NOT AIDS!!! Hearing aids. Oh how you fell for it. Thinking it was one thing, when in reality aids means something different to those with a disability.I spent Thursday without my hearing aids on. Which is not all that profound. I go many days and weekends and such without them on. Why? I like the silence. The world is a very loud place and it's nice to not have to hear every single thing.
What I don't usually do is go without them at work. When you're dealing with a lot of clientele and staff all day, you kinda need to be able to hear them.
On Thursday, I forgot that I had to move my car early and so I had to quickly leave for work when the reminder came over the speaker. I grabbed my hearing aid case, got on the elevator, checked and realized that it was empty. I decided to just go to work and give it a go.
Surprisingly it wasn't so bad. It was difficult, but not impossible. Perhaps, the hearing aids have been merely a crutch that I've been holding onto. I find that when one aid dies and I don't have a battery that it impacts my self esteem. I don't feel quite as confident when I'm not fully hearing abled.
Recently, I've had a few meetings with members of the deaf community. We've communicated through using an interpreter, a laptop, me simply signing out letters, lip reading and it's worked out quite well. It's got me thinking about the world that I live in and the world that I've missed out on by not embracing deaf culture younger in life.
My current (hearing) aids are on their last legs and replacing them will cost like $4000. I've gone one full 'normal' working day with out them, could I go a life time?
1 comment:
I remmeber we talked once about your reasons for using and not using them....now you have a day under your belt, try a week :)
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