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| My mother and the family dog, Sam |
My mother as most mothers are is a constant source of inspiration for me, see is a real go-getter, independent and does't let the fact that see was born with only one functioning eardrum stop her. She is completely deaf in one ear and her hearing is not 100% in the other ear but you really wouldn't know. She doesn't wear a hearing aid as there is nothing that can be done with regards to the affected ear, although she has a very small in-ear aid for the working ear. She spent my childhood moving me around to the side she can hear when walking down the street but otherwise she has always worked, doesn't have a disability badge and would never want to be treated differently. This can-do attitude to life is just one of the many reason I look up to her as well as anyone else living with hearing loss.
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| I am so grateful for being able to hear my son. |
I myself have also been affected, although not too heavily, by hearing loss. When I started school around 6yrs old I had problems pronouncing words properly, in the beginning people though I was just being silly but when it came to learning to spell I also struggled, they soon realised I have some hearing loss which meant I didn't pick up all the sounds in the worlds. I went to extra lessons and quickly got up to speed and besides the occasionally tinnitus I get and have had since I was young I don't have any issues unless i'm somewhere very loud or people talk very quietly than I become one of those annoying people who keeps asking you to repeat yourself. Of course I look after my ears as I never want to miss out on anything Mr A has to say.
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| So true, if anything it makes it harder to understand things |
People are living with hearing loss every day and many of them are coping better than you would ever imagine. Hearing loss doesn't mean you have to start living a lesser life. There are huge support networks out there of people who know what you're going through and can help you to manage your condition.
If you want to know more about hearing loss or get some advice, Hidden Hearing has an interactive game allowing you to test your ability to identify different sounds.
They even have a festival in the UK dedicated to Deaf Film and Arts, do check it out if it's of interest to you - they doing some amazing work - DeafFest
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my boyfriend is in a very similar situation to your mother. he's pretty much completely deaf in one ear, but doesn't wear a hearing aid as it wouldn't help at all. and haha! he's always moving me around to his good side too when i forget.
ReplyDeleteI have lived most of my life with a complicated hearing loss problem and in the last year finally succumbed to hearing aids. It's not easy and is taking a lot of work to get them right. Like you Laura, I have tinnitus too which has got much worse since trying to fathom the aids but I'm hanging in there.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really inspirational post and how wonderful is your mum?!
ReplyDeleteI love inspirational stories like this, it really puts things into perspective. You mum sounds amazing :) x
ReplyDeleteYour mum is amazing. What a gorgeous photo of her at the top. Dave's mum has the same thing so I'm pleased to see there are support networks out there. x
ReplyDeleteMy mum is the same as yours - she is completely deaf in one ear and has been since birth, but she's never let it affect her, aside from the occasional jokes (all in good nature!) we make to her when we've been talking to her on the "wrong side" and realise she hasn't heard a single thing we've said! We've learnt over time to stay on her right side! The picture with her and Sam is lovely :)
ReplyDeleteI love that photo of your Mum - and what a woman! She sounds like a real inspiration x
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