Learning to adjust/Seeking help

Adjustment will be a lot easier if you accept the reality of your loss but it may take time to absorb the new situation. It is best to:

• Work through the pain of your loss rather than try to avoid it.
• Seek information about the possible changes to your work or social and personal life. Many of these can be very positive.
• Remember that different people will adapt to their loss in different ways; there is no one right answer for everyone.

This booklet is a guide to help you with the personal skills and information that you will need to acquire as you learn to adjust. It is also a guide to the people and services that can help you with the difficult task of adjustment and adaptation, so please make sure you seek all that help as widely as you possibly can.

Adjustment to change is an ongoing process. There are always new challenges and life situations to be faced. Deafness makes it all a bit more challenging.

The NHS

You should make an appointment to see your family doctor (GP). Doctors may not be fully familiar with all issues relating to hearing loss and deaf awareness so if you are worried that you might not hear your name being called (very common amongst deafened people), tell the receptionist you don't hear well. Get them to get your attention you when you are called. If you are worried you might not hear what the doctor says, don't be afraid to ask for it to be written down. You could go ready armed with pencil and paper. You can always ask a hearing person to go with you, but if you do, make sure that the doctor doesn't just communicate with the hearing person and leave you out of the conversation.

The outcome of a visit to a GP is likely to be a referral to the ENT (ear, nose and throat) specialist at your local hospital. A series of simple tests are carried out to determine the proportion of "normal hearing" that you have at various frequencies. If the tests show that you would benefit from a hearing aid, you will be passed on to the audiologist, who will take a cast of your ear from which to manufacture the ear mould (very important for the efficient operation of the aid) and specify the aid you require.

Private healthcare

If your need is for hearing aids and you prefer to pay to go to a private dispenser, or if you or your employer have an insurance policy that covers the cost of providing you with hearing aids, you can directly approach one of the specialist providers. All such companies are strictly controlled and should follow exactly the same procedures as the NHS. Now that digital hearing aids are the standard in the NHS, the main claim made by the private sector is of speed and customer care.

Local Authorities

Local authorities have statutory duties relating to the social welfare of their citizens. They employ a large number of social workers and will generally have a small team devoted entirely to sensory disabilities/deafness issues. See Factsheet 1, Section e, about finding details of the local authority Adult Social Services according to where you live. The local authority may be able to provide equipment like textphones and alerting devices.

Hearing Therapists

Hearing Therapists are employed by some local authorities, hospital trusts and Primary Care Trusts. They have practical experience of hearing loss and will advise on the aids and services that may be helpful in overcoming daily living problems.

Lipreading Classes

Lipreading classes (see the next page) will enable you to learn and practise new communication strategies in company with others with similar problems. Lipreading teachers are also very knowledgeable about other services and organisations that may be of assistance. Some courses, known as Communication Tactics, include both lipreading skills and other strategies that can help a deafened person understand what is said. Advice can be obtained from ATLA – see Factsheet 1, Section b.

Rehabilitation Courses

In addition to local services there are various organisations which run rehabilitation courses. Hearing Concern LINK has residential courses especially for newly deafened people and their families and deafPLUS may also have some useful weekend events and courses (see Factsheet 1, Section a, for addresses of helpful organisations).

Points to remember

If your hearing loss is the result of an accident or illness for which you have received hospital treatment, your first priority is to ensure you are not discharged without being referred to the appropriate specialist department to deal with your deafness.

If you have been working in a noisy environment and you think this may have contributed to your hearing loss, you may find it helpful to contact your trade union or other representative to ask advice on what options are open to you.

With severe/profound hearing loss you may not be able to hear your own voice too well and be unsure whether you are speaking too softly, too loudly or perhaps not too clearly. After a while, friends and family will no doubt give advice but it’s a rather sensitive topic to raise and any advice may get rather delayed, more so perhaps if you live alone. So, rather than wait for others to notice, it’s far better to ask someone. Taking the lead in that way, to remove any doubts, will help you relax and move on with confidence, knowing that all is well.

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