......Literally. I have been having trouble with my hearing. At first, it was just a bit, and gradually, it got to where I couldn't follow conversations in causal company. Then, at a mock trial demonstration, I had to ask the judge to repeat himself, not once, but twice. Ouch. It was time to bite the bullet and get my hearing checked. Just as I feared, I need two hearing aids. I talked with the audiologist who did the testing, and she measured my ear and recommended a few levels of hearing aids. There was some discussion of the different bells and whistles of the hearing aids, but she pretty much made the recommendation of the brands with which she had the best experience. I liked her very much and thought she knew what she was talking about, but I felt a bit adrift with not enough information.
Then, as I was complaining about getting old and the need for hearing aids, one of my favorite people (you know who you are) recommended I call the University of Maryland Hearing Clinic for an appointment. She just happened to have an "in" that netted me an appointment. I went there yesterday. Spoiler alert: the hearing aid that I ended up selecting was the same one the other audiologist recommended. Why my hearing aid adventure is part of this blog is because of the experience at the clinic. I arrived and was met by the audiologist and her graduate student. They had ready and waiting for me a selection of hearing aids tuned to my particular hearing loss. I tried them on. Oh, and did I mention that we were joined by the audiologist who is their expert on assisted hearing devices and her undergraduate student? I was there for two and a half hours, trying on different aids and ear receivers, talking and listening. I asked all of my questions and they answered them, even dragging in the manufacturer's representative at one point. As I said before, I then ended up picking the same hearing aid the first audiologist recommended. (By the way, the University audiologist had trained the first audiologist and thought she was quite good, which she is.) I decided to go with the University instead of the private audiologist. I liked having as much information as I could handle, being able to test drive the aids in a controlled setting, and having a team to help me problem solve to find the right device for me. In fact, we had a discussion how the business of hearing device selection has evolved from being one where the audiologist chooses for you, to more of a collaboration between patient and doctor.
I am sure that the first audiologist has a lot of patients, and in fact, my experience when I was at her office bore that out. I know as well that the University is brimming with patients. So, why did I pick one over theother? They were both knowledgable, certainly. It was the fit between their style of communicating and processing and mine. I need a lot of information. I need someone to play "what if" with me. I need someone who will answer question after question, and ask a lot themselves. I need to feel like I am part of a team to solve my problem. Not everyone feels that way. Some people get overloaded with too much information. Some people just trust that their doctor will make the right decision. Some people want to be told what they should do. For them, the University would have been the wrong choice, but not for me.
This is exactly what I've been talking about here in the Trenches when I talk about choosing the right attorney. Not only is personality important, but so is processing style. Not everyone wants to know everything that goes on in their case. Some people would rather the attorney handle everything but the most important decisions without their input. Some people would rather have the attorney tell them what to do than lay out a lot of choices. Some attorneys can change their processing style to match that of the client and some cannot. The attorney will never know their processing style is not a match for the client unless the client tells them. I love it when clients tell me what kind and how much involvement they want in their case. It lets me tailor my representation so that it best serves them. I know, it's another decision the client has to make at a time when they are already overwhelmed, but it is a decision that will help ease their anxiety. How do you process information and make decisions? Something to thinkk about. Here in the Trenches.
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