| Department Of Human Services | www.australia.gov.au | |
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| Department Of Human Services | www.australia.gov.au | |
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My current hearing aid is fantastic. My aids now are fully digital with a graphic equaliser. They're tuned to your hearing loss, which is wonderful because it's tailored to your needs. My audiologist has been able to set up my hearing aid really well. Hearing aids are not just about making sound louder. My hearing aid has a noisy-room switch; this narrows the pick-up area by using a second microphone to reduce the background noise. Brilliant! Conversation in a crowded room is not a problem. Wearing my hearing aid is like wearing shoes. I put it on and forget about it.
With my hearing aids I can hear almost anything. They're the standard ones and are fully subsidised. Sport and going out to places are great. I participate in conversations much better than I could before. I kayak; I play competitive tennis - which is where I met my wife. You have to rely on hearing for tennis. I watch sport on TV all the time and I baby-sit my 15-month-old granddaughter every morning. I can hear her when she wakes up and cries. If I didn't have my hearing aids, I'd be lost.
I can't believe how small the hearing aids are now. Australian Hearing has come a long way with hearing aid technology. Over the years I've come into the hearing centre, all the staff have been so friendly and kind. There are not too many places you can get service like this. The respect they show us old people is lovely. Australian Hearing is a great organisation for looking after us pensioners.
Australian Hearing audiologists are great people to deal with. They are very conscious of looking after you well. Hearing properly has helped me with my business. I used to have enormous trouble concentrating. Now at meetings and functions I can focus better. I couldn't have done it without them.
I go dancing; I'm learning the tango, waltz and fox trot. I can hear the music a lot better and my friends talking a lot clearer. It makes life easier for my kids too.
When I first started wearing the aids, I would notice the birds and other noises that I just wouldn't have heard before. It's made my general living better. I've never been a cranky person, but I'm certainly in a better humour most of the time now.
Now my wife and I can call in on friends and family and we can sit there and have a normal conversation. People are telling me that I speak much more softly now.
Most older people have a hearing impairment, but they don't admit it. The aids have certainly made my life easier. Unfortunately though, they haven't improved my golf swing!
The hearing aids help me with everything. They help me with simple things like shopping and crossing the road. Going to the pictures or watching TV used to be a nightmare. Now it's absolutely fantastic. And music is a joy!
The aids provide a healthy way of mingling with society and living like you lived before. Now I have breakfast and if I don't have my aids in, I will look at the birds outside and think, I wonder what they sound like. Then I put my aids in and I can hear them. I couldn't be happier. The hearing aids have turned the anxiety down. If I go without them, the world is quiet.
At the age of four months, my daughter Sophie was fitted with a bone conductor. By eight months, Sophie had behind-the-ear hearing aids...in pink! Sophie has Downs Syndrome and from our first visit two years ago, until now, Australian Hearing staff have been there for all of Sophie's milestones.
Sophie has a moderate to severe hearing loss without the hearing aids so they do make a massive difference in her communication and responses. The hearing aids have been a huge help in developing our relationship. She is able to communicate much better. She understands what I am saying and she is able to socialise.
I have a fantastic relationship with the Australian Hearing staff. Australian Hearing has guided every step of Sophie's hearing loss diagnosis with care and compassion.
I've had a hearing problem all my life. In my right ear, I'm stone deaf. I've got a perforated ear drum and it's only in the last few years that my left ear has started to deteriorate. The hearing aid Australian Hearing has now given me is more comfortable and more compatible for the requirement I need, to help me through meetings and attend classes and community forums.
I go to the Liverpool Centre. They're very receptive. I can't fault the team. With the hearing aid, I've found that it's such a valuable resource, that I need to promote it. The best advice I could give people is 'go get your hearing checked'.