Asking Eric: Hearing impaired friends make having conversations difficult, frustrating

To Eric, Two of my friends have hearing impairments. Despite having hearing aids, one of them gave them back. Despite having them, the other person refuses to wear them.

They can’t seem to determine if someone else is speaking, so they constantly interrupt and talk over each other.

They constantly asking me to speak up, but when I do, they complain, which irritates me so much. Everyone else understands me perfectly, but they accuse me of mumbling.

I have to keep saying the same thing, louder each time, until they tell me to stop screaming at me!

I keep reminding them that they shouldn’t be upset when I eventually get to a volume they can hear if they keep requesting me to speak up until they can hear me. What do you think?

Bringing Up Voices

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R. Eric Thomas

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To All Voices: Dealing with hearing loss can be challenging. Sometimes it’s a pride issue; other times, folks have become accustomed to getting by and are unaware of how much they’re missing. Convincing buddies who haven’t discovered the ideal medical remedy to maintain trying might be challenging.

However, discuss what you’re seeing with them in a casual setting and urge them to see an audiologist—possibly a different one than the one they previously saw. Remind them that using hearing aids can help lower the rate of cognitive decline in older persons by up to 50%, and that hearing loss is linked to an increased risk of dementia, according to the National Institutes of Health. Additionally, by enabling people with hearing loss to interact more effectively with others and their environment, hearing aids can lessen social isolation. Like all medical treatments, there are a lot of advantages, but it may take some time to become acclimated to them.

Maybe by concentrating on their ongoing health and well-being, you’ll show them that you’re not just whining for the sake of whining, but that you genuinely care about their friendship and well-being.

For inquiries, contact R. Eric Thomas at ateric@askingeric.com or by mail at P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Subscribe to his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com and follow him on Instagram.

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