Hearing Again the Life He Refuses to Miss
Created Updated
At 84, Mike Schmidt has little interest in slowing down. He and his wife, Barbara, have been married for 53 years and spend their winters in sunny Florida and summers in the green quiet hills of Vermont. He plays golf, rides his E-bike on the beach, and enjoys dinners with friends. He also plays guitar and trombone, though he jokes that neither is ready “for public consumption.”
After retiring, Mike began consulting, writing, speaking to audiences, and teaching as a visiting professor at a nearby university. Clear hearing was central to both his retirement work and his active life. When elements of hearing loss began to affect those activities, Mike realized something had to be done: hearing aids were needed.
Mike traces his profound hearing loss to antibiotic treatments during childhood, and a month spent without hearing protection on a wrecking crew as a young man, striking steel pipes with a sledgehammer – for $2/ hour. Over time, his degenerating hearing increasingly influenced how he communicated, socialized, and approached opportunities. “Life was changing,” he said.
Mike learned to compensate. During oral presentations and speeches, he walked into the audience so he could stand closer to people asking questions. At home, he relied on television captions. In restaurants, he and his friends evaluated the acoustics and background noise in the establishment – even before the menu – and requested back-booths or quiet tables.
Conversations with Barbara carried their own challenges. Her hearing is exceptionally sharp, while Mike has difficulty hearing the frequencies in her voice. Comments made while she faced away or spoke in another room were often missed. Their different hearing abilities affected and required multiple adjustments as part of daily life.
Mike also began declining consulting and speaking opportunities because he felt he could not confidently hear someone addressing him across a room. He understood the broader consequence of his growing hearing deficiencies.
“Hearing loss began to cause me to start backing away from life,” he explained. “Conversations required more effort, and social settings become harder to navigate. I actually began to feel anxious in front of an audience or class and embarrassed at dinners out.”
Widex Allure™ AI RIC gave Mike a more natural, personalized way to hear – and showed him how much more fully he could participate again in the life around him.
“Wow – what’s going on here?” he remembered thinking.
When he arrived home, he began talking with Barbara and told her, “I can now hear everything you’re saying – this is great!” That evening, when they turned on the television, the speech sounded clear and articulate, and he immediately asked Barbara to turn off the captions.
Widex Allure AI RIC returned Mike to more natural sound throughout everyday life, with Clarity Boost available when he wanted added support in more demanding environments. By activating the program, he could strengthen noise management and focus more clearly on conversations, while still processing the sounds around him.
The Widex App gave Mike the ability to personalize that support for each environment. He compared its A/B functionality to an eyeglass fitting: the app presents two sound options, asks which is better, and continues adjusting until the setting feels right. “It’s like an optometrist asking, ‘Better or worse?’ until you reach the setting that works for you,” he said.
Mike applied that control throughout his daily life. On the golf course, he reduced wind noise, while preserving the voices of his playing partners and the crack of his drive off the first tee. While biking along the Florida beach, he minimized the wind without losing the sound of the breaking waves. At concerts, he softened the higher frequencies of woodwinds and trumpets while bringing greater presence to tubas and trombones. At dinner, Clarity Boost helped him manage competing restaurant noise and easily follow the conversation around the table.
“We’re back to choosing restaurants based on the menu!” he said.
A Hearing Care Professional Made the Technology Personal
Mike’s experience with Widex hearing aids is closely connected to Ashley, his Hearing Care Professional in Port Orange, Florida. He values her direct, practical approach to his problems, and her ability to explain with clarity his hearing results, technology options, and recommended care.
Ashley earned Michael’s trust by listening carefully and responding to the realities of his life. She understood the importance of conversations with Barbara, social dinners, outdoor activities, music, and professional speaking. She also brought the technical expertise required to shape the fitting around those needs. When an issue required additional support, she contacted Widex while Michael was in the office and worked to find a solution with him.
That combination of judgment, thoughtfulness, and follow-through made Ashley an essential part of Michael’s hearing journey. While Widex Allure AI RIC provided cutting-edge advanced AI capabilities, Ashley helped Mike understand how those capabilities could be accessed to serve his unique priorities.
Michael sees better hearing as a way to protect the life he has built. It helps him participate in conversations, enjoy music, remain active, and communicate better with Barbara, their four daughters, and their “fast-talking” grandchildren! It’s also given him the confidence to accept consulting and speaking opportunities again.
His assessment of Widex Allure AI RIC is unambiguous: “Game changers. Life changers.”
For Michael, those words describe the ability to hear the people he loves, participate in the moments that matter, and continue moving through life with confidence. They also reflect the value of an expert Hearing Care Professional who understands the person behind the hearing loss and helps technology deliver on its full promise.
After retiring, Mike began consulting, writing, speaking to audiences, and teaching as a visiting professor at a nearby university. Clear hearing was central to both his retirement work and his active life. When elements of hearing loss began to affect those activities, Mike realized something had to be done: hearing aids were needed.
Mike traces his profound hearing loss to antibiotic treatments during childhood, and a month spent without hearing protection on a wrecking crew as a young man, striking steel pipes with a sledgehammer – for $2/ hour. Over time, his degenerating hearing increasingly influenced how he communicated, socialized, and approached opportunities. “Life was changing,” he said.
When Hearing Loss Began Shaping Everyday Decisions
Mike learned to compensate. During oral presentations and speeches, he walked into the audience so he could stand closer to people asking questions. At home, he relied on television captions. In restaurants, he and his friends evaluated the acoustics and background noise in the establishment – even before the menu – and requested back-booths or quiet tables.
Conversations with Barbara carried their own challenges. Her hearing is exceptionally sharp, while Mike has difficulty hearing the frequencies in her voice. Comments made while she faced away or spoke in another room were often missed. Their different hearing abilities affected and required multiple adjustments as part of daily life.
Mike also began declining consulting and speaking opportunities because he felt he could not confidently hear someone addressing him across a room. He understood the broader consequence of his growing hearing deficiencies.
“Hearing loss began to cause me to start backing away from life,” he explained. “Conversations required more effort, and social settings become harder to navigate. I actually began to feel anxious in front of an audience or class and embarrassed at dinners out.”
Widex Allure™ AI RIC gave Mike a more natural, personalized way to hear – and showed him how much more fully he could participate again in the life around him.
An Immediate Difference with Widex Allure AI RIC
Michael noticed a change as soon as he left his Widex Allure AI fitting appointment and turned on the car radio.“Wow – what’s going on here?” he remembered thinking.
When he arrived home, he began talking with Barbara and told her, “I can now hear everything you’re saying – this is great!” That evening, when they turned on the television, the speech sounded clear and articulate, and he immediately asked Barbara to turn off the captions.
Widex Allure AI RIC returned Mike to more natural sound throughout everyday life, with Clarity Boost available when he wanted added support in more demanding environments. By activating the program, he could strengthen noise management and focus more clearly on conversations, while still processing the sounds around him.
The Widex App gave Mike the ability to personalize that support for each environment. He compared its A/B functionality to an eyeglass fitting: the app presents two sound options, asks which is better, and continues adjusting until the setting feels right. “It’s like an optometrist asking, ‘Better or worse?’ until you reach the setting that works for you,” he said.
Mike applied that control throughout his daily life. On the golf course, he reduced wind noise, while preserving the voices of his playing partners and the crack of his drive off the first tee. While biking along the Florida beach, he minimized the wind without losing the sound of the breaking waves. At concerts, he softened the higher frequencies of woodwinds and trumpets while bringing greater presence to tubas and trombones. At dinner, Clarity Boost helped him manage competing restaurant noise and easily follow the conversation around the table.
“We’re back to choosing restaurants based on the menu!” he said.
A Hearing Care Professional Made the Technology Personal
Mike’s experience with Widex hearing aids is closely connected to Ashley, his Hearing Care Professional in Port Orange, Florida. He values her direct, practical approach to his problems, and her ability to explain with clarity his hearing results, technology options, and recommended care.
Ashley earned Michael’s trust by listening carefully and responding to the realities of his life. She understood the importance of conversations with Barbara, social dinners, outdoor activities, music, and professional speaking. She also brought the technical expertise required to shape the fitting around those needs. When an issue required additional support, she contacted Widex while Michael was in the office and worked to find a solution with him.
That combination of judgment, thoughtfulness, and follow-through made Ashley an essential part of Michael’s hearing journey. While Widex Allure AI RIC provided cutting-edge advanced AI capabilities, Ashley helped Mike understand how those capabilities could be accessed to serve his unique priorities.
Clearer Hearing Keeps Michael Connected to Family, Friends, and Purpose
Michael sees better hearing as a way to protect the life he has built. It helps him participate in conversations, enjoy music, remain active, and communicate better with Barbara, their four daughters, and their “fast-talking” grandchildren! It’s also given him the confidence to accept consulting and speaking opportunities again.
His assessment of Widex Allure AI RIC is unambiguous: “Game changers. Life changers.”
For Michael, those words describe the ability to hear the people he loves, participate in the moments that matter, and continue moving through life with confidence. They also reflect the value of an expert Hearing Care Professional who understands the person behind the hearing loss and helps technology deliver on its full promise.