A few years ago I started to wonder to what extent my personal experiences with hearing loss were similar to those of other folks. Eventually, the idea blossomed into my first-ever, semi-scientific survey. Thanks so much to the 177 of you who responded! The findings have been fascinating.
What we were looking for:
· If your behavior changed when you developed a hearing loss (people born with hearing loss were advised to skip this question); and
· How you felt if you were in situations where ambient noise and lots of cross-talk made it difficult to hear
Even though our sample size is small, there are some interesting trends....
Our first two questions asked how people socialized before and after developing a hearing loss. The results clearly show that our behavior changed after developing a hearing loss.
Then we examined a situation where we’re sitting in the back seat of a car and can't hear the conversation going on in the front seat (assuming we don't know about assistive listening devices). Most of us just tune out, but the second largest group – by a very slim margin – hate it.
Then comes another common situation – you’re at a dinner party, or just the family table, and lots of conversations are going on making it difficult to follow the conversation.
We also asked what our biggest fear is now that we have a hearing loss and what our biggest gain is as a result of our hearing loss. I’ll discuss that in future discussions.
Now I have a few questions for you:
· How do YOUR answers compare with the group’s?
· Regardless of the comparisons, do you think your personal responses are holding you back from enjoying life with hearing loss?
· What would you do differently, if you had it all to do over again?
We will close the original survey February 10th since some survey gurus suggested ways to make it more comprehensive and meaningful. But we will soon re-open it with some additional statements and insights. Please stay tuned so you can jump in as soon as it’s ready!
Meanwhile, all survey participants are now eligible for a complementary half-hour of coaching, to help you process your insights. If you haven’t taken the survey yet, we will also provide a complementary half-hour of coaching as long as you respond by the close of the survey, February 10th. You can reach me at Pat@CoachDobbs.com.
Don’t forget to download the Principles of the Hearing Loss Evolution. https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/1aa7f0_dead3e3d790e4476b65b9e12e7f2985e.pdf
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