A Noisy World - Guest Blogger 03

            The deaf-blind community is very diverse.  There's no one mold that  defines a person as deaf-blind.   We could be totally deaf and totally blind, or hard-of-hearing with low vision, or somewhere in between.  And we all have different   needs and problems. 

            The "Guest Blog" below expressing one such issue that is faced by deaf-blind people who function using their residual hearing.  Indeed, it really is a noisy world.  That can be a major challenge at times

           

 

The subject line  says it all.  For those who don't know, I am blind with a mild to moderate hearing loss.  This combination can make life real interesting and make some situations less than enjoyable.  For example, at conventions I don't necessarily enjoy mixers anymore due to the loud noise.  I don't like real loud places because it makes it hard for me to hear.

 

This was evident last Saturday in a few situations.  The first of these situations was at the bar in the hotel where we were staying.  There was a radio on and the TV was also on but I could not pick up what was going on the TV because of the noise from the radio and elsewhere.  Having conversations can be difficult and it can be difficult to understand the bartender, especially when that person has an accent.  I tend to find people with foreign accents difficult to understand for the most part but this does depend on the person and how clearly they speak.  Anyway, my husband had to repeat some things for me, especially when he was talking to someone from the convention we were at and this person was on his other side.  We got out of there and proceeded to the banquet where the problem was once again evident.

 

While the program was on microphone, the conversation during dinner was not. Suffice it to say, I did not get into too much conversation with others at the table.  My husband  was talking to someone whom we both know and had to repeat some stuff for me because, once again, this person was on his other side. With all of the noise I was unable to hear the other person very well.  When the guys left to take a restroom break, I definitely did not get into any conversation.  I just wanted my husband to come back.  I felt alone and just wanted that time to end.  They did come back; and I could at least talk with him.

 

The last situation was in a hospitality room which is equivalent to a mixer. A couple of these weren't bad but one was especially annoying due to the volume of the music and other activities.  Suffice it to say we did not stay there long as I think that one even got to my husband.

 

I was happy to get back to the room and go to bed.  As you can see, I don't like real noisy situations but sometimes end up in them because I cannot avoid the situation all together. It's not nice, believe me and I try to get out of them as fast as I can.