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January 16, 2008
Hearing Aid to Hear What You're Missing
If your hearing isn't as good as it used to be, you may be thinking about getting a hearing aid.
Then again, there's a good chance you can't be bothered, even though you find yourself cranking up the volume on the TV set or asking a friend sitting next to you to speak up. If so, you are not alone
More often than not, people put off getting a hearing aid after they first notice it's getting harder to hear, said East Bay, Calif., audiologist Leigh Kjeldsen "People wait an average of seven years between knowing they have a problem with hearing and doing something about it."
Why the wait?
"People don't know about the process and don't know where to begin," said Kjeldsen, owner of Valley Audiology, which has offices in Concord, Calif., and Walnut Creek, Calif.
Posted @ 7:21 AM
Silence is Golden
I was sound asleep when I finally accepted the fact that I have a significant hearing loss in my left ear. Lying on my right side with my "good" ear pressed firmly into the pillow, I didn't hear the telephone ring until my man, Spud, kicked me under the covers to answer it.
At first, I thought post-nasal drip had blocked my sinuses. When decongestants did not relieve the symptoms, I blamed it on the Florida trip from which we had just returned.
Having traveled by plane, I surmised my ears still were under high-altitude pressure. No matter how much I swallowed, though, it didn't help . . . nor did pinching my nose and forcing air into my Eustachian tubes, which resulted in nothing more than stuck-together nostrils.
I decided to give it some time to self correct until the ringing began about a week later. Actually, it's not ringing. It's more of a high-pitch squeal that constantly reminds me that something weird is going on inside my head.
So I began self-testing my hearing by scratching my right shoulder to listen to the sound it made and then scratching my left to listen to . . . nothing.
Posted @ 7:19 AM
The Brain Activity Behind Tinnitus Uncovered
Tinnitus - hearing phantom sounds - affects millions of people, but because the physiological mechanisms behind the condition are largely unknown, treatment options are limited. Now research published in the online open access journal BMC Biology shows how a method that temporarily (usually for several seconds) reduces tinnitus in some patients links the condition to brain activity.
Nina Kahlbrock of the University of Konstanz, Germany and Nathan Weisz of INSERM in Lyon, France investigated the relationship between the tinnitus sensation and spontaneous brain activity. Two techniques called tinnitus masking and residual inhibition involve using a sound that temporarily reduces tinnitus (masking). The effect sometimes continues after the masking sound has stopped (residual inhibition or RI). The researchers used RI to reduce eight sufferers' tinnitus intensity, in an effect lasting approximately 30 seconds, coupled with source-space projected magnetencephalographic (MEG) data to track their brain activity.
Posted @ 7:18 AM
New Cochlear Implant Technology Possible
How well today’s cochlear implants work varies in patients. Some may be able to hear sounds such as thunder. Others can understand speech but are not able to appreciate music. But new research could make it all possible.
The implants are surgically placed into the cochlea – the snail-shell shaped structure in the inner ear. Normally hair cells line the cochlea and convert acoustic signals into electrical signals that nerves carry to the brain. Sounds can be amplified with a hearing aid if there are some hair cells. If the hair cells are missing or damaged – which is usually associated with severe hearing problems – an implant can help replace their function.
Posted @ 7:17 AM
AOL Launches Real-Time Instant Messaging Targeted to Deaf
AOL today announced it is now testing the first real-time instant messaging (IM) feature targeted to deaf and hard of hearing users that also offers a natural flowing IM experience for everyone. Built with guidance from Gallaudet University and the Trace Research and Development Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, this feature is in the latest beta version 6.8 of the popular AIM software that is available as a free download at http://beta.aol.com.
According to the National Institutes of Health, more than 32 million American adults have some degree of hearing loss. For this population, email and instant messaging are critical tools for everyday communications. The new real-time IM feature within AIM enhances instant message conversations by enabling users to see each letter that a buddy types rather than waiting for a friend to press the send button to view and read a message. This enables deaf users to respond and react to words as they are typed just as hearing people would do as words are spoken in a voice conversation.
Posted @ 7:15 AM
Problems persist at School for Deaf
State education officials hoped the hiring of a new director at the Rhode Island School for the Deaf would put the school on an upward path.
Lori Dunsmore, the school’s fourth director in six years, started in September with plans to change the school’s instructional practices and culture after years of troubles that include discontent with the deteriorating condition of the 60-year-old school building, inconsistent leadership, low test scores and poor morale.
Posted @ 7:14 AM
Deaf Puppy Heads to Chicago
60 pounds of love. That's what one Savannah couple is calling their foster rescue dog, a pit bull puppy named Casino. For months, the couple's been searching for the "right home for him." We say that because Casino has a disability. One not everybody may be able to deal with. NEWS 3'S Tristan Tully has the story of the affectionate pooch and his road trip of a lifetime.
Lovable doesn't quite seem to cover the bases when talking about this handsome pup. Cynthia Sharpley and her husband took Casino in as a foster dog after one of her husband's coworkers found him in downtown Savannah. Little did they know, Casino would touch their lives as much as they touched his, "His face, I mean you look at his face and you just fall in love with him. I mean those big ears and the eyes..."
Posted @ 7:10 AM
Deaf driver with glass eye banned
A deaf 83-year-old motorist with a glass eye has been banned from driving for 45 days after he was caught speeding on the A9 in his new car.
Maurice Hollyfield was doing 88mph while towing a trailer on a single carriageway with a 50mph limit.
Perth Sheriff Court heard it was the second time in less than a year that the pensioner had been caught speeding.
Posted @ 7:09 AM
Interpreter is link for deaf girl, Sartell church
The word of God is not only heard at Messiah Lutheran Church, it's seen.
The Sartell church has taken the unusual step of hiring a sign language interpreter for its Sunday school and Sunday service to accommodate a St. Cloud family with a daughter who is deaf.
"It is one of the moments where the opportunity was presented to us to minister to this family, and we went ahead with it," said the Rev. Vince Bain, pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church.
Posted @ 7:08 AM
Deaf Use Online Interpreter In Aberdeen
With more deaf students than interpreters, Aberdeen Central High School has been struggling to serve deaf students. The administration hasn't been able to find additional interpreters in the area, so they are getting help from technology.
If ever there's been such a thing as educational TV, this is it.
"Well because here at school, we have three deaf students, but only have two interpreters," Joseph Hagen said.
Posted @ 7:07 AM
Gallaudet announces honorary degree and professor emeritus awards
Four very deserving individuals were selected to receive honors on May 16 at Gallaudet’s 139th Commencement exercises. Mr. Ed Bosson, ’66, widely known as the “Father of Video Relay Service,” and Mr. Charles Williams, a community activist and former member of the Board of Trustees, will be awarded honorary doctorate degrees. Drs. Virginia Gutman, who will retire this spring, and John Van Cleve, who retired this fall, will be named professors emeriti.
Bosson began his quest to bring video communication to the deaf and hard of hearing community in the early 1990s when he persuaded the Texas Public Utility Commission to test a video conference product to see if it could be a viable form of communication for deaf and hard of hearing people.
Posted @ 7:07 AM
San Antonio suburb refuses permit for deaf seminarians
The City Council in this San Antonio-area community has refused to allow deaf seminarians to use a nine-bedroom house as a study center.
The council voted 3-2 Tuesday to deny a special-use permit sought by the nonprofit House of Studies for Deaf Seminarians to use the home as a study center for hearing-impaired priests.
The city's zoning law allows up to five unrelated people to live in the 8,100-square-foot, nine-bedroom, nine-bath house, but the Rev. Tom Coughlin had sought a permit to allow the religious community to grow larger.
Posted @ 7:06 AM
Deaf dog needs help to get home
It's hard enough to lose a pet, but Helen Margiotta has a bond with her beagle, Clyde, that transcends the typical pet/person relationship. Both Margiotta and Clyde are deaf.
Margiotta adopted Clyde last winter after a close friend found him abandoned, flea-covered and starving.
Since then Helen and Clyde have developed a special relationship.
Posted @ 7:05 AM
Richardson teen's 'Ref for the Deaf' lets athletes feel officials' signals
Celia Beron isn't known for compassion on the soccer field. The wily eighth-grader from Richardson has a reputation for steals and blocked kicks, and she has the trophy collection to prove it.
These days, she's capturing attention for a major assist to other athletes, but she didn't use her legs. She used her heart.
Celia, 13, invented Ref for the Deaf, a special bracelet that vibrates for deaf players who can't hear the sound of a referee's whistle or starter gun.
Posted @ 7:05 AM
Japanese pop singer Ayumi Hamasaki deaf in left ear
Japanese pop icon Ayumi Hamasaki wrote on her fan club website on Friday that she would continue singing despite losing her hearing in her left ear.
Hamasaki said an ear examination last year confirmed her hearing loss.
"Despite this news, I still wish to be a singer," she wrote.
Posted @ 7:04 AM
Deputies nab teens accused of assaulting deaf man on bus
A quick response by Wayne County Sheriff's deputies assigned to patrol a Detroit Department of Transportation bus led to the arrest of two teens accused of assaulting and robbing a deaf passenger.
Sheriff Warren C. Evans said today that about 3 p.m. Saturday, deputies responded to a complaint of a disabled man who had been the victim of an assault on a coach at Meyers and Curtis on the city's west side. The victim, 36-year-old Highland Park man, was on his way home when the incident happened.
Posted @ 7:03 AM
January 2, 2008
Ensuring Realistic Expectations from Your Hearing Aids
In order to get the most out of your hearing aids, it is important to understand what they can and cannot do. Hearing devices are not intended to cure hearing issues, but simply to assist those with hearing loss. A new hearing aid user might hear new sounds or find that a hearing aid sounds louder than he or she is used to, for example. Learn more about what hearing aid users need to know in order to get the best possible benefit from their aids.
Posted @ 4:04 PM