Communicating with others is a crucial part of our everyday life, so it’s helpful to have a strategy ready as you go out into the world with your new sound processor.
Finding the right words to explain your hearing journey and how others can help can seem daunting. Yet, it’s these conversations that pave the way for understanding, empathy, and the support that’s essential for your path forward. It also helps others as many won’t know how to find the words to ask you about your new hearing device.
Tips to manage social situations
Stepping out into the world with your new hearing can feel a bit overwhelming. Talking about your hearing loss and cochlear implant with family and friends might seem like a lot right now, but sharing your story can open new ways for you to connect with them.
To help, we asked hearing health professionals for their tips to manage social situations:
- Just chat: Start by simply talking about what day-to-day life has been like recently. This helps set the scene.
- Recognize this is a teaching moment: Many people assume you can hear “normally”. Let them know that even with a cochlear implant, you still have hearing loss, and you may still have some challenges hearing in certain situations, such as in noisy environments. Explain how they can support you, such as getting your attention before talking, facing you when they talk to you or moving to a quiet place.
- Seeing faces helps: Seeing the person you’re talking to makes understanding them easier. It’s ok to ask people to make sure you’re looking at them before they start talking. Having adequate light to enable lip reading is also important.
- Manage expectations (theirs and yours): Remind your loved ones (and yourself) that every day is a step forward. And take time to celebrate every win—big or small.
The important role of your support network
Your partner, family and friends can make an enormous difference to your hearing success. Support goes a long way, not just emotionally, but also in developing confidence in social situations.
For David, who has a cochlear implant, his wife Jodie has been by his side from the start. “Jodie’s support was particularly crucial in those early days,” says David. “It was a team effort; we both wanted the cochlear implant to be a success.”
How to communicate your needs and how to explain your hearing device to others
Your hearing loss is yours to own, and it’s important that you start advocating for yourself and your need to hear and be heard. Be open about your hearing loss. Let your friends and colleagues know what types of situations are challenging for you.
When you find it hard to hear or understand, let those around you know. Ask for their patience (and remind yourself to be patient too), as you may need things to be repeated, or to move conversations to quieter places at times. Maybe you find some sounds really overwhelming, like a child’s giggle, or the sound of a bag of foil potato chips being opened. Let those around you know.
A community ready to help
Fellow recipients know what you’re experiencing, and can offer advice, tips and support like no others. Sue, one of Australia’s earliest cochlear implant recipients, says it best: “It’s very helpful to get perspective from people outside their family. Friends are valuable for support, but feedback from other recipients can provide encouragement and help you to get the most out of your cochlear implant.”
Sue suggests asking your clinic for information on local support networks.
Click here to join the Cochlear Family, the world’s largest implant community. The Cochlear Family offers you the chance to hear from others with hearing implants like you and a chance to share experiences, advice and support.
