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I can't hear/understand my wife

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Fitting fits an to the wearer’s body. Is there a method to improve hearing of the voice of another particular person?

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Take your wife with you to the audiologist. “Method” will rely on experience but will likely involve aiding gain to certain frequencies. There are also things your wife can do like getting your attention and speaking directly to you. Wearing a can also help

In reply to @MDB

I second this recommendation! Your wife’s voice may be at a pitch/frequency which particularly challenging for you to hear - which is nobody’s fault, but requires some adjustments to your to improve your ability to hear & understand her speech.

In reply to @GrayGhost

Printing out the “10 Commandments for the Hearing Impaired”… and shouldn’t it be “10 Commandments for Living With the Hearing Impaired”?? /heh… is always worth a try and may well help. But don’t be surprised if the reaction is defensive or there’s no change in behavior. Some people don’t get it until they develop their own hearing loss. It might be more helpful to have the audiologist present it to the spouse with a brief explanation.

#11: Thou shalt always remember: hearing aids help but do not restore normal hearing.

In reply to @AttilaDaPun

I third this recommendation. I took my wife in as well. The bonus, was that the audiologist played sample sounds for my wife using the terminal, demoing how I heard sounds with no compared with how she hears them. She was shocked… A train whistle inside a car-- nada! Hearing is believing…

In reply to @MDB

I agree and if you can, let her sit in the sound booth with you as you take a hearing test. She will likely gain a lot of empathy for you!

Thanks so much for posting this question.

I’m following. I’ve learned a lot.

DaveL

There used to be a T-shirt that said, “I’m not deaf, I’m ignoring you” - I liked the snark of that!

I’ve found something that helps me.

I save the “Calm” program.

I adjust it in myPhonak, because I have Phonak Audeo Paradise P90R hearing aids.

I adjust two things:

CLARITY button–it boosts mid frequencies and high frequencies.

And I increase the background noise suppression to the extreme.
DYNAMIC is the scale, all the way to the right.

Hope this helps.

DaveL
Toronto

Can she lower her voice, imitate Schwarzenegger? “I’m going shopping. I’ll be back…” :grin:

One important rule is: Just yelling louder does not help. It actually makes it worse. Head up. Speak slowly. Speak clearly.

As someone said “Hearing loss is a disability, not a character flaw” Getting upset with the person with the loss just makes them avoid you, not try harder.

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