Vanity vs Ageism
I’m a senior and resentful of how many people in our society treat seniors as second-class citizens, or as inferiors with handicaps or disabilities. These people may also be guilty of dealing with seniors as if we are years younger without difficulties. These are problematic situations which should really be labelled as ‘AGEISM.’
I do not want to be treated as a second-class citizen, as if I am incapable of understanding things, as if I cannot comprehend things well. This even applies to other ways of dealing with older people that smack of Ageism: speaking loudly, repeating things, and speaking at an exaggerated slower pace. I am old, not stupid. Aging carries new challenges but the mind still works, maybe not with the alacrity of youth, but it functions.
A visible hearing aid would signal to many people that this person needs to be treated differently, like an old person. I don’t want that to happen, so I chose a hearing aid that is nearly invisible. It is an in-canal device that is almost unnoticeable. It works as well as external aids but has the added bonus that it is almost undetectable. In other words, most people would never see that I am wearing a hearing aid. Even at my first family gathering wearing the device, not one single family member, other than my wife, noticed the change.
This is exactly the situation I want no visible device triggering people into treating me as a lesser person, a person with a handicap.
Rechargeable vs battery
The smallest hearing aid uses batteries, replaceable after about 15 hrs of use. Rechargeable devices have the advantage of no battery maintenance or management, a debatable advantage or inconvenience. Batteries are depleted only when the device is used; removal means disabling the battery thus prolonging battery life.
The rechargeables are larger in size and more noticeable in the ear, even the in-canal models.
In short, I chose the smallest device with batteries knowing that I would not be wearing the devices every day or as long as others might. I do use the devices as soon as I leave the house when I will be entering the world of Ageism.
