Communicating with Mom

What features did you inherit from your mom? Do you have her nose? Her smile? Her laugh? What about her hearing?While men are twice as likely to have hearing loss as women, women are more likely to discuss their hearing loss concerns and have it evaluated.

Other good news: women tend to use better communication skills, such as watching body language, tuning in to gestures and emotions, and are more comfortable with eye contact (which leads to better speech reading opportunities).

The downside? If women with hearing loss don’t seek treatment, they are more prone to depression due to difficulty communicating with others.

Some things to think about this Mother’s Day

Use good communication strategies. This means talking face to face in a quiet, well-lit environment. Speak clearly and slow down your rate of speech for best understanding.If you do go out to eat, try to pick a restaurant with acoustics in mind.

Places with high ceilings, TVs and/or music playing, and a lot of hard surfaces are more difficult to hear in – even without a hearing loss.If your mom uses hearing aids and still has difficulty hearing well, think about adding accessories -such as a remote microphone- to help her get the best possible speech signal (even in background noise!).

Another great option is auditory training. There are several excellent computer-based programs to help train the brain to make more sense of speech in noise, rapid speech, and distorted speech.Does your mom have difficulty on the phone? She may be a candidate for a captioned/amplified telephone. An audiologist can evaluate your mom’s hearing and certify her for a free phone.

Finally, if your mom has hearing loss it is an excellent idea to have your hearing tested. We see patients of all ages and LOVE mother-daughter and mother-son success stories.Call us at 704-412-7975 or fill out our contact form to schedule your appointment.