After Years of Hearing on One Side, I Could Hear Everything From Across the Room
Life With One Working Ear
Scott Dodd’s right ear has not worked since a brain injury he suffered in middle school. Hearing on only one side made everyday life more complicated. For nearly 25 years, Dodd and his wife, Jaime, have made sure she sits on his good side when they talk. He edits Times fellows who report on disability issues and described the experience as his personal disability story.
A Conversation From His Right
Following the doctor’s instructions, they made small talk. Jaime told him about the children’s schedules and weekend plans, then discussed dinner options. Dodd could hear her from that position.
Testing A New Possibility
Dodd said he had never been able to hear that familiar conversation from that direction before. A loud sound on his left and a person speaking on his right was a situation he had spent a lifetime avoiding.
He asked Jaime to move farther away. She shifted to the other end of the couch, then to chairs about 20 feet away. Despite the loud television, Dodd could still hear her.
Key points
- A middle-school brain injury left Dodd unable to hear in his right ear.
- For nearly 25 years, Dodd and Jaime arranged conversations around his working ear.
- At the audiologist’s office, Dodd heard Jaime from his right side.
- He could still hear her after she moved about 20 feet away.