My AV Board Experience With Hearing Loss
By AV Board member Betty Webster
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I’m an introvert. By the time I’m ready to talk, the conversation has often moved to another subject.
I also have hearing loss. So I must take extra time to be sure what I think the last speaker said. By the time I’m prepared to contribute, the conversation may have moved on two more topics, not just one.
One night at a pre-COVID Ashby Village Board meeting, I started talking and was told I’d interrupted someone. I had no idea he was talking!
That’s when I began to understand the complexities of not hearing well. Hearing aids increase the volume of sounds and voices around me. But to be an effective board member, I had many other factors to cope with.
Sounds reverberate differently in different rooms. While the timbre of people’s voices can differ dramatically, that may not be critical if they articulate well and speak slowly. Reading lips and expressions helps a lot, too.
Many people drop the tone of the last word or two in a sentence. Often it’s a word crucial to understanding their point.
Before the pandemic, I could understand some people at board meetings, but not others, even though we all sat close together. At a long, rectangular table I could hear only what the person next to me—or next to them—said. If 4-5 more people were on my side of the table, I was pretty much out of luck. I learned to sit across the table from, not next to people I found hard to understand.
Masks add another “layer” on to hearing difficulties. They muffle the sound and the words. They don’t permit lip reading unless they are the clear version. AND there simply is not room behind the ear for Glasses, Hearing Aids and Mask straps! Their tremendous contribution, however is protection from the COVID-19 virus.
Fortunately, many new devices help. I got a “connect clip,” which feeds, via Bluetooth, into my computer or cellphone, so the sound goes directly into my ears through my hearing aids. This improves clarity tremendously, but makes voices sound like they’re being wrapped up and fed into a tube. All voices sound the same in a narrow piercing way, so they lose individuality. But the clarity is wonderful.
Zoom meetings have been the pandemic’s blessing! I can usually hear everyone equally, unless they are too far from their computers. Articulation variation is still a factor though. I hope after COVID’s conquered, we can choose to attend board meetings in person or by Zoom. In-person meetings have a warmth that Zoom doesn’t. But understanding’s crucial!
I’m thankful for my “Connect Clip” and for Zoom, but most of all for my sympathetic fellow board members. Some have told me quietly that they, too, have difficulty hearing.
I’ve cherished my 10 years on the AV Board. I’m so glad technology permits me to retain my seat!
Betty Webster has been a member of the Ashby Village Board since our launch in July 2010. She served first as Membership Chair, then was a member of the Events Team. She is now Board Secretary on the Governance Committee. She is a member of the Arts and Culture Team, Elder Action, and the Board’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Working Group. Before her retirement she had been busy getting a PhD in Economics at the University of Michigan until she suddenly decided to get married instead. After being a stay-at-home mom for a few years, she worked on the UC Staff, until taking early retirement in 1992 and worked as a Resources Coordinator for UUCB (Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley) until 2004. Betty welcomes comments, suggestions and questions at b.j.webster55@gmail.com.