For the more than 30 million Americans with significant hearing loss, hearing aids aren鈥檛 always a perfect solution. Sometimes they鈥檙e too expensive, sometimes too tricky to use. At the Callier Center for Communication Disorders, a workshop helps people of all ages learn to maximize their communication skills 鈥� with and without technology.
Cherrylyn Wilson isn鈥檛 sure exactly how tucked behind her ear work to make listening easier, but she knows how this high tech device makes her feel.
鈥淪o connected to the rest of the world, the rest of the environment that I鈥檓 in,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檓 able to contribute to the conversation, and hear what鈥檚 been said to me.鈥�
Wilson, who鈥檚 70, started losing her hearing when she was 28. Although she eventually got hearing aids, she says that doesn鈥檛 completely solve the problem.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not enough to receive your [hearing] aids and go home,鈥� Wilson says, 鈥淏ecause you don鈥檛 get instructions, counseling, and feedback.鈥�
Which is why Wilson, along with a dozen other people with hearing loss, are at UT Dallas鈥� . They鈥檙e participating in a week long workshop trying out new technology, and communication techniques to use with friends and family.
A Concern For Couples
UT Dallas professor says hearing loss doesn鈥檛 affect one person, it affects everyone around them they鈥檙e trying to communicate with. That鈥檚 why Thibodeau has run this workshop for twelve years 鈥� encouraging people to come with husbands, wives, parents and children.
鈥淢any times couples are very frustrated about their communication,鈥� she says, 鈥淎nd even though they may have purchased a $6 thousand pair of hearing aids, they go home and they鈥檙e still struggling to hear each other because they鈥檙e talking to each other from separate rooms.鈥�
So, Thibodeau goes over technology, but also the physics of sound 鈥� and why you to get someone鈥檚 attention before speaking to them.
Wilma Lusk has been trying to get her husband, Ray, to use hearing aids for years. He finally did just a few months ago. And he not only noticed how loud the TV had been, but also how he hadn鈥檛 been able to hear his wife when they were driving and she tried to point things out from the passenger seat.
鈥淚 needed to have a hearing aid a long time ago but I didn鈥檛,鈥� Ray Lusk says.
Ray says he no longer has to bluff 鈥� pretend he understands someone in a crowded room with background noise.
鈥淚 would give an indication that I knew what they were saying when I was trying to piece it together.鈥�
Not Trying To Blend In
The point of this weeklong workshop isn鈥檛 to learn to blend in 鈥� or avoid asking for help. Quite the opposite, Linda Thibodeau says.
鈥淲e actually really promote 鈥� especially with our teens and younger children 鈥� bright colored hearing aids (鈥�) because what we鈥檙e trying to teach people here are strategies to help you communicate better with individuals and if you keep that fa莽ade that you don鈥檛 need any special accommodations then that only compounds the problem.鈥�
After a week of practice and field trips to noisy places, the hope is participants go home with more confidence using the assisted listening devices they have, and the ability to cope when a battery dies or technology isn鈥檛 enough.
Thibodeau is working with universities across the country to create their own workshops for communication modeled after the one she oversees at UT Dallas.
