Does Anyone Else Tell People You Are Hard of Hearing?

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usagibryan
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29 Nov 2022, 9:17 am

I'm not actually hard of hearing, at least I don't think I am, but in loud environments I have to bend down and put my ear right next to the person trying to speak to me and focus really hard to understand them. I tell people I have a hearing problem when I do this (it doesn't make them speak up or anything though so idk why I bother). I don't have this problem if the room is quiet but if there is background noise and ESPECIALLY if there is background talking like news on the tv or music with lyrics I can't focus on what people are trying to tell me nor can I formulate my own thoughts properly. It's like a spear that scatters my thoughts. This is why I hate parties and could never do clubs. Why do people insist on trying to talk to you with loud music or a tv blaring in the background?


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29 Nov 2022, 9:18 am

I'm the type who can't hear people in loud rooms, either.



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29 Nov 2022, 9:38 am

usagibryan wrote:
Why do people insist on trying to talk to you with loud music or a tv blaring in the background?


There are certain types of people who are not comfortable (maybe an anxiety) unless they are talking.


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29 Nov 2022, 10:25 am

All the time, it's easier than explaining I can't discern them from the background (I have medical tests due to my job, my hearing always comes back as extremely good)!

I'm trying to train my kids that if they want to talk to me near a road they must look straight at me so I can part lip read. I was the same in my youth, everyone would be chatting in the pub and I couldn't make head not tail of it so just sat and got very drunk so I had an excuse to not interact.



jimmy m
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29 Nov 2022, 10:58 am

This is one of our differences. We can do well in ONE ON ONE CONVERSATIONS, but we become overloaded in GROUP TALK.

So what is the solution. Well there are a variety of hearing aids. Some can minimize background noise and chatter. You can limit the problem by avoiding places filled with group think. Load noises, many people communicating at once.


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29 Nov 2022, 11:03 am

Your situation describes me perfectly. Audiologist says my hearing is great. But I can't distinguish what someone is saying when there is other background noise, whether it is talking or other noise.

I just say, "I'm sorry, I can't hear you." Or, "Sorry, could you say that again?" and I wil present my ear toward them, or maybe tap my ear.


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usagibryan
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29 Nov 2022, 11:13 am

HayPeeBee wrote:
All the time, it's easier than explaining I can't discern them from the background (I have medical tests due to my job, my hearing always comes back as extremely good)!

I'm trying to train my kids that if they want to talk to me near a road they must look straight at me so I can part lip read. I was the same in my youth, everyone would be chatting in the pub and I couldn't make head not tail of it so just sat and got very drunk so I had an excuse to not interact.


See I don't look at people all that much so I never learned how to lip read, especially when I'm trying to focus I need to look away. I can't imagine what that's like, maybe I should try to learn.

jimmy m wrote:
This is one of our differences. We can do well in ONE ON ONE CONVERSATIONS, but we become overloaded in GROUP TALK.

So what is the solution. Well there are a variety of hearing aids. Some can minimize background noise and chatter. You can limit the problem by avoiding places filled with group think. Load noises, many people communicating at once.


There are hearing aids that can do that? I've never considered hearing aids since I don't have an actual hearing problem per se, but if there is something that can low background noise or background voices and make it easier to hear someone speaking directly to me I would love that.


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29 Nov 2022, 11:44 am

usagibryan wrote:
See I don't look at people all that much so I never learned how to lip read, especially when I'm trying to focus I need to look away. I can't imagine what that's like, maybe I should try to learn.


I only really learned teh lip reading trick in the last 10 years from my wife and kids, for some reason I can look at them without forcing myself or being overwhelmed <hmm, hope she doesn't read this, doesn't sound very kind but honestly it's a compliment because I'm at ease with them!>. Everyone else in the world I have to make a very conscious effort to look at, I only really cracked it in my late 20s but it's just staring in their facial direction, not actually looking at their face.



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30 Nov 2022, 9:05 am

usagibryan wrote:
There are hearing aids that can do that? I've never considered hearing aids since I don't have an actual hearing problem per se, but if there is something that can low background noise or background voices and make it easier to hear someone speaking directly to me I would love that.


I am old. I am 74 years and counting. My hearing is not the greatest. As a result I use a hearing aid to help. The hearing aids can be programmed to essentially block out much of the background noise. It can focus on the audio information in front of you and eliminate any background noise behind you. The only problem is that these hearing aids tend to be expensive. Perhaps you can find an aid that is inexpensive and blocks out unnecessary chatter. I imagine they exist.


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30 Nov 2022, 9:09 am

i believe many of us are beset with auditory processing disorder which can mean that although the ears work, the brain's hearing center and/or things upstream are not working as well.



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30 Nov 2022, 9:27 am

usagibryan wrote:
I'm not actually hard of hearing, at least I don't think I am, but in loud environments I have to bend down and put my ear right next to the person trying to speak to me and focus really hard to understand them. I tell people I have a hearing problem when I do this (it doesn't make them speak up or anything though so idk why I bother). I don't have this problem if the room is quiet but if there is background noise and ESPECIALLY if there is background talking like news on the tv or music with lyrics I can't focus on what people are trying to tell me nor can I formulate my own thoughts properly. It's like a spear that scatters my thoughts. This is why I hate parties and could never do clubs. Why do people insist on trying to talk to you with loud music or a tv blaring in the background?
I know what you mean. I've thought about saying I have a hearing problem because I tend to not understand what people say in some situations. It's not necessarily noisy environments, but also group talks such as meetings (I can't follow meeting conversations), or simply bad regional/individual accents (I can hear the voice but I don't recognize badly pronounced words) that make it difficult for me to understand what people say. In fact, someone actually thought I was hard of hearing because I kept asking people to repeat so many times. I tend to avoid situations where I have to talk to people for this reason, making me a loner at work etc.



usagibryan
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30 Nov 2022, 9:35 am

jimmy m wrote:
usagibryan wrote:
There are hearing aids that can do that? I've never considered hearing aids since I don't have an actual hearing problem per se, but if there is something that can low background noise or background voices and make it easier to hear someone speaking directly to me I would love that.


I am old. I am 74 years and counting. My hearing is not the greatest. As a result I use a hearing aid to help. The hearing aids can be programmed to essentially block out much of the background noise. It can focus on the audio information in front of you and eliminate any background noise behind you. The only problem is that these hearing aids tend to be expensive. Perhaps you can find an aid that is inexpensive and blocks out unnecessary chatter. I imagine they exist.


I've tried googling but do you know if there is a hearing aid that ONLY blocks out background noise? I don't think I need any amplification, just background noise reduction.


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30 Nov 2022, 9:42 am

no, I don't think it'd help. and it's not true. and it'd feel weird to lie? my real big issue is that I have ADHD and my brain goes nyoom and it's real embarrassing when I forget what someone said to me mere seconds ago, but that's just how it goes. sometimes I truly cannot hear people because a failure to filter out the background noise or whatever, but it's pretty rare. I suppose I'm lucky in that regard.



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30 Nov 2022, 9:44 am

usagibryan wrote:
jimmy m wrote:
usagibryan wrote:
There are hearing aids that can do that? I've never considered hearing aids since I don't have an actual hearing problem per se, but if there is something that can low background noise or background voices and make it easier to hear someone speaking directly to me I would love that.


I am old. I am 74 years and counting. My hearing is not the greatest. As a result I use a hearing aid to help. The hearing aids can be programmed to essentially block out much of the background noise. It can focus on the audio information in front of you and eliminate any background noise behind you. The only problem is that these hearing aids tend to be expensive. Perhaps you can find an aid that is inexpensive and blocks out unnecessary chatter. I imagine they exist.


I've tried googling but do you know if there is a hearing aid that ONLY blocks out background noise? I don't think I need any amplification, just background noise reduction.

the better hearing aids have proximity boosting which boosts the volume of the people you're close to [your wife/friends] while suppressing more distant sounds esp. off-axis sounds. but they cost $$$$.



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30 Nov 2022, 8:08 pm

Mostly my mother. She is very soft spoken and tends to mumble. I think I have auditory processing disorder because I can hear just fine, I just can't make out what people are saying. English is my first language but sometimes it feels like people are speaking gibberish or another language when they are speaking English. I think I would still have this same problem if I grew up speaking Chinese or Arabic or anything. Most of the time people will repeat themselves if you ask them. But sometimes people WON'T. My ex boyfriend got so offended if I asked him to repeat himself and teachers would be like "I already explained it. It isn't my fault if you weren't listening the first time." My mother wants me to get a hearing aid but I've done some research and hearing aids don't help this issue.


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01 Dec 2022, 12:15 am

MagicMeerkat wrote:
Mostly my mother. She is very soft spoken and tends to mumble. I think I have auditory processing disorder because I can hear just fine, I just can't make out what people are saying. English is my first language but sometimes it feels like people are speaking gibberish or another language when they are speaking English. I think I would still have this same problem if I grew up speaking Chinese or Arabic or anything. Most of the time people will repeat themselves if you ask them. But sometimes people WON'T. My ex boyfriend got so offended if I asked him to repeat himself and teachers would be like "I already explained it. It isn't my fault if you weren't listening the first time." My mother wants me to get a hearing aid but I've done some research and hearing aids don't help this issue.

strattera helped me. YMMV.