Hard of Hearing at Work!

Facthunt

I struggle with my hearing at work. Even though I wear hearing aids I am regularly ask people to repeat themselves …. Sometimes much to my annoyance people don’t repeat themselves and say forget about it!

I also have tinnitus and have had it for 25+ years which doesn’t help.

I’m interested to understand how others cope at work and if their employer support them. Do you feel that deafness puts you at a disadvantage and hinders you from promotion.

looksee

How long since you visited your audiologist? Either your aids could be adjusted to improve your hearing or you maybe need new aids. Or there is some other issue, but this is your first step.

Yes, to answer your question, people are often impatient with hearing impairment, its an invisible issue and people do get annoyed about it, though whether they would have any more patience with another disability I don't know. First see if you can improve your hearing, second ask yourself do you tend to automatically ask for a repeat sometimes because you have got accustomed to doing it (I have realised that I do sometimes), third, be willing to say that you don't hear very well and could people be aware of that. At the same time a lot of people do speak in an indistinct or muttering way that is not helpful, and some environments are difficult to hear in because of background noise or acoustically poor buildings.

Facthunt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121270174#Comment_121270174

I’ve last seen my audiologist about a year ago. I struggle with tinnitus too. The hearing aids are used to mask the tinnitus!

I do tell people now I am hard of hearing. I used to be embarrassed before but now take no notice! I do ask people to repeat themselves and depending on the task/answer I write down notes to make sure I am clear of what’s required.

However because of the Tinnitus I often find that my mind wanders!