“I Have to Social Norm This”: Making Meaning of Hearing Loss from the Perspective of Adults Who Use Hearing Aids

ABSTRACT

Framed by relational dialectics theory, the present study takes a critical approach to interrogating the social structures that promote and resist hearing loss and hearing aid-related stigma. Specifically, this study explores the ways the meaning of hearing loss is constructed in 30 narrative interviews with adults who use hearing aids. Contrapuntal analysis revealed that two discourses compete to illuminate meanings of hearing loss. Four interrelated themes that emphasize (a) expectations of zero hearing and for disability, (b) assumptions of cognitive deficit, (c) mistaken rudeness and resulting isolation, and (d) conflation with old age constitute the Discourse of Hearing Loss as a Personal Short-coming (DHLPS). Three interrelated themes that emphasize (a) collective responsibility, (b) a part of (my) life, and (c) (re)education constitute the Discourse of Hearing Loss as a Relational Reality (DHLRR) and resist the DHLPS. The competition of these discourses, in the form of diachronic separation, synchronic interplay, and an aesthetic moment coalesce to make meaning of hearing loss and hold implications for both theory and practice.