When I was in my first year, 20 years ago, I had a patient who came to my office complaining that he could not hear the weather man. He kept telling me that the weather man stopped talking as he looked back at the calendar. I told him no that he was still talking. The man became severely agitated with my confusion but insisted that weather men stop talking. Later that day, I complained to my supervisor that I was not able to convince the man of his perception. That was when it struck me that my patient was actually reading the weather man’s lips and believing that he was truly hearing the weather man.
Severity of hearing loss can confuse the young audiologist too!