Adventures in Hearing, Wednesday Edition:
I use my phone app to turn off my HAs (hearing aids) when I'm in the parking garage because of all the loud mechanical noises. I get into my office, put my things away, take my seat and open my laptop. Zoom tells me that it's using my hearing aids for audio, and off I go, greeting my first client for telehealth.
1/2
I notice two things immediately: first, the client's voice is crystal clear, like, suspiciously clear, and second, when I talk, I can't hear myself, which is weird, because that only happens when my HA's aren't .... on....oh shit I never turned my HA's back on!
Lesson: if I turn my HA's off with the app, it's essentially just silencing the microphone; the bluetooth capacity still operates! This is going to become a super power for me.
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Selective hearing! 🤣
It might be similar to noise-cancelling headphones, but subtle.
There's nothing subtle about a pair of enormous headphones covering your ears. If your hearing aids (HAs) are more discrete, that would definitely give you an advantage.
I wonder, … on arriving at work with your HAs still switched off to protect you from loud mechanical noises in the garage, do people try to speak to you before your HAs get switched back on—if only to wish you a good morning?
Jon-o-lantern
Goggles