Learning to adjust

Adjustment will be a lot easier if you accept the reality of your loss but it may take time to absorb the new situation.

• It is best to work through the pain of your loss rather than try to avoid it.

• It is advisable to seek information about the possible changes to your work or social and personal life. Many of these can be very positive.

• Different people will adapt to their loss in different ways - there is no one right answer for everyone.

• Adjustment to change is an ongoing process. There are always new challenges and life situations to be faced. Deafness may make it all a bit more complicated.

There are people and services to help with the very difficult task of adjustment and adaptation.

If your hearing loss is the result of an accident or illness for which you have received hospital treatment, your first priority is to ensure you are not discharged without being referred to the appropriate specialist department to deal with your deafness.

If you have been working in a noisy environment and you think this may have contributed to your hearing loss, you may find it helpful to contact your trade union or other representative to ask advice on what options are open to you.

Otherwise, you should make an appointment to see your family doctor (GP). He or she may or may not be familiar with issues relating to hearing loss and may or may not run a surgery that scores highly for deaf awareness. If you are worried that you might not hear your name being called (very common amongst deafened people), tell the receptionist you don't hear well and ask her to approach you when you are called. If you are worried you might not hear what the doctor says, don't be afraid to ask for it to be written down. You could go ready armed with pencil and paper. You can always ask a hearing person to go with you, but if you do, make sure that the doctor doesn't just communicate with the hearing person and leave you out of the conversation.

The outcome of a visit to a GP is likely to be a referral to the ENT (ear nose and throat) specialist at your local hospital. A series of simple tests are carried out to determine the proportion of "normal hearing" that you have at various frequencies. If the tests show that you would benefit from a hearing aid, you will be passed on to the audiologist, who will take a cast of your ear from which to manufacture the ear mould (very important for the efficient operation of the aid) and specify the aid you require.

If you prefer to go to a private dispenser or if you, or your employer, have an insurance policy that will cover the cost of equipping you with a hearing aid, you are free to approach one of the specialist providers, who have shops on the High Street and advertise in newspapers. All such companies are strictly controlled and should follow exactly the same procedure as the NHS. Following the Government's decision to start supplying digital aids through the NHS, the private sector claims that it offers a higher standard of customer care (by arranging to visit you at home, for example).

Local authorities have statutory duties relating to the social welfare of their citizens. They employ a very large number of social workers, some of whom are likely to specialise in deafness. See Factsheet 1 about finding details of local authority Social Services according to where you live. The local authority may be able to provide equipment like textphones and alerting devices. All local authorities are made up of elected councillors and nearly all elected members like nothing better than being contacted by one of their constituents and asked for advice.

Hearing Therapists are employed by some local authorities, hospital trusts and Primary Care Trusts. They have practical experience of hearing loss and will advise on the aids and services that may be helpful in overcoming daily living problems.

Lip-reading teachers run lip-reading classes in most areas, usually at the nearest Further Education College. Look up Schools and Colleges in Yellow Pages, see local press advertisements, or ask the local authority. They enable you to learn and practise new communication strategies in company with others with similar problems. The ATLA (see Factsheet 1) website gives a listing of all lip-reading courses by region currently being run. Lip-reading teachers are also very knowledgeable about other services and organisations that may be of assistance. Some courses, known as Communication Tactics, include some teaching of lip-reading skills and other strategies that can help a deafened person understand what is said. Advice can be obtained from the Association of Teachers of Lip-reading to Adults (ATLA).

In addition to local services there are various organisations which run courses. The LINK Centre for Deafened People in Eastbourne has residential courses especially for newly deafened people and their families and deafPLUS may also have some useful weekend events and courses (see Factsheet 1 for addresses of helpful organisations).

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