The aim of the present thesis was to describe the everyday life of couples where one of the spouses has an acquired hearing loss. The main focus was on how they perceived their communicative possibilities in relation to the hearing loss and the role of acceptance in the process of learning to live with acquired hearing loss. The thesis is a longitudinal study based on the perspectives of couples. A combination of data sources was used; interviews, functional auditory assessments, a rating-scale and diary, the main source of information being the interviews.

The main results of the thesis are; that the adjustment was a mutual process, and couples developed different patterns of responsibility for the adjustment process over time. The adjustment strategies were functional as well as social in their significance. The main strategy was prioritisation. Several situational strategies were also found. They showed a variation in communicative activities and participation. The habits and routines of everyday life played an important role for the manifestation of the disability and at times as a hindrance for acting strategically. The habits and routines call for special treatment for inclusion, special treatment in the sense of accommodating to the needs of the individual. The process of accepting played a mediating role between the individual needs and the needs of social flexibility. Some common features of the consequences of the hearing loss were crystallised despite different ways of examining the phenomenon. Finally implications for rehabilitation based on a couple-perspective were discussed.