Reply to Thinking of buying a megaphone to aim at my mom

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]PP, that all makes sense. I'm incredibly sensitive to anything slightly too loud or off-balance myself, so I can imagine that imperfectly-amplified sound would be really uncomfortable. I wish that in this day and age we had better technology for hearing loss.

For myself, I feel like although I'm not a person who normally has any trouble being heard, I canNOT guess what level of volume I need to produce to make myself understood by mom and I can't make myself do the slow shouting required without feeling like I'm channeling annoyance. [/quote]

PP here. A few things that help me. Figure out if your mom has a good side. If for example, she hears better on her right side, position yourself to her right when speaking. If you are across from her, sit slightly diagonal to her right. Turn down any other noise in the room so she can focus on what you’re saying. If others are around, move to a quieter spot.  Make sure she can see your mouth when you speak because some people find it helpful. Do speak clearly and more loudly than usual but don’t shout. Also, ask her what you can do to help.

My dad will not wear HAs at all and misses a lot of what I say even with me practicing the suggestions above. I try to empathize with him and share my own struggles. Specifically I have explained that I needed to trial a number of HAs to find the best one and then be patient while the audiologist tweaked it over multiple visits. He wanted to walk into Costco and be fitted and walk out hearing 100%. When that didn’t happen on his first attempt, he gave up and declared nothing would help.   I also have explained that I had to build up to wearing my HAs. I wore them for an hour for the first few days and then a few hours at a time until I was able to wear them most of the day. It takes time for the brain to acclimate to the quality of the sound because it doesn’t sound natural. It took discipline to stick with it. I am not giving up on my dad because as someone mentioned there’s a link with cognitive decline if not addressed. Another big concern is medical situations where he might not be able to hear what a healthcare provider is telling him. He often seems confused after appointments. In my personal situation, even with HAs, I always begin every healthcare visit by mentioning that I am hearing impaired.

I hope you can find a way to improve communication with your mom and decrease your frustration. 
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