Joanne Eaton, aged 42, is a tutor and lives in Leicestershire with her partner and two children. Jo works with teenagers who are having problems at school and are in danger of becoming NEETs (no education, employment or training) through the Youth Education Project, a social enterprise organisation based in Leicester. Jo has a 60% hearing impairment in her left ear. It was caused by measles when she was a child.
Up until two years ago I had been coping. But when I started tutoring I was having problems hearing in crowded situations – so the school organised a hearing test for me. I was shocked at how bad my left ear was as I didn’t even realise the audiologist had completed the test.
So how has Jo found her new Made for iPhone ReSound LiNX aid?
There is a railway level crossing at the end of our road and I had never heard before the alarm that goes off when the barriers come down. And my partner plays games on his mobile, which make ‘shuffle’ noises. I had never heard those before either.
Because my left ear is impaired I always had problems hearing what the kids were saying when I was driving the car. Everything had to be repeated – which really frustrated my daughter. But now I hear them first time.
Jo’s eight-year old stepson was very interested in her new ReSound LiNX aid. "Does this mean I won’t have to say things twice?" he asked
Two of the teenagers that Jo currently works with have hearing problems. One of them has quite a severe hearing impairment and uses hearing aids. When she was going through her induction she told me that she’d stopped wearing her aids because she was fed up with them. I showed her my new aids, and how I control them with my iPhone. She thought that was really cool.
Hopefully I can get her to change her mind about her own aids.
Jo is pretty evangelical about her hearing aid and wants to counter the negative perception that some people have of them
I tell my friends about my ReSound LiNX aid and how it works with my iPhone. I show it off to everybody.