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I’m hard of hearing. There. I said it. I have severe bilateral sensorineural hearing loss caused by damage to the nerve cells. So, as you can see, I have a vested interest in blogging for the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association in the Blogathon event next week.

A pair of state-of-the-art digital hearing aids with Bluetooth streaming capability (more on that in another post) combined with lip-reading and visual/written communication have helped overcome this problem, and like my blog says, I’m into business systems analysis and project management which involve heavy interaction and communication with a number of teams across different locations.

As a kid, I loved Tintin comics. I still do. (Who doesn’t?) There was the young super-sleuth, his smart, quick thinking dog Snowy, his drinking and swearing but good natured friend Captain Haddock, and the bumbling detectives Thomson and Thompson, but the one character I found myself relating to the most was Professor Calculus.

With the mild-mannered genius living in a world of his own and refusing to admit his hearing problem, it was easy to have a good laugh at Professor Calculus and at all the humour arising out of misinterpretations as a result of him not hearing what was being said. Fun aside, it also made me self-conscious of my own hearing loss. I found it easier to feign ignorance than admit to a hearing loss. For, after all, wasn’t hearing loss something associated with old people and the subject of humour in stories and movies? “Sue Thomas F.B. Eye”, a TV series from the recent years loosely based on the real life of a lip-reading deaf ex-FBI agent and played by hard of hearing actress Deanna Bray, was an exception and an inspiration to the deaf and hard of hearing.

While I was able to hide my hearing loss and didn’t have too many problems growing up in a small town in India in a protected environment and was tremendously supported by family and friends, my challenges with hearing loss became more evident as I entered the workforce and traveled around the world.

I’m now settled in Vancouver, BC, Canada. For some time, I was looking for communities and was in search of people who have had similar experiences with hearing loss to share with and learn from them. Last year, my search led me to an annual event organized by the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association (CHHA) in Vancouver. It also happened to coincide with the IFHOH (International Federation of Hard of Hearing) Congress held every four years. This three-day event provided me with a wonderful opportunity to meet and learn from people in all age groups and professionals in various walks of life and with varying degrees of hearing loss, many worse than mine, and yet, who were full of confidence in their work, at school and in social activities. I was also able to learn about the various opportunities available for the hearing impaired, the assistive listening devices and technologies available, coping mechanisms, how different countries fared when it came to the opportunities and facilities for the hearing impaired, and so on.

In Canada alone, it has been found that a staggering 13% of the population suffer from some level of hearing loss, with causes ranging from drugs and antibiotics, heredity, exposure to loud noise, increased use of ear-phones, aging, and so on. The statistics appear to be similar in other countries as well. Many suffer isolation from the rest of the world or manage to get by without seeking help.

Social stigma aside, even the cost puts off buying hearing aids for many. Did you know that a decent pair of hearing aids cost over $5000, and aren’t usually covered in Health Insurance even in the supposedly free health care system in Canada? And that supplemental health coverage, for instance in BC covers only about $500 or so (a mere one-tenth or less of the cost), making good hearing aids unaffordable to many people?

Hearing loss for the most part, does not have a cure yet. I’ve heard of researches underway on hair cell regeneration towards finding a cure for sensorineural hearing loss, and while I’m hopeful of a breakthrough one day, I’m not holding my breath.

Dealing with hearing loss and working around the problem reminded me of the prayer of St Francis of Assissi, which, incidentally, I once noticed at an audiologist’s office:

“Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.”

CHHA assists hard of hearing people like myself in educating them on the opportunities available, raises public awareness on issues facing the hard of hearing, helps integrate them with rest of the society, and continues to lobby for accessibility in classrooms, theatres, places of worships etc., thereby making Canada a better place for hard of hearing persons.

If you know someone who is hard of hearing and needs assistance, you could do them a favour and get them to contact and/or join associations such as CHHA, WIDHH (Western Institute for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, in BC), HLAA (Hearing Loss Association of America), IFHOH (International Federation for the Hard of Hearing) etc where they can find the necessary support they need.

As I move to the business analysis-related topics in my 24-hour blogathon next Saturday, I hope you will consider supporting me by checking in on this blog on the day of the blogathon on July 25th, posting comments to keep me going (it’s for 24 hours straight, so I’d appreciate any support I can get!) and/or pledging for my cause. If you’re interested in pledging, it just takes a minute to register, and you can pledge any amount. You can then donate the amount directly at the CHHA site. Alternatively, if you cannot register with the blogathon site but are interested in donating for CHHA, please contact me and let me know the amount you will be donating, and I can proxy-pledge for you.

Thank you, and I hope to hear from you soon!