<html><div style='background-color:'><DIV>
<P>Anthony said:</P>
<P>>I was fairly unhappy and worried about what he said; and didn't want >news of my condition to get around my community of technicians; >who was going to hire a deaf piano technician? > </P>
<P>You brought up a very important issue here, one that needs to be brought to everyone's attention. Virtually everyone who lives a nice long life will lose hearing. In 1995, one in three people over the age of 65 had hearing loss that causes them communication problems (that's <U>down in the 2,000hz to 3,000hz range</U>). And with the baby boomer generation, the age at which hearing loss is becoming acute is getting drastically lower, it's not uncommon now for audiologists to see people in their 40's coming in with hearing loss. </P>
<P>Lets face it guys, our chances of losing our hearing are unfortunately high, especially if like me, you hope to live awhile! There are technicians in your chapters right now, all over the US and Canada who are having trouble with their hearing. I have even consulted with techs who are 10-15 years younger than me (55) who are having serious problems. And they, like Anthony, are worried about their customers and their fellow techs.</P>
<P> Our society in general accepts people who have to wear glasses, but are cruel to people who have to wear hearing aids. In my early PTG journals, the members addressed each other as "Brother", something like "Brother Roger", "Brother Ron", "Brother Brian", "Brother Les", "Brother Anthony", today it would include "Sister Susan" :-) It's time we realize, that if we are over 40 years old, we are in this together; we need to protect our hearing, keep track of our audiograms, learn what things cause hearing to get damaged, and have compassion for our colleagues.</P>
<P>One thing I would like to see happen as a first step, is that we realize that if there is a colleague in our chapter, who has hearing problems, he usually can still tune and please his customers, long after he starts having troubles with conversations. I always noticed that my dad, who had hearing aids on both sides, could hear the beats very well (it was high pitched buzzes, voicing and female's voices that caused him problems). </P>
<P>Next I would hope we will try a little harder to include these members in our activities. They need us to put a little more effort into communication with them. Simple things, like making sure you talk to the person <EM><STRONG>after </STRONG></EM>you finish chewing the cookie during the break, facing them directly and getting their full attention when you speak to them, speaking more clearly, repeating what you said using different words if they didn't get it the first time. The list is long. The important thing is to become aware--and to care.<BR><BR><BR>Diane Hofstetter </P></DIV>245-M Mount Hermon Rd.#343
<DIV></DIV>Scotts Valley, CA 95066
<DIV></DIV>ph 831-438-6222
<DIV></DIV>fax 831-430-9741
<DIV></DIV>dianepianotuner@hotmail.com
<DIV></DIV></div><br clear=all><hr>Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at <a href='http://go.msn.com/bql/hmtag_itl_EN.asp'>http://explorer.msn.com</a><br></html>