Chronicles of a deaf Audiologist
Rehabilitation beyond hearing aids and cochlear implants: lipreading instruction, brain/auditory training and communication strategies.
Success for Hearing Better
HEARa is dedicated to the idea that people need the right information, at the right times, to be successful with hearing loss. HEARa’s mission is to reach out to adults with hearing loss and say—keep going. Learning about your hearing loss should be a lifelong process.
Areas of interest for hearing improvement
Choose an area of interest to explore ways to improve your hearing
From the chronicles
Learn to read lips No. 41
If you’re learning to read lips, you can expect to make mistakes. The mistakes are not serious; the conversation will keep flowing if you have a way to recover. Substitution skills are the best way to get back on track. Try it with me now, in this short (31 seconds) video: You can get […]
Learn to read lips #40
When you’re learning to read lips, substitution is an essential skill. Try it now, in this 57-second video! To get more information about which sounds look the same, and practice with substituting those sounds, see my free lessons on YouTube. Related post: Learn to read lips #39
When a teacher won’t wear the remote microphone
Here are ways I have been told that a teacher or presenter doesn’t want to wear the remote microphone: 1) It would be easier if we didn’t use it. 2) It won’t be needed. I have a loud voice. 3) I don’t want or need to look like a rock star (after I was trying to jolly a […]
Learn to read lips #39
Substitution is a crucial skill when learning to read lips. See this 37-second video to understand what’s involved: You can get more substitution practice with my free Lipreading Challenge on YouTube. I also offer one-to-one lipreading instruction. Related post: Learn to read lips #38
Life with a second cochlear implant
Sequential cochlear implantation means getting two cochlear implants in two separate surgeries, with a gap of months or years between them. The gap in my case was 20 years. Before the second surgery, my score was 0% for live voice sentences in quiet. At the first anniversary of my activation, with live voice at […]
Do other senses compensate for babies who are deaf?
The research on how deaf babies use vision has moved away from the simple idea that they have “super-vision.” Instead, recent studies—including those from 2024 to early 2026—suggest that the compensation is more about intensive processing and a fundamental reorganization of how the brain handles information. Deaf infants actually take longer to process visual […]
Gestures for clearer communication Part 2
When you use gestures to make a point or emphasize the meaning, it can be really helpful for people with hearing loss. Here are 11 gestures for clearer communication: Send this link to the person in your life who has hearing loss to make sure they are on the same page! (No pun […]
Are you learning a new language? Auditory training can help!
Learning a new language is great for your brain. Research shows that while there are long-term advantages for your brain, learning a new language can introduce immediate processing costs, particularly when listening in noisy environments. The cost of code switching between two languages comes at the expense of listening in noise. People don’t hear as […]
Learn to read lips #38
When you are learning to read lips, substitution is an essential skill. Try it now with this short practice video: Here’s a link to the playlist for the free lessons on YouTube. There’s 10 lessons, which take about 90 minutes (total) to complete. Once you have finished that, you will have the basic […]
A hearing loss scowl
I’ve been told I look serious or even angry in tough listening situations. This is known as the hearing loss scowl. Listening requires so much effort with hearing loss that I can’t focus on my facial expression. Filming this made me realize the same could happen when others feel overwhelmed, and it’s helped me become […]