Audiology: A Hearing Analysis

I often take my ability to hear for granted. Going into the field of Audiology, we can often forget how different the world is for the person in the booth- only seeing them as a diagnosis or problem that needs fixed. We get so preoccupied with running the standard battery, finding their diagnosis, recommending some sort of aid, that we forget that they are more than just their hearing. There’s other parts of a person that are intertwined with their ability to hear. Simulating a mild conductive loss reminded me how debilitating losing just a small portion of my hearing can be. Different situations presented their own obstacles and challenges that we sometimes not easily overcome.
The most profound experience that I had through the simulation
I placed the ear plug in my dominant ear which happens to be the same ear I use the phone with. Upon answer I was not able to hear the person on the other side. I proceeded to bombard them with “Hello’s,” “Can you hear me?” and “Are you there?” I even tried to raise the volume to the maximum setting. After no success I gave up and shouted “Text me instead.” My patience was not ideal but common for people who have difficulty with tasks that they never did before. It did not even cross me at first that the struggle was due to the ear plug. I push the blame onto my phone and not inability to hear. Looking back, I keep thinking how I did not see the problem was myself. From my time in clinic, I see this happen numerous times. Patients come in thinking the problem is that people are mumbling or that places are just too loud to hear speech, but in reality the real issue is their hearing
My main take-away from this assignment is that hearing loss is not just a physical loss- it encompasses the entire person. It is a catalyst to other losses and issues. As I stated earlier, the psychosocial impact of hearing loss is just as hampering as the physical. Retiring from enjoyable activities and situations becomes fairly common. Feelings of angry, impatience, self-doubt came upon relatively easily. Altogether the deficits acted as one. As audiologist, we do not just treat hearing and balance issues, we treat an entire