Why I am grateful for my hearing technology

It is easy to get wrapped up in our busy lives and not appreciate small things that make a big difference, such as hearing technology.

A dear friend of mine who is deafblind recently lent me a copy of her heroine’s biography. Helen Keller, an American lady born in 1880, who as a toddler was left deaf and blind from an acute illness. The book tells a story of triumph over adversity. The struggles she faced during the nineteenth century, but still portrays a ‘symbol of hope’ for other deaf, blind and deafblind people.

Thinking about this made me realize how technology has played such a huge part in the lives of so many deaf people the world over in recent years. Also, how fortunate I am to have been born into this generation. Many deaf people have been helped through either hearing aids or more recently cochlear implants. 

The beauty of having a choice

To me, hearing technology signifies ‘choice’. As a D/deaf person, the disability might restrict communication choices. With the provision of hearing aids and implants, deaf people now have more choice as to how they prefer to communicate. Whether it is through using hearing technology or not. I see hearing technology which gives D/deaf people the ability to hear the gift of sound, as giving people the ability to hear the gift of sound and to process if that’s what they want.

Technology, of course, isn’t the choice for everyone. But at least, the availability widens our choice. Luckily, we have various languages and communication choices nowadays. This means that oral communication doesn’t have to be the only way. I’m so pleased to see the media recently promoting the beauty and benefits of sign language. This will hopefully help it’s progression to become an equal form of communication/language.

To me, hearing aids are an integral part of my life. I’m sure that for many, the method an individual chooses can help them feel less isolated by their deafness and provides them with such a lifeline to the outside world. 

Though I’m 21 and have a profound hearing loss, cochlear implants weren’t available to me through our National Health Service when I was young. I was fitted with Phonak Hearing Aids at the age of ten months, but it certainly wasn’t easy. As a toddler, I did not like to keep my hearing aids on. I used to pull them from my ears and launch them across the room. I was in an angry, frustrated frenzy as my poor confused brain couldn’t compute these alien noises. Today, I am grateful I can take part in the world which many hearing people take for granted.

“Today, I am grateful I can take part in the world which many hearing people take for granted.”

As a young adult, I’m beginning to understand how hearing technology has transformed my life in so many ways. Not only can I access these sounds, but my hearing aids are clever and useful enough to allow me to listen, appreciate, enjoy and digest so many wonderful experiences which I wouldn’t be able to do otherwise. 

Read more: Why I was born at the perfect time to have a hearing loss

Our generation now and the future

Witnessing the joy which many babies, children, and adults experience when their implants or hearing aids are turned on is a sight to behold.

Read more: Two babies born deaf, mom finds solace and laughter with first hearing aids

For many parents of this generation, with the news of a hearing loss diagnosis for their precious babies, hopefully having more choice will also give them more hope for a better future for their children. As well as giving back control which it may feel like a disability can take away. 

How does your hearing technology, or the choice of preferred communication make you feel grateful? Let us know in the comments.

• Author Details

Author Details

Ellie Parfitt

Ellie was born profoundly deaf, uses verbal communication, lipreads and wears Phonak Sky Q hearing aids. She is currently learning British Sign Language. Ellie hasn’t let her disability stand in the way and embraces every new challenge. Her deafness didn’t prevent her from achieving major accomplishments in her life, such as excelling in her education, previously working as a Marketing Executive and now as an Events Coordinator for a deaf organization, as well as blogging for Hearing Like Me. She is passionate about deaf awareness, campaigning for equality and helping others through her personal blog as Deafie Blogger.