When you are navigating single sided deafness, there is a lot that can make or break your hearing success in environmental conditions. Sometimes you can modify your environment or your interaction with your environment to create a better hearing situation. With planning, in some situations you can make choices that give a better outcome for you hearing. So I am going to offer some suggestions and solutions as well as mention some things to avoid to create a good hearing environment.

First you should consider the acoustics of your home. In general, the more soft surfaces and the lower the ceilings the better. Carpet, curtains, and couches all absorb sound so it doesn’t reflect and become a jumble. Lower ceilings also greatly impact this reflection of sound. So think twice before switching to all hard floors or purchasing a home with a 2 story great room- those types of designs can make family gatherings extra challenging. You may also find gathering in a great room style isn’t the best for you- a separate dining room may mean you can enjoy conversation better. If you do have hard floors, maybe invest in some area rugs or extra curtains to help make the space more hearing friendly. You could even go all in and purchase acoustic paneling if your home is really tough for acoustics. Once I lost my hearing, I felt very fortunate to live in a 1970s ranch style home with low ceilings and small rooms.

Make modifications to your furniture set up in your home. That way if you sit in your favorite seat you have the people you want to converse with on your hearing side or directly in front of you for ease of hearing and visual cues. Maybe change out your table so you can sit without someone in your deaf cone (or perhaps your kitchen table is already set up well for your hearing). Good lighting makes a big difference when you are also using visual cues to understand speech.

I prefer outside for larger gatherings as I live in a rural area where there isn’t a lot of traffic or other outdoor noise. I am in a life stage where gatherings frequently include a lot of small people with large voices. I find that outside the noise of small kiddos and lots of people talking dissipates and I can focus on the conversation I want, versus a big gathering indoors where all the noise melds.

Position yourself in restaurants or meetings with your bad ear to the wall or back of the room so it’s easier. Pick your seat at the table so that your hearing ear is towards your conversational partners. This often means the server is on my deaf side but I usually just ask my spouse or friend to be an intermediary with the server if I am worried I won’t hear them. It is more important I can enjoy the people I want to converse with. Look for areas with low ceilings, or lots of soft surfaces to absorb sound like a booth (old school supper clubs are the best). Try to stay away from the bar. Restaurants with high ceilings and lots of exposed metal are the hardest to hear in as the sound bounces around (Chipotle, I definitely mean you).

When at a class or a conference ask the speaker to hold the mic low enough to be able to see their mouth. I like to position myself so no one can sit on my deaf side and the speaker is on my hearing side. I also sit fairly close for both hearing and visual cues. Make sure there is good lighting and you are positioned to see well.

It can take a lot of bravery to work on advocating for your needs, but I have found that it is worth it. If I take the time to do a google image search and look at the restaurants my friends are proposing, I can select a location that means I get to enjoy and participate- and that is my friends’ goal too. If I spend time and energy reorganizing my home to reduce listening strain and fatigue then I get paid back dividends daily when my home is a comfortable listening environment. So often I feel like we are programmed to just “keep a stiff upper lip” and get through it. However, everyone actually wants conversations with you to succeed, and they also don’t want you exhausted. So be brave with me and ask for what you need. Sometimes it won’t be able to be changed and then we just get through, but often it can be improved and we all feel great about a more successful outcome.