8/21/24
About Heidi
My name is Heidi Crabtree. I am speaking to you all today about hearing loss, its impact on you and your families, and suggestions on things that may improve your communication experience. I am not a doctor, an audiologist, affiliated with any specific hearing product, nor am I specifically representing any authority or entity. I’m sharing with you information that I wish someone had shared with me years, or even decades ago, that would have made living with a hearing loss much easier. I lost my hearing before I was 6 years old due to a series of chronic ear infections that were not monitored or addressed well. I was 16 before I was articulate enough to stand up to my doctor and demand hearing aids – he allowed me one. It wasn’t until 2016 that I made the transition to two hearing aids once the technology integrated into iPhone which radically changed what I could hear. I still struggled with anything social (e.g., understanding speech in noisy environments). In 2022 my mom introduced me to someone who lives in her retirement community who shared with me a couple of resources that helped me educate and advocate for myself as I purchased new hearing instruments. So at the age of 51, I found out I was an extrovert once I was finally able to get the proper hearing tools, apps, and skills that allowed me to “hear” people. Now, most people are surprised when they find out I have a hearing loss because I have found ways to augment my communication.