forum Hearing Loss

Started April 26, 2019 by @JuniperJoan

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I've got a character with partial deafness in one ear caused by trauma. Ya'll have any advice for how to portray that accurately?

Trauma as in a loud noise or a physical trauma (like having your ears boxed)? My father worked as a mechanic in the Air Force for a long time, and he has lost some of his hearing due to being around loud engines all the time. He usually has trouble hearing noises from far away, and tinnitus gives him a constant ringing in his ears. I don't know if one ear is better than the other, but I also know people who are hard-of-hearing and turn their heads to one side so that they're listening through their good ear.

Ok so both of my brothers are hearing impaired, so I'll do the best to explain both my perspective and theirs.
First, mine. They both are ADHD as well so their superrr hyperactive, and its really annoying. You may have to repeat things several times, and its never quiet at my house. They rely a lot on texture so they'll play with things like torn up paper or fidget cubes to get a good stance on that side.
Second, theirs. Balance. You are not nearly as coordinated. They have really high pitched voices, and they talk louder to make up for their lack of hearing. I have to go but feel free to ask any questions you have.

I'm hard of hearing in one ear (lost about half of my hearing in that ear). I lost mine when I got extremely sick with menengitis (0/10, don't recommend it). I feel like one thing about being HOH is that there's a lot of compensation involved. Like Yamatsu said, turning the head so the good side is facing whoever's talking to you is common. I also have really severe tinnitus (ringing of the ears). For someone in school, or in any situation where they have to sit in a larger room while someone talks, usually it's best to sit at the front with the good ear facing where the speaker is standing.
It's hard to locate sounds, in my case.
I also feel like I ask people to repeat themselves all the time, and for me, it's a big source of anxiety because I'm afraid people think I'm dumb or rude.
And if you have questions about hearing aids, I can also maybe answer those. Of course, if there's anything else, ask away about that too!

Thank you all so much! This helped a lot. My character just recently lost his hearing from blunt trauma to the head. He also has just been given a hearing aid (this is fantasy, so it's magic, but same basic principle). @BecInMYday you mentioned there's a lot of compensation, what was it like adjusting after losing your hearing?

I’m gonna be honest, I was pretty young when it happened- only about 8. I also didn’t realize I was having problems until almost a year later when I failed a hearing test. Like I mentioned before, I definitely had to ask people to repeat stuff a lot, unconsciously turning my head to my good side. Mostly that sort of thing,

Most of my family is hard of hearing due to a hereditary trait. Yay! Things i’ve noticed:

-they HAVE to look at you if you are talking, because they are usually reading your lips to help their ears out

-they will say “what?” or “Huh?” after you say something, but will answer you before you finish repeating yourself. This is because they are trying to understand what you said, and running through the possibilities. For instance, if I said “Are you good?” They might hear “Are you —“ and get the “oo” sound. So they say “what?” but also process in their heads. By the time I’m halfway through repeating myself, they have ruled out soot, foot, food, and mud. They’ll reply with yes, I am good. I hope that makes sense.

-closed captions are freaking amazing, until they aren’t. My family wears hearing aids, but we still always have captions on. One thing I’ve noticed is that I, a person with no hearing loss, cannot watch anything without subtitles. I even have them on Netflix in my phone. Subtitles also aren’t always accurate, or they are seconds behind the actual audio, which annoys my family to no end.

-the hearing aids filter out white noise. If a fan or the AC is running, they can’t hear it with their aids in because it’s filtered out.

-there is a speech impediment that comes with the hearing loss

-nursery rhymes get really mixed up. My dad was singing baa baa black sheep as “have you any more” instead of “have you any wool” for 36 years.

-getting used to hearing aids isn’t a quick process. My uncle was a teen when he got his aids, because he faked his way. He still struggles with wearing them because they bother him, or they filter stuff out, or they squeal sometimes. My sister has been wearing hers since she was three, and she really hates not wearing them, because she’s so used to them.

-They can really only focus on one sound at a time. If I’m talking to my dad, the TV is on, and my little sister is humming, my dad has a harder time processing because of the background noise. It’s even worse if he’s doing something with his hands.

-they can’t always pick up on small annoying sounds they are causing (like chewing with their mouth open, or small humming sounds in the back of their throats). They don’t know it’s noisy until someone else tells them.

-I already said they read lips but really, a surprising amount of lip reading and body language reading is used in the processing to aid the ears.

-as previously mentioned, they do turn their heads so their better ear is closer to the speaker.

-this may just be my family because of the specific hearing loss, but it’s not just about volume. For my people, it’s also the pitch. Saying something in a low pitch at a volume level of five may be heard clearly, whereas a high pitch at a volume level five is not heard at all. For my sister, she can hear high and low pitches well, like alarms or bass guitars, no aids needed. But conversation tones, human voices, or similar things, the pitches kinda in the middle, are really hard to hear.

Hope this helps!