A Quiet World: Living with Hearing Loss

224 Pages·2000·3.04 MB·English

by  Professor David G. Myers

A Quiet World
o
A
uiet
orld
oooooooo
Living with Hearing Loss
D AV I D G . M Y E R S
Yale University Press New Haven and London
Published with assistance from the Williams Memorial Fund.
Copyright © 2000 by the David and Carol Myers Foundation.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in
any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S.
Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written
permission from the publishers.
Designed by James J. Johnson and set in Stemple Garamond types by The
Composing Room of Michigan, Inc.
Printed in the United States of America by Sheridan Books,
Chelsea, Michigan.
Library of Congress Catologing-in-Publication Data
Myers, David G.
A quiet world : living with hearing loss / David G. Myers.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-300-08439-0 (alk. paper)
1. Deafness—Popular works. 2. Hearing disorders—Popular
works. 3. Hearing aids. I. Title.
RF290 .M84 2000
617.8—dc21 00-038153
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and
durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the
Council on Library Resources.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To the memory of
Luella Nelson Myers,
whose journey from sound to silence
I am coming to understand,
and to
Carol,
my supportive partner
Contents
o
Preface ix
1. Adaptation 1
2. Relationships 23
3. Communication 51
4. Support 71
5. Aids and Advice 83
6. Understanding Hearing and Its Loss 113
7. Technology and Hearing Loss:
Exciting Developments 145
Epilogue 191
Appendix:
Resources for the Hard of Hearing 195
Index 205
Preface
o
Some 28 million Americans and 350 million people
worldwide live with hearing loss. What is it like? How do
those who are hard of hearing cope? What are their expe-
riences of pain and pathos, of hope and humor? How can
medicine and technology now assist people who are hard
of hearing, and what is on the horizon?
This book offers some answers. My perspective com-
bines my vocation as a research psychologist and writer
with my experiences as the son of a woman deafened late
in life and as a hard of hearing person. This unusual com-
bination, it occurred to me one day, positioned me to
speak about hearing, hearing loss, and hearing interven-
tions as both a participant and an observer. To personal-
ize the information, I have cast it in the form of an occa-
sional journal in which I record both my experiences
and, especially in the later entries, my encounters with
new technologies and new insights into the nature of
hearing.
While writing, I have imagined two audiences looking
over my shoulder. The first is my peers, the hard of hear-
ing—a fast-growing group because of the aging of our