Journal entry by Al Negstad — a minute ago
For many years my hearing has been compromised. Its been at least eleven years that I've worn hearing aids. Joanne purchased hearing aids from Costco a couple of years before she died. A friend suggested I take her hearing aids to Costco to see if they could be re-programmed for me. Costco not only re-programmed them for me but did so without charge because they were still under warranty. These aids were a huge improvement over my obsolete ones which were ten years old.
Yet, I still had hearing problems. My Hmong students are very soft spoken. When they were reading I could usually hear well enough to understand. But, in conversation with them, much of what they said was unintelligible to me. It was so difficult that I wondered if I would need to discontinue volunteering.
In May I began a process with the Veteran's Administration, originally to see if I was eligible for VA hearing aids, which led to receiving new aids. With my new aids I can hear my students! WOW! What a gift! Finally I can have real dialogue with the students without asking them to repeat, or smiling and nodding as if I understood when I didn't.
Naturally there are others who will also benefit from my improved hearing. Were Joanne still alive I could probably understand what she says from her chair in the far corner as I enter the condo. These aids are synchronized with my phone so I hear telephone calls through them.
Blessings,
Al
Yet, I still had hearing problems. My Hmong students are very soft spoken. When they were reading I could usually hear well enough to understand. But, in conversation with them, much of what they said was unintelligible to me. It was so difficult that I wondered if I would need to discontinue volunteering.
In May I began a process with the Veteran's Administration, originally to see if I was eligible for VA hearing aids, which led to receiving new aids. With my new aids I can hear my students! WOW! What a gift! Finally I can have real dialogue with the students without asking them to repeat, or smiling and nodding as if I understood when I didn't.
Naturally there are others who will also benefit from my improved hearing. Were Joanne still alive I could probably understand what she says from her chair in the far corner as I enter the condo. These aids are synchronized with my phone so I hear telephone calls through them.
Blessings,
Al
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