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
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From the chronicles
When people talk too fast, do this
Processing speed is not fixed! You can understand fast speech by training with fast speech. The program I recommend to train your brain to “hear faster” is Neurotone’s Lace AI Pro. With this program, you can train with the voices of the people in your life who talk fast! For more information, see The […]
Learn How to Read Lips No. 45
I bought these sunglasses for Canada Day celebrations on July 1. It’s a Canadian thing, eh? Learn how lipreading skill is like having a text predictor in your brain: Related post: Learn how to read lips No. 44
Use this communication strategy when you can’t hear
The “PinPoint Formula” is a made-up name. 😂The official name for this strategy is Specific Requests for Clarification. This strategy has made a huge difference in my life. It seems to help my communication partners to feel less frustrated. Communication isn’t just about hearing; it’s about managing the conversation. Get more practical strategies at […]
Square breathing for tension associated with hearing loss and tinnitus
Hearing loss can be a source of tension. There’s tension between wanting to participate and wanting to withdraw. Group events and gatherings can be full of tension because communicating with unfamiliar people is difficult. So there is a push-pull: “I want to be part of this,” versus “It’s too hard to follow.” That push-pull can […]
How auditory training is like movie casting
When you first start auditory training, and your brain is trying to extract a voice from background noise, your brain goes into “mass recruitment mode.” The area of your auditory cortex tuned to those specific sounds rapidly expands. The brain floods the zone with resources, recruiting neurons to try and process the voices. If your […]
Learn to read lips No. 44
Names are hard to lipread. There is little context. It can help to make educated guesses, based on substitution! Here’s the link to the playlist for free lessons on YouTube. I also offer one-to-one lipreading instruction online. Related post: Learn to read lips No. 43
DTTE: the engine that helps you to hear better in Lace AI
Lace AI, an auditory training program, has an engine, called DTTE (Dynamic Threshold Training Engine). It’s the most important feature of the program: the engine adapts the difficulty based on your responses. In this way, the difficulty level is tailored to each person. Personally or professionally, I would not use or recommend an auditory […]
Learn to read lips No. 43
I have noticed that people are not offered troubleshooting strategies when they are lipreading and they guess wrong. It’s important to have a back-up strategy if the first thing you see doesn’t make sense. In my lipreading classes, I teach substitution skills, as it seems to be the most effective back-up strategy. Try this one. […]
How does brain chemistry help you to hear in noise?
I can’t say this enough: your ability to hear in noise is not fixed! A key is to be able to practice near your learning threshold. The difficulty level is paramount. Brain chemistry can help you to hear in noise: For more information, see Why do I need auditory training?
Learn to read lips No. 42
As a teacher of lip reading, an important skill that I impart is substitution. You can get more practice with my free lessons on YouTube. In under two hours, you will get the information you need to start rockin’ at lipreading! I also offer one-to-one lipreading instruction. Related post: Learn to read lips #41