How to Thrive with a Hearing Loss as We Age

This entry was posted on September 30, 2026, in Advocacy, Can't Live without Captions, Coping with Hearing Loss, deaf, Hearing Aid Hysteria, hearing aids, Hearing Health, hearing loss, lipreading, Lipreading Mom's Confessions, Show Me Your Ears, tinnitus, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment
As we age, sometimes we need to inject a bit of humor into our hearing loss experience. I pose alongside Tammy Gerhardt with the Northwest Kansas Area Agency on Aging at the 2026 Kansas Governor’s Conference on Aging. We hold a shirt with a drawing of an ear wearing an ear plug and these words: “I’m not hard of hearing. I’m ignoring you.” (See the link below to order this shirt!)

As board member for the Kansas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, it was an honor for me to be a workshop presenter at the Kansas Governor’s Conference on Aging 2026. This week’s event was held at the University of Kansas Conference Center in Lawrence, Kansas. 

The event’s conference tracks included:

1. Clinical Care, Healthy Aging, Chronic Disease and Prevention

2. Caregiving, Workforce and Health & Service Delivery Systems

3. Housing, Transportation and Community Infrastructure

4. Policy, Advocacy and Systems Change

My workshop, “Thriving with a Hearing Loss”, advocated for a shift in perspective when living with hearing loss: from viewing it as a limitation to recognizing it as a manageable condition. With the right tools and strategies, individuals can go from the stages of Surviving and Striving (feeling disconnected and frustrated) to Thriving.

The presentation provided practical, actionable strategies for creating more hearing loss-friendly environments, including the GATS Code, which means:

G – Gently get my attention before you begin talking. 

A – Always face me while you speak so I can read your lips. 

T – Talk to me in a quiet room.

S  – Speak slowly with good enunciation.

This workshop was made possible by leaders with the Kansas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, including Robert Cooper, Colette Barnes, and Kelsey Stock. I am grateful to advocate with them to support the state’s D/deaf and hearing loss communities.

Learn more about the 2026 Kansas Governor’s Conference on Aging and the Kansas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

Visit the Lipreading Mom Store to purchase items that support causes close to Lipreading Mom’s heart, including the humorous t-shirt “I’m not hard of hearing. I’m ignoring you.”

I present the workshop “Thriving with a Hearing Loss” that includes a projected slide with this message: “Approximately 15 percent (37.5 million) of American adults age 18 and older report some trouble hearing (Source: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders).” An American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter stands across from me.

Professionals from all over Kansas who serve the senior adult community attended the “Thriving with a Hearing Loss” presentation. A projected slide includes these tips for making your life hearing loss-friendly: “Remind people that you can only hear them when they have your eye contact” and “Allow listening breaks.” An ASL interpreter stands with me.

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