Danger! Danger! Alarms and the Panic Response

By Kathi Mestayer

Warning sounds and emergency noises are designed to get our attention using sound. It is, after all, the only kind of signal that will effectively reach everyone in the vicinity—even if we’re out of visual range, facing the wrong way, in total darkness, or even asleep.

In the case of alarm sounds, a stress reaction, or mild panic, is exactly what’s needed. The purpose is to get people’s attention, without causing them to veer off the road, or go back to checking their email.

Studies of individuals’ responses show that alert sounds should have the following properties:

1. Sufficient volume (about 15 dBA above the background noise; dBA refers to the volume as perceived by the human ear)

2. A wide range of frequencies

3. Rapidly rising frequency

4. Fast cycle time (rapidly repeating sounds with short intervals between them)

A hard-of-hearing friend was surprised to find out that he couldn’t hear his smoke alarm. He and his wife were standing under it, when he pushed the “test” button. As she bolted from the room to escape the noise, he just stood there with a puzzled look on his face. Didn’t hear a thing—his hearing loss just happened to drop out completely at that frequency. So, they got a special smoke alarm with a broad range of (lower) pitches.

One of the most mind-bending siren sounds I’ve heard online is that used by the city of Chicago. The website characterizes the tornado sirens as sounding “like a dying whale from hell.” Oh, right, I thought—they can’t be that bizarre, can they? Oh, yes, they can—the eerie whine pulsates, changes volume quickly, and climbs up—and down—and up again—over a broad frequency spectrum. But, after all, they are trying to get us quit what we’re doing, and prepare for a tornado. You’d have a really hard time ignoring it.

This is only a test…

The most-recognized alarm sound is the federal Emergency Alert System, which became official in 1997, and is used primarily for weather alerts. It’s the one you hear on the radio, with loud, corrosive klaxon blasts followed by the “this is only a test of the Emergency Alert System” script. The first sounds, called the “header,” are designed to get our attention and make us rush to the radio to turn the volume down. The header is followed by a continuous-tone “attention signal” at two frequencies, followed by the script (if it’s a test) or the emergency information (if it’s real). The message ends with a three-burst pattern of the header.  

FCC rules prohibit unauthorized use of the Emergency Alert System sounds (or anything closely resembling them), but…    

Testing, testing: zombie apocalypse!

A well-defined and thought-out system like that is just begging to be hacked, right? Well, some folks managed to do just that at a TV station in Montana to broadcast a warning about a zombie apocalypse. They were just trying to warn us, right? Here’s a segment from the Associated Press coverage of the event:

“The Montana Television Network says hackers broke into the Emergency Alert System of Great Falls affiliate KRTV and its CW station Monday. KRTV says on its website the hackers broadcast that ‘dead bodies are rising from their graves’ in several Montana counties. The alert claimed the bodies were ‘attacking the living’ and warned people not to ‘approach or apprehend these bodies as they are extremely dangerous.’”

They were just trying to help… if there had, in fact, been a zombie attack, we would be thanking them profusely, right?

My friend Steve worked at an experimental physics facility in Japan, and told me that their “crane alarm” was extremely effective—it sounded like a woman screaming bloody murder. Not periodic, just a continuous scream that was impossible (for him, anyway) to ignore. It made him nervous, got the adrenaline pumping, and he never got used to it.

Steve also observed the “alarm tune-out” phenomenon. When the earthquake warning siren sounded, he ran the protocol—turning off equipment, securing gas bottles, and finally ducking under a table. Nobody else seemed to notice the alarm, except for an occasional, curious colleague peeking under the table at him. “I think they were used to earthquakes,” he says.

Staff writer Kathi Mestayer serves on advisory boards for the Virginia Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the Greater Richmond, Virginia, chapter of the Hearing Loss Association of America. This is adapted from her reader-sponsored work on Beacon Reader.

Fly

By Chill Kechil

Chill Kechil is a Les Paul Ambassador, helping to educate musicians and others about the risks of noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus. The New Jersey-based DJ and composer recently released two versions of a song, “Fly,” featuring vocals by Shakila Azhar, in addition to two holiday songs. He is donating a portion of their sales to Hearing Health Foundation. 

As a person with hearing loss, he has made adjustments in order to compose and perform. Here, he talks about the genesis for the songs and what he likes in music.

My latest collaboration is with Shakila Azhar. She is a singer who lives in Singapore, and she happens to be my wife’s cousin. She flies in airplanes for a living and sings at her company’s events. My wife told me Shakila has a killer voice, so when I finally met her we talked about doing a song together. 

Through this song I wanted to capture the spirit of flying, along with her soulful vocals. We recorded “Fly” over a few hours, when she had a stopover in New York City, but I’ll admit it took me almost a year to finish the production.  I hadn’t worked with live vocals before, and I wanted it to be perfect so I really took my time about getting it right. I was also using a new version of my music production software. Shakila’s improvised vocals and lyrics added real soul to the song. 

There are two versions available, a dance version, and a deep house version. I realize now that there could be a connection between my high frequency hearing loss, making it hard to hear higher pitches, and my love for deep house music, which has heavy kick drum beats and a deep bass line. Actually it’s funny, but the idea for the bass line in the deep house version of “Fly” came about while I was doing a holiday song based on Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” from “The Nutcracker.” 

But it’s not just the deep sounds that I like in my music. The tune should be very melodic. I like women’s vocals floating over the top, and instead of typical three note chords, I like to use four or five notes in each chord like in jazz music (another of my favorite genres). House music combines all of these things—deep sounds, melodic vocals, and rich chords. The software just changes the entire production of a song, letting me visualize the notes and chords while composing. It brings hundreds of instruments to my fingertips.   

When it comes to curating songs for internet radio stations or creating a DJ set, most have kind of a danceable beat. My preferences are really chill, lounge beats and house music that can flow smoothly together from one song to the next. You can say I live up to my Chill Kechil name because most of the songs I produce or play have this chill, danceable beat to them.

Protecting my hearing by covering my ears is always a priority. The headphones I wear for DJing have to isolate the sound from the mixer while also protecting my ears from the ambient sound and noise. This way, I don’t have to turn the volume up as much when I’m mixing a DJ set. The headphones make the bass sound warmer, while reducing the higher frequencies that can hurt the ears and lead to ear fatigue. I always try to be careful by allowing my ears to rest at least a week between DJ gigs, and to check my smartphone’s decibel meter for loudness when catching other DJ or music acts. And, of course it goes without saying... I always have my earplugs handy.

He DJs regularly at Skinny Bar & Lounge on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Look for him on open turntable nights. Read more about Chill Kechil and his music in Hearing Health's Spring 2015 article here.

Chill Kechil believes in the mission of HHF and its search for a cure for
hearing lossand tinnitus. He is donating a portion of sales of “Fly" and the
holiday songs “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" and “Carol of the Bells” to HHF.
Visit chillkechil.com to listen to samples and purchase.

12 Amazing Tips For Traveling With A Hearing Loss

By Janice Schacter Lintz

Having a hearing loss shouldn’t stop you from traveling. The following tips will ensure a smoother trip:

1. Sign up for travel alerts via email or text to avoid missing a flight. Gate/Flight Attendants, right or wrong, tend to forget to notify people of changes.
   

2. Have your hearing loss and any accommodation you need noted in your passenger/hotel profile in case of an emergency.
   

3. Specify in writing the specific HEARING access you need when booking a room. Otherwise, you are likely to receive a wheelchair accessible room. Hotels should offer a simple remote to activate the television’s closed captions, wake/shake/visual alerts and a hearing aid compatible telephone or TTY depending on your needs.
   

4. Research the places you plan to visit to determine the access available. Advise them ahead of time in writing, the accommodation you need. Send a letter if you do not receive the requested access. Access will only change when people complain.
   

5. Take extra batteries and back-ups of your hearing aids/processors. Running out of batteries can ruin a trip. The same is true if your hearing aid/processor breaks.
   

6. Bring a paper and pen to communicate in a noisy setting.
   

7. Pack a portable dehumidifier to dry out hearing aids/processors if traveling to a humid location. Sweat and humidity may affect their performance.
   

8. Transport all your supplies in a case in your carry-on bag to ensure everything remains intact. Store the bag in your in-room safe to avoid potential theft or loss. Check your homeowner’s policy to confirm coverage when traveling domestically and internationally.
   

9. Mention your hearing loss in advance to the TSA or customs personnel to avoid misunderstanding. Removing hearing aids/cochlear implant processors during TSA screening is unnecessary. Have a copy of the rules with you to avoid issues.
   

10. Load an iPad with movies since very few airlines offer closed captioning for in-flight programing. The good news is airlines such as Virgin are beginning to offer closed captions on some flights.
    

11. Take the hotel’s business card and written directions to ensure you arrive at the proper destination.
    

12. Safeguard your hearing aids/processors while swimming with AquaVault’s portable safe. It solves the issue of where to store your hearing aids when you remove them to swim. The lightweight safe attaches to the back of your lounge chair and easily fits in your luggage. A thief would have to remove he entire lounge chair to steal the safe.

Most importantly, have fun!

This piece was originally featured on JohnnyJet.com, a travel blog and resource committed to easier, better and cheaper travel.

The author, Janice Schacter Lintz, is the CEO of Hearing Access & Innovations, which works to improve accessibility for people with hearing loss. 

I Lost My Hearing in My Forties. Here's How I Handled It.

By Mary Louise Kelly

The interesting thing about going deaf is you don’t realize it’s happening. It’s impossible to pinpoint when everyone began to mumble, when you ceased hearing your own footsteps clicking down a hall.

“Is it the accents?” my husband asked when I complained that the actors on Downton Abbey spoke too fast. We started watching with subtitles. At the theater, I focused on the beauty of the sets and costumes because—though I would have denied this—I couldn’t follow the dialogue. Meanwhile, car horns and sirens dimmed. Packages didn’t arrive, yet the UPS man insisted he’d rung the bell three times. “Impossible,” I shot back. “I was home.”

My lowest moment came last spring at a reading to promote my first novel. A woman rose and recounted what I later learned was a risqué tale about a CIA spy (the book was an espionage thriller), then asked a question that had the audience in stitches. I squirmed, laughed along, and responded with what was surely a non sequitur, as I’d caught barely a word of what she’d said. In the taxi home, I thought: Enough.

Still, none of this prepared me for sitting in an audiologist’s office at age 43, being told that I suffered severe hearing loss. How severe? In one test, he stood across the room, spoke a series of words in a normal voice, and asked me to repeat them.

“Void,” he said.

“Void,” I repeated.

“Ditch,” he said.

“Ditch.”

Out of 20, I got 16. “Not perfect,” I sniffed, “but hardly severe.”

He repeated the test, now holding a sheet of paper before his face.

“Mumble,” he said.

“Um . . . repeat that one?”

“Mumble mumble.”

“Shoelace?”     

“Nope. Mumbledy mumble.”

This time, I got 6 out of 20. When I couldn’t see his lips move, I missed 70 percent of what he said. 

“How are you even functioning?” he inquired, genuinely mystified.

As a reporter, I’ve spent time on aircraft carriers, in helicopters, in war zones. For two decades, I’ve edited stories on deadline through headphones cranked too loud. But the most likely explanation for my hearing loss? Genetics. My father is hard of hearing. So are his sisters and 96-year-old mother. I’ve long known what loomed in my future—I just hadn’t expected it so early.

My first day with hearing aids, I went about my routine with a sense of wonder. It was astonishing to rediscover that pop songs had words I could sing along to. “Have been bopping to an ’80s dance mix all morning,” I posted on Facebook. “I challenge anyone to deny Debbie Gibson was a genius ahead of her time.” (To which came the inevitable reply: “You need to get your hearing checked.”)

By day two, I was on sensory overload. Starbucks left me near tears—I’d had no idea frothing milk made such a racket. I jogged in Rock Creek Park and for the first time in years didn’t jump every time cyclists whizzed past, because I could hear them coming.

The doctors can’t say whether my hearing has stabilized or will worsen. And hearing aids are an imperfect solution. The experience is different from, say, getting glasses and instantly being able to see. It takes time for the brain to adjust, to relearn the pathways it once knew. You almost never recover all that has been lost.

But you do learn to savor small triumphs. The other day, the UPS driver rang my doorbell and I heard him—and tipped big. I still can’t watch TV without subtitles. But at a play recently, the curtain rose and I slumped in sheer relief at being able to follow the words. Not every line, but enough. I’m holding onto that theater program, a memento of a pleasure once dimmed, now mine once more.

Mary Louise Kelly is a contributing editor at The Atlantic. She has spent two decades reporting on national security and international affairs for NPR and the BBC. As NPR’s intelligence and defense correspondent, she covered wars, terrorism, and rising nuclear powers. Kelly has also anchored NPR programs including “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered.” She has taught national security and journalism at Georgetown University. Kelly’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsweek, Politico, and others. She is the author of two novels: Anonymous Sources and The Bullet.

6 Easy Tips for Protecting Your Hearing This Summer

By Laura Friedman

The Better Hearing Institute (BHI) and Hearing Health Foundation (HHF) are encouraging people of all ages to protect their hearing this summer so they can treasure the sounds of the season for a lifetime. Packing earplugs along with the sunscreen for summer outings is just one of six easy tips.

While many noisy recreational activities are part of summer fun, it’s extremely important to take precautions to ensure that these activities don’t harm our hearing.
 
Prolonged exposure to loud outdoor concerts, lawn mowers, power tools, motorized recreational vehicles, target shooting, sporting events and fireworks can potentially damage our ears. In fact, the single bang of a firecracker at close range can cause permanent hearing loss in an instant, making it forever more difficult to hear the quieter sounds of summer.
 
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 1.1 billion teenagers and young adults (12 to 35 year olds) are at risk of hearing loss due to exposure to damaging levels of sound at noisy entertainment venues and the unsafe use of personal audio devices.
 
“Hearing is the sense that connects us to each other,” says William Hal Martin, Ph.D., Professor of Otolaryngology, National University of Singapore, Program Director MSc of Audiology, Center for Hearing, Speech & Balance, and Co-Director of Dangerous Decibels. “Exposure to high level sounds cannot only destroy our ability to hear, it can cause tinnitus—ringing in the ears.”
 
“People of all ages are at risk of hearing loss from high level sounds, but it easily can be prevented by simple steps,” Martin continues. “It is important to recognize when your ears are in danger and to safeguard them so you can enjoy listening to friends, music, and sounds you love for the rest of your life.”
 
How Noise Affects Our Hearing
 
We hear sound when delicate hair cells in our inner ear vibrate, creating nerve signals that the brain understands as sound. But just as we can overload an electrical circuit, we also can overload these vibrating hair cells. Loud noise damages these delicate hair cells, resulting in sensorineural hearing loss and often tinnitus (ringing in the ears). The cells that are the first to be damaged or die are those that vibrate most quickly—those that allow us to hear higher-frequency sounds clearly, like the sounds of birds singing and children speaking.
Sound volume is measured in decibels, with the softest sound a normal hearing human can hear measuring at 0 dBA. Any sounds above 85 dBA for 8 or more hours are considered unsafe. Most firecrackers produce sounds starting at 125 dB peak SPL, presenting the risk of irreversible ear damage.
 
Repeated exposure to loud noise, over an extended period of time, presents serious risks to hearing health as well. If you have to shout over the noise to be heard by someone within arm’s length, the noise is probably in the dangerous range. Here are the warning signs:

• You have pain in your ears after leaving a noisy area.

• You hear ringing or buzzing (tinnitus) in your ears immediately after exposure to noise.

• You suddenly have difficulty understanding speech after exposure to noise; you can hear people talking but can’t understand them.

6 Easy Tips for Protecting Your Hearing This Summer

1. Walk away and plug your ears. If a loud noise takes you by surprise, quickly plug your ears with your fingers and walk away. Increasing the distance between you and the source of the sound will help reduce the intensity (or decibels) at which the sound is reaching your ears.

2. Use earplugs. When you know you’ll be around loud sounds, use earplugs. Disposable earplugs, made of foam or silicone, are often available at local pharmacies. They’re practical because you can still hear music and conversation when they’re in your ears. But when they fit snuggly, they’re effective in adequately blocking out dangerously loud sounds.

3. Leave the fireworks to the professionals. Be smart when you celebrate 4thof July festivities. Leave the fireworks to the professionals. And when watching the show, stay a safe distance away—where you can enjoy the colors and lights but not expose yourself and your family to loud noises. To protect your hearing, make sure you’re wearing earplugs and that they’re securely in place before the show begins. Also be sure to keep them in for the entire show.

4. Limit your time in noisy environments. Do all you can to limit the length of time you spend in a noisy environment. When you do participate in noisy activities, alternate them with periods of quiet. And remember to use ear protection.

5. Turn it down. When listening to smartphones and other electronics, keep them at a low volume. Importantly, limit your use of headphones and ear buds. Remember, it’s not just the volume that matters. It’s also the duration of time spent listening.

6. Visit your local hearing healthcare professional for custom-fitted ear protection and a hearing test. A hearing healthcare professional can provide a hearing test to determine your baseline hearing level and determine if you have any hearing loss that should be addressed. Hearing care professionals also can provide custom ear protection to ensure a proper fit.

The content for this blog post originated in a press release issued by The Better Hearing Institute on June 26, 2015. 

Mind Your Ears

By Marc A. Gallo

Many of us go about life enjoying the symphony of sounds from birds singing in the trees to your favorite band rockin’ out at a local music venue. These as well as other sounds give us great pleasure. But extensive exposure to sounds that might not seem very loud may in fact result in long term damage to your hearing.

Let Me Give You a Few Examples…

You work and live in the city. To get from your home to your job or to hook up with friends requires taking the subway. To get back home afterwards means you have to take the subway again. If you’re exposed to subway noise in excess of 15 minutes a day you will suffer permanent hearing loss over time.

Here’s another example…you just bought the new iPhone 6 from Apple. Killer phone…and you’re psyched to enjoy your music on iTunes. The new phone conveniently comes with earbuds. You pop ’em in and crank it up! It sounds loud but it’s not hurting you. Or is it? Believe it or not, the iPhone at its maximum volume exceeds 100 db. Listening to your music anywhere near 100 db for more than 30 minutes a day is causing permanent hearing damage.

I Have Tinnitus and It’s Only Getting Worse

I’m a musician, performer and loud-mouthed Irish-Italian…a dangerous mix. Having rehearsed and performed in bands and studios over all these years has caused some degree of hearing loss but worse yet, tinnitus. It’s the dreaded ringing of the ears.

When I go to bed at night, I hear ringing. When I wake up, I hear ringing. When I meditate, I hear ringing. I will never experience silence again. Don’t end up like me or many celebrities like Pete Townsend, Danny Elfman, Will.I.Am and many others. We neglected our ears and now we’re paying the price.

But There’s Hope!

Start protecting your ears today! Turn down the volume. It doesn’t need to be SO loud to be enjoyed. Wear ear plugs when you go to sporting events and concerts. These venues normally exceed 110 db when everyone screams after a touchdown or an encore!

Protect your ears even when you’re doing normal everyday tasks like mowing the lawn, vacuuming your carpet and blowing your leaves. Excessive sound pressure levels, albeit briefly, still have a deleterious affect on your hearing in the long term.

Believe me, you want to enjoy the sound of silence. I wish I could.

This post originally appeared on Mind The Gap's blog on March 27, 2015. The author, Marc A. Gallo. has recorded, performed and published music for Great Egg Music since 1990 and is currently President of Mind The Gap, a provider of on hold music and messaging services. 

5 Tips for Summer Hearing Aid Care

By Courtney Campbell, Au.D.

The summer months bring so many wonderful things—warm weather, sunshine, outdoor activities, and vacations—but for people who wear hearing aids, summer also brings extra maintenance.

Moisture is the enemy of hearing devices, so one of the biggest challenges during the warmer months is the accumulation of moisture in them. This moisture can be caused by humidity in the air, perspiration, or accidental splashes of water at the beach or pool or from a sprinkler.

Here are five ways to keep your devices dry and safe:

1. Use hearing aid covers for behind-the-ear styles. There are several different types on the market. Hearing aid “sweatbands” are made from an all-natural fabric that repels moisture, dust, and dirt. There are also hearing aid sheaths that are made of a water-resistant, spandex-nylon material that also keep out dirt, sweat, and moisture. Both options protect the hearing aid from outside moisture while letting sound come in naturally.
   

2. Dry instruments overnight. Recommended for use year-round, desiccant jars and electric hearing aid dryers are special containers that either use desiccant beads or electric drying technology to suck excess moisture out of the hearing aids. They double as overnight storage and should be used nightly.
   

3. Leave the battery doors open. To avoid corrosion in the battery compartment, leave the battery doors on your instruments open or take the battery out when you aren’t wearing the hearing aids.
   

4. Use clips to keep hearing aids secure. When participating in an activity with lots of movement, use specially designed, lightweight lanyards that attach your BTE or in-the-ear (ITE) hearing aids to your clothing or glasses. If your devices do fall out of your ears, they won’t get too far!
   

5. Disinfect your hearing aids. Warmth and moisture are breeding grounds for bacteria. Always be sure to disinfect your hearing aids before inserting them in your ears. There are many disinfectant wipes specially made for this purpose.

And finally, if you are near water and do not need your hearing aids for safety reasons, always take them out and put them in a safe place. But if the hearing aids do get wet or even submerged, remove them from the water immediately, dry them off, take out the battery, and place them in a desiccant jar or electric hearing aid dryer.

Which styles of hearing aids are best suited to active lifestyles? Find out here.

Courtney Campbell, Au.D., is an audiologist at A&A Hearing Group in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and has been wearing hearing aids for over a decade. 

Ages and Stages

By Maureen Plain

Effective communication is one of life’s greatest pleasures, and for those of us with typical hearing, we so often take this gift for granted. The process of verbal communication starts with being able to hear what is said. We then apply knowledge of the words we hear, so we can decipher its message.

When crafting a response, we must have the words in our repertoire of vocabulary readily available, so we can express our thoughts and then pronounce the words clearly enough to be understood by others. As we verbalize our response, grammatical markers for our words, intonation patterns, and understanding the social setting helps us share our thoughts effectively. This process of verbal communication begins in infancy with the use of eye contact, sounds, and body language, and continues throughout our lives. 

For those with hearing loss, all of this can be especially challenging.

Imagine the challenge for a 3-year-old girl who has just been diagnosed with a moderate to severe sensorineural hearing loss in both ears. For three years until diagnosis, she communicated entirely by reading body language and other physical cues. But how did this affect her ability to effectively communicate with others in the hearing world?

In the first couple years of life, caregivers (i.e. parents, nannies, and family members) are acutely aware of small children and often times face them when speaking. This girl’s caregivers did not realize she was solely dependent on reading body language and other physical cues, including lips, to communicate. As she got older, her mother noticed that when faced away, her daughter was unresponsive. After many misdiagnoses, this little girl and her family were told she had hearing loss.

Fortunately this child has a dedicated family that responded to her diagnosis with unwavering commitment, and immediately started designing a team of professionals to support the best learning possible, which included top-notch audiologists and a speech-language pathologist/auditory therapist. The school district provided great support and I was fortunate to be this child’s speech/language pathologist from the very beginning, working with her a few times each week from age 3 until she graduated from high school. 

Vocabulary growth and clear and proper pronunciation of words were always a crucial components of our therapy, as well as benchmarking and tracking progress. A toddler needs vocabulary to engage in play and to learn, just as a teenager needs vocabulary to navigate school and friendships.

At every age, building vocabulary with a person with a hearing loss is multifaceted and hard work. First we worked on hearing and saying each word until it became familiar enough to begin the process of developing listening for each word. We paid extra attention to words with syllables extremely difficult for her to hear, in this case those that are considered high-frequency (S-, SH-, CH-,TH-, -ECT.).

As the child grew older, she spoke intelligibly but would often leave off the ending syllables, such as a plural “s” because she was repeating only the sounds she heard. We worked on learning grammatical marker patterns so she would pronounce a plural “s” based on grammatical rules. Practicing the articulation for each sound component in a word is also very challenging, since a hearing loss makes it difficult to hear your own speech sound errors and correct them. We also used an oral motor approach to complement our work on sound production. We focused on how a sound felt when it was pronounced; where her lips, tongue and jaw belonged to articulate different sounds properly. We also practice oral vs. nasal air flow and practiced making sounds in front a mirror to see how it looked. Through this process, she developed speech that is clear and understood by all listeners, in addition to being able to use verbal cues and grammatical markers that she has been trained to watch for, but was otherwise unable to hear.

We also integrated speech therapy with auditory training exercises. Listening practice included her looking and listening when I was visible, and repeating the sounds she heard back to me. Once she mastered that, I then moved farther away from her sight to advance this skill. We then moved to improving listening without looking; while still facing her, I covered my mouth with a paper to develop better listening and discrimination of sound. As accuracy improved, I then would sit behind her and continually moved farther away until I was 6 feet away, with her back facing toward me. We also practiced listening to the word so it can be recognized in quiet and in noise.

Listening skills were paired with our work on vocabulary comprehension to enhance communication. Beyond pronunciation and listening, learning the definition of each word to build comprehension is crucial. Vocabulary shapes our conversation, and since mishearing words is a constant challenge for those with hearing loss, they must rely on their vocabulary knowledge to fill in the gaps for greater conversation participation and quality of life.

These are just a few of the many strategies that we used to improve speech, language, and listening during our 15 years together. To succeed she, as well as her parents and family, needed to fully trust the process and integrate these strategies into her everyday life. While therapy was only 2-3 hours a week, speech and verbal communication is a chosen part of her everyday life.

Therapy was a lot of hard work and sometimes frustrating for her, as not every milestone was easy. Until there’s a cure for her type of hearing loss, she will not have the ability to hear as seamlessly as those with typical hearing or have perfect speech. 

May is Better Speech and Hearing Month and serves as reminder that verbal communication is a shared pleasure that brings us laughter, learning, and love. We should take this month to treasure the gift of communication and celebrate the hard work and success of all individuals whose ability to communicate is challenged, for whatever reason.

Maureen Plain M.S., CCC-SLP, is a speech-language pathologist with 37 years of experience in the greater NY area. She is currently a Program Director for Sunny Days Consulting Services in New York.

6 Facts Every Woman Should Know About Hearing Health

By Laura Friedman

National Women’s Health Week may only last a week (May 10-16, 2015), but women’s health is a year-round issue. A growing body of research shows an association between hearing loss, quality of life, and a number of common chronic diseases and health conditions.

In the United States today, as many as one-third of women in their 50s have some degree of hearing loss, along with nearly two-thirds of women in their 60s. The findings of a 2008 study also suggest that the prevalence of hearing loss among younger adults, specifically among those in their 20s and 30s, is increasing. Fortunately, for the vast majority of people with hearing loss, hearing aids can help.

For many years, experts have known the positive impact that addressing hearing loss has on quality of life. Research shows that many people with hearing loss who use hearing aids see an improvement in their ability to hear in many settings; and many see an improvement in their relationships at home and at work, in their social lives, and in their ability to communicate effectively in most situations. Many even say they feel better about themselves.

In honor of National Women’s Health Week, we are sharing 6 Facts Every Woman Should Know About Hearing Health from The Better Hearing Institute:

1. Women with hearing loss are more likely to be depressed. Research shows that hearing loss is associated with depression among U.S. adults, but particularly among women.
   

2. The ear may be a window to the heart. Cardiovascular and hearing health are linked. Some experts say the inner ear is so sensitive to blood flow that it’s possible that abnormalities in the cardiovascular system could be noted here earlier than in other less sensitive parts of the body. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, according to the American Heart Association.
   

3. If you have diabetes, you’re about twice as likely to have hearing loss. What’s more, having diabetes may cause women to experience a greater degree of hearing loss as they age, especially if the diabetes is not well controlled with medication. About 11% of women in the United States are affected by diabetes.
   

4. Many of the same lifestyle behaviors that affect the heart impact hearing. More evidence of the interconnectedness between cardiovascular and hearing health is found in three studies on modifiable behaviors: One found that a higher level of physical activity is associated with lower risk of hearing loss in women. Another revealed that smokers and passive smokers are more likely to suffer hearing loss. And a third found that regular fish consumption and higher intake of long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids are associated with lower risk of hearing loss in women.
   

5. Hearing loss in women is tied to common pain relievers. Ibuprofen and acetaminophen are associated with an increased risk of hearing loss in women. The link is even stronger among those younger than 50.
   

6. Addressing hearing loss may benefit cognitive function. Research shows a link between hearing loss and dementia, which leads experts to believe that interventions, like hearing aids, could potentially delay or prevent dementia. Research is ongoing.

HI and HHF are encouraging women of all ages to take a free, quick, and confidential online hearing check at BetterHearing.org to help determine if they need a comprehensive hearing test by a hearing healthcare professional.

The content for this blog post originated in a press release issued by The Better Hearing Institute on May 8, 2015. 

Do Airplanes Trigger Tinnitus?

By Shari Eberts

I am lucky enough to have mostly mild tinnitus. Sometimes I have flare-ups and lately I have been experiencing a day of tinnitus after any air travel. This is a problem for me since I love to travel, and most of the places I like to travel to require an airplane ride. So what’s a weary hard-of-hearing traveler to do? It became clear to me that proper ear protection on the airplane is key.

My post-airplane tinnitus flare-ups have been occurring for the last several months and are usually accompanied by a reduced ability to hear. Even for someone with typical-hearing, it can be a challenge getting off the plane at a new destination, navigating the baggage claim, the rental car agency, and perhaps customs, all with two children in tow. But with a tinnitus flare-up and reduced hearing, it is even more challenging.

For me, I believe the issue is the sustained level of noise on the airplane; according to my iPhone decibel reader app, the interior of a plane is very loud—anywhere from 80 to 95 decibels, depending on the flight. Once in the air, the sound is like white noise and is easy to forget about or ignore, but it is constant, and can be damaging to our hearing. The rule of thumb is that prolonged exposure to any noise at or above 85 decibels can cause gradual hearing loss—and that damage can be permanent.

Here are some workarounds that I have found; I hope they work for you as they do for me:

1. When I get on the plane I shut my hearing aids off, so they act as earplugs. This can be a challenge if I need to communicate during the flight because almost all sound is blocked, preventing me from hearing. While sometimes I must turn them on, I try to keep my aids off for the entire flight, from prior to takeoff until we have reached the gate.
   

2. I try to reserve a seat on the aisle and as far away from the engines as possible. Sometimes this is not possible without paying extra for a special seat, but when possible, I do so.
   

3. I wear a hooded sweatshirt or jacket on the plane for an additional barrier to the noise. It helps prevent the tinnitus and the effect of reduced hearing.

These activities have helped a little bit, but have not fully eliminated the issue. I am still searching for solutions until there is a cure. Please share your tips with us in the comment box below.

This post originally appeared on the blog Living With Hearing Loss on March 25, 2015. The author, Shari Eberts, is the chair of HHF's Board of Directors.