Hear ye, hear ye …

Congratulations on David Gorin’s excellent article highlighting the extent of the problems faced by those with impaired hearing (March 5). I am one of them.

As an 82-year-old I was fortunate to qualify for a cochlear implant. It has changed my life by virtually doubling my hearing ability in the six months since undergoing the procedure.

It is a fact that in recent years there has been a worldwide increase in the number of older people opting for the implants. But, an equally important and often neglected fact is that it has also had a profound effect on my wife, friends and others with whom I have contact.

My experience over years of wearing hearing aids is that many people and establishments do not fully appreciate what the impaired go through. In a crowded restaurant, for instance, people tend to start patronising you if you offer too many “say agains”.

Noise is a common enemy, but you cannot stop that. Restaurants can be particularly challenging no-go zones. Sadly, even the restaurant in the retirement estate where I live and hearing aids are common, often has intrusive music.

In general, hearing problems in SA are far more prevalent than imagined. The professional medical industry is well founded and acclaimed. For example, my specialist has lectured in several countries, including Turkey, Australia and Argentina. There are pockets of excellence.

One of these is the Johannesburg Cochlear Implant Centre, where trained, dedicated audiologists “train” cochlear implant recipients in the use of the devices. More important, they teach children who have been born deaf how to speak from scratch. It’s enough to make a grown man cry. I know I did.

Derek du Plessis Waterfall Hills