Sometimes I fake it

Do you ever fake it in conversations?
#hearinglossawareness #hearingaids #hardofhearing #hearingloss
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[@freds5335]

Thanks for bringing this up, April. This subject is very dear and close to home for me. I do it all the time, even with new hearing aids. One reason is, as you brought up, I get tired of asking soft-spoken people to speak up all the time. Other times, you're in a group conversation with a noisy background. While everyone else in the conversation hears the person speaking, I don't want to be the odd one out asking, "can you repeat that, please?" I do know it's a tough habit to break.

[@TheDarkSnaffle]

I'm with you, I regularly fake it. If I don't get it by the second "pardon?" I move on and forget about it. Many of my work colleagues know about my hearing problems and hearing aids, but very few actually make any allowance, such as speaking louder and/or slower; in those cases I just drop out of the conversations. In fact, I think I'm considered unsociable as I rarely take part in group conversations due to the difficulty in making anything out. Not too unhappy being a loner.

[@cybot6]

That’s a hard one! If the person you are talking to is not aware of your hearing loss (absolutely love that term!) then you’re in no mans land. Then there’s the other side too. That’s when you pluck up the guts to ask them to speak up and what do they actually do? They speak lower 😂 I do what my dear departed Father used to do when his deteriorating hearing (at 100 years of age no less!); He’d say this: “I’m not following you.” The sudden transformation of the speaker was so funny to witness. Worked every time. No mention of hearing loss or anything. So maybe there’s a lesson there somewhere?

[@mt-up]

Yes! After years of saying pardon? or what? I have gotten bad about faking it. Even with hearing aids I struggle to understand words and just get tired or embarrassed? asking people to repeat themselves. I too worry that I nod yes to things I shouldn't be agreeing with or out of context. Sounds like a lot of us are in the same boat.

[@aandrews316]

EVERY. DAY. I fake it. And I hate it but I don't know how else to function. My hearing has deteriorated to 'severe' in both ears and my hearing aids just don't help like they used to (despite the audiologist updating them to my current hearing profile). I get such crazy anxiety since I am in a demanding, high-stress job, so every day is stressful. I often don't want to socialize outside of work because I used up all my mental stamina getting through the day. If I ask someone to make accommodations for me they either do it for one second and then revert back to their soft speaking voice, or I still don't get certain key words of phrases so it's absolutely exhausting to continue to talk. I usually am ready to exit out of any conversation as quickly as possible unless it's one-on-one in the right quiet conditions. I have immense shame bc of the hearing loss (I know I shouldn't) and I think a large part is because of how certain people can be cruel when you mention it and ask them to repeat. Usually they speak at you like you are mentally slow in a big booming voice. Um hello I am not slow I just need you to enunciate a bit better. My brain actually works 3 times as hard as a normal person (according to an article I read - if that's accurate) to comprehend what you're saying. Nobody understands how hard it is except those of us with this struggle, no matter how much we advocate for ourselves. Even my spouse really doesn't get it and he lives with me). Thank you for this video it makes me feel less like an outcast when I am doing coping methods like the faking it one.

[@melissasorensen9855]

Sometimes I don’t realize I didn’t hear what they said correctly and inadvertently agree to something I wouldn’t normally do and then I have to backtrack and explain myself. I hate having to bring up that I’m hard of hearing. I’ve had instances where I mention I have trouble with my hearing and the people in the group give me this awkward vibe. It definitely is hard in a noisy setting like a bar or restaurant.

[@binoyjohn5827]

Hello Ma'am...God Bless you

[@DavidIrthum]

I use to fake until I got a pair of Haring aids

[@hardtohearit]

@@DavidIrthum even with hearing aids I still find myself faking it from time to time

[@16poetisa]

Personally it gets exhausting repeatedly advocating for myself. I'm not very social to begin with, so I don't deal with this very much. But please don't be too hard on yourself for faking it - it's a strategy of sorts similar to autistic masking. Even if we'd like to be our most authentic and upfront about how our needs aren't being met, that doesn't work in every setting. I think you're right to focus on individual relationships.