It’s a cold wintery blustery day and here I am trying to write my first blog …
I have sensorineural hearing loss and my hearing has got worse over a period of 15 years. It's at the stage now where I do feel the impact of hearing loss. Communication is getting really difficult; even on a one to one basis the clarity of speech is not good.
I cannot use the telephone and I have a screen text phone which I find useful and it does give me some independence. Unfortunately not all my family and friends are comfortable with using it. I miss just picking up the phone to have a chat and to hear a friendly voice. Oh yes, it is good to see the text on the screen phone - at least I don’t miss anything, but it is not the same as hearing the voices.
Conversations are short and to the point, not getting all the gossip. Yesterday I got a phone call from a friend, she did not use the text relay facility and I had to say to her I could not hear what she was saying and could I call her back using the text relay. As I did not know who was speaking I dialled 1471 and had difficulty in hearing the number but after a few tries I finally got it and phoned her back. I suppose I should have asked her to phone me back using the text relay system; why did I not think of that at the time?
Living alone with hearing loss is a huge challenge for me. But you know, when I manage to overcome a particular problem I do feel a sense of achievement. I say to myself – it's sorted – well done.