I wish I had been open about my hearing loss and advocated for myself. It affected me but also the people that I worked with.

But I had an event that changed my life. ….

I was in sales so I only worked in the office once a week. When I was in the office, I shared an office space with another representative. That was a mistake because I couldn’t hear when she was on the phone, losing productivity for me and the company. But what I didn’t realize was that when I talked on the phone, I talked very loudly leading to an extraordinary event…..

One day my co-worker yelled and cursed at me saying that I talk so loud that it was disturbing her. She told the owner that she refused to share an office with me anymore and I was immediately and unceremoniously ushered to an empty office (she was the boss’s girlfriend so her word was gospe!).

I was in shock. I didn’t realize I talked loudly and even though I was the top rep, I was basically kicked out of the office space I was in.

After feeling sorry for myself I realized that there must be a lesson here. If I had asked for the empty office explaining that I was hard for me to hear on the phone, he could easily put me in the empty office which wasn’t even being utilized. That would have eliminated the whole episode. But more important for me and the company, I would have been more productive. But no – I didn’t want to bring any attention to my hearing loss, scared of the repercussions and stigma associated with it.

If I’m not open about my hearing loss, episodes like this would reoccur. This was my opportunity to learn to advocate for myself – not only for myself but for everyone around me.

I learned of self-help organizations like Hearing Loss Association of American and SayWhatClub and several on-line groups. I started and presided over local chapters. I learned from other people as they learned from me. I developed and gave workshops and presentations to educate people about hearing loss and their partners too.

Today 1 in 5 or 20% of Americans has hearing loss. The latest statistic taken 10 years ago showed that 48M Americans have hearing loss. Today that number must be higher for several reasons: The incidence of young children with hearing loss has increased due to their use of headphones. Returning vets have a high incidence of hearing loss. And bottom line, we live in a noisy world.