Noise Cancelling Headphones for the Hard of Hearing Girl...Probably Not a Good Idea

I have these noise cancelling headphones that I love. They go into my ear so I can't fit them in there with my hearing aids and naturally the hearing aids have to go. Yesterday I was getting out of my car and a car was driving pass when the driver stopped and backed up. I thought she wanted my spot until I turned and saw that someone had gotten into the car beside mine and was backing out. I had not heard her at all; I didn't hear her get into the car or start the car. And then today I was walking and almost walked in front of a car. I didn't hear it coming. That kind of made me nervous. Maybe noice cancelling headphones are the best for me since I can't hear anyway. But I really like them; I like just being able to hear my music and none of the other noises. I'll just have to be more vigilant and look around to make sure I know what's going on around me. I usually do but my mind has been somewhere else this week.

Beautiful Language...ASL

Because I discovered I was hard of hearing and needed hearing aids I decided to take American Sign Language. My audiologist has told me many times that my hearing will only get worst and that there is that possibility of going completely deaf. So when I made the decision to go back to school to finish my English degree I decided to do a Bachelor of Arts and take ASL for the language core. I don't regret it at all. While it hasn't been easy I love learning ASL and talking with my hands. It still surprises me that I can understand it and I can have full signed conversations. I've discovered a new culture of people who know what I am going through and understand the frustrations I may have.

Last semester I had a pretty tough professor, Mr. Holland, who required a lot out of us and gave us so many assignments that required us to get up in front of the class and do presentations. He also required us to go to Deaf events which allowed me to meet some people. It felt pretty good to be able to have conversations with them. Because Mr. Holland was so tough he forced me to take the language that much more serious and I worked really hard to learn new words and am able to sign better. I love learning this new language and look forward to learning so much more.

What Its Really Like to Have Hearing Loss

Did some more research trying to find something when I came across a few websites that depict hearing loss very well. I've posted the links below. If you know someone with hearing loss and want to know what it's like these websites are really good at letting you experience that.

Starkey Hearing Loss Simulator

Hearing Like Me Simulator

Youtube Video Hearing Loss Example

NPR Article

I was searching Google for hearing loss blogs when I found this NPR article that talks about hearing loss. What's so interesting about this piece is that it added soundbites of what it sounds like when you have hearing loss, which is really cool. It was spot on. It depicts what I go through when I am trying to hear things without my hearing aids and even talks about recruitment, which is a weird phenomenon where as sounds get louder, they quickly go from being inaudible to painfully loud. And it really hurts and is uncomfortable. I thought this site was interesting so I've added it below so that people who don't deal with hearing loss can see what people who have to deal with go through and maybe help them understand.

The Real Sounds Of Hearing Loss

This is picture is showing that you can either wear the protective earmuffs when in loud situation or you'll be wearing hearing aids later. Powerful.