:-(
kinda sad to read these. I've lived my whole life with my hearing loss, so it isn't obvious knowing what I have missed out on. The older I get, the more things I realized I probably missed.
One of the things I find most challenging is deciding to grapple with the parts of what someone said that I didn't hear or just live with what I was able to decipher. Usually, it is the very first part of what they say, or it is something where the speaker slurs/mumbles as they finish a sentence.
If I don't say anything, they assume I heard it all correctly. If I do say something, then in addition to the frustration of not having what they said be understood, I am asking them (and me!) to take 5 times as long to repeat things over and over until I understand what was said. Usually it is just a few key words in a sentence. The one thing that irritates me SO much is when a person repeats what they said, which is appreciated, but changes it from what they originally said so I never actually get the precise words that were said the first time.
I wish I could hold up a neon sign over my head that essentially tells people to:
1. Always repeat EXACTLY what you said if you are going to repeat something for me.
2. Do not repeat something 5 times as loud as the first time, but at the same rate. Instead, repeat it the same volume, but at about 1/5 the rate, and pause between each word.
3. Hit those consonants with a sledgehammer, baby! Crack the windows with your T's, K's, P's D's, and B's, etc. If you're not getting bruises on your tongue and lips, I'm probably not hearing your consonants.
