Deaf Service Center

As part of my research into deafness I decided to test what it actually felt like to be hard of hearing and in doing so it opened my eyes to what millions of people all over the world had to live with day in and day.

For my test I used industry strength ear plugs, these are the kind that people who work day in and day out with heavy duty industrial machinery use, they are very affective in deadening sound.

I conducted my experiment over a weekend this way my family were home and I could see the effect if any that it had on family life. I went to bed and inserted the plugs into both ears which felt a little strange at first but I wanted to wake and start the day off as hard of hearing.

I encountered the first obstacle straight away my husband waking me and the alarm clock which I have tuned to a radio station at a low level was playing to itself, I hadn’t heard it. Slowly the little things that we take for granted showed themselves, simple things like not hearing the toaster pop up when my back was turned or hearing the audible small click of the kettle switching itself off once it had boiled.

A multitude of small things that we all take for granted each day suddenly became more noticeable. It also felt strange I encountered a feeling of isolation which was even more unnerving when I took my first steps outside with a trip to my local shops.

I walked a little further than the shops I would normally go to because of course they knew I didn’t have a hearing problem at my local shop and I wanted to gain a true insight into how other people react if any to a person with hearing loss.

I stumbled upon my next obstacle in the shop, I decided to ask an assistant where a particular item was in the store, she mumbled or at least that’s what it sounded like to me and vaguely pointed somewhere down the shop, not only did she sound mumbled but I had the strange feeling that I was talking far too loud and this made me feel self conscious.

I asked her to repeat what she said and she looked at me as though I had asked the unthinkable then she came closer to me and not only raised her voice but talked a lot slower as though because I couldn’t hear clearly this somehow made me a little stupid.

Having thanked her I continued with my shopping and entered the check out here I encountered another problem my shopping had gone through the till and as I lowered my head to find my purse the lady asked for the payment this again sounded muffled and unclear so again I asked her to repeat herself which she did but I still didn’t catch what she had said so asked again.

This time I got it but as I was reaching for the money I caught her glancing at the customers behind me and raising her eyes with a little shake of her head as though to say I was a bother and why was I shopping alone. I only tried this experiment for a day but during that day many small things made me stop and think just what it must be like to be hard of hearing and have to live with it every single day.

Research by Julie Wallace, on behalf of Deafservicecenter.org