Improving your listening skills can have numerous benefits in various areas of your life. If you are experiencing hearing loss, taking steps to train your brain can help you to combat the symptoms that come with this condition. Furthermore, people in Clearwater who have cochlear implants and other hearing aids can benefit from brain training as they become accustomed to their new devices.
Here are some of the strategies you can use to help your brain actively listen.
- Listen to Audiobooks
Listening to audiobooks provides a great form of braining training, regardless of whether you have hearing loss. Spending some time every day listening to an audiobook can help you to focus more on words and tune in to a specific stream of sound. Find an audiobook you enjoy, and this will help you to sustain this habit and actively train your brain by listening to new words, sentences, and chapters each day. - Ask a Friend to Read to You
If you don’t like the idea of listening to audiobooks on a regular basis, ask a friend or relative to read to you. For example, ask them to read the daily newspaper out loud. Ask them to slow down if needed or speak up if you cannot hear them clearly. Focus on the words they are reading and concentrate on listening to the individual words and the meaning of the sentences. After they have read out loud to you, read the same section yourself out loud. - Watch Movies Without Captions
Many people watch their favorite movies and TV shows with the captions switched on. While this can make the experience easier – particularly for people with hearing loss – it also means that your brain does not have to concentrate as much on listening. When you can read the words, your brain may focus more on the reading aspect rather than the listening part. Switching off the captions and focusing on actively listening to what is being said can help to train your brain over time. - Learn Something New
When you are constantly listening to things you already know or have heard before, your brain does not have to work as hard to listen and focus. Learning something new can help you to boost your brain’s listening abilities and force it to concentrate on something different. For example, listening to a lecture you have never heard before or watching a YouTube video about a new topic can help you to train your brain to listen more actively. At the end of the video, write down everything you can remember to test just how much you were able to listen and focus on the new information. - Listen to Music
Words are not the only form of sound that can help you to train your brain to actively listen more. Listening to music can help people with and without hearing loss to become more focused and listen better. As you listen to music, try to focus on the different sounds and patterns that you can recognize. When the temptation arises to relax and stop focusing on the details in the music, retune your brain and bring it back to focus on the music. Combining audiobooks and music to help train your brain can help people with hearing loss to actively listen better.
Getting Support with Hearing Loss
If you are struggling with hearing loss and other hearing problems and want to explore your options available in Clearwater, you can get in touch with the team at Countryside Hearing Aid Services.
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