| CHAPTER
TWO
How to Obtain Professional
Help
Robert E. Sandlin, Ph.D.
In the first edition of this
book, I suggested procedures and reasons for finding
the most qualified individual to help you along
the way. You may ask, “Are there more things
that I can do to help me find the best person
who understands my hearing problems?”
Yes!
There are things you may want
to consider in your search for professional guidance.
This is especially true, in view of the improvements
in hearing aid design and function. What I mean
is that advances in hearing aid technology may
be very helpful to those with hearing loss.
Why is this so important to
you? Hearing aids with computer capability are
now available that permit the hearing professional
to help you in ways that were impossible before.
The fancy name for this advanced hearing aid is
Digital Signal Processing.
The task of finding the most
qualified individual to manage whatever hearing
problems you have is not as difficult as it might
first seem. Your biggest challenge will be narrowing
your search down from a lot of choices to a few
options. In doing so, you’ll reduce your
frustrations and sharpen your focus on what’s
required. There is always a certain amount of
frustration in seeking help for some human ailment.
Questions may arise for which there are no immediate
answers. For example, have you ever asked yourself
any of the following questions?
- Do I need a hearing aid
at all?
- Do I need two?
- How do I know if the recommended
hearing aids are the best for me?
- How do I know whether
the person I’m going to see is competent?
- How do I determine if
the person I’m seeing really cares about
me or is merely profit motivated?
- What if I don’t
like the hearing aids, what action can I take?
- How can I determine whether
medicine or surgery can improve my hearing?
- Do I have to wear them
all of my waking hours?
These questions
are not uncommon. The important thing is that
all of them can be answered in an intelligent
and understanding manner. A lot depends on whom
you select to be your personal hearing healthcare
manager. Your physician can tell if medicine
or surgery would help. The audiologist can verify
the presence or absence of a significant hearing
loss and select and dispense the appropriate
hearing aid. Also, the audiologist may provide
to your doctor hearing test results suggesting
a possible need for medical attention. The hearing
instrument specialist is also qualified to select,
fit and dispense hearing aids but cannot conduct
a diagnostic, audiological evaluation.
Be optimistic about your potential
success with hearing aids. Think of all the
benefits you could experience. Look at it this
way. You’ve already won more than half
the battle just by making a positive decision
to do something.
The purpose of this chapter
is to suggest ways in which you can connect
to the proper hearing care professionals, and
understand what they can offer. This will require
positive action on your part, defined
as taking a step(s) to successfully eliminate
or reduce your hearing problem. As usual, the
first step is the most difficult.
This chapter will provide
guidance to you and your family on several key
issues. In the process, it should reduce your
fears, apprehensions and frustrations sometimes
associated with any search for better ways to
manage a health problem. By the end of this
chapter, you should be knowledgeable about how
to move through the maze of hearing healthcare
professionals. You should know who’s who
in this profession. You should be able to establish
who is the best person to meet your particular
needs. You will know how to determine the qualifications
of the provider who might best serve you.
If you have doubts or problems
regarding the hearing healthcare person you
elected to see, get a second opinion. You know
your hearing is extremely important to you.
You have every right to find the best help possible.
Not all hearing health professionals have the
same amount of knowledge and experience. Let’s
review some history underlying the emergence
of hearing aid dispensing as an occupation in
the United States.
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