Music for Alex, and for many others with hearing loss, is both a blessing and a curse. Sometimes loud music volumes, especially in crowded spaces, can be a distraction for him. This recently became apparent at dinner in a restaurant with our parents.
Bodybuilding Against All Odds
Meet Elizabeth “Elizzy” Galvan, a 40-year-old professional bodybuilder from Fargo, North Dakota, who doesn’t fit the stereotypical presentation of someone in her chosen sport. She is deaf, lives with Usher syndrome, and has one arm.
The Man Who Chased Sound Wore Hearing Aids
Legendary musician Les Paul spent his whole life looking for the perfect sound. Ironically, for a good portion of his life he had to pursue his passion for sound while wearing hearing aids.
Hearing Loss Is My Superpower
Despite receiving a cochlear implant at age 22 months, and being mainstreamed into my local public school district from kindergarten, by late middle school into high school I had became bitter and resentful about my dependence on hearing technology. I saw it as a burden.
Hair Cell Eulogy
People don’t seem to understand the damage they’ll incur
The way that birds’ songs, music, voices, all become a blur -
When the ears are not protected from loud music, shotgun blasts;
The birdsong they heard yesterday may have been their last...
Doing My Best
My hearing loss appeared suddenly, at age 61, when I woke up for work unable to hear in my right ear. With no history of difficulty hearing, I was completely stunned. Did I, I wondered, damage my ear with loud music in my headset yesterday?
A Woman's Canine Ears
My sensorineural hearing loss was diagnosed at around age 4, well before newborn hearing screenings were commonplace, in 1954. “Barbie needs to see your face when you talk, Mommy,” my sister announced one day, cluing my parents into a possible hearing problem.
Comfortable
Being uncomfortable can be nerve-wracking, strange, and sometimes scary. For my brother, Alex, 14, being uncomfortable is all of these things. Born with a hearing loss, Alex has felt uncomfortable so many times in his life it’s impossible to count them all.
Ears On Fire
A noise injury worsens readily. For hyperacusis sufferers such as myself, quiet makes the condition better; noise makes it worse. Among sufferers this is indisputable, but medical practitioners bizarrely treat quiet as harmful.
Becoming a Champion
At this point I can say Ménière's disease and my initial negative experiences in undergraduate school have impacted my life for the better. Ménière's is a lonely condition but it’s forced me to become much more self-reliant.