I’ve had my new hearing aids for a week now. I went from analog to digital (finally). The sound quality is actually quite good and I’m happy to get rid of most of the feedback that the old one had. The sound is about the same, which is a definite relief (I’ve had new HA that made everything sound totally different and it’s a teeth-gritting adjustment). Since they’re digital, I plan to check out getting wireless (bluetooth) accessories so I can listen to the cellphone directly through the HA. I found an interesting group here that’s right up my alley, since I’m also a geek

I find it interesting the different reactions we all have. I read the blogs by people who just got cochlear implants, and much of what they’ll write about is hearing this sound or understanding that. One of them described how she could hear the sound of scotch tape being ripped off the dispenser by someone else in the room. I can hear that kind of thing with a good pair of HA, but I just find it annoying. I really don’t care about noises in general; for me sound is strictly functional — I want to hear what people are saying. Most other noises simply irritate me. That’s why I don’t wear them much when no one else is around or when I’m just walking around by myself.

Hearing aids are funny things. Invariably, that’s what has let other deaf people recognize me as deaf. I can think of several memorable occasions, all while travelling. When I was camping my way through England, I came across a group of deaf schoolchildren who saw me in the bathroom and clustered around me. BSL is quite a bit different than ASL, neither of which I knew anyway, but they taught me british finger spelling which is also different. They were probably between 10 and 12 years old.

Another time I was travelling in Cuba, when someone stopped me and asked if I had extra hearing aid batteries. We talked back and forth in written Spanish and he told me that HA’s are basically easy to get, they will just give you one, but it’s impossible to find batteries. We had the same kind, I gave him all I had with me, and if I’d known, I would have brought more with me on that trip. I’ve since given packets of batteries to care packages that go back to Cuba.