Newbie considering hearing aids

The last few years I’ve started to have significant trouble with hearing in anything but quiet with only a few people in the conversation.

In March 2009 I went to get my hearing tested.
As far as I recall these were my results (left & right ears were about the same):
250 Hz—30 db
500 hz—25 db
1000 hz–15/20 db (don’t remember which)
2000 hz–10 db
4000 hz–15 db

They said my lower frequencies were borderline/minimal hearing loss, but not enough to be worth fitting aids for.

However, I was still have extreme difficulty in noisy situations, especially. During the Summer of 2009 my husband & I started learning ASL together. That’s been a BIG help.

At the end of our first term, August 2009, we went to a Silent Picnic. Normally any group event I find extremely exhausting/overwhelming and can only stand it for an hour or two. I ended up staying at the picnic for FOUR hours… and I wasn’t exhausted afterwards! That’s when I realized that there was something else going on with my hearing.

I found an audi specializing in APD in a bigger city an hour and a half from my home. I saw her and an intensive battery of tests was completed, and I was diagnosed with a mild Auditory Processing Disorder. That was roughly a year ago.

I recently got back in touch with my audi due to continued frustrations & struggles to hear & understand.

She recommends FM systems for children with APD, but for adults with APD she recommends low-gain open-fit hearing aids! The theory being that modern fancy hearing aids are better than my poor APD brain at distinguishing noise from speech, and the aids can amplify the speech making it easier for me to hear & understand people. Anything that can reduce the fatigue I have after a day of trying to hear people will be MOST welcome. Most normal hearing people just can’t understand exactly how exhausting & how much effort it takes me.

The aids she recommends for adults with APD are Oticon Agil Pros, Vigo Pros, and Hit Pros. The Agils are too expensive for me right now, but I’m hopeful the Vigos or Hits will help me out.

I’ve already spent a good bit of time browsing around the site, and have got some wonderful tips & information!