{"id":2447,"date":"2022-03-03T17:17:49","date_gmt":"2022-03-04T00:17:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/?p=1462"},"modified":"2023-11-15T09:25:43","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T16:25:43","slug":"hearing-loss-isnt-an-all-or-nothing-condition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/hearing-loss-isnt-an-all-or-nothing-condition\/","title":{"rendered":"Hearing Loss Isn’t an All or Nothing Condition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Too often we assume that people either have a disability or they don\u2019t. This binary thinking not only ignores the nuances and complexity that come with disabilities but can also cause harm to people who have these conditions. This includes people with hearing loss.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Categorization Ignores Individual Experience <\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"Woman<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

When we discuss hearing loss, we often classify it as mild, moderate, severe or profound. While these categories are helpful from a medical perspective, they can be limiting when it comes to describing an individual\u2019s personal experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The severity of a person\u2019s hearing loss doesn\u2019t encapsulate their personal struggle. The categorization may make people with milder forms of hearing loss reluctant to seek out help and resources they could benefit from because they view their condition as less serious. Those with severe or profound hearing loss might feel the label stigmatizes them or makes them appear less capable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fear of Not Being Believed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Many people have invisible disabilities, which means their condition is not always obvious to other people. People with hearing loss often fit this description. They may use smaller hearing aids <\/a>not easily seen, rely on lip-reading, and use other communication strategies to successfully interact with others. However, just because they are able to carry on conversations over coffee at Corner Bakery Cafe<\/a> doesn\u2019t mean that they don\u2019t struggle with hearing loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly 60% of Americans with disabilities<\/a> feel that others question their disability. When someone expresses doubt, it puts them in the awkward and unfair position of having to decide whether or not to disclose their hearing loss to others and face possible scrutiny or keep quiet about their condition and not receive proper accommodations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How You Can Help<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If someone in your personal or professional life discloses their hearing loss to you, there are several things you can do to make them feel supported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Avoid saying things like \u201cI had no idea,\u201d or \u201cYou seem normal.\u201d While you may be intending it as a compliment, it might be interpreted as minimizing their condition.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Thank them for sharing and ask them what you can do to make things easier for them.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Do not disclose their hearing loss to others unless they have told you it\u2019s OK.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Ask permission before asking additional questions about their hearing loss.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • When planning group activities, privately ask in advance if there is anything you can do to make it more accessible. This may include turning on captions if you\u2019re putting on a video presentation at work.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    If you have additional questions about hearing loss or wish to schedule an appointment, contact South Valley Ear Nose & Throat – West Jordan today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Too often we assume that people either have a disability or they don\u2019t. This binary thinking not only ignores the nuances and complexity that come with disabilities but can also cause harm to people who have these conditions. This includes people with hearing loss. Categorization Ignores Individual Experience When we discuss hearing loss, we often…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2448,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hearing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2447"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2564,"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447\/revisions\/2564"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}