Have you become deaf recently or are suffering degenerating hearing loss? Adjusting to the world without sound isn’t easy. For those who are deaf from birth, they have never known sound to miss it. If you became deaf in later life, you might find the change debilitating. It isn’t the end though. Being deaf can be tough on some, but you can still live a full life.
Live As Normal
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Newly deaf people can still live the same lives as before. Things may have changed somewhat, but it isn’t an excuse to give in to fatalism. For instance, deaf people can still drive. So long as your eyesight and motor functions are still in order, you can drive a car just like before.
For all you know, you may pass other deaf motorists every single day. You’re not going to be alone out there.
Make A Claim
If you deafness is the result of industrial work, you could be able to make a claim against your employer for workplace negligence. A lot of jobs involving loud tools and machinery have a high risk of becoming deaf. While there are now some prevention in place for this, they are only relatively recent so many older employees and retirees may be able to claim.
Even if you didn’t work directly with the tools or machines, you hearing could still have been affected by the noise. You can read more online about how to make a claim.
Communicate
Communication without hearing can be the biggest adjustment some people have to make. It means a lot of changes in how you talk to people, and how they talk to you. For instance, eye contact must be made in conversations. If you have to lip read to see what someone is saying, you can no longer look elsewhere when you’re trying to talk with someone.
Likewise, they can’t try and get your attention when you’re facing away from them. You’ll have to get used to being touched to get your attention. A hand on the shoulder or arm should be enough. It’s good to try and be prepared for that, and not alarmed when somebody tries to capture your attention like that.
It may be difficult, but you could even try learning sign language to communicate with other deaf people. If you have a family, try learning it together to improve the communication between you all.
Adjust
A lot of things in your daily life are going to be different. There’s nothing you can do about being deaf now. What you need to do is figure out the parts of your life you need to adapt to live as before.
It could be as simple as having to watch television with the subtitles for the hard of hearing. It could be having to accept you’ll never hear music again.
Deafness is a disability, but it doesn’t have to be debilitating. If you work hard at adjusting your life, it’ll feel like barely anything has changed. Remember that when the times are tough.
