Hear what you're missing

Shireley, who long resisted the idea of wearing a hearing device, is an enthusiastic convert. Having been employed for 16 years in Bismarck with the Inter Agency Program for Assistive Technology (IPAT), Shireley is an expert at helping people with disabilities get physical aids that improve their independence and ability to function.

“Even though I had worked with disabilities my whole career, when it was me, it was hard to admit I needed an assistive device to help myself,” Shireley said. “For some reason, there is still kind of a prejudice about hearing aids.”

“Many people don’t realize how much hearing aid technology has improved and how tiny hearing aids are now,” said Sanford Health audiologist Debra Arneson-Thilmony, AuD. Shireley was fitted with an open-fit aid, which provides extremely clear amplification even though it is incredibly small.

“The difference with the open-fit designs is that they don’t block or plug up the ear,” Dr. Arneson-Thilmony explained. “Patients complained that with the old models, they felt like something was stuffed in their ear and they were talking in a tin can. With the new designs, the digital technology and physical design make aids very tiny and comfortable.”

On the average, Dr. Arneson-Thilmony said, people wait seven years before seeking help with hearing loss and, like Shireley, go through a period of denial and resistance before they are ready to move forward.

“Most people don’t even notice I am wearing a hearing aid,” Shireley said. “I didn’t realize how loud I talked and how much I didn’t hear any more until I began wearing it. I wondered how many years I had been yelling at people and thinking I was speaking in a conversational voice. You don’t really realize how