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
How do you deal with a spouse who is Hard of Hearing?
While it’s important to advocate for a significant other with hearing loss, be aware that you can over-do it. I have occasionally been on the receiving end of the overdoing. It was embarrassing. But it galvanized me to take responsibility for my own communication needs. In some situations, I might not disclose my hearing loss […]
Learning How to Read Lips No. 8
Substitution practice is really effective! When you develop this skill, you can make educated guesses if the first thing you see, or hear, doesn’t make sense. Try it out in the video clip below. If you want more practice, check out my Lipreading Challenge on YouTube.
Taking action about hearing loss
Lately, I have noticed a sadness and a reluctance in some clients, about having to take action about hearing loss. At the same time, there is a realization that it is finally time to get hearing aids. I noticed the “AND.” Sadness, reluctance, AND going ahead anyway. Those things can co-exist! It’s progress when difficult […]
Use your Vision to Help you to Hear!
Hearing technology is better than ever before. And yet, at times, background noise can obscure what we want to hear. Why not use another dominant sense in communication – vision – to help figure out what we are missing? One such strategy is SUBSTITUTION. If you know which sounds look alike, you can do a […]
6 Daily Habits for People with Hearing Loss
Here are my six suggested daily habits to manage hearing loss: Eat healthfully. Research has found a Mediterranean diet to be beneficial for ear health. Express appreciation to people in your life who support your communication needs. Exercise regularly– your ears will thank you when your blood sugar and blood pressure levels are as close […]
Tension reliever for people with hearing loss
People with hearing loss (PWHL) have to deal with a great deal of ambiguity in communication. At times, the ambiguity and listening effort can be stressful. I think tension relievers are really important for PWHL. Below is a short video from Huberman Lab, about one of my favourite tension relievers. It’s called the physiological sigh. […]
Online classes available for people with hearing loss
Can you imagine a space that allows people with hearing loss (PWHL) to get resources, tools, and develop skills to reach their full potential? My online classes are geared towards adults with acquired hearing loss and include lipreading instruction and communication strategies. The next series starts soon! Link for more information is https://heara.ca/programs/ A full […]
Learning How To Read Lips No. 7
Anyone who has difficulty with hearing would benefit from learning some lipreading theory. When you know which sounds look alike, you can make an educated guess if you have some foundation in the theory. Check out my free Lipreading Challenge on YouTube, or learn how to read lips in an online group class! https://heara.ca/programs/ (Click […]
When you have hearing loss, it’s important to be persistent
It’s a fact of life—for people with hearing loss, that is—that other people forget. They forget that you have hearing loss, and they forget to communicate in ways that make it easier for you to understand. This even applies to the people that you work and live with on a daily basis. According to psychologist […]
Sound provides information that helps you with balancing yourself
Research examined how sounds affects a person’s ability to keep their balance while standing still, with their eyes closed and when standing on a pliable, squishy surface. They also looked at how wearing noise-canceling headphones (a complete lack of sound) affected balance. They found that people had more difficulty staying balanced or standing still on […]