Experience of conductive hearing loss and impacts of hearing aid use throughout life

Insights from this study described the experiences of adults with conductive hearing loss and the ways in which they have a difficult relationship with their deafness, including how they felt and viewed themselves and how they interacted with society, particularly as children and young adults. The potential for benefit of assistive technology for hearing health was deemed by many participants to be a necessary bridge integrating them in relationships with other people in society. Early notions of disability, typicality and social norms frequently persisted into adulthood and these insights should be considered by all those professional seeking to provided hearing health assistance to individuals with conductive hearing loss.