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
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 […]
Continue readingDid 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
Continue readingWhy 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? […]
Continue readingLearn 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!
Continue readingRadio 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 […]
Continue readingLearn 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
Continue readingYou 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 […]
Continue readingDo hearing aids prevent dementia?
The short answer is that there is no evidence. The ACHIEVE trial results published in 2023 provide evidence that comprehensive aural rehab, with hearing aid use, effectively improves communication outcomes. However, there was no significant overall effect of aural rehab on the rate of cognitive decline. A reduction in the rate of cognitive decline was […]
Continue readingAre you getting new hearing aids?
In Star Wars, Luke Skywalker hesitantly says he will ‘try’ to complete a task. Yoda, the warrior mystic, replies: ‘No! Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try.’ Anytime you say that you will ‘try’ something, your words imply a lack of commitment. They suggest that you feel that you won’t be able […]
Continue readingAddressing cognitive dissonance is a huge part of an audiologist’s job! Part 2
Cognitive dissonance happens when you hold two conflicting thoughts in your mind simultaneously–like denying hearing loss while still being aware of communication difficulties. Canadian Audiologist published an article by Bill Hodgetts, PhD, called “Psychological Dimensions of Hearing Healthcare: Audiology is More Than Just Diagnoses and Devices” in Canadian Audiologist (Vol 11, Issue 3, 2024). I […]
Continue reading