Welcome to HearlingLossImpact.com!
Dear Therapist:
There is a large gap in mental health care for individuals with hearing loss. When they seek therapy, they find that communication with their therapist is too challenging, and they stop going. Or, even worse, they are told by the therapist “I’m just going to refer you to an audiologist.” While audiologists are an invaluable resource, they are not equipped or licensed to help us manage our mental health needs. We invite you to learn more about hearing loss and to help increase access to mental health care for this often-left-out group of hearing impaired/deaf/Deaf individuals. Thanks for being here!
Dear Audiologist:
You are so needed! We appreciate how your knowledge and skills help the quality of life improve for people with hearing loss. However, we want you to learn more about the mental health needs and the psychosocial stressors of your patients. We invite you to learn more about how you can implement a patient centered care framework, providing a safe and natural place for us to discuss the challenges of our hearing loss. If you are concerned about your patient needing more support than patient centered care from your office, please learn how to best refer them to mental health professionals. We are so glad you are here to learn with us.
Dear Friend:
If you are trying to navigate a hearing loss, we are glad that you are here. This website seeks to provide evidenced-based resources and tips to help you understand how your hearing loss might affect your emotional, social, and psychological well-being. We are a growing resource. If there is anything you believe would be helpful to add here, please consider contacting us with your suggestion. Hearing loss prevents us from accessing multiple aspects of life. However, there is a tremendous amount of hope that we can enjoy our lives, our loved ones, and our favorite things, despite having a hearing loss.
Microaggressions and Hearing Loss
What’s the correct term for someone who has problems hearing? It depends! The factors that go into how a person identities their hearing loss are multi-faceted. It is based on their personal preference, their degree of hearing loss, language they are most familiar with, language their doctor uses, or their culture. Asking a person how they identify their hearing loss is necessary for you to use correct language. If a person tells you they identify as hearing impaired, calling them deaf may be frustrating to them. It may even be a microaggression.
A microaggression is a term that was originally created by Dr. Derald Sue* to name an implicit or smaller act of (Continue Reading…)