Husband and wife, Bob and Faith Arrington, of Dayton, both have hearing loss. Mr. Arrington, 82, wears a hearing aid. In April 2006, Mrs. Arrington, 66, received a cochlear implant.

"My hearing loss started with a bout of German measles at age 7," said Mrs. Arrington. The hearing loss was bilateral.

During school-sponsored hearing tests, she always tested "borderline." She managed to sit in the front of all her classes so she could better hear the teacher. "I don't even think the teachers knew it," she said.

"All through my life I tried to cope," said Mrs. Arrington. At "sock hops," she could hear the beat of the music. Before the dance, she would get copies of the latest songs and learn the words so she could sing along with her friends, even though she couldn't hear the music at the dance. She bought a phone with adjustable volume and learned to lip read.

"My first good job was at the old U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. When my boss would dictate, I could hear part of it and knew the subject matter, so then I would fill in the rest," said Mrs. Arrington. "He thought I was good at polishing his letters."

At age 32, Mrs. Arrington got her first hearing aids and that's when she and her then husband adopted a child. She quit working to raise their two children, but had to return to work when the couple later divorced.

"My hearing seemed to just start a downhill spiral after I went back to work," said Mrs. Arrington. She said she experienced significant hearing loss following three courses of the antibiotic Biaxin -- an unlikely but possible serious side effect of the drug.

For 10 years, her doctor encouraged her to get a cochlear implant hearing evaluation, "but I didn't want to do it," said Mrs. Arrington. "I was nervous about the whole idea. The recovery time ... I just didn't have three months to give."

An audiologist told her about HLAA (then called Self-Help for Hard of Hearing People). The Arringtons attended a convention where they learned about coping skills and treatments. "It's the only place that no one criticizes you if you ask them to repeat what was said," said Mrs. Arrington.

A friend who was involved with the San Antonio, Texas, chapter of HLAA told her the organization's executive director and his wife, Terry and Denise Portis, lived in Frederick. Mrs. Arrington contacted them and became friends with Mrs. Portis, who has a cochlear implant.

"I called Denise and told her I was ready to (have the implant)," said Mrs. Arrington. "I knew I had to do something. I couldn't hear people in social settings. I had to struggle within myself to not stay home and do nothing. I had to make myself go out and do things even though I couldn't hear what was going on."

Her implant was turned on April 3. "Then the real work began," said Mrs. Arrington.

"I hear noises that I run around and look for (the source)," she said. "I hear birds. I can't remember hearing birds. It's a whole new world.

"I heard a rustling in the leaves and said, 'That sounds like rain.' It was. I stood there and cried."

"In church, we're singing. She was either one or two octaves above or below. Now she's right on," said Mr. Arrington.

He was born and raised in Tennessee. At age 18, he was a "country farm boy" one day and on his way to becoming a waist gunner in a B-24 in World War II the next. He flew 19 missions over Germany. Flying at an altitude between 20,000 and 30,000 feet, Mr. Arrington developed a hole in his eardrum and, subsequently, hearing loss.

Over the years he's had two ear surgeries and long-term infection in the ear that requires daily medication. "He can't wear a hearing aid in that ear," said Mrs. Arrington, his wife of 24 years. He does wear a digital hearing aid in his right ear.

"We're the perfect couple," laughed Mr. Arrington.

Mrs. Arrington and Ms. Portis organized a local chapter of an HLAA support group that meets the second Saturday of the month, 10 a.m. to noon, in the conference room of CSD, 452 Prospect Blvd., Frederick. The meetings are open to anyone living with hearing loss, and family and friends are also encouraged to attend. "It's good for my kids to meet kids who have parents with hearing loss, and for spouses to meet spouses," said Ms. Portis.

"Sometimes we bounce ideas off each other, do role playing and talk about how to advocate and let people know you have moderate hearing loss," said Ms. Portis. "We learn from each other. Even though we have this commonality, we're all different." Recent topics have included tinnitus and being thankful for hearing loss.

"Technology has made a dramatic impact on people with hearing loss, and the Internet has helped connect us. HLAA even has online chapters," said Mrs. Portis. "It's helped us advocate in a more public arena and actually made us better communicators."

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Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) -- www.hearingloss.org; write to HLAA, 7910 Woodmont Ave., Suite 1200, Bethesda, MD 20814; or call 301-657-2248, v-tty.

Frederick County chapter of HLAA -- E-mail to hearinglossassociaton@lightkeepers.net or 301-631-5268.

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Frederick County Chapter of the Hearing Loss Association meets Saturday, Jan. 13, 10 a.m. to noon, in the conference room of CSD, 452 Prospect Blvd., Frederick. Meniere's disease and hearing loss will be the topic. For more information, call 301-631-5268 or e-mail hearinglossassociaton@lightkeepers.net.

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Tips for communicating with hard of hearing people:

- Get person's attention before speaking. Face the person so he or she has the opportunity to lip read.

- Speak at a moderate pace. "Slow your rate of speech down and speak clearly," said 66-year-old Faith Arrington, of Dayton, who has lived with hearing loss since she was 7. "Enunciate, but don't overdo it."

- Don't shout. "Volume often distorts speech," said Mrs. Arrington.

- Avoid noisy backgrounds. Ask the speaker to walk with you to a quieter space.

- Rephrase if misunderstood. "It's helped me to repeat what I heard, so they only need to repeat what I missed or say it differently," said Mrs. Arrington.

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