Unless you have a hearing loss you probably take your ears for granted. An occasional swabbing with a Q-tip is usually about all the ear care that we are likely to do. Even those of us with a hearing loss may pay scant attention to caring for our ears beyond a swipe with a facecloth in the shower.
The Hearing Loss Association of America works at the national level to impact on legislation that benefits our members.
Telecoil Use with Cell Phones
Thanks to everyone who took time to complete the “Telecoil Use with Cell Phones” survey that was on the HLAA website for a week in February 2006. The results were presented at the C63.19 ANSI committee meeting held February 28 and March 1 at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) labs in Columbia, Maryland. This committee is reviewing the standard for manufacturing cell phones to be hearing aid compatible. The C63.19 standards work is leading up to the FCC deadline for carriers to offer two telecoil-compatible handsets by September 2006.
“Listening is hard work and I am tired. When is it OK to give up the fight, to unplug and just be?”
--The author
I have wrestled with the noise of daily life for 20 years, gradually fighting harder and harder to understand the simplest sounds.
Hearing people don’t understand. You must filter out background noise, orient to the source of a sound, make sure there is adequate lighting, struggle to lip-read through facial hair, not to mention all the technology you need to master -- the latest phone, state of the art aids or implants, FM systems, flashers, vibrating baby monitors.
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Emergency Preparedness and You By Lise Hamlin
Emergency preparedness isn’t just for the professionals anymore. Knowing what you need to do to prepare yourself and your family for any emergency helps provide a safer environment for yourself, your family and your community.
Lise Hamlin, expert in this area, who also has a hearing loss, has provided an article packed with practical information.
The Hearing Loss Association of America Introduces New Logo
The Board of Trustees of the Hearing Loss Association of America (formerly Self Help for Hard of Hearing People-SHHH) announces a new logo to accompany the name change of the organization.
As the word “Loss” is a descriptor in the organization’s title (referring to hearing, communication, and inclusion), the logo serves as an illustration of the value that the Hearing Loss Association of America places on those with hearing loss to help themselves through education, advocacy and support. The logo depicts a group being enveloped in a crescendo of sound, information and support.
When I Knew I Needed Hearing Help By Sal Parlato, Jr.
A gradual hearing loss sneaks up on our storyteller. Does the tale sound familiar?
What does it matter what I’m called? Hard of Hearing, Deaf, Deaf Lite, Hardly Hearing, Hearing Repaired, or (remember, you saw it here first) Hearing-Limited.
Whatever the label on my convention badge, a more basic question would be, “How did I get that way in the first place?” The answer: gradually. To be less playful about it, the lessening was as slow in coming as was the bliss of my preceding ignorance.
I Don’t Have a Hearing Loss—So Why am I Depressed? By Terry D. Portis
I have just returned from the annual conference of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology (www.aro.org). Many of the people who attend this conference are working to find scientific and medical interventions to prevent, and maybe cure hearing loss some day. My wife Denise and I were part of a panel presentation. During my session, I spoke there about the psychological aspects of adult onset hearing loss.
In preparing for the talk, I studied research on depression and anxiety conducted by the LINK Centre in Great Britain. Their 2005 study found that the rate of depression for late-deafened adults was five times the national average, and the rate of severe anxiety was 2.5 times the national average.
Different Kinds of Cochlear Implants
Auditory, Penetrating and Hybrid By Mark Ross, Ph.D.
A piece of the future is here. There are two groups of people with hearing loss out there, some with profound and some with severe hearing losses, who have been unable to benefit from any new technology. That is, until recently.
