Age-related deafness is gradual, often slow and at first not even noticed. Family, friends and work colleagues are usually the first to notice a difference.

Isolation is not a solution to avoid communication. Ask people (your family) how they would like to communicate with you. Help your family to know how best to attract your attention. It is a learning process for everyone and patience is needed by all of us.

Someone who has a gradual hearing loss goes through many stages and these are some of the characteristics.

Recognising the effort and changes that hearing people need to make when someone goes gradually deaf can help with communication.

Mixing with people who understand what it’s like to lose hearing provides a social atmosphere where embarrassment is removed. These people are more sympathetic and will take the time to listen and help. You are not alone.

At the Disability Expo in Adelaide Australia, last week a Cochlear Implantee brought along her Hearing Dog. I asked her why, since she can now hear very well, did she need a hearing dog.

I meet many people and they often say to me I am ‘lucky’ because I lost my hearing and not my vision. They tell me it would be far easier to live with deafness than blindness. I’ve often wondered why they should think this when the issues of being deaf are complex.

With one in six people having some form of deafness and even more as we age it means that almost every family or households are touched by deafness. This is a true story about how one family had been affected by deafness.

Finding the right Assistive Listening Device can be a minefield. It is regularly seen as ‘too hard’. As a result so many people don’t even ask for help. Sometimes just knowing there are devices which can help is a giant leap in finding solutions for you.

Hearing loss for Australian Indigenous peoples is a major health issue. It is a disease of poverty, frequently left untreated, with at least 40% of their children affected. Yet, sadly it’s a treatable condition and if treated would give these children a much greater chance in life.