In the last 6 months or so, I've become a lot more aware of how much I rely on lip reading to assist my hearing. I don't think it's a coincidence that I started using reading glasses 7 months ago. It's nice to go to synagogue and change glasses and have the prayerbook pop right into focus. And obviously it's more important to see the prayerbook than to see the person leading services. It was kind of shocking to realize there was a tradeoff between me being able to see the book in my lap and being able to hear the person 20 feet away. (In the sense that "hearing" means parsing spoken language. Audiologists have told me there's nothing at all wrong with my ability to hear simple isolated sounds.)
Like several other commenters, I find it very difficult to ask for accommodations around this. That I have so much experience asking for help in other dimensions doesn't help much, and sometimes even makes it harder (will this be the last straw, that makes them think I'm "too difficult?") Something that does help is seeing that I'm in a community that quietly, without any fuss, tries to accommodate other people's needs. Even where it isn't possible, trying matters. Taking requests seriously matters.
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Date: 2013-06-12 06:56 pm (UTC)Like several other commenters, I find it very difficult to ask for accommodations around this. That I have so much experience asking for help in other dimensions doesn't help much, and sometimes even makes it harder (will this be the last straw, that makes them think I'm "too difficult?") Something that does help is seeing that I'm in a community that quietly, without any fuss, tries to accommodate other people's needs. Even where it isn't possible, trying matters. Taking requests seriously matters.