First Post! 01/21/2011
 
Hearing loss may be considered a plague because it is a blow to our human nature.  A plague is anything which smites or troubles a person, in this case difficulty in our communicating.  Hearing loss seems a great nuisance, and it hurts deeply when you cannot understand everything going on around you. 

 Hearing loss, called an invisible handicap, may not be obvious to others, since it is non-life threatening.

The following plagues may  come with hearing loss:

1.           Audism:  discrimination against hard of hearing people, looking down on ones with hearing loss. We face disdain          from  hearing people who consider hearing disability abnormal and think we are retarded, or mentally incompetent.

2.           Accusations:  Hearing people may think that hearing loss is a joke or some type of an act to get attention. It is said that we have selective hearing or we hear only what we want to hear.  “If you can hear this sound, why can’t understand what I am saying to you now?”  Homemade hearing tests do not tell the whole story about our hearing loss. 

3.          Nagging:  Family members are the first to ask hard of hearing to “Do something about your hearing loss!”  They get tired of repeating things for you. “Go see a doctor, get help, buy a hearing aid.”  The boss may tell you to stop making mistakes on orders.

4.          Impact on others:  Every member of the family is affected by the hearing loss of one member.  Everyone gets frustrated when words are misunderstood or the message twisted.

5.          Accidents: Failure to hear warning sounds; buzzers, timers, beepers, whistles, signals, sirens and smoke detectors.  

6.          Miscues:  Missing a cue at the doctor’s office or clinic can be embarrassing, No one likes to miss their cues at the airport, employment line, or any line where names or numbers are called out in a crowd. 

7.          Finances: going to doctors, treatments, therapy, better hearing aids, assistive listening devices, new experiments and technology can be costly. 

8.          Unexplainable:  Many hard of hearing people cannot explain their own personal dilemma.  They do not understand what they need to hear or communicate better with others.

9.          Grief: Personal frustration and grief develops when we do not understand our own hearing loss or how to cope with it.  Our suffering is internal and we want to be left alone. 

10.       Seclusion:  because of name-calling and ridicule from the hearing world, we tend to avoid public gatherings.  Group discussions and fellowships are hard places to communicate.  It seems easier to stay home than to be put down again or embarrassed about being hard of hearing. It a lonely world out there even among family, friends or co-workers.

You are not alone with this disability. More than 37 million Americans suffer hearing loss.  Find comfort in the fact that your life does not end with hearing loss.  You can have a full and meaningful life and cope with your handicap.  Draw near to the Lord Jesus Christ as your comforter and friend.  Gain new strength in the Word of God. Spend time in prayer to the One who created you just the way you are on purpose.  His ways are far superior to our ways.  Give God the glory and He will bless your abundantly.

Until the trumpet sounds, LET MY PEOPLE HEAR!

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David M. Harrison                                                                                          

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