiologist was trying to BS me.
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Gael Hannan is a CI recipient, can’t remember if she’s bilateral or unilateral now. Gael was extremely helpful to me when I was going through the stage, do I or don’t I go forward with CI surgery. Very supportive of my dilemma at that time.
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She has one CI and also wears a hearing aid.
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Thanks for your comment. It’ll help me a lot…
DaveL
@DaveL i believe it was the way I was raised, I haven’t ever let my hearing loss slow me down or keep me from my goals in life. I finally accepted my hearing loss just as I was starting a new career path as an IT Professional and mostly doing phone support. I managed one because I had to, and second because I loved what I was doing. You see I grew up on the farm, in a small farming community. I went to school in a very small school district that I almost had one on one education. I tried college but couldn’t at the time survive in a large classroom. So I joined the Navy and the Navy gave me an electronics education. Then over the years as computers became the thing I educated myself to program and troubleshoot software as well as hardware. When I retired I used my background to educate myself in the understanding my hearing loss. It has allowed me to be able to explain my hearing loss to my audiologist. In doing so I have gone from hearing better to communicating so much better.
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Thanks! I was a Navy brat. My Father served WW2 on Royal Navy cruisers as a radar officer. Then back to Canada. I went to 13 schools from kindergarten to grade 8. That’s in two countries. I coped by keeping my mouth shut so I wasn’t noticed…the opposite of you.
Some testing suggested that some of my hearing loss I was born with. Point is I have to learn how to communicate with others about my hearing loss…your post is really helpful!
DaveL
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My dad was in the Navy during WW2, a gunners mate and underwater demolition.
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Was he a hard hat diver? I had a mentor that was one in the RCNavy; he’s a hero of mine.
No my dad said they would free dive and place explosives on the keels of Japanese ships. That were in close around okinawa. He was on the island when the bombs were dropped on Japan. He never talked about it until he was on his death bed. I always knew he saw a lot over there from the way he reacted to any loud noise.
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My Father wrote a book, Orion Mighty Warrior about his experience as a radar officer.
Separately he edited 4 books, called Salty Dips (war stories of veterans). He never talked about his experiences. That was the way. I found these after he passed away.
Great respect for your Father and others who serve.
My good friend in London Ontario served in the German Army in WW2. He has passed; Great respect for him.
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Would I love to see a follow-on book published: “Now YOU Can Hear as Good as Anyone with Normal Hearing cuz Today’s Aids Actually WORK!”
Not meaning to marginalize the value of the book here AT ALL, but in my dreams, the dang AIDS would come of age so that they really DO let us hear like normal folks - much as glasses help folks SEE like those with 20-20 vision. It seems that the ear/brain connection is simply not a straightforward FIX like getting prescription glasses.
That said, I was ECSTATIC today to be able to decently hear a guy with very soft voice in a SUPER noisy CA Pizza Kitchen joint over lunch - packed place, music blaring. Funny aside, I’d confused my programs and started out with “Comfort in Echo” - which was useless. Luckily, halfway through lunch I recalled that "Speech in LOUD Noise " was the 2nd program, and after I cycled through to that one, WORLD of difference!
If hearing aids had half the tech developments of military or space program devices, we may have had an easier time lumping through our lives with cinderblock ears. Even so, BLESS the authors of this book for sharing their experiences with more than just we, who walk the walk.
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I can relate to all but the CI experience, of most that they are talking about. Thank goodness I am not someone that has to depend on or use captions, I much prefer to just read a book then try to watch what is happening and trying to read at the same time. My Oticon More1 aids are set to the point that I am only using the default program anymore. Now if I didn’t hav to adjust volume at times I would feel like that my hearing was pretty much normal most of the time.
That is a MIRACLE in itself! I absolutely have to cycle through the Phonak Marvel programs to get to one that is dedicated to the “hear and NOW” that I’m in. So Comfort in Echo is typically on when at home; Speech in LOUD Noise would be my #2 most selected for noisy gatherings. And Acoustic Phone simply has to be available for using any phone that I’m not paired/connected to via BT.
Gadgets! I’m juggling 10 of them at once like those circus acts where the guy is twirling a dozen dinner plates up in the air on separate sticks! 
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Gael describes herself as “bimodal” with a CI on one side and a hearing aid on the other. I’m reading the book now.
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