Table of Contents
In this issue of Hearing Life, Allyson Welch explains how challenging it is to communicate as a mommy/daughter duo with hearing loss in Birds of a Feather—Better Together. In Hearing Dogs: What They Are and How to Get One, Allyson explains what an invaluable resource a hearing dog can be to help people who are deaf or have hearing loss. Kathi Mestayer explains the perils and pitfalls of technology and running meetings remotely in Telework: How’s That Working For You? Katie Byxbee, a young teenager from Connecticut, explains how she has the superpower to shut out any or all sounds in My Life Beyond Hearing Aids. Michael Harvey encourages a patient to correspond with her doctor about her tinnitus via a fantasized conversation in Doctors, Please Care That There’s No Cure. In Plunged Into Silence, Gloria Raskin realized how lucky she was to having hearing aids after hers were zapped during an MRI procedure. And finally, musician Wendy Cheng shares her journey with hearing loss and pursuing a music degree in I Hear You, Beethoven. Want more? Become a member of HLAA. We want to show you that you’re not alone.
Birds of a Feather—Better Together
By Allyson T. Welch
The author shares how challenging it is to communicate as a mommy/daughter duo with hearing loss, and how despite their challenges, it has been a true blessing to have each other to get through it.
Thoughts From Our Board Chair
By Richard Einhorn
Good Morning!
Advocacy
By Lise Hamlin
Cochlear Implant International Community of Action (CIICA)
Doctors, Please Care That There’s No Cure
By Michael A. Harvey
In a patient’s fantasized correspondence with her doctor about her tinnitus, he validates her suffering and assures her of continued care and she facilitates the lowering of his protective shield of compassion fatigue—a win-win outcome.
HLAA Chapters
By Carla Beyer-Smolin
Strong and Thriving!
I Hear You, Beethoven
By Wendy Cheng
When the author was a college freshman in the early 1980s, she wondered whether she could major in music. Her well-meaning college friends would say, “Well, Beethoven did it, and so can you.”
Telework: How’s That Working for You?
By Kathi Mestayer
Effective communication is crucial for running a business, and the tools and signals of remote meetings don’t always work perfectly. That makes technology a moving target that changes as new technologies and features make their debuts.
HLAA Corporate Partner Forum: Pipeline Therapeutics
By Stephen Huhn
Can hearing be restored? Pipeline Therapeutics thinks it’s worth a shot.
Book Nook
Review by Larry Herbert
Interference by Brad Parks
My Life Beyond My Hearing Aids
By Katie Byxbee
Katie, a thirteen-year-old from Connecticut, explains how up until two years ago, she thought everyone had the superpower to shut out any or all sounds like she does.
Walk4Hearing
By Walk Staff
The Walk4Hearing Brings Communities Together
Hearing Dogs: What They Are and How to Get One
By Allyson T. Welch
A hearing dog is a special assistance dog that is specifically trained to help people who are deaf or have hearing loss. They are capable of alerting their handler to sounds like doorbells, oven timers, smoke alarms, alarm clocks, ringing phones, and other important sounds.
Plunged Into Silence
By Gloria Raskin
The author never realized how lucky she was to have hearing aids to help her hear better and communicate with others until they were zapped during an MRI procedure.
Deafness is Not a Shame But a Fame
By Rizwana Jmari
A poem by Rizwana Jmari