Hearing loss causes barriers to business.

Hearing loss is a terrible thing to have happen to you because it is difficult to rectify, if it can be at all. Using hearing aids is excellent, but like me, so many people would rather battle on without them despite the frustration they can cause other people.

Sometimes, there are medical contraindications to the fitting of a hearing aid. These can depend on whether the hearing aid uses air or bone conduction to deliver the sound. I have had problems with both, and despite my keen desire to fix the problem, I still battle on.

See a Case Study by Peter Sergeant in the Knowledge Base.

Hearing loss is a critical issue for business people.

Deafness came on me slowly, starting about 30 years ago. Suddenly, one night, I had a crackling in one ear. From that time on I have lost 100% hearing in that ear.

Medical specialists put it down to rifle shooting, water skiing, machinery noise, and driving cars with the windows down. Hereditary factors had some bearing on my overall deafness. Thankfully, I still have 60% hearing in one ear.

In business, basic auditory abilities take on functional significance. You cannot detect and recognise meaningful sounds and inflexions in conversations. More importantly, perceiving and understanding spoken language, notably missing keywords and phrases, becomes difficult.

With hearing loss, it becomes challenging to identify the source and location of a sound, again making it difficult in the work environment. When I call out to my PA, she answers, “Here.” To me, she could be anywhere in a 360-degree radius.

Hearing difficulties and many situational factors influence the ability to perform auditory tasks in the real world. Factors such as background noise, road noise and other competing signals. Today, I find that room acoustics and familiarity with the situation significantly affect my communication ability. For instance, I wouldn’t say I like restaurants, meeting rooms and conference facilities with tiled or wooden floors. I now prefer to eat Alfresco and conduct meetings in the open air. Such things are essential regardless of whether you have hearing loss or not. However, the effects are magnified when the hearing is impaired.

Hearing loss can cost you income and even your career.

In my case, I used to enjoy planning facilitation meetings for companies where 10 to 30 people might be involved. Recently, I have had to give it away as I miss too many of the conversations that are going on. I now have to restrict myself to two or three individuals in a setting I approve of. Once, I ran 10 to 15 interactive workshops and presentations a month with anything up to 500 people. This will probably give you some idea of how hearing loss can restrict earning capacity.

Hearing loss affects you in many ways.

Hearing loss disrupts interpersonal communication and interferes with perceiving meaningful environmental sounds. Some individuals experience significant levels of distress due to their hearing problems.

Useful Information.

For the latest information on hearing loss and what you can do, visit the AARP Hearing Resource Center.

Check out the Cochlear Ear; it is no longer just for babies and young people. https://www.cochlear.com/au/en/home

Harvard Medical School:   A guide to prevention and treatment

Quotable quotes.

“My eyesight is not nearly as good, my hearing is probably going away, my memory is slipping too. But I’m still around”. John Wooden

“The thing about hearing loss is that no one can see it. Most people are so impatient they just assume that the person with hearing loss is being rude or slow-witted”. Marion Ross