Let's Get Looped!

By Yishane Lee

We’re talking about hearing loop systems, of course. As writer Elizabeth Stump describes in “Keeping You in the Loop,” in our new Spring issue of Hearing Health magazine, hearing loop systems deliver clear sound—free from background noise, echo, or distortion—directly into hearing aids that are equipped with telecoils (T-coils). About two-thirds of hearing aids have T-coils, and hearing loop systems are available at a growing number of public venues, ranging from churches and other places of worship to New York City taxis to auditorium ticket booths.

But hearing loop system advocates think we can do better. Here is advice from Juliëtte Sterkens, Au.D., the consumer and hearing loop advocate for the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) and a member of the National HLAA/American Academy of Audiology Hearing Loop Task Force.

What are your recommendations to others on how to advocate successfully for looping systems in their community?

I usually make a phone call or a pay a visit and explain why people with hearing loss (even if they use hearing aids or cochlear implants) have trouble hearing. Most facilities are unaware of the difficulties people with hearing loss experience—it is my experience that they want to help. During the visit I often play parts of sound demos in and out of hearing loops. These sound demos can be eye—or should I say ear—opening?

I have also let some of the responses from hearing loop users help me in the process. Many comments can be found online, such as at LoopWisconsin.com.

Advocating is made easier if I know that a facility will soon be undergoing remodeling because the installation of the loop wire is usually easier and less expensive if completed when the carpeting is going to be replaced anyway.

If cost is going to be of concern, I will offer information as to how other venues have handled this. For example, there are grant monies available for some venues (libraries, some houses of worship), and many communities have a community foundation is interested in knowing what can be done to improve access.  

For example in Oshkosh, Wis., the community foundation was helping to fund a remodel of the Oshkosh Convention Center in the fall of 2008. I made a couple of phone calls and sent a letter with information to the executive director. The result was they helped fund two hearing loops at the convention center about two weeks before the carpeting was to be laid down. 

The executive director believed me when I told her that having a hearing loop at the convention center would convince other venues to do the same. Oshkosh now has more than 40 hearing loops including its 100-plus-year-old Grand Opera House, a funeral home, several retirement communities, a court room, and a new conference center at University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.

To increase attention to a need, I have found that a letter to the editor of a newspaper can be of tremendous help—and the best part is that this is free!

There is strength in numbers: If you are advocating for improved access ask a friend or family member or a hearing professional to write a short letter of support as well.  

The last resort would be playing the ADA card (Americans with Disability Act). The ADA mandates that facilities offer assistive technology. If a facility is unwilling one could file a complaint with the Department of Justice.

The HLAA has more tips to help you advocate for loops in your community, and we have additional links including looped spaces at hhf.org/loops.

Boston Marathon Bombing Inspires Family to Run to Cure Hearing Loss and Tinnitus

By Tara Guastella

Last April 15 was a life-changing day for the Campbell family—as it was for many who attended one of the greatest annual sporting events: the Boston Marathon. This year, the Campbell family is not only running their first ever Boston marathon but fundraising to cure for hearing loss and tinnitus. We wanted to share their story with you and hope you'll join us in supporting their marathon run.

Out of the 264 people injured on the day of the Boston Marathon bombing, the Massachusetts Office of Victim Assistance (MOVA) now estimates that at least 150 are experiencing hearing loss or tinnitus.

Jean Campbell is one those people, and this is her and her family’s story.

The days preceding the big race, a friend from Atlanta who was running the race stayed at the Campbell home in New Hampshire. Early the morning of April 15, Jean’s husband Christopher, his wife Jean, and their three sons Corey, Trevor, and Mitchell headed to Boston to watch the friend and several others run the race. (Corey has a mild hearing loss and Trevor moderate to profound hearing loss. Trevor wears hearing aids.) The family was split into two groups since the sons went to different schools and arrived at the race at different times. Jean and youngest son Mitchell were together and Christopher was with the two older sons, Corey and Trevor.

Chris, Jean, Trevor, Mitchell, and Corey Campbell

The two groups ended up on opposite sides of Hereford and Commonwealth Avenue while watching the race. After their friend Diane ran by, both groups started to head to the finish line on Boylston Street. Jean was busy taking photographs of other runners, and like any teenage son, Mitchell urged his mother to hurry up and the two began to bicker. Mitchell was eager to get to the finish line and starting to get impatient. “If we hadn’t been bickering, we would have been closer to the explosions,” says Jean, referring to the two homemade pressure-cooker bombs that exploded that day.

“That blast felt like a hurricane and immediately, it looked like a war zone,” she says. Jean has a sensorineural hearing loss in both ears, she instinctively leaned her “better ear”, the left one toward the first blast. “I knew immediately my hearing loss had worsened,” she says. As a result of the bombings, she also lost discrimination in both of her ears and her tinnitus worsened.

Jean and Mitchell ran for their lives clinging to one another. Jean immediately knew it was a bomb. “ I felt like we were in a movie,” Jean says. To get off the street, they ran into a Crate & Barrel store. “The very competent staff helped us escape through a back door,” she says. “They were incredibly kind and helpful. It was almost as if they were trained for it.” Jean adds that Mitchell remained very calm and collected throughout the day’s events, even after getting hit with a piece of shrapnel and his existing tinnitus growing much worse.

At the moment the blasts were occurring, Christopher and his two older sons happened to be taking a shortcut through the Sheraton Hotel to get to the finish line more quickly. “I couldn’t hear a thing,” Christopher says. “I didn’t even know the bombs had gone off.” Corey and Trevor were worried and frantic wondering where Jean and Micthell were. Since cell phone service was quickly overwhelmed following the explosions, the family could not contact one another. It wasn’t until 10pm that night—back in New Hampshire—that the family was reunited.

As soon as the blasts happened, Jean knew she had to see her audiologist at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary as she could not hear out of her right ear. She says she had the fleeting thought of trying to go to the hospital in Boston, but at the time it was unclear whether the entire city was under attack. “I needed to find the rest of my family and get out of there,” she says. Jean has bilateral hearing aids and is in a support group for people injured in the Boston Marathon bombings.

One year later, the Campbell family is running the 2014 Boston Marathon in support of Jean and her recovery. They are fundraising to support Hearing Health Foundation and our search for a cure for hearing loss and tinnitus through the Hearing Restoration Project (HRP). The Campbell family has lived through a traumatic event but since there had been hearing loss in their family, they feel they were slightly better equipped to handle the confusion and depression that can come with sudden hearing loss. “We think educating people about what to expect, and how to cope, is important,” Christopher says.

The Campbells are very encouraged by the strides Hearing Health Foundation and our HRP consortium have made so far toward finding a cure for hearing loss and tinnitus, such as early success with regenerating sensitive inner ear hair cells in adult mice that, in all mammals, once damaged through noise or age lead to permanent hearing loss.

Please join us in supporting the Campbell family as they tackle their first marathon and give hope for a cure within a decade.

10 Fun Easter Facts From Our Mascot, the Baby Chick

By Tara Guastella

As you’ve seen on our previous blog posts, a baby chicken may hold the key to a cure for hearing loss and tinnitus. Chickens have the remarkable ability to restore their own hearing naturally by regrowing inner ear hair cells that, once they are damaged, lead to hearing loss.

In fact, most animals other than mammals can regenerate these delicate cells, regaining their hearing after the cells are damaged by noise, age, or ototoxic drugs. This is the basis for the work of our Hearing Restoration Project, which is aiming to translate this remarkable capacity to humans.

So with Easter right around the corner we thought our mascot, the baby chick, would provide you with 10 fun Easter facts:

1) Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Christ three days after his death. It is the oldest Christian holiday and the most important day of the church year.

2) Like rabbits and hares, eggs and chicks are often associated with Easter because, in pagan times, they were signs of fertility and new life.

3) After Halloween, Easter is the biggest candy-consuming holiday. About 120 million pounds of candy are bought each year, enough to fill four dump trucks.

4) Roughly 90 million chocolate bunnies, 91.4 billion eggs, and 700 million Peeps (sugar-coated marshmallow sweets) are produced each year in the United States.

5) About 76 percent of people eat the ears on chocolate bunnies first.

6) Half of the states in the United States have banned the practice of dyeing live chicks for Easter.

7) To help Americans in need, egg farmers across the country are donating more than 11 million eggs to food banks across the nation.

8) The White House hosts an Easter Egg Roll on its Front Lawn each year. This tradition was started by President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1878.

9) Like many holidays, Easter also has its own catchy tunes or carols such as “Here Comes Peter Cottontail” and “Easter Parade.”

10) Some 16 billion jelly beans are made specifically for Easter, which is enough to fill a plastic egg the size of a nine-story building.

If you celebrate Easter this coming Sunday and enjoy chick-shaped marshmallows or other fun Easter candy, remember that it is a little chick that is helping us to achieve the next great medical breakthrough: curing hearing loss and tinnitus.

Is A Cure for Hearing Loss Possible?

By Shanna Groves

When Hearing Health Foundation approached Lipreading Mom about doing a story about curing hearing loss, I admit I was skeptical. Is a cure really possible? And if it is, would it benefit those who have embraced their deafness? I have many friends who haven’t been able to hear all their lives, and they lead very full lives. So why the need to change that?

Lipreading Mom recently conducted an email interview with Shari Eberts, Chairman of the Hearing Health Foundation’s (HHF) Board of Directors, about HHF’s research into hearing loss.

When did research into a hearing loss ‘cure’ first get support from the Hearing Health Foundation?

HHF’s founder, Collette Ramsey Baker, was steadfast in her support of funding for new technologies and treatments for hearing loss, despite objections and doubts from supporters and those in the industry. Because of that commitment, HHF has been a leader in driving new innovations and treatments for people with hearing loss for more than fifty years. This includes funding research that led to the development of cochlear implants and many of today’s standard treatments for otosclerosis (abnormal bone growth in the ear) and ear infections. Today, HHF continues to support groundbreaking research in hearing, through the search for a biological cure for hearing loss and tinnitus through its Hearing Restoration Project (HRP).

HRP officially launched in 2011 and is currently funding five projects from its consortium scientists, but the initial discovery that led to the HRP came many years before. Many types of hearing loss result from damage to the delicate hair cells of the inner ear. Humans can’t regrow these cells—but in a game-changing breakthrough in 1987, HHF-funded scientists discovered that birds can.

While studying how drugs that are known to cause hearing damage affect the tiny sensory cells in the ear, these scientists needed to permanently damage a chicken’s hair cells. For 10 days, research assistants administered a common antibiotic, known to cause hearing loss, to laboratory chickens. On day 11 many of the hair cells were lost and a few days later, even more were lost. Surprisingly, when the scientists looked three weeks later, almost all the hair cells had returned. They didn’t believe these results so they did the experiment again and again. Sure enough, chickens can naturally regenerate their inner ear hair cells, restoring their hearing after damage.

Our HRP Consortium is the dream team of hair cell regeneration, comprising the best auditory scientists at leading institutions worldwide such as Harvard and Stanford. With more than 200 years of combined experience in hearing research, the HRP Consortium publishes widely (over 400 published papers among them) and have well established labs (receiving over 600 NIH grants combined). We have every confidence we have the right team in place, and the right model to accelerate the timeline to a cure.

For years, scientific research has been conducted in relative isolation—one researcher or one institution working alone to tackle a major health issue. HHF developed the HRP Consortium model to do things differently. Our HRP scientists work on research projects together, share their unpublished data and tools, and collaborate on the development and refinement of the HRP’s strategic research plan. The group meets bi-annually in person, monthly by conference call, and communicates frequently by email. This continual dialogue is helping to eliminate repetitive work across the team, saving time and research dollars, and most importantly, accelerating the timetable to a cure.

Even though we are in the early stages of the research, we think it is very important that the public learn about our efforts. We want them to know that there is hope for a cure, and that there are researchers who consider curing hearing loss and tinnitus to be their life’s most important work. We hope our marketing efforts will help bring attention to the issue, raise awareness of the prospects for a cure and inspire other scientists and laypeople to join us in our support of this important research, so that we can find the cure as soon as possible.

But what about people with different forms of hearing loss: How can these research findings affect people born with hearing loss? People with late-in-life hearing loss?

There are two broad forms of hearing loss:

Conductive Hearing Loss is caused by any condition that blocks or impedes the conveyance of sound through the outer or middle ear. The result is a reduction in the sound intensity that reaches the cochlea. Common causes include ear infections, a perforation in the eardrum, or even buildup of earwax. Generally, conductive hearing loss can be treated with a complete or partial improvement in hearing.

Sensorineural Hearing Loss commonly occurs due to an injury or degenerative change in the inner ear and is currently permanent.

Damage to the hair cells in the inner ear is the most common type of sensorineural hearing loss. The Hearing Restoration Project is focused on the cure for sensorineural hearing loss, through the regeneration of these damaged inner ear hair cells, and with it the regeneration of hearing. Most types of age-related hearing loss and noise-induced hearing loss are caused by damage to these hair cells, making the HRP research applicable to most types of acquired hearing loss.

The amazing thing is that regeneration happens naturally and very robustly in almost all animals – mammals are the exception. This makes HHF and the researchers confident that we will find a way to stimulate this regeneration in mammals, including humans. While ten years may seem like a long time, and it is for someone like myself who lives with hearing loss every day, it is realistically within my lifetime, and that gives me hope and excites me for the future. While we wait for the cure, we encourage people with hearing loss to seek treatment for the condition through hearing aids or other means, so that they can enjoy the highest quality of life possible, while they wait.

What about tinnitus: How can these findings help the millions of people worldwide with ringing in their ears?

With 90% of tinnitus (ringing in the ears) occurring with an underlying hearing loss, a cure for hearing loss is also likely to be a cure for tinnitus. In a recent article in Hearing Health magazine, HHF’s free quarterly publication on all things related to hearing loss, this topic was discussed in detail. Some of the high points are detailed below:

There is certainly evidence that the restoration of hearing can alleviate tinnitus. For example, tinnitus can be induced by exposure to loud sounds that result in the temporary loss of hearing, which is experienced by many after attending a loud event like a rock concert. In most such cases, the tinnitus disappears as the hearing recovers.

Another example is the response of patients for whom otosclerosis (an abnormal bone growth in the middle ear) has induced a conductive hearing loss. Many such patients with this hereditary condition experience tinnitus. However, when their hearing is restored through a surgical procedure, many report an improvement in tinnitus.

Finally, there have been several reports that patients, after receiving a cochlear implant, experience a significant reduction in their tinnitus. Interestingly, in some cases this tinnitus suppression continues for several hours after the implant is turned off. Though the mechanism by which cochlear implants may suppress tinnitus is not clear, these observations all suggest that restoring function to the auditory system may be very helpful for tinnitus in a variety of ways.

There may be skepticism about ‘curing’ hearing loss. How would you respond to criticism toward curing hearing loss or deafness? For example, the Deaf community has a strong cultural identity shaped by living with deafness. Some would argue that a person’s deafness is what makes him/her unique, so why change it?

Hearing Health Foundation respects everyone’s individual choices and beliefs as relates to their hearing loss. For those interested in a biological cure, we are proud to be working on one.

This article was republished with permission.

Hearing Aid Pop Quiz

By Kathi Mestayer

This year, I'm getting new hearing aids! My existing aids are five years old, and have Bluetooth-compatibility, telecoils, adaptive directionality, and programs to fit my most idiosyncratic needs, including a birdwatching/music program with omnidirectional microphones.

But a lot can happen in five years, and I've been hearing from my audiologist, Sandy Burkes-Campbell, M.S., CCC-A, of Maico Audiological Services in Newport News, Va., that some of her patients are getting big improvements in speech comprehension, including in noise, with newer aids, so I'm pumped.

When I set up my appointment, she informed me that I would be getting a questionnaire to fill out for our consultation.  

Pop quiz! The pressure is on… and the questions include but are not limited to:

1. How important are the following:

a. having high-tech aids?

b. "cosmetic" issues (e.g. size, color, visibility)?

c. price constraints?

2. Do you experience frustration in family interactions?

3. Do you feel "left out" when with a group?

4. Is your social life limited by your hearing loss?

5. Do you have any ringing in your ears?

6. Is listening to music a priority for you?  

7.  Do your current aids present any of the following problems/challenges:

a. Tinny/metallic sounds?

b. Feedback or whistling?

c. Wind noise?

d. Trouble using a landline or other phone?

e. Difficulty changing batteries?

f. Don't like how your own voice sounds?

And then, I got the open-ended essay question:

If there was anything you could change about your current hearing aids, what would it be?

I'm working hard filling in the blanks and writing (and revising) my essay… I need to get an A. More importantly, I think the result will be a thoughtful, complete discussion of my needs and issues. Thanks, Sandy!

Also from our latest issue of Hearing Health magazine, you can get nuts-and-bolts answers to real-life hearing aid questions. Earlier, we featured the ultimate guide to hearing aid styles.

Also in the new Spring issue, you can learn about finding the right hearing health professional for you.

HHF Included in Media Planet Vision and Hearing News

By Tara Guastella

For the second year, HHF is excited to be included in Media Planet’s Vision and Hearing News campaign. This annual initiative aims to raise awareness about vision and hearing loss, discuss new technologies, and provide expert commentary on the latest from the field. The campaign is included as an insert in USA Today and shared digitally, reaching millions of viewers worldwide.

This issue’s cover story features Seattle Seahawks fullback Derrick Coleman in an interview about his experience with hearing loss and the methods he took to succeed in his career. The interview is inspirational and it’s great to see Coleman as a role model for people with hearing loss.

Our exciting work to cure hearing loss and tinnitus is included within the issue in an article titled “The Promise for a Cure”. While technologies like hearing aids and cochlear implants bring great benefit to people with hearing loss, the article highlights how the work of our Hearing Restoration Project (HRP) aims to deliver a genuine, biologic cure for hearing loss and tinnitus within the next decade. By studying chickens, fish, and other animals who have the ability to naturally regenerate their inner ear hair cells and reverse hearing loss, our team of HRP researchers aims to translate the ability to restore hearing to people. Our PSA is also featured at the bottom of the article.

"Our organization has been at the forefront of hearing research for over half a century. Now we’re funding a genuine, biologic cure for hearing loss and tinnitus within the next decade. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of continued research in the hearing field,” says Shari Eberts, the chairman of HHF’s board of directors, in the article.

HHF Medical Director David Haynes, M.D., FACS, answers common questions about cochlear implants (CIs) and the types of hearing loss that may be eligible for CIs. “While standard hearing aids amplify sound, the cochlear implant has the capacity to break down sound and deliver this signal to specific areas of the cochlea, improving understanding,” Haynes says.

Lastly, we contributed an article about preventing hearing loss and the best ways to keep your, and your loved ones, hearing safe and sound. You can watch our interactive “How Hearing Works” video and also learn about walk, block, and turn. Our three-step method to prevent hearing damage advises walking away from loud sounds, blocking them with earplugs or earmuffs, and turning down the volume when it is under your control.

Check out the full Media Planet campaign for other hearing and vision resources.

How to Get the Most Out of Your Hearing Aids

By Yishane Lee

This is the focus of the Spring issue of Hearing Health magazine, which we’ve just shipped to the printer and expect to land in mailboxes in the coming weeks. (Already online!)

Virtually every reader of our magazine currently uses a hearing aid, and we crafted the issue with this fact in mind. The first step is often to find the right hearing healthcare provider to fit your needs. Staff writer Kathi Mestayer reviews the differences among hearing professionals—and deciphers what all those letters following a doctors name mean.

We wondered: How can we help you get the most out of your hearing aid? Staff writer and audiologist Barbara Jenkins provides concrete solutions to common hearing scenarios, such as for a child with hearing loss and for an active sports enthusiast. What considerations should be made for a resident of an assisted living facility? What options do you have if finances are a concern?

Jenkins (who does have a lot of letters following her name!) offers nuts-and-bolts answers based on her more than 25 years of experience in hospital and clinical settings. Her bottom line? Even if your audiogram is the same as another person’s, your lifestyle, preferences, budget, and hearing requirements combine to make your needs unique. During the hearing aid trial period required by most states, try out a new hearing aid in as many listening environments as you yourself are likely to commonly encounter, be it music concerts, crowded meetings, noisy schoolrooms, or your convertible car.

We also polled staff, board members, friends, and Facebook fans of HHF, for the best hearing aid tips, and compiled a comprehensive body of advice covering first-time usage, purchasing, batteries, settings and programs, and more.

Getting the right hearing aid is just the first step. Accessories—such as for the proper care and storage of your aid, as well as wireless and assistive devices that help boost the clarity in challenging listening situations—are also important. Learn what factors affect how long your hearing aid batteries last, and about the advantages of hearing loop systems.

And as in every issue, catch up on the latest research from our Hearing Restoration Project—a consortium of scientists working toward the promise of a biologic cure for hearing loss and tinnitus in 10 years.

We hope you enjoy the new issue of Hearing Health. If you don’t already subscribe to this FREE quarterly, please sign up here.

And as always, we welcome your ideas and feedback!

Will Research on Chickens Provide a Solution to Needing Hearing Aids?

By Aaron Rodriques

Researchers hope to develop hearing loss treatments by studying the regenerative capabilities inner ear cells in chickens. We discovered some interesting info on these little guys and hearing aids. 

An Alternative to Hearing Aids

Scientists are on the path of a new application that could provide a unique alternative to hearing aids. By studying hair cells found in the inner ears of chickens, researchers are in the process of creating treatments that cure hearing loss in humans, minimizing the demand for hearing aids in the future.

Chickens can regenerate inner ear cells that replace cells damaged from noise and other forms of physical trauma. All vertebrates except mammals can exhibit this phenomenon. 

"The key to restoring hearing in humans is to regenerate cells deep within the inner ear," said Shari Eberts, chairwoman of the board of directors of the Hearing Health Foundation, which is funding the research. "While humans cannot regenerate hair cells in the inner ear after they are damaged, chickens can. In fact, most animals other than mammals can regenerate these delicate cells, restoring their hearing spontaneously after damage."

Hearing Aids and the Hearing Restoration Project

The Hearing Restoration Project (HRP) involves researchers from more than 10 institutions including Harvard Medical School, who are studying chickens in order to find out how humans could possibly regenerate inner ear cells. 

Approximately 36 million adults in the U.S. have some kind of hearing loss, and 25 million have tinnitus, according to the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. The Hearing Health Foundation aims to manufacture a cure by 2024.

According to Eberts, researchers are studying fish and mice as well. Fish can regenerate hair cells like chickens, but mice cannot.

"By analyzing what genes allow for regeneration in fish and chickens, we can compare those to mouse genes to see where the differences occur," she said. "Once we have an understanding of what genes and sets of genes (known as pathways) play a role in allowing for regeneration in fish and chickens, and which inhibit regeneration in mice, we will have a clearer understanding of how to trigger regeneration in humans."

Animal Biology and Hearing Aid Design

Similar studies with different animal species have found them to have unique hearing capabilities that offer promising new innovations for hearing aid technology. This includes the impressive hearing abilities of the Greater Wax Moth, a tiny insect found in beehives, and the unique anatomy of the locust. Hearing aids based on structures found in nature are considered to have a “biomimetic design.”

This article was republished with permission from Audicus.

Can Plants Hear?

By Yishane Lee

As a friend of HHF, you are no doubt well aware that chicks, fish, and reptiles have the ability to regenerate their inner ear hair cells, an ability that means any damage to their hearing is corrected.

Mammals, including humans, cannot, and this is the core of what HHF’s Hearing Restoration Project is working to solve within the next decade—how we can translate the chick’s ability to regrow hair cells to humans, and as a result find a biologic cure for hearing loss and tinnitus.

Now comes news that it is not just the animal world that can hear. Plants can, too. A recent story by Michael Pollan in the New Yorker included this paragraph (italics mine):

“Plants have evolved between 15 and 20 distinct senses, including analogues of our five: smell and taste (they sense and respond to chemicals in the air or on their bodies); sight (they react differently to various wavelengths of light as well as to shadow); touch (a vine or a root ‘knows’ when it encounters a solid object); and, it has been discovered, sound. In a recent experiment, Heidi Appel, a chemical ecologist at the University of Missouri, found that, when she played a recording of a caterpillar chomping a leaf for a plant that hadn’t been touched, the sound primed the plant’s genetic machinery to produce defense chemicals. Another experiment, done in [Italian plant physiologist Stefano] Mancuso’s lab and not yet published, found that plant roots would seek out a buried pipe through which water was flowing even if the exterior of the pipe was dry, which suggested that plants somehow ‘hear’ the sound of flowing water.”

I find this absolutely fascinating. Could it be the plants “hear” via sensing sound vibrations—just like we do? And then they’re able to correctly correlate these vibrations to the category of friend or foe—again, just like we do? To hear the plant biologists in the story put it: Yes, it’s entirely possible, and even likely.

The article raises interesting issues of why animal-based biology deserves primacy, and whether a typical (animal) brain is needed for something to be considered intelligent. In addition to reading the piece, which I highly encourage you to do, there is a TED Talk by Mancuso, if you want to learn more.

We can learn much from plants. The promise of the Hearing Restoration Project is that we can also learn much from chicks, fish, and reptiles. Indeed, there has been early success with hair cell regeneration in mice.

Support the search for a cure for hearing loss and tinnitus within a decade.

Working With Hearing Loss

By Yishane Lee

Hearing Helath magazine staff writer Kathi Mestayer has written two articles about issues of workplace noise—how to take steps to take to protect your hearing if your workplace is noisy, and how to cope at work if you have a hearing loss. In response, we received an email from Eric Schwartz, of Atlanta. He has a hearing loss and, with help of a fellow colleague who also has a hearing loss, contributed a question-and-answer column to his consulting firm’s in-house newsletter.

It is interesting to read as it tackles the issue of hearing loss at the workplace from two different perspectives. “Jackie Fitzgerald and I met at an internal North Highland training session and bonded instantly when we both realized we were wearing hearing aids,” says Schwartz. “We have very different perspectives because of our respective genders and the fact that I was born with my hearing loss and Jackie’s hearing loss came as an adult, due to otosclerosis, a disease of the bones of the inner ear.”

Here are excerpts from the article.

What is your biggest challenge?

Jackie: With the slow onset of my hearing loss, my biggest challenge has been truly grasping the extent of how much I really have lost over the years. Recently the need to “fill in” what I missed in a conversation has become more necessary. At times this filling in has led to misunderstandings or an inadvertent change in topic. One example is when I have missed one simple word like “not”—which has happened on more than one occasion with my husband, and as you can imagine has caused some heated conversation before we realize I missed that simple little word. So for me, the challenge is also realizing I need to make adjustments, including asking someone to repeat themselves, which can be difficult to do.

Eric: My challenge is just trying to appear “normal” in a world in which spoken communication is very important. I think people sometimes assume I am stupid or am choosing to ignore them, and they are judging me based on that rather than recognizing that I have a hearing loss. The hardest situations for me include whispering, interpreting foreign accents, trying to hear in a lot of background noise, watching television with no subtitles, and listening to pitched voices that are outside of my hearing range. Hearing aids help quite a bit, but there are times when I can’t wear them such as while doing sports, taking a shower, etc. People don’t always know when I don’t have them in, although I try and wear them whenever I am awake. Just dealing with the embarrassment of not hearing and being afraid to ask people to repeat what they said is something I struggle with as well. I do have to admit that I’m somewhat self-conscious about the hearing aids, particularly when a small child points to them and asks their parents, “What does that man have in his ear?”  

It’s more of a challenge in my personal life than my professional life because the context is so much more straightforward at work. I’ve grown very accustomed to filling in the blanks and making educated guesses at what people are saying, to the extent that I don’t even realize I’m doing it. My wife hates it when I guess wrong—she’d much rather I clarify then guess, but it’s hard because I don’t even realize I’m doing it. I do agree that a sense of humor can be very helpful in coping with this, and any, situation.

What have you learned?

Jackie: I have learned that due to my loss I have become a bit paranoid. My loss is always “there” and it is something I worry about in the back of my mind. Do I have batteries for my aids on hand? Will my hearing aids “go out” during an important meeting? How will I effectively facilitate the next breakout session in this noisy room? Will I be able to hear the conversation at the end of a table? I have learned that one of the keys to limiting the problems is to plan ahead, always have batteries on hand, sit close to the speakers, and to find quieter locations for conversation. Also for the most part people are intrigued and truly interested in the loss when I share it with them, so when appropriate, I always make sure others are aware of my loss to help minimize any misunderstandings. But most importantly, I have learned the value of a sense of humor. For those who know me, they know I love to laugh, so using this trait has become invaluable when misunderstandings have occurred.

Eric: Most people are compassionate and want to help and I need to do a better job of explaining my hearing loss to people. In addition, I have learned that I really have to concentrate and pay much more attention to what people aren’t saying, such as through body language. Lastly, I have an opportunity to teach people about this and help people who experience the onset of a hearing loss later in life.

What are you grateful for?

Jackie: I’m most grateful for two things: technology and a spouse who is very patient. The new technology around hearing is incredible, and without it I couldn’t do the work I love—listening and helping clients. But even with all the wonders of technology, I still miss things and when I think about all the times my husband has answered the question, “What did they say?” during a movie, without getting annoyed, I am truly amazed. When we met I didn’t have a loss and he has really been a wonderful supporter. Recently he has begun to lose some hearing and I caught myself getting frustrated with him—which really brought to light just how wonderful he has been over the past 20 years.

Eric: Hearing aid technology is amazing. It’s more expensive than I’d like and it’s not always covered by insurance, but even that is changing. I’m also grateful for my other senses and the hearing that I do have. Being hearing impaired is a small handicap compared with being completely deaf. I’m grateful that I have been able to compensate and adjust and it hasn’t had an overly negative impact on my life. It also seems as if my hearing loss has heightened my other senses and abilities in terms of my sense of smell and sight and my ability to observe and remember.

What would be a key takeaway for colleagues?

Jackie: I am generally filling in close to 20 percent of a conversation based on context and body language. Over the course of the day that can be exhausting. So if I completely change topics or appear to go in a different direction, please don’t be afraid to make sure I heard what was intended, versus what I appear to have understood. There is a big difference—I can only understand if I heard it correctly! Also, during a presentation, for the 10 percent of the population with a hearing loss, listening while also trying to read information is extremely challenging. I personally have to completely concentrate to hear a presenter, so presenting slides quickly and which are not aligned to what the speaker is saying can be very frustrating. Most importantly if you think you might have a hearing loss, take it seriously. You don’t know what you are missing—which can be a lot.

Eric: Please be patient and do your best to make sure I can see your lips when we are talking. If I don’t appear to understand you, please assume I didn’t hear you or fully understand you—I am probably not ignoring you. Also, if you see me outside the office running a 5K or 10K race, I might not have my hearing aids in, and sometimes first thing in the morning if I think I’m at the office before anyone else is there, I might not have them in either. I’ll put them in pretty quickly if it seems as if someone wants to engage in a conversation with me, but if I’m talking to someone one on one and we’re near each other, I can usually function pretty well.

Are there ways you consider being hearing impaired an advantage?

Jackie: Absolutely! I like to call my loss a true “superpower.” Sleeping is very peaceful, and when riding in airplanes I don’t need to invest in gadgets to quiet the loud talkers and crying babies. I love music and when I go to concerts I can take out my aids so I never have to admit the music is “too loud.” And a few years ago my mother and I laughed when she commented that no wonder I was so patient when my boys invited so many friends to our house—I couldn’t hear them.

Eric: When I really need to focus and get something done, I can take out my hearing aids and really concentrate on the task at hand. I think it’s easier to check out and tune in to my thoughts. As Jackie said, it’s easier to tune out things in public places. I also sleep more soundly than most people I know. Sometimes in a noisy place I can actually do better than normal hearing people because of my ability to read lips. The other interesting thing is technology. With my newest hearing aids I have a Bluetooth adapter that turns my hearing aids into receivers for my cell phone and landline and MP3 player!  This is very cool.

What’s something surprising you’ve found about your hearing loss?

Jackie: How many people think it is funny to say “what?” when I explain that I have a hearing loss. It surprises me how everyone thinks they are the first to think of that joke. But seriously, when I started preparing for this article I reflected back on the 20 or so years since I was diagnosed and realized how much I didn’t know about my loss. Back then, there wasn’t WebMD or Google, so I just didn’t do much research. I realized how little I understood about something that was such a key part of my life. What I learned in my recent research is that one in 10 Americans have hearing loss, but only a fifth of the population use hearing aids. I found this amazing since close to 90 to 95 percent of those people could benefit from a hearing aid solution. To me any stigma that may be encountered due to another person’s ignorance will never compare to the quality of life that I would miss without my aids.

Eric: My biggest surprise is how much I crave quiet. I find it very annoying and distracting when the TV or radio is on in the background, especially when it’s loud. So, even though I have a hearing loss, I’m sensitive to loud noises (especially screaming babies at restaurants and on airplanes now that my kids are past that stage) and really don’t like loud music at all. The other thing, which really isn’t a surprise, is that I’m horrible at multitasking and get distracted by simply being able to hear. When I first got my hearing aids, it was fascinating to hear certain sounds, like the sound liquid makes when you pour it in a cup or birds chirping in my backyard. I never heard those things before I got hearing aids.