One small device causes major frustration

The title says it all. One small device has caused major frustration. I am
thankful for sick days and the fact that I have a lot of them. I just wish
I didn't have to use one of them for this purpose. What you ask is the
problem and the small device?

The small device is a hearing aid and it broke over the weekend while I was
out of town at a meeting. It picked one of the worst times in the world to
do what it did, that's for sure. I called the audiologist's office today to
see if I could get in to get it fixed and the soonest I could get in was
tomorrow morning. That didn't make me happy but it was the best I could do
under the circumstances. Thankfully it will be fixed tomorrow and all will
be back to normal.

I didn't go into work today because with only one hearing aid functioning, I
cannot be as effective as I would be with two of them functioning. My
mobility is also not good because of problems with directionality, that is
telling what direction sound is coming from, and veering.

For this reason, I am staying very close to home and not going anywhere.
It's a rotten way to spend a forced day off. I'll be glad when this day is
over and I can once again return to the world I know and love.

This day, however, is making me aware that isolation is an all too common
thing for many people with a combined vision and hearing loss. Isolation is
not a pleasant thing either. At least I have some means of communication
which is more than many people have. My means of communication may not be
as efficient without both hearing aids but it does work. Isolation makes
the days longer, or so it seems. You just want the day to end so that you
can go on to the next day and hope it is not the same as the previous day.
I personally don't know how long I could live like that either. If short
amounts of isolation can drive me crazy, I don't want to know what a long
period of isolation would do to me.

This is why there must be services for those living with a combined vision
and hearing loss no matter what the level of that loss. Being able to work,
do business in and participate in one's community is something we all need
to work toward.

While I can rejoin my world tomorrow, for many it wil take more than just
the fixing of a small device for them to join their world and make it a
world where they can be an active part of the community, of their family and
whatever other group they choose to be part of. This is why advocacy is so
important and why I stress it so much. We all need to do what we can to
make the powers that be understand the importance of providing services to
members of the db community so that we can all take our place in society.
Isolation is a nasty thing and must be brought to an end. The time is now.