14/04/2026
Morten Paustian’s story
When I was in kindergarten, I kept to myself most of the time. At one point, it was suggested that maybe the reason I was spending so much time alone was because I had a hard time following what was going on around me.
It turned out I had a hearing loss of 40 dB. I was 4 years old at the time. Now, it is down to almost 90 dB, gradually getting worse. At a loss of 120 dB comes complete deafness. I can’t remember a time without hearing loss, which also means that I can’t remember a time without wearing a hearing aid. There was never an alternative, really.
Many years later, I became an architect. My parents had always had a lot of architect friends. Growing up, I thought they were cool and funny. They always had nice-looking wives, too. When in architecture school, I was drawing a lot. I found great joy in it, and I was good at it, too. I’m convinced it had something to do with my hearing.
Even though a hearing aid had enabled me to function and thrive in society, I was still very much inside my own fantasy world. I could disappear into it, and there, I didn’t need anybody else. I don’t go around thinking about the fact that I wear a hearing aid. I think of myself as a normal human being. But then, sometimes, the realization arrives: Morten, you have a pretty severe handicap. When I go to bed in the evening, I take out my hearing aid. And then there’s nothing, just silence. Complete silence.
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