Many people have strong memories of a beloved family pet. Cats, dogs, birds, rabbits, and a wide array of other animals can enhance our lives, and even, in some cases, become close companions. Quality of life and symptom management for individuals who have hearing loss can also be improved by having a pet friend.
Sometimes, pets are specifically trained to provide special benefits. Service animals for those with hearing loss can be trained to give specific forms of assistance or even complete particular jobs. Sometimes, though, that isn’t the case. Even an everyday animal companion with no special training can provide comfort and friendship. That’s why, in many instances, people with hearing loss and their animal friends develop a special and unique connection.
Is owning a pet good for mental health?
With hearing loss, it can be hard to hear and make out what people are saying, which can feel very isolating. This gap in communication can cause the person with hearing loss to seclude themselves.
So, is having a pet good for individuals who have hearing loss? Definitely! There are a number of non-verbal ways that a companion animal can communicate. And while clear communication is important with animals, it doesn’t depend on verbal language. People with hearing loss can effectively bond with all kinds of pets (this is usually dependent on personal preferences), and these pets can offer comfort and emotional support during what might be a very lonely time.
This doesn’t replace human-to-human social contact, of course. But when making human relationships is a challenge, it can offer some comfort and support. Pets can also help you find opportunities to connect with other people. Taking your dog to the dog park, for example, can give you a chance to be around other people, even if you don’t necessarily initiate a conversation or make a new friend.
Pets can give aid
Service dogs, for example, use specialized training to assist their humans get around the world more safely. People with hearing loss will frequently fail to hear essential sounds around them and service animals are specifically trained to pay attention to those sounds and to provide assistance to their human.
Some of the things a service dog for people who have hearing loss is trained to do include the following:
- Observing (and alerting their human) to everyday sounds like tea kettles, alarm clocks, or the phone ringing.
- Service dogs can even be trained to recognize their human’s name, and when that human is being spoken to. This can help people who have hearing loss better engage in communication.
- Detecting hazardous sounds like approaching traffic.
- Detecting a knock at the door or a doorbell ringing.
- Letting their human know that the smoke detector is sounding.
Service animals are specifically trained to detect these sounds and communicate them to their human. But other non-service animals can also be useful to somebody with hearing loss. Even a dog without any training will often bark when someone rings the doorbell or knocks on the door. Cats and other animals will also usually react to sudden or unfamiliar sounds which their owner will recognize if they are in tune with their pet.
A symbiotic relationship
Pets can add many benefits to your life without you even recognizing it. They will immediately add a degree of structure to your day-to-day life. They must get fed, walked, and given affection on a regular basis, for example. A structured life like this can be very comforting. Many different types of animal-assisted therapies exist because of this.
But it’s important to be thoughtful if you’re thinking about getting a pet or a service animal. You want to choose an animal that’s going to meet your requirements and that you will be able to adequately take care of.
It’s also important to note that service animals can’t take the place of a pair of hearing aids, both in terms of the lasting benefits and in terms of their capabilities. Pets can, however, be great companions and can enhance your overall quality of life. They can be a unique and important part of their life.
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