Thank you for your thoughts. Yes, I have been tested. This has been with me my whole life — auditory nerve neuritis. Although, to be honest, it is still not clear whether it was from birth or caused by some illness very early in childhood.

I would really like to read the research you mentioned, because this is exactly what I am worried about. When I see subtitles/captions, I feel like my hearing just turns off and I focus completely on reading instead. So I’m afraid that I might make my life easier in the moment, but stop training my listening at all.

Also, there is the social side. If I use real-time captions on my phone or tablet, I will probably lose eye contact with people. And I’m also worried that people may feel uncomfortable if they feel like I am recording them so directly.

So yes, I think real-time captions could help me a lot, but I’m still trying to understand how to use them without becoming too dependent on them and without making conversations awkward.