I've always had an issue if there is a crowd around, hearing just one conversation? Somehow I want to listen to all of them and they all merge together. I have a lot of trouble just focusing on the one in front of me.

Several of my friends have this issue too. I wonder if it can be overcome - usually I try to focus on the lips of the talker and sort of lip-read as I go

I don't think anyone can hear all of the conversations in noise. So you have to choose just one :-)

Background noise is always an issue for the hearing impaired, whether they are trying to listen without an aid, with an aid or any kind of processor for implants (ie: Baha, Cochlear Implant).

One advantage we deafies have over you hearies is that we can usually lip read so in noisy situations we can sometimes 'hear' better than you.

The latest hearing aids (& I include CI processors and Baha in this category) use digital technology. This means there are greater program options and the background noise can be screened out better than ever before. Often it's a quick program switch to achieve this. But some aids/processors have an autosensitivity function which means the aid is programmed to filter out noise in certain frequencies. This is very helpful for sudden loud noise or for walking down a busy street with 2 trucks, 5 buses, a couple of trams, 100 cars, crowds of people and a baby screeching. My processor will dampen all this sound and usually still allow me to hear my husband beside me (without looking at him).

Focusing on lips is an excellent coping mechanism. Most people don't think to do it. But, don't be fooled into thinking lip readers can read lips from miles away and pick up state secrets. It's not like that. You do have to concentrate fully most of the time. You can't turn away or the other person can't look away if you are to get the full conversation.

Listening or hearing is actually made up of a number of things not just the sound you hear. There's the facial expressions, body language, the sound you hear and your experience (familiarity with the subject). Anything you don't hear, and apparently even the fully hearing don't hear it all, the brain makes up for you, usually getting it right!!

I have enough trouble reading lips close up, I can't even imagine doing it from far away! It does help though, I can piece together the words from the murmur of noise and the lip shapes

Sometimes on our cable TV the lip and sound is slightly off and it drives me *nuts* - I have to stop watching

An interesting topic and good information.

I am hearing impaired because when I went with my father hunting, as a child, he would shoot the gun near me to see me jump. He thought that was funny. It pretty much destroyed my hearing. I wasn't really aware of the problem tho as my name was at the beginning of the alphabet and I was seated at the front of the class in school. And, unconsciously, I learned to read lips throughout the years into adulthood.

I became aware of my hearing loss when I could not clearly hear the person speaking to me when their back was turned or they walked away from me (speaking) or went into another room. I also became acutely aware when I found myself constantly saying "What did you say?"

Over the last five years I have spent over $7,000 trying to find the right hearing aids to make my work job easier. I've gone from magazine ads, t.v. ads, analog and now digital. Digital is good but not as good as it could be if I could pay for the "state-of-the art" series. Insurance does not cover hearing aids.

My boss is unforgiving for my hearing loss and makes fun of me or belittles me for not "being perfect" in his personal priority for the job I am in. It doesn't bother anyone else, just him. I am not the only one who wears hearing aids in my job position.
I've had to learn to 'turn a deaf ear' to his rantings and go on.
Discrimination is not a path I can afford to pursue. I hope to retire in a little bit less than 3 yrs. and then it will not matter one way or the other. I can hear good enough in a normal setting. I have never been able to hear clearly in a crowd as I was growing up. If I am too far away from a person and they do not say my name before they start speaking, I am not going to be listening to them, as I usually think they are speaking to someone else. I've had to adjust to a lot because of this impairment and I find that too many others (that I work with) are not willing to accept that I am not 'perfect'. As you might guess I work in a male environment and am the only female so I am a target of much male shortcomings:)
I'll retire from the job and then I will be fine and no more stress. The stress of being shot down for something I've never had control of has been difficult to deal with but I am better at it now. I can not afford to change jobs as I have too much invested in my retirement. If I won the lottery, then that would be a different hearing aid:) Thanks for letting me vent:) I really appreciate being able to voice my thoughts on this topic.

That is just so odd to me, that your boss would pick on you for something out of your control!! Never mind the fact that TONS of people have hearing loss. It's very normal! Surely he wants you to do the best job you can - why would he harass you? That doesn't make any sense to me. I guess he is not very good at "being a boss"!

Good for you for not letting it bother you too much - I imagine it must be hard. At least you have a very short term goal to escape!

I would love to be able to hear just one conversation
I have had surgery on both ears twice, had hearing for a short time but now i have no hearing in my right ear and very little in my left.
when i see these kids n young parent blasting there music in a closed up car, or head phones blasting in their ears. i feel really angry. they just don't get it.
people just take their hearing for granted.

Hi Rosie
Losing your hearing is horrible. I did have normal hearing for about 20 years then it started to deteriorate and by the time I was 35 I was struggling. I lived deaf for 15-20 years and had my hearing returned with a Cochlear implant 5 years ago. The difference is amazing. Have you checked whether your kind of hearing loss would be suitable for a Baha or Cochlear Implant? If you don't know much about them check out the Baha and Cochlear Implant articles on this site and go toBellaOnline ALERT: Raw URLs are not allowed in these forums for security reasons. Please use UBB code. If you don't know how to do UBB code just post here for help - we will help out!

Moonsister.
Discrimination comes in many forms and your boss is good at it!! You said you don't want to take up discrimination, but there might be some small things you can do. For instance next time he says something hurtful, perhaps over a small issue to do with hearing, you could say something like ... that wasn't very nice... or that hurt me or something. By taking small steps you might be able to turn his attitude. Only a suggestion!!!

Lisa
Do you have a hearing loss? or are your comments simply from a normal hearing person's perspective.

I was in fact thinking about this thread tonight - we were at a very noisy Italian restaurant with five other people. One was my father who has severe hearing loss. There was music blaring right over our head.

He couldn't hear anything at all, pretty much, unless the one woman next to him looked directly at him and spoke to him. I could hear the person next to me, but when the other people talked with me I had to watch them to help make sure I knew what they were saying.

Surely restaurants should do a better job at encouraging people to stay and talk and buy dessert and coffee and such?

I haven't had my hearing tested in eons, but I imagine in my late 30s that it's not as good as it used to be