By Linda Todd
Being too polite to leave a loud rock concert cost Bernadette Collins her hearing. When she was 28 years old Bernadette attended a two-hour rock concert at a pub. The exposure to loud noise caused her an initial limited loss of hearing, and later profound hearing loss.
Bernadette can not hear her alarm clock or the phone ring and she relies on hearing aids and lip-reading to communicate. Her sudden loss of hearing was a shock.
"I did not accept that a one-off like that could have
damaged my hearing permanently"
Bernadette, of Lincoln, never considered she was disabled until she had to give up her job as a primary teacher in 1998.
"Teaching is a very demanding job anyway – it was stressful
having to concentrate on having to hear with my hearing aid.
Most people just hear, they don't have to think."
This was a low point in her life. "I loved teaching. I thought I was going to be old and poor and deaf," she said. Bernadette finds people's perceptions of her differ because she is hearing impaired.
"People often think you are intellectually impaired if you make an
inappropriate response because you have misheard something."
Bernadette began work as a hearing therapist after giving up teaching, and she said people were often surprised she could be hearing impaired and have a career. She finds her hearing impairment socially isolating.
"It is difficult when you go out for dinner or at family gatherings and the acoustics are bad."
Simple pleasures like going to the theatre become difficult when the actors face away from the audience. Bernadette said the biggest issue for people who are hearing impaired is acceptance.
"We don't want sympathy, we want understanding. I want people to see me as a person
first and foremost, not as a hearing impaired person."
Funding is another major issue. Although equipment and aids are improving, they can be costly. But Bernadette points out that many hearing impairments could be prevented for much less of a cost.
"If I had spent $30 on acoustic ear plugs I would not need $7000 worth of hearing equipment now.
My politeness and ignorance cost me my hearing and halved my earning capacity."
Take care of your hearing
More than 450,000. New Zealanders are affected by an invisible handicap which means they may not answer when you call their name. Executive manager of the National Foundation for the Deaf said the social ramifications of hearing impairment were far reaching for the person and their family.
"Hearing loss is not just about your ears. It is about a person's ability
to communicate and participate in our society."
Lack of communication threatens the `core qualities of life and can result in emotional stress, depression and feelings of isolation. One of the groups at greatest risk of suffering the effects of loud noise are our youth. Research shows attending a rock concert can cause damage in fewer than 10 seconds.
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