I recently read an article in the Telegraph (26.1.26) about a reported shortage of hearing aid batteries in the UK. The piece explained that some people are switching off their hearing aids to conserve power.
For clarity, this is not an issue at Hearing Healthcare Practice. We are fully supplied (as are High Street shops). Any patients who use battery-powered hearing aids can continue as normal and it’s worth noting that all the hearing aids we now supply are rechargable.
And so, back to the article. What struck me was not the battery shortage issue itself – much as it’s of course serious – but the language used in the headline. It read;
“Deaf people turning off hearing aids because NHS doesn’t have enough batteries”
As a recent hearing aid user myself, that wording made me think…
I do not consider myself ‘deaf’. My hearing is reduced. It is not what it once was. I wear hearing aids because they help me hear better. They improve my life. But I do not feel I have lost my hearing entirely.
To me, the word deaf has always suggested a complete or near-complete loss of hearing. That may be my assumption, shaped by years of common usage. When I checked dictionary definitions, I found that the word deaf is also used to describe people who are losing their hearing, not only those who have lost it entirely. So technically, the headline is not wrong. I can’t dispute that. But…
Language is not only about technical accuracy.
It’s also about how people feel when they read it.
Many hearing aid users do not see themselves as deaf. They may describe themselves as hard of hearing. Or as having hearing loss. Or as having a hearing impairment. These distinctions matter, especially to people who are still adjusting to wearing hearing aids.
Being labelled deaf by a newspaper headline can feel abrupt. Even careless. It suggests a lack of lived experience behind the words.
In the past, when I wrote material for the Hearing Healthcare Practice, I was very aware that our founder, Robert Beiny, chose his language with great care. At times, I wondered if it was almost too careful. I understand it now. Once you are on the other side of the fence, words land differently.
I want to be clear. This is not a criticism of or comment on Deaf people or Deaf culture. Of course not. Nor is it a claim that one term is right and another is wrong. It is simply an observation from someone new to hearing aids, and newly aware of how powerful labels can be.
A headline such as ‘hearing aid users having to switch off their devices’ would have felt more accurate to me. It would also have felt more human.
This may be a personal reaction. It may not resonate with everyone. If you feel differently, I would like to hear your view.
As I continue this journey as a hearing aid wearer, I will share the frustrations but also the many positives. There are plenty of those. My new hearing aids are, frankly, fantastic.
And that is a story worth telling too.
Read the original Telegraph Article Here