I was a cheater in first grade.

I remember sitting in the back of the room at a round table with five other classmates and we all had a worksheet to do. We had a headset that we were supposed to put on, and follow the instructions and circle certain pictures in different colors.

I couldn’t hear anything from my headset. It was plugged in, and the teacher was busy, so I thought I would do the next best thing – and my 5-year-old self figured that was copying from the kid next to me. He picked up a yellow crayon, I picked up a yellow crayon, and so on.

I didn’t realize we had different worksheets. Oops.

Luckily, the teacher noticed what I was doing out of the corner of her eye. I guess I was not as sneaky as I thought and she came over and asked me what was wrong. I told her my headset wasn’t working and I was just following what the little boy next to me was doing. But when she put on the headset, it worked just fine.

Apparently, I didn’t hear that well. I brought home a note for my mother later that day and thus began an odyssey of seeing ear specialists and being diagnosed with serous otitis media, a chronic infection of the ear that made me hear muffled sounds as if I was underwater all the time.

Once I could hear normally, I did a lot better in school and didn’t have to cheat anymore.

Still, it made me realize, even at that young age, that hearing what’s going on around you is a very important part of interacting with the world. It’s one of the senses that we often take for granted and we probably don’t notice when our hearing isn’t as good as it used to be.

For the average senior with limited resources, something is better than nothing. Even if it’s the older, perhaps clunkier aids, if that technology can be universally adapted and available without a prescription, everyone wins.

One-in-three adults over 65 will have hearing loss and it’s usually progressive. This can lead to isolation when Grandma doesn’t want to go out to eat because she can’t hear anyone’s conversation, it can cause confusion because it’s hard to remember what someone told you if you never heard it in the first place, and it can worsen other chronic conditions like dementia.

Currently, people who suspect they have hearing loss can talk to their doctor, have their ears examined for wax and then are often sent to an audiologist to have their hearing tested. All this is covered by insurance. After all, hearing loss is a medical problem.

But unlike other medical devices or equipment, hearing aids are not covered by most medical plans. The average cost is a staggering $4,700 for a fitting and pair of hearing aids.

This is beyond the capacity of many seniors, particularly those who are living on a fixed income. And the aids won’t last forever, sometimes need repair and are easy to lose, particularly in hospitals. And the batteries are so tiny, it’s impossible for anyone with even the slightest tremor to put those little rounded disks into the right place without watching them roll onto the floor.

Why aren’t hearing aids available over the counter, like reading glasses? For those of us who are reaching that age, unfortunately myself included, it’s harder and harder to see the fine print on things and you can easily try on a bunch of different pairs at any local pharmacy to see which one works best.

It doesn’t mean the annual visit to the eye doctor isn’t necessary. It just makes it easier to get an inexpensive pair of reading glasses, and replace them when they are inevitably lost along the way.

So, why can’t hearing aids be sold the same way? In a recent report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine detailed a comprehensive assessment of how to make hearing care more accessible and affordable for all adults in the United States.

One of the key principles was making hearing aids more readily available to the general public, and less of a profit center for doctors and audiology centers. Sure, people should still see their doctor and have their ears cleaned out if necessary, and absolutely, testing can still be done by an audiologist to see what type of hearing loss exists.

But why not make it easier to have people try simple hearing aids in their local pharmacy? This could expand access and lower the cost of traditional hearing aids.

The technology is ripe for improvement, starting with those little monster batteries, but also having a one-size-might-fits-many approach might lead to earlier acknowledgement of the need for hearing aids and even a little self-diagnosis.

After all, I was in denial about reading glasses until I tried a pair on and read the small lettering that I swore wasn’t really letters — except now I could read them.

People don’t want to accept getting older, at least I know I don’t, but if we can make it a little easier to access the devices that we need, then it might help. Sure, fancy hearing aids with Bluetooth capability are great for those who can afford them and a fantastic way to connect to cellphones.

But for the average senior with limited resources, something is better than nothing. Even if it’s the older, perhaps clunkier aids, if that technology can be universally adapted and available without a prescription, everyone wins.

Of course, the best case might be to have insurance companies pick up the cost and for some groups, such as those on Medicaid or in the Veteran’s Administration, that happens. But for everyone else, it’s rare. Convincing Congress to increase Medicare funding for seniors is not likely to happen anytime soon.

For those who are losing their hearing, as many of us will someday, it’s time for a new approach to more accessible hearing aids that don’t cost as much and can be bought from the local pharmacy without any hassle. Please, this time with square batteries!