An estimated one in eight people in the United States has hearing loss. While we tend to think of it as a passive act, hearing and comprehending the noise you hear is actually a skill that can dwindle when you don’t use it often enough. Think of it like learning Spanish in high school. If you live with untreated hearing loss for a few years, speech comprehension may feel as out of reach as Spanish verb conjugation does after years of disuse.
Luckily, with the help of hearing aids and a few listening exercises, you can re-strengthen your speech understanding for easier conversation. Let’s look at three exercises you can do from the comfort of your home.
1. Listen to Audiobooks
Audiobooks are among the easiest and most entertaining ways to improve your listening skills. You can start with an old favorite that you’re familiar with and then move on to new titles as you get more comfortable. Try downloading new audiobooks with a card to one of Austin’s public libraries for a free version of this exercise. You can even stream your audiobooks directly to your hearing aids for a seamless experience.
2. Play a Sound Location Game
This tip is a little silly, but that’s what makes it fun! Close your eyes and have different members of your family stand in separate corners of a room and call out to you, ask a question or read a passage from a book. Try to locate the direction of the voice and answer their question or describe the context of what they’re saying. This will help you hone your sound localization, a crucial skill in busy environments, and improve your overall context understanding.
If you prefer to try sound localization on your own, go to a park on a sunny Saturday. Sit on a bench and try to home in on the speech from different groups of people.
3. Use Background Noise
Environments with competing noises, like a busy night at The Roosevelt Room, can make speech understanding even trickier. When you’re at home, play a background noise while you have a conversation with your partner or kids. The presence of the extra noise will train your brain to tune it out and focus on speech. Start with something subtle like white noise or lo-fi music and eventually move on to a quiet TV show.
Schedule a Hearing Aid Appointment
Listening exercises are most effective when you pair them with a set of hearing aids. Contact Austin Auditory Specialists today to schedule your treatment consultation.