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March 31, 2005
GoAmerica announces marketing agreement with Epic Hearing
Today at the 17th annual American Academy of Audiology Convention and Expo, GoAmerica® (NASDAQ: GOAM) announced a strategic marketing agreement with Ear Professionals International Corporation (EPIC), the nation’s largest coalition of hearing healthcare physicians and audiologists.
Posted @ 4:18 PM
Siemens introduces iScan
Siemens Hearing Instruments, Inc - the largest manufacturer of hearing instruments in the United States - introduces iScan(TM), the first in-office ear impression scanner designed exclusively for use by the hearing care professional, in their office.
Posted @ 4:15 PM
Baby signing is as easy as A...B...C...
It was snack time for Kathleen Weiner of Shreveport and her 19-month-old daughter, Sophie. Like most toddlers at that age, the pint-sized child could barely talk.
Posted @ 12:14 AM
UTD professor wins $1.5M research grant
The National Institutes of Health has awarded a five-year, $1.5 million grant to a University of Texas at Dallas electrical engineering professor to improve a hearing aid device, the university said Wednesday.
Posted @ 12:05 AM
March 30, 2005
Phone service available for deaf, speech-disabled persons
Thanks to Relay Nevada, thousands of Nevadans are discovering just how easy and convenient it is to keep in touch by phone with their deaf, hard-of-hearing and speech-disabled friends and family members.
Posted @ 8:37 PM
Medical miracles make life whole again
What is it like to never hear your grandchildren, their whispers, their cries, their laughter? Ask John Lawrence. The Barrington resident lived a life of silence for more than 10 years — robbed of his hearing by overexposure to toxic noise at work.
Posted @ 12:14 AM
More cochlear implants for young children
Some 662 U.S. hearing impaired children under the age of 12 months received cochlear implants last year, while 369 under age 5 underwent the surgery.
Posted @ 12:12 AM
March 29, 2005
Implant, dog create blessed hear and now
When Thompson was in the fourth grade, she began to lose her hearing. The loss was moderate until she was 29.
Posted @ 3:39 PM
Sky Harbor first to replace white paging phones with new system
A whole new way to reach someone at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport will be introduced this week.
Posted @ 3:36 PM
Siemens Showcases ACURIS at the American Academy of Audiology Annual Convention
Dr. Thomas Powers from Siemens to announce findings from "Patient Acceptance of the Revolutionary e2e Wireless(TM) Technology" aka the world's hearing instruments that "talk" to each other.
Posted @ 3:30 PM
Hearing loss not all ears?
Researchers say brain areas processing speech and background noise are the likely culprit in the elderly.
Posted @ 9:42 AM
Indiana University researchers closer to helping hearing-impaired using stem cells
Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine are several steps closer to the day when a profoundly deaf patient's own bone marrow cells could be used to let him or her hear the world.
Posted @ 12:30 AM
In the LOOP: SHHH, library join forces in audio technology
Self Help for the Hard of Hearing (SHHH) has a saying, "Life is missing something when you can't hear everything."
Posted @ 12:15 AM
March 28, 2005
Tinnitus - causes and symptoms
Tinnitus is a constant high pitched ringing or buzzing in the ears. Tinnitus can also sound like other sounds, such as a roaring, a hissing or a buzzing.
Posted @ 12:48 PM
Cochlear implants allow women to hear sounds for first time
Hearing the words "I love you," the laughter of children or a cat meowing were all sounds denied to Laura Hall at birth.
Posted @ 12:45 PM
Sign of the times
Like her college classmates, Courtney Ludlow stays plenty busy outside class. Dance lessons and a budding singing career come in addition to family events, household chores and homework.
Posted @ 12:42 PM
March 27, 2005
Designers share plans for sign language town
Planners developing a town for people who use sign language envision a European-style community with plazas, sidewalk cafes and close living quarters.
Posted @ 7:43 PM
Ailment leads to silence, shadows
Deafblindness is a unique disability, distinct and much more debilitating than either blindness or deafness.
Posted @ 3:40 PM
March 26, 2005
Helping hands
Mona Bergstrom helps out on the playground and occasionally in the classroom, but when it comes right down to it, she has one job -- Mariah Kowach.
Posted @ 11:48 AM
March 25, 2005
Sign language version of 'Big River' in Tampa
Actor Adam Monley had no experience with sign language before he landed the role of Mark Twain in the touring production of the American Sign Language adaptation of "Big River, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."
Posted @ 8:04 AM
Cochlear implants a success for once-deaf kids
Most deaf kids learn to hear after getting cochlear implants. And they keep on hearing, a long-term study shows.
Posted @ 2:31 AM
March 24, 2005
Hearing tests critical for newborns
If there are problems with speech and social development for newborns, hearing loss could be at the root of it.
Posted @ 7:44 PM
GoAmerica introduces I711.com: Enhanced Internet Relay Calling with custom news and information for deaf consumers
GoAmerica® (NASDAQ: GOAM) today launched i711.com, an Internet relay service designed to provide an enhanced, online connection between deaf or hard of hearing consumers and hearing callers. i711.com improves the online relay experience with unique call tools and a broad choice of customizable, community-based content.
Posted @ 8:35 AM
Something you don't hear much about: Hearing loss tied to heart disease
There are a few people in the world who get heart disease after they begin to lose their hearing. Harvard Medical School researchers have found a gene responsible for this, and they're using that information to better understand heart problems faced by millions of people.
Posted @ 8:30 AM
Pumpin' up the volume can damage your hearing
Whether it's on the way to school or at a weekend party, many teens love to turn the volume up and sing along to their favorite music. It's fun and enjoyable, but what seems like an energy boost can actually cause permanent damage to the ear.
Posted @ 8:25 AM
HFD has free special smoke alarms for the hearing impaired
A smoke alarm - it`s loud and frightening, even if you can`t see flames. But it is a sure fire way to survive a blaze. But what if you can`t hear it?
Posted @ 1:10 AM
Listening to her heart
For nearly a year after Elena LaQuatra was diagnosed with meningitis at the age of 4, she was deaf and her speech began failing.
Posted @ 1:08 AM
March 23, 2005
New fund will help lawyers, deaf clients communicate
The Monroe County Bar Association today announced a program that will help lawyers pay for sign language interpreters for clients and a workshop that will help educate lawyers about the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Posted @ 3:08 PM
Town designed for sign-language users
Plans are being debated this week for the creation of a town with the usual amenities: hotels, a convention center, retail shops and churches. But one thing will be different: Sign language will be the preferred way to communicate.
Posted @ 7:55 AM
March 22, 2005
Tinnitus affects 4.7M people, survey shows
Some 4.7 million people in the UK suffer from the buzzing, ringing or whistling noises heard by people with tinnitus, a survey revealed today.
Posted @ 4:22 PM
Implant gives Mercer speech therapist her hearing back
While waiting for a couple of other speech students to arrive for tutoring at Mercer Elementary, Beth Robison sits in her brightly-colored classroom with a game board in front of her, and asks a soft-spoken third-grader about her weekend. As the girl quietly tells her about attending a swimming party, Robison nods her head as she listens.
Posted @ 4:21 PM
Hearing loss no handicap for speller
At 13, Anna Plantinga already is a champion speller, a musician and a whiz at math.
Posted @ 4:19 PM
Listen up (If you can)
Take the roar of a motorcycle running full-throttle for 40 hours straight, condense it into a split second, and you’ve got a good approximation of the sound energy generated by an average gunshot.
Posted @ 4:16 PM
Now hear this
As baby boomers begin to lose their hearing, hearing aids get better, smaller and longer-lasting.
Posted @ 4:10 PM
How's your hearing?
Chances are your hearing is not as good as it once was. The constant noise barrage that accompanies our civilization has been taking its toll. A shocking number of San Diegans, from kids to seniors, are discovering that the whole world has suddenly started mumbling.
Posted @ 7:43 AM
Twice as many suffer tinnitus
Almost twice as many people in Wales have the head noise complaint tinnitus than across the UK as a whole, research has found.
Posted @ 7:40 AM
March 21, 2005
Sign language helps babies communicate early
It's 3 a.m. and you're tired. Your baby, however, is not. Your baby -- surprise, surprise -- is crying. And because she's a baby, she can't tell you what she needs.
Posted @ 5:01 PM
Newer hearing aids designed to appeal to boomers
All you baby boomers, listen up: It might be time to get fitted for a hearing aid.
Posted @ 4:56 PM
Tracking trends in cochlear implant complications using a federal database
Changes in the format of a federal database for mandatory reporting of major and minor complications for medical devices, including cochlear implants, could make it a valuable resource, according to an article in the March issue of Archives of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Posted @ 4:45 PM
Speaker system tunes in students
Every morning, Central Elementary School teacher Tracy Brown clips on a battery pack and dons a small wireless microphone that looks more like it belongs on a pop star than a kindergarten teacher.
Posted @ 7:49 AM
How loud is too loud?
Amplified music can cause permanent hearing loss.
Posted @ 7:44 AM
March 20, 2005
Cochlear implants - bringing a new ray of hope
Till three years ago, Sidharth Mehra, 10, was almost deaf. But thanks to a revolutionary surgery, he can now attend telephone calls, learn music and attend language lessons just like ordinary boys his age.
Posted @ 10:09 PM
March 18, 2005
New sound amplifier by Aurilink makes custom hearing aids obsolete
Aurilink has developed a soft, comfortable sound amplifier for those who need occasional hearing assistance because of mild hearing loss, with programmable settings for a variety of listening environments.
Posted @ 8:28 AM
Merrill Lynch provides Gallaudet students with financial support
The Gallaudet Leadership Institute (GLI), with generous support from Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., is offering professional preparation for individuals interested in entrepreneurial leadership.
Posted @ 8:15 AM
March 17, 2005
Daughter realizes father's hope
Darlene Draeger hears again with cochlear implant. For 43 years Darlene Draeger lived in a world of silence. When her son was a baby she couldn't hear him cry. She missed the first words he spoke and forgot what it was like to hear robins sing.
Posted @ 8:05 AM
System sounds good for seniors
A Powell River man is working to raise $10,000 for a system to help theatre-goers hear better. A Powell River communications consultant has a solution to enable people with hearing problems to better enjoy performances at the Evergreen Theatre.
Posted @ 8:02 AM
Deaf students get their cue in school play
Freshman Stephanie Gibbons’s expressive face and vivid body language made a big impression when she auditioned for “Arsenic and Old Lace.”
Posted @ 8:00 AM
March 16, 2005
Seeking a better plan for special ed kids
The governor's plan to transfer responsibility for the state's youngest deaf and blind children may seem like just a bureaucratic shift, but teachers at specialized 4201 Schools worry it may eliminate vital services for these infants, toddlers and their parents.
Posted @ 9:02 AM
Symptoms of vertigo
Dizziness, or vertigo, is caused when our balance or equilibrium is off balance. Our equilibrium is controlled by the semicircular canals in the inner ear.
Posted @ 9:00 AM
Deaf schools tout benefits
Cincinnati's two schools for the deaf are trying to grow, even as technology to overcome deafness ensures more hearing-impaired students can attend mainstream schools.
Posted @ 9:00 AM
RNID offers help for tinnitus sufferers
Sufferers of tinnitus in the North West can attend a free event in Londonderry next week.
Posted @ 8:59 AM
March 15, 2005
University of Toronto study finds musicians not at risk for hearing loss
A study conducted by the University of Toronto concluded that Canadian Opera Company musicians don’t have to worry about job-related hearing loss.
Posted @ 7:09 PM
Orchestra pit no danger to hearing
While the clang of cymbals and the blare of the trombone may startle, orchestra musicians at the Canadian Opera Company needn't worry about hearing loss, say University of Toronto researchers.
Posted @ 7:07 PM
Tinnitus may lead to stress for sufferers
Q. What is the cause of tinnitus? Is there any treatment for it?
Posted @ 7:03 PM
March 14, 2005
FDA approves new innovative cochlear implant system
Cochlear Americas announced today that it recently received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market the Nucleus® Freedom(TM) cochlear implant system. The Nucleus Freedom, which features both an internal component and an external speech processor, will begin shipping to clinics on April 3, 2005. The Nucleus Freedom is designed to mimic functions of the human ear and fit seamlessly into a user's lifestyle.
Posted @ 12:52 PM
Audiologist sets standard off the square
If you haven’t heard Christine Standard has moved, maybe you should visit her new audiologist office just off the square at 112 W. Jackson Street.
Posted @ 12:51 PM
Early test for deafness raises quality of life
Last week Regan Chapman's hearing aids were orange. This week, his mother, Colleen Chapman, has changed them to a bright, Granny-smith green.
Posted @ 12:50 PM
Group for hearing impaired gives information members can use
The monthly meetings of the local chapter of Self-Help for Hearing Impaired People usually means a new topic for the audience.
Posted @ 12:49 PM
March 11, 2005
Healthy hearing
An infant lies in his crib, glancing up at the colorful mobile dancing over his head from the railing. It plays a soft lullaby, intended to calm the child into a tranquil sleep.
Posted @ 5:58 PM
Brain is a factor in age-related hearing loss
Local researchers are learning that older people who lose some of their hearing over time might not need to blame their ears: It's their brain that isn't listening.
Posted @ 11:22 AM
Hearing loss tied to heart disease
There are a few people in the world who get heart disease after they begin to lose their hearing. Harvard Medical School researchers have found a gene responsible for this, and they're using that information to better understand heart problems faced by millions of people.
Posted @ 11:19 AM
March 10, 2005
Cochlear implant opens doors for hearing-impaired
"Say what?" became Eric Crawford's catchphrase shortly before he discovered he had a gradual form of hearing loss about 20 years ago.
Posted @ 11:24 AM
Help for people with hearing problems
Hearing loss is stressful and uncomfortable and can pose more serious problems, but help is available for Southwest Michigan residents dealing with the issue.
Posted @ 11:10 AM
March 9, 2005
Word of hand brings in customers
Sign Language Associates’ fast growth rests almost entirely with those who haven’t heard about the service.
Posted @ 1:45 PM
Musician is kind to his ears
Aliquippa native B.E. Taylor has been making music and performing professionally for more than 30 years. He's primarily a vocalist, working with an audience in front of him and a band behind him.
Posted @ 1:40 PM
March 8, 2005
How cochlear implants work in kids
One in every one thousand children born will join the ranks of the six million Americans who live with profound deafness.
Posted @ 11:33 AM
Unnaturally quiet
All newborns in the Greater Washington area are required by law to have their hearing tested before leaving the hospital. From then on, in most cases, a person is responsible for his own ear health — an increasingly difficult assignment in today's noisy society.
Posted @ 11:30 AM
Hearing loss goes largely undetected, untreated
Hearing loss may be the Rodney Dangerfield of health-care issues. It doesn't get the attention it deserves.
Posted @ 11:28 AM
March 7, 2005
How's that again?
Researchers at the International Center for Hearing and Speech Research (ICHSR) have found that age-related hearing loss may be all (or at least mostly) in your head rather than a problem with your ears.
Posted @ 1:35 AM
March 6, 2005
ASL rising in popularity
American Sign Language classes could satisfy transfer requirements, but Valley doesn't offer them.
Posted @ 6:56 PM
Infants learn to speak with their hands at local day care
Infants at this day care center are learning sign language before they speak.
Posted @ 11:40 AM
Trying to hear
All Bill Bartlett wanted to do was hear again. Bartlett, 81, a Columbus native, was a fighter pilot during World War II. He had developed hearing loss doing high dives in a P-38 fighter plane. Then, during a mission over China, his plane was shot down.
Posted @ 11:35 AM
March 5, 2005
Hearing loss needn't limit everyday life
A little more than a week before his 100th birthday, Leo Davison from Estill Springs decided to get his hearing checked for the first time.
Posted @ 12:17 AM
March 4, 2005
Blame the brain for hearing loss
People who lose their hearing as they grow older should not be so quick to blame their ears. The problem may be with their brains. Researchers say that in many cases, the ears of hearing-impaired people are just fine.
Posted @ 1:33 PM
Cochlear pays $195m for Swedish company
Bionic ear maker Cochlear expects its $195 million acquisition of Swedish- based Entific Medical Systems to immediately lift cash earnings per share and significantly expand its ability to help people with impaired hearing.
Posted @ 1:57 AM
Tamoxifen and hearing loss
Two new studies were just published on the popular breast cancer drug tamoxifen. The first study focuses on why tamoxifen may work on some women but not on others.
Posted @ 1:55 AM
March 3, 2005
Device makes sound difference
Wearing a headset with a small microphone attached, Marsha Murray looks like she's ready to take the stage at a concert.
Posted @ 3:22 PM
Workers sue ALCOA over hearing loss
More than 20 current and former ALCOA employees filed suit recently over noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus as a result of employment.
Posted @ 3:20 PM
March 2, 2005
Isolated world of deaf-blind being cracked open by new technologies
The isolated world of deaf-blind impaired people is slowly being cracked open by new devices, from hockey pucks that rattle to beds that shake sleepers awake. And an age-old technique - the eyes and ears of others who intervene to help them communicate - is also being used to greater effect.
Posted @ 1:43 PM
Steroid injection won't quiet ringing in the ears
Contrary to some previous reports, a new study suggests that people who suffer with severe, disabling ringing in the ears known as tinnitus are unlikely to find relief with steroid injections in the ringing ear.
Posted @ 1:41 PM
Implants, technology aid hearing
Imagine not being able to hear your favorite song, the gentle patter of rain on your roof or the voices of your loved ones.
Posted @ 12:15 PM
March 1, 2005
Babies may not have to throw tantrums anymore
Parents, are you feeling irritated, frustrated, even helpless with your little one's constant whining? There's help.
Posted @ 1:01 PM
Breaking through silence
Most people aren't fluent in Jermaine Newsome's language. That includes his parents and many of his doctors.
Posted @ 1:00 PM
She has always heard sounds of achievement
Denise Kapsa couldn't wait to let her hair grow down her neck and over her ears in high school.
Posted @ 12:58 PM
Choking woman saved by daughter's sign language
A New York woman just might be alive because she taught her young daughter sign language.
Posted @ 1:21 AM