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Eva Lund no longer listens to her grandchildren. Paulina Palm has a hard time talking to her friends. For the hearing impaired, the pandemic has brought a new isolation, when social distance makes it impossible to communicate with the outside world.
For Eva Lund, who is hearing impaired, the pandemic has meant isolation.
Suddenly a regular trip to the supermarket became a test.
Paulina Palm, 36, who has a congenital hearing loss in both ears, had to learn overnight to navigate a world where it’s all about keeping distance.
Distance to the ATM, where thick Plexiglass stops noise and makes contact difficult. Distance to healthcare professionals, whose words disappear behind mouth guards and visors. But above all, the distance from other people.
What used to sit on the spinal cord, take two steps forward and lean closer to listen, was forbidden. If you do it out of habit, the other person backs off.
– If I meet someone familiar, I have to keep a distance of two meters, at the same time that there can be a lot of noise around. Then it’s easier to say “I’ll call you later” and walk away, says Paulina Palm.
Eva Lund, 70, misses her children and grandchildren. She has been retired for almost ten years due to her hearing damage and during the pandemic she has experienced how the social circle has become increasingly narrow.
“We see each other from time to time, both for real and on social media, but I miss the closeness,” he writes to TT.
She has difficulty listening on the phone, but writes that the bright voices of her grandchildren are more difficult to hear at a safe distance from corona.
Eva Lund lacks the familiarity of sitting near someone, having a cup of coffee, and chatting. Talking about insignificant little things is certainly not so insignificant after all, now you’ve realized.
Even when the whole family is together, she feels left out, trying to keep up with the frustrated and participate in the conversation.
“I turn my head like crazy to be able to read the mouth of the person who is speaking at that moment, but above all they are fragments,” he writes.
Paulina Palm describes it as the distance everyone must keep during the pandemic becomes even longer for people with hearing impairments.
The few times he does meet friends, they are often seen outdoors, where the constant noise of the wind or buzzing cars is annoying. In addition, they feel very separated, people raise their voices to be heard and speak in the mouth of others.
– You don’t want to say over and over “can we start talking one by one?” Or “now a car has arrived, can we take care of that?” So instead, you miss half the conversation, and when it has slipped onto a new topic, you no longer have a clue what it is about.
Constantly being in full swing and struggling to keep up is exhausting. Hearing aids cannot classify sounds in the same way that a person with normal hearing can, but it all goes straight. After living in a noisy environment or meeting many people, Paulina Palm often ends up on the couch, completely exhausted.
– I am a very sociable person who likes to meet and talk with people in ordinary cases, the best thing is to meet someone in the city and have a spontaneous coffee. So it affects me a lot, he says.
At the same time, there are positives. During the pandemic, Paulina Palm worked from home, which made it much easier.
– When a video meeting is well organized with a speaking order, it works much better than a physical meeting. There is no one to beep and tread or small disturbing noises.
Eva Lund tackles loneliness by working on a farm in Malmö, where she lives. Together with two grower friends, he has had coffee twice a week during spring and summer.
“It has been my lifeline,” he writes.
Both Eva Lund and Paulina Palm believe that greater knowledge about hearing damage is required, both among the public and with authorities.
“It’s very different how they treat you, some people intuitively understand how to adapt, while others talk to me like I’m stupid in my head. There is no use shouting louder, as some think, ”writes Eva Lund.
This facilitates conversations with the hearing impaired
• Face to face. Don’t speak until you are in the same room as the person you want to speak to and have the person’s attention. Remember not to put your hand in front of your mouth.
• Speak clearly, in a normal conversational tone. Articulate, move your lips, and don’t speak too fast. Don’t babble, but don’t yell.
• If the person does not listen to what you say, do not repeat the same thing over and over again, but formulate it in another way, that is.
• Silence or eliminate disturbing sounds by turning down background music and closing windows or doors. Also, make sure your face is in front of a window or other lighting to make what you are saying easier to read.
• Quick topic changes in the middle of a conversation can be difficult to follow, it can also be difficult to engage in an ongoing conversation when you are not listening. Feel free to help by describing the topic in a few words.
Source: National Association of the Hearing Impaired
