T V Volume

[Fab47]

just wondering if anyone has experienced this one - my Dad has suddenly decided that the TV Volume doesn't work and it's not loud enough on even the maximum setting . However the volume is actually deafening so it works just fine ! It can't be his hearing though because he can hear me perfectly fine on the telephone ? Why would he suddenly decide that he can't hear the TV ?!
He was diagnosed with mild/moderate Alzheimers a year ago and is deteriorating slowly .

 

[Sirena]

Has he had a hearing test lately? If not, it would be worth getting one done.

Alternatively, I wonder if he can hear the TV but cannot understand what is being said? And he thinks the answer is to turn up the volume. Listening to a single voice on the phone is different to listening to a jumble of different voices on TV and trying to follow a relatively complicated narrative.

My grandmother was a bit deaf and used a hearing aid which worked very well for her for many years. As her dementia advanced she thought her hearing aids had stopped working, or that she had wax in her ears - but a visit to the medics showed that wasn't the case. She could hear what was happening but she could not decode it. She remained sure her hearing was faulty, because it was the 'logical' explanation.

 

[Fab47]

Has he had a hearing test lately? If not, it would be worth getting one done.

Alternatively, I wonder if he can hear the TV but cannot understand what is being said? And he thinks the answer is to turn up the volume. Listening to a single voice on the phone is different to listening to a jumble of different voices on TV and trying to follow a relatively complicated narrative.

My grandmother was a bit deaf and used a hearing aid which worked very well for her for many years. As her dementia advanced she thought her hearing aids had stopped working, or that she had wax in her ears - but a visit to the medics showed that wasn't the case. She could hear what was happening but she could not decode it. She remained sure her hearing was faulty, because it was the 'logical' explanation.

Thank you - I'm pretty sure his hearing is ok but it might be worth getting it checked . I think it might be more likely that you are right and he can't follow what's happening . Although he only watches the news and football now anyway. I'll have to see how it goes he may forget about it in a few days and move onto something else !!

 

[nitram]

Another thing you could try is to limit the max volume, he would still complain but others would not be deafened.
Some TVs share the chassis with those used in motels, there is a password protected setting somewhere in the menu - maybe special menu that needs a set of default key presses to enter.
Google the make model set max volume and see if you get anywhere, failing that try more verbally descriptive search terms - how can I set max volume on a ......

 

[Lawson58]

My husband will have the TV on and the music going on the computer at the same time. He turns one up because he can't hear it because the other one is on too. I shut the door and leave him to it. There is nothing wrong with his hearing as he watches TV with me at times at a normal volume. He does get confused about what is happening with plots at times but that's not surprising if he has music playing at full bore at the same time. He also shouts when he is on the phone and has been doing this for years.

I have no doubt that it is part of the dementia but it could be a good idea to get a hearing check just to be sure.

 

[Grannie G]

Alternatively, I wonder if he can hear the TV but cannot understand what is being said? And he thinks the answer is to turn up the volume.

I think this is possible.

Also people speak so quickly these days. I don`t know if it`s a fact or age-related with me but slower word processing can appear as deafness.

If your dad is still able to read @Sirena, try the subtitles on the television.

 

[Sirena]

That's a good idea. My mother can still read (and she's fairly late stages, in a CH). She reads out sentences from magazines/newspapers - although I don't know if she understands what the words actually mean. And she cannot focus much beyond 'a sentence' to join things up into a coherent whole, so she can't follow anything on TV.

I am surprised that reading is a skill she's retained when she has lost many other apparently more basic ones.