I’ve noticed that since attending a Hearing Link course in Nottingham I don’t carry as much change in my pocket as I used to. I have been told that I am not alone in this; that many hearing impaired people are the same. If I go into a shop and pick up a few items, without paying attention to prices, I have a problem.
I can seldom hear when they tell me how much I have to pay. I’ve already got lots of change in my pocket from previous similar transactions, but I take the easy way out, and give the cashier a note which I know will be more than I have to pay. The result is I have more change in my pocket.
Jo, who taught us lip-reading for two years, gave me the tools to handle this situation a long time ago. First of all, I can often figure out how much I owe by combining what I do hear with lipreading. I’ve just convinced myself I can’t do it, and got out of the habit. On those tricky ones to lip-read, such as the difference between ‘five pound fifty’ and ‘five pound fifteen’, I have been given the tool for that too. ‘Did you say ‘fifty 5-0’?.
If that fails there are still other techniques that I can use. So I’ve had the tools for a long time. What more could I ask for? Well, Hearing Link gave me the desire to take back more control of my life, and the conviction that I can. So now I relish the challenge of figuring out just how much I have to pay, and if I have the right amount, getting rid of some of the small change in my pocket. For that I thank Jo and Hearing Link.
To you, that may be one small step. To me it is a giant leap.