News Item- hearing aid sounds disturb other people on a plane

Even normal hearing people can get annoying from person who full throttle volume on their earbuds/in ear.

So be aware of surrounding. I sometime open too much volume on my in ear and other can heard my music. When someone tell me you listen so loud. I felt quite embarrassing and have to volume down to appropriate level. And learn it hard way which level is ok.

Well, volume control! check with other if it too loud.

Sound leaking out and/or audible feedback or “whistling” is a sign that he has the wrong fitment. He should have Cshell ear molds with a small vent. Then he can blast his eardrums all he wants without disturbing his neighbors.

Here is my take. I will do what it takes to hear and understand speech. If others hear it took bad. I will not turn my aids down to satisfy others. My capability to hear is my only safety factor ad I also have vision issues. I have talked to my audiologist about the leakage and was told that I can’t having it both ways. I don’t fly and haven’t in 15 years because I was treated so rudely when I ask a flight attendant to repeat something. I actually filled a disabilities act complaint against the airline. I use to be a meek person that just let things go, but I have become a hardnosed advocate for the hard of hearing because of the way we get treated.

Maybe look into molds that dont leak so bad that others can hear? My loss is worse than yours and I dont seem to have any leakage issues so bad that others are bothered.

My hearing loss is different than yours. I have learned to trust my audiologist of 7+ years that he will make the best choice for my hearing loss needs. He has taken me from never wanting to be in any environment with more than my closest family or friends to enjoying music, concerts, lectures and being in meetings an being with a large number of people. I can now mostly understand speech in any environment. My hearing aids of choice requires acrylic custom ear molds. And my hearing loss requires minimal vents. Silicon ear molds aren’t an option as I seem to be allergic to it and the material that domes are made from. I would prefer ITE aids but I was discouraged from them due to power requirement of my receivers. Feedback was a big issue. I wear 105db receivers in my INTENT1 aids with custom ear molds. Yes I know my audiogram would argue differently but it was what was requires to allow me to understand speech.

It does seem like a visit to his audiologist would be a good idea. Even if there were some sounds perceived by others, as @cvkemp describes, it would be unusual to have it reaching the level of a general disturbance.

If there’s going to be a story about someone with a hearing loss in the news, it would be nice if it were about someone who can advocate for us in a reasonable way.

Sounds like a good recommendation, at least for many people. I wonder if this person has a working relationship with an audiologist.

Dear Birdie (btw, I am a Maryland Bluebird guardian),

Short answer = YES. This can be annoying to normal hearing individuals within “earshot” of the HA wearer. BOTH the normal hearing individual and the HA wearer need to have some understanding of each other’s needs. Since we are talking about HUMANS … lots of luck!

I’ve had HAs for circa 15 years. My wife, with “normal” hearing, has frequently commented that she can hear sound from MY hearing aids 6-8 feet away.

This can mean that my HAs are too loud - but I may need that volume level to understand dialogue. OR, currently, it means that the Audiologist who set up my very new HAs refused to heed what I said and adjusted them several decibels TOO loud. Of course, I can and do remedy this by lowering the volume manually.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I agree that simply turning down the volume might be the solution sometimes.

For myself and for me being able to understand speech and for that matter to be safe and feel safe I would not lower the volume of my aids. Me lowering the volume of my aids might make someone with normal hearing happier but it could easily make me at a disadvantage and miss an important message.

Absolutely. If there is no other option, then people need to accept that.

I’m thinking of a parallel situation for someone with a different disability being told not to use their cane, or being told to put their service dog into the hold of the plane.