Barbara Kelley: I'm Barbara Kelley with the Hearing Loss Association of America. Do you think you might have a hearing loss or know someone who dose? Let's talk about some of the symptoms of hearing loss. For most adults the onset and progression of hearing loss extends over some time. An exception would be military exposed to explosions and gunfire. Often people will blame their hearing problem on the nature of the other person's speech. Like, "If people wouldn't mumble I could hear" or "people talked a lot clearer when I was younger. Your family and friends are likely to be the first to notice some difficulty in hearing long before you do. Bonnie O'Leary: It was my children who noticed before I did. They would talk to me from the back seat of the car. They were in their early teens and I didn't answer or they talked to from another room and I would hear them talking but I couldn't understand that they were talking to me. So eventually my son said, '"Mom, I don't think you are hearing quite the way you used to.

" Barbara Kelley: Typically this stage, the individual will deny a problem. That is understandable since there is usually great variability in how the person function in various situations and with different people. In some situations and with some people he might do pretty well. People will not be aware of what they don't hear. Like the sound of birds, the deep of the microwave, the turn signal in the car and soft everyday sounds. They will be aware that they don't understand speech as when they say "I can hear, but I can't understand.

" Especially, the high pitched voices of children. Family members frequently complaint that the TV volume is set too high leading to some family squabbles. The person with hearing loss will notice difficulty in understanding when someone talks from another room. Probably the major complaint of people with hearing loss is the difficulty they experience in comprehending speech in any kind of noisy place - Restaurant, receptions, large family dinners, in a car, or on a plane. Group conversations are particularly difficult especially when there is a great deal of cross talk. These increasing difficulties in hearing may produce conflict between the person with hearing loss and family members, with the family insisting on getting help and the person with hearing loss reluctant to recognize reality. This stage may last for 5 or more years before the hearing loss and the problems that go with it are acknowledged and help is finally sought. For children who are hard of hearing, the situation is different. Parents should be on the lookout for delayed or aberrant speech and language development. Apparent inattention and poor school work. Reed Doughty: I think for young kids especially for me growing up there was a stigma with hearing loss and looking back I wish I would have get hearing a as because it would have improved my relationship. I didn't care if it was cool or not, I think that kids just got a kind of let go with their pride have self-esteem and do the things that they need to do put themselves in the best situation for social relationships, for school and just for living a fun and active lifestyle. Barbara Kelley: Hearing screenings in classrooms are necessary but not mandated in all states. Ask your pediatrician to do a hearing screening at your children annual checkup. So these are just some clues that might help you or someone you know to realize if you have hearing loss.