Sometimes it's just too hard to communicate with hearing people. It's tiring and difficult and so we often withdraw. Rowena, a lady who has been hard of hearing from birth, tells how she took steps to avoid depression - with a surprising outcome.

Both Deaf and hearing individuals use different methods of communication. While one relies heavily on speech tone, the other relies heavily on sign language.

Incessant talking is a coping mechanism often used by the deaf so they don't have to listen.

Using a tswitch and a hearing loop means hard of hearing person can get clearer sound than they would if they just used their hearing aid or processor and listened to the sound sent through a loud speaker system.

One in four adults over the age of 50 experience a hearing problem and three in four over the age of 75. When this happens it is usually gradual and often we do not even realise we are missing sounds.

Being fitted for a hearing aid is confusing. How can you avoid some of it?

Even fully hearing people do not hear everything. What we don’t hear is filled in giving the impression we have heard everything. For the deaf the gaps are bigger and our brains have to fill in a lot more .

Social bluffing, especially in children, is not good because it can lull people (parents) into thinking you are understanding far more than you are. You miss vital information and miss out on wonderful conversation. It is in your best interests to break the social bluffing habit.

What is social bluffing? It simply means we make out we’ve heard. We sit in a group with a polite smile fixed on our face and smile. It’s the ‘I hope I’m smiling the right smile for this conversation’ smile.

You just buy a hearing aid and stick it in your ear and you can hear properly again – that’s right isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be great if it was that simple, but it’s not.