About 10 years ago, Nick Vogel noticed he was straining to hear conversations. But it was only after hearing problems began to interfere with his work that Mr. Vogel, now active with a hearing loss support group, sought help.
"I was traveling in a car with the windows open. There were four or five co-workers and I couldn't hear them talking," recalled Mr. Vogel, now 71, who was headed to a marketing presentation at the time and needed to hear what his co-workers were saying. "I was in a sweat by the time we got there."
Today, as one of the leaders of SPRING Sounds at Florence Bain Senior Center in Columbia, Mr. Vogel helps others who are experiencing the same problem.
The group is one of 11 support groups at the senior center under a program called SPRING, short for "Senior Peer Resources: Individuals, Networks and Groups."
Meeting once a week, about 10 members of SPRING Sounds exchange information on such topics as affordable hearing aids and other ways to cope with hearing loss. Members appreciate that others in the group have a firsthand knowledge of their condition.
"The meetings strengthen me to know that other people have similar problems and they are trying to give me all of their help," said William Herche, a 71-year-old Laurel resident who has been a member for three weeks.
Kelly O'Donnell, a graduate student at the University of Maryland at Baltimore who oversees the meetings, said that many people with hearing loss deny the problem or fail to recognize the symptoms.
Symptoms can include having to ask people to repeat what they say, misinterpreting what is being said or turning up the volume on the television, she said.
Social workers and members of SPRING Sounds insist that once people become aware of those symptoms and accept that their hearing is impaired, they can do something about it.
Aside from the camaraderie and support offered by members who have different degrees of hearing loss, SPRING Sounds also offers practical advice on how to live with hearing loss.
For example, each meeting includes exercises to help a person recognize words by reading lips. Members receive homework, such as mouthing letters in front a mirror.
The group also invites speakers, including certified audiologists who can tell members about new hearing aid technology and ways to cope with the emotional concerns involving hearing loss, including its effects on family members.
David Feldstein, a member of the group for 1 1/2 years, said that he once denied his hearing loss and would not accept help. Eventually, the 77-year-old Columbia resident accepted the problem, joined the SPRING Sounds group and got a hearing aid.
"I was surprised to learn just how much I was missing," he said. "I can now hear the phone ringing, music and other things that I totally missed before."
Nancy K. Coyle, a certified audiologist in Columbia who was speaker at a recent SPRING Sounds meeting, offered tips for communicating with a person who has hearing loss:
* Speak in a normal tone of voice. Shouting distorts the sounds of your voice.
* Use natural gestures and natural facial expressions.
* Avoid moving around while you talk.
* Don't make the hearing-impaired person read your lips over long distances. Speak at a distance of between 3 and 6 feet.
* Stand in good light facing the person with whom you are speaking. This will make your lip movements, facial expressions and gestures easier to see.
* Move away from background noise.
* Do not obscure your mouth and do not chew food while speaking.
* Include the hearing-impaired person in the conversation. Tell the person the topic of conversation; don't force him or her to guess.
L * Speak directly to, not about, the hearing-impaired person.
Anyone interested in further information about SPRING Sounds support group for people with hearing loss can call Dorothy Keczmerski at 313-7466.