It’s Elementary
Woman in the Middle | April 27, 2015I have noticed, over the last year or two, that I can still hear everything but it has become increasingly hard to understand what I am hearing. “Tall hat” sounds like “fall cat” and I am completely confused as to why one of the girls is talking about falling cats. In addition, there is a congenital hearing loss problem on my mother’s side of the family that comes on in middle age. So, I finally got my act together and asked the doctor to send me for a hearing test. After all, one of these days I won’t have one of the girls watching TV with me, impatiently telling me what the guy on CSI said for the umpteenth time.
I had a hearing test once before. Early in our marriage, Hubby was convinced I had a hearing problem because I could never hear him, especially if he was in another room. That time it turned out my hearing was fine. Hubby just has a naturally soft voice. I was delighted to bring him the brochure from the audiologist about how to speak to people so they can hear you. It didn’t do any good on his end but I have felt fine, for the last almost 29 years, saying “I can’t HEAR you” whenever he calls to me from the other room. Sometimes I even yell “What????”
Kevin the audiologist tested me this morning and I am happy to report that my hearing is solidly within the normal range. “Normal normal?” I asked, “Or normal for 53?” I am equally happy to report that my hearing is normal for a human being, with no qualifications for my age. So why can’t I understand things? He said that starting about age 50, we begin losing our ability to ignore peripheral noise, which impacts our ability to understand what is being said. I said something about, “So if I am looking at Joan and Sherlock speaks, that is why I can’t understand Sherlock?” He asked if I was referring to the TV show Elementary. I was. Kevin said I was at least the sixth person to mention how hard it is to hear the character of Sherlock on Elementary.
Do you watch that show? We love it, but we have to have the volume up significantly higher than any other show we watch, and not just for me. The 23 and 25 year olds need the volume up as well. I have to admit, Elementary most likely contributed to me thinking I needed a hearing test. That started me wondering, how many hearing tests in America have been administered just because of that show?
Leading up to my decision to get a hearing test, I had discussions with various friends about hearing in general and hearing as we get older. We wondered if it was our ears that were the problem or our brain? I coined a phrase for what we perceive is happening: Hearing while Distracted. I think my hearing test confirmed what I already suspected. I just can’t multitask like I used to, at least when it comes to listening. I guess I need to do more “conscious listening” from here on out. If I am doing something and someone speaks to me, I need to stop and really listen. Here is hoping it helps!
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