By Mitchell Batavia, PT, Ph.D.
Mitchell Batavia PT, Ph.D., is an associate professor of physical therapy at New York University and a person with a hearing impairment. In addition to cartoons and flash fiction, he has published healthcare textbooks with Elsevier and Butterworth-Heinemann.
Digital hearing tools can act as allies to reduce isolation. Technology has adapted to today’s needs and can help people struggling with hearing loss regain and retain their social connections.
On this Veterans Day and every day, Hearing Health Foundation (HHF) thanks our U.S. service members and veterans for their sacrifices. This group is disproportionately at risk for hearing damage, but earlier this year changes to how tinnitus is rated as a compensable disability were proposed.
Our partner Hyperacusis Research recently hosted a webinar that highlighted both the human impact of hyperacusis—pain triggered by everyday sounds—and the scientific progress being made to understand and treat it.
There was a lot of confusion in the mid-’80s between hearing and understanding. I was 14 years old so hearing loss was the furthest thing from my mind and nothing my parents thought of either. I could hear but I had trouble understanding what I heard.
While working in the clinic I realized how much I loved creating resources for patients—brochures, handouts, visual guides—mostly because I couldn’t find what I wanted online.