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.
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From the chronicles
What is the Lombard Effect?
The Lombard Effect is quite significant in some listening environments. This phenomenon is known to cause changes in speech production such as talking louder and changing the pitch structure of speech. It serves the purpose of enhancing communication in noisy environments. Watch the video to hear what that might sound like. Related post: Can’t […]
Are conversations affected by hearing loss?
What happens in a conversation between a younger adult with normal hearing, and an older adult with hearing loss? And what if the conversation is taking place in a relatively easy situation—in a quiet place, and a one-to-one interaction? A research study found that it depends—on whether the older adult is wearing hearing aids. The […]
Second chances through cochlear implant technology
There are risks involved in getting a cochlear implant. Inserting a cochlear implant destroys any residual hearing in the operated ear. Thus, one cannot go back to wearing a hearing aid if it doesn’t work out. The standard surgical risks of a cochlear implant are all quite rare. These include bleeding, infection, device malfunction, facial […]
Let’s not focus solely on hearing aids in reducing dementia risk
It is important not to focus solely on hearing loss or hearing aids because dementia risk may be attributable to many other health factors that intersect with hearing loss and communication. There is still no evidence based on randomized, controlled trial (RCT) studies that treating hearing loss reduces the risk of dementia. ACHIEVE is the […]
Did you know that whales have earwax?
Guess how long a plug of wax would be from a whale’s ear?! Answer in the Comments of the YouTube video and I will let you know if you are right! Related post: Why you shouldn’t use Q-Tips for itchy ears
Why walking through doorways makes you forget
It’s a common experience—entering a room, only to realize you’ve forgotten what you went there to do. It’s been documented in research studies, too. Memory is worse after passing through a doorway than after walking the same distance within a single room. Did you know that the “doorway effect” is actually a good strategy to optimize memory? […]
Learn how to read lips by trying this!
Learning how to read lips is fun. One skill to develop is how to make educated guesses with substitution practice. Try it out! Check out my free Lipreading Challenge on YouTube!
Radio as speedometer?
We all need a favourable signal-to-noise ratio to hear well in noise. But did you know that it is particularly important for children? Children don’t hear as well as adults do when there is background noise in the listening environment. In a typical, noisy classroom, the signal-to-noise ratio will vary from + 5 to – 7 […]
Learn how to read lips #10
Substitution practice can be valuable when you are learning how to read lips: Can you think of two other words that look like veil and fail? Keep the same vowel sound. Get more substitution practice with my free Lipreading Challenge on YouTube! Related post: Learning How to Read Lips #9
You should wear your hearing aids consistently– here is why!
Some fascinating research outlines why it is important to wear hearing aids consistently: In the second half of the experiment, some were able to ride a bicycle! If they had been able to remove the goggles for any length of time during the experiment, the results would not have been the same; the brain […]