I’ve been aware since I was young that my hearing was different but I never had the confidence to call it a ‘hearing loss’ and would just shrug or laugh it off as ‘my bad hearing’.
I wasn't aware I had hearing loss in my left ear until I had to get emergency surgery in 2018. Since Sept 2022 I started wearing a hearing aid (which, I must admit, is both a blessing and a curse). Because I can hear perfectly in my right ear, I never even noticed I had an issue with hearing (we never did hearing tests in school either so...undetected). I don't think I'd ever refer to myself as 'disabled' as I don't think I can relate (kinda feels imposter syndromey). But I definitely related to the last paragraph, the many awkward social interactions due to hearing loss. I should probably be more mindful of telling people as my colleagues who only found out recently have said they initially just thought I was being rude! Anyway, thanks for sharing, glad to know there are others who are 'late' to fixing their hearing loss/
Thank you for sharing your experience! Glad you found something in my writing you could relate to. I think it's probably quite common but hopefully will change as attitudes change too
It must be a very wide ranging group of people that feel this. Maybe awareness and education can help? I’ll just keep reminding myself to claim this in-between space. Maybe we need a stake flag! Thank you for sharing your story.
So very beautifully written! ❤️
Thanks so much ☺️
I wasn't aware I had hearing loss in my left ear until I had to get emergency surgery in 2018. Since Sept 2022 I started wearing a hearing aid (which, I must admit, is both a blessing and a curse). Because I can hear perfectly in my right ear, I never even noticed I had an issue with hearing (we never did hearing tests in school either so...undetected). I don't think I'd ever refer to myself as 'disabled' as I don't think I can relate (kinda feels imposter syndromey). But I definitely related to the last paragraph, the many awkward social interactions due to hearing loss. I should probably be more mindful of telling people as my colleagues who only found out recently have said they initially just thought I was being rude! Anyway, thanks for sharing, glad to know there are others who are 'late' to fixing their hearing loss/
Thank you for sharing your experience! Glad you found something in my writing you could relate to. I think it's probably quite common but hopefully will change as attitudes change too
It must be a very wide ranging group of people that feel this. Maybe awareness and education can help? I’ll just keep reminding myself to claim this in-between space. Maybe we need a stake flag! Thank you for sharing your story.