So since ihearing protection while riding was mentioned in another thread this morning, I thought I would post up here for anyone like me who is similarly afflicted. Especially since hearing impairment and loss is an invisible disability that most people have a hard time comprehending.
As for me, I have been hearing impaired for most of my life. Most of my loss is in the critical mid-range frequencies where human speech mostly occurs, so conversations can be tough at times, especially if there is a lot of background noise. To compound that, I have tinnitus, and it seems to be getting worse as I get older. It manifests as an extremely high pitched whine, similar to the old tube style TVs that were common when I was a kid. Before my dad passed last year, I asked what happened to me to cause my hearing loss, as I never really understood it, and have had to deal with it for my entire life. While he couldn't pinpoint any one incident, he did recall that I seemed to have it from a very early age.
The hardest part is convincing people that I did not hear what they heard. My wife, even after 26 years of marriage, doesn't fully understand the extent of my impairment. And yes I realize that its rather ironic that I am an AUDIO-Visual technician, but I figure if I can hear the presentation, everyone can Which is also why I primarily work in the video department. One of the few positives I can take from this is that I have the ability to really focus in on a task, as I have needed to do in order to understand and comprehend people. The masks that are now necessary have made conversations even harder, as I read lips to help with comprehension as well. I do hope that there will eb acute for tinnitus some day, but that doesn't seem to be as high a priority, even though it can isolate people.
As for me, I have been hearing impaired for most of my life. Most of my loss is in the critical mid-range frequencies where human speech mostly occurs, so conversations can be tough at times, especially if there is a lot of background noise. To compound that, I have tinnitus, and it seems to be getting worse as I get older. It manifests as an extremely high pitched whine, similar to the old tube style TVs that were common when I was a kid. Before my dad passed last year, I asked what happened to me to cause my hearing loss, as I never really understood it, and have had to deal with it for my entire life. While he couldn't pinpoint any one incident, he did recall that I seemed to have it from a very early age.
The hardest part is convincing people that I did not hear what they heard. My wife, even after 26 years of marriage, doesn't fully understand the extent of my impairment. And yes I realize that its rather ironic that I am an AUDIO-Visual technician, but I figure if I can hear the presentation, everyone can Which is also why I primarily work in the video department. One of the few positives I can take from this is that I have the ability to really focus in on a task, as I have needed to do in order to understand and comprehend people. The masks that are now necessary have made conversations even harder, as I read lips to help with comprehension as well. I do hope that there will eb acute for tinnitus some day, but that doesn't seem to be as high a priority, even though it can isolate people.