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
Common emotions with hearing loss
When your emotions are normalized, you recognize that your feelings are a valid response to your situation. Understanding that others would likely feel the same helps to reduce distress. When I was studying to become an audiologist, my feelings about coping with hearing loss were normalized. This was life-changing for me! More information about common […]
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Learn how to read lips No. 27
The topic of a conversation provides important lipreading cues. A word can have different meanings depending on its surrounding words or context. If I say the word “flour,” you might think of a flowery alpine meadow rather than the flour used to bake bread. When we say someone took our words “out of context,” we […]
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Learn how to read lips No. 26
Lipreading, like any skill, gets better with practice. A useful technique is to substitute sounds that are visually similar. Substitution skill will support you in making educated guesses. Try it out in the video below! I have created a free series of ten lessons on YouTube that provides a foundation in lipreading theory. […]
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LACE AI Pro Coaching Notes #7
Are you breezing through the Working Memory exercises in LACE AI? If so, add some background noise. The type of noise is important—choose verbal noise, such as the radio or people talking in the background. If you can systematically adjust the verbal noise to be louder or softer, that would be optimal. Find that sweet […]
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Anxiety in people with hearing loss
Multiple studies have linked hearing loss with a greater chance of developing anxiety and experiencing psychological stress. Hearing loss can make it difficult to communicate and follow conversations, which may result in missing important information or social cues. This can cause feelings of exclusion and social anxiety. Some people with hearing loss also worry about their condition […]
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Learn how to read lips No. 25
It’s so much easier to read lips when you know the topic! Can you guess the last word of the sentence when you know the topic in the video below? Related post: Learn how to read lips No. 24
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LACE AI Pro is a missing piece in hearing loss rehabilitation
There is a missing piece in hearing loss rehabilitation. Researchers at the University of Louvain found that three factors impact comprehension as we age: processing speed, working memory, and distractibility (the ability to resist interference). They found that working memory in particular plays a crucial role in explaining age-related differences in language comprehension. The contribution […]
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Can hearing aids affect your well-being?
A study found that people reported significantly lower fatigue and required less overall concentration at the end of the day when they wore hearing aids that day, compared to not wearing them. The study participants had significantly faster processing speed at the end of the day when they wore hearing aids that day, compared to […]
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Lipreading the Desiderata
Desiderata has been a fixture in my home since forever. In remember as a child fixing my gaze on the last line: “Strive to be happy.” Can you lipread another two lines from Desiderata in the video below? Related post: Learn how to read lips #24
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Hearing aid use linked to a reduction in falling
Older adults with hearing loss in both ears are half as likely to fall if they use hearing aids compared to their peers who do not wear hearing aids, according to a new survey analysis. Wearing the hearing aids consistently reduces this risk even further, the survey found. Related post: Multi-tasking affects balance in […]
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