My hard of hearing is stressing me out at work

LegacyUser

Hi, going unreg’ed for this which is a clue to my dilemma. This is an issue that I am embarrassed about even though the rational side of my brain says I shouldn’t have to be. Basically, I am hard of hearing and I wear visible hearing aids. While I’m not mad about wearing such visible aids, I was told my multiple practitioners that they were much better for my hearing than discreet in the ear canal aids. Tbh, I don’t notice any great improvement in hearing with these but am fairly comfortable having to wear them and not overly self conscious about it. My problem really is that as my hearing is still not great even with the aids, I struggle a lot with hearing in loud situations, people talking in a normal voice from a distance, or even if people aren’t talking to me face to face, one on one. I therefore miss out on a lot of open plan banter and conversation at work as I simply cannot hear people and there’s only so many times I can ask people to repeat themselves.

I can tolerate these drawbacks but the crux of my issue really is that as I work in a large multinational firm, I have to go on a lot of conference calls with colleagues from other countries and I find their accents almost impossible to understand (Scottish, Indian, Eastern European, even some Irish accents). I will be on calls and everyone else can understand what was said and answer accordingly. It has resulted in quite a few embarrassing situations where I just cannot hear them or worse I answer a question inappropriately because I thought they said something else (which makes me look stupid or slow). Again, you can only ask them to repeat so many times.

My question to you all is how do I deal with this? I’ve spent 1000s on supposedly top class hearing aids from renowned practitioners and get excited every time a new product comes out and I trial it for 30 days but invariably doesn’t give me improvement and I sadly return them . I’m in a fairly senior role at work so hosting of conference calls is part of my job and increasingly so. It’s really starting to stress me out that I can’t hear people on these calls and also if I have difficulty at board meetings etc. How do I approach this problem with my manager/employer without it affecting my job security? Surely, if I can’t conduct core activities that are part of my job, I may be considered incapable and a target for redundancy?

Tbh, it’s a stress in every situation, talking to new people in a pub on a night out can be a struggle also. At least those who are close to me know my situation and I’m comfortable explaining to them that I can’t hear even though they too sometimes get frustrated. I tolerate the struggle in non work situations but with work, I hate drawing attention to this disability (I'm a rather introverted, shy person who has experienced bullying as a child so am particularly sensitive to attention) and fear the reprecussions for me if I do bring it up. Please help me see this from another angle so I can help myself and not be afraid to address it correctly. Thanks for reading this far! J

LegacyUser

Hi there,

I understand where you are coming from and I've been having chronic problems with my ears from a young age. It can be frustrating at times. Are people aware that you are hard of hearing at work? Did you bring up about your hearing when you applied for the job? I always state that I have a hearing impairment when applying for jobs. Can you lip read or use sign language? I know what you mean you want to be descrete about it and not draw attention to it but work needs to be aware of it and try to help you if they can. Do you find yourself asking them to repeat what they say or speak louder? Some people can have very soft low toned quiet voices others much louder stronger higher toned voices.

How often do you get your ears tested and cleaned out? Are you using the phone alot as well, needing the loudspeaker? Has your practitioners suggested the BAHA/Cochlear ear implant to you? Its a bone anchored hearing aid.

Sometimes in some buildings they have a system that pick up sounds for those who are hard of hearing they have it in the nearest Motor Tax Office I go to.

Sometimes with the hearing aid can aggravate the ear causing moisture, blockage and ear infections. Do you take them off for a bit to give your ears a bit of breathing space and air?

First thing you need to do is address it with work all you need to do is let them know that they be aware of your hearing issue and that they make an effort to speak to you the way you prefer to be spoken to. Sit nearest the person who speaks the most at meetings. Are both your ears not great? If you slightly better hearing in one ear I'd suggest to face people on that side. I am the same i've one ear that hears better than the other ear and suggest people speak on that side or facing me. Could you have a letter writen out by your practitioner to state you are hard of hearing?

Next thing is to speak with a practitioner depending on how severe your hearing problem is the hearing aids aren't as effective maybe the baha might suit you? You could have that and only need one hearing aid in one ear to balance the hearing out.

Hope what i've said is of help.
Best of luck!

Merkin

Have you considered getting cochlear implants OP? If the hearing aids aren't working as much as they could or should and you are willing to spend a bit of money then I'd definitely recommend you explore this option. I know someone who had this done and it has completely changed their life.