Celebrating Your Birthday in September? Learn How You Can Help HHF!

By Lauren McGrath

Sharing birthday presents is a popular custom. Most Americans report positive emotions when giving gifts. 83 and 78 percent of people feel joyful and generous, respectively, when sharing a present with a loved one, Pew Research finds. 

The receiving side of the gift-giving process is much different. The question, "What do you want for your birthday?" often triggers a mental blank, especially when multiple friends or family members inquire simultaneously. To think of one tangible item on the spot can be difficult.

More people in America were born in September than in any other month, according to a study shared in Reader's Digest from the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, so it follows that this is the most popular birthday gift-giving time of the year, too.

Should you fall among the millions of Americans celebrating a birthday during this ninth month of 2017, Hearing Health Foundation (HHF) has a suggestion for you. Did you know that you can dedicate your birthday to a nonprofit organization of your choice on Facebook, inviting your friends to give directly to the cause?

A new feature on Facebook prompts users two weeks before their birthday to select a nonprofit organization's page. The individual whose birthday is approaching can set a goal amount and enter a custom message. Friends will see the public post, which expires at midnight on the user's actual birthday.

HHF relies on the generosity of individuals to propel forward its critical hearing and balance research, awareness efforts, and advocacy work. If you are a September-born HHF supporter who considers our work personally valuable, please consider creating a fundraiser of any size. Every dollar makes a difference.

Help your friends contribute to HHF through the following steps:

1. Once logged into Facebook, go to the Fundraisers page.

2. Click Raise Money.

3. Click Get Started.

4. Choose Nonprofit.

5. Type or Choose Hearing Health Foundation.

6. Personalize your message and click Create.

Happy birthday! And thank you for considering donating your special day to HHF.

Labor Day and Working with Hearing Loss

By Katelyn Serpe

Since 1894, when Labor Day was named a federal holiday, the United States has celebrated the labor movement and the many contributions that workers have made in improving the lives of Americans across the country. Establishing a minimum wage and child labor laws are just a few of the accomplishments that have been made since the start of the labor movement.

Among these accomplishments are various workplace safety regulations, including recommendations for occupational noise exposure. Yet despite these regulations, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) estimates that 30 million U.S. workers are exposed to noise levels high enough to cause hearing loss. With approximately 150 million Americans in the workforce, nearly 1 in 5 U.S. workers are exposed to noise levels high enough to cause hearing loss.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 24% of hearing loss in the United States has been a result of workplace exposure, yet people with a hearing loss are often hesitant to disclose their hearing loss in the workplace due to the associated stigmas. Some people with a hearing loss may not seek treatment immediately if they view their hearing loss as an unimportant issue. Yet others may not even be aware they have a hearing loss due to the low number of people who regularly receive hearing screenings.

People with hearing loss are less likely to be in the labor force with nearly half (47%) of people with hearing loss not in the labor force compared with 23% of typical hearing individuals. And the unemployment rate for those with a hearing loss is nearly double that of the typical hearing population.

Having a hearing loss comes with its own challenges but an undisclosed hearing loss in the workplace can increase work-related stress and cause problems in the workplace. Most jobs require some form of verbal communication and an undisclosed hearing loss can decrease efficient verbal communication. This can result in incorrect work due to a lack of comprehension of verbal instructions or a general decrease in productivity. A person with undisclosed hearing loss may, therefore, lose out on promotions and possibly face a loss in annual wages. People with untreated hearing loss can lose as much as $30,000 in annual income and earn approximately 25% less than their typical-hearing peers.

Fortunately, the use of hearing aids has been shown to nearly eliminate the risk of income loss for those with milder hearing loss, and reduce the risk of income loss significantly for those with moderate to severe hearing loss. But while it may seem that the use of hearing aids is a solution for the risk of income loss for people with hearing loss, only 1 in 4 people who could benefit from hearing aids currently owns them.

Employers can help reduce the economic costs of hearing loss by creating environments where people with a hearing loss are unafraid to acknowledge their hearing loss. Making hearing tests part of a company wellness program, making sure hearing aids are covered by company insurance, and providing reasonable accommodations for those with hearing loss are some steps that employers can take to decrease the stigma of having a hearing loss in the workplace.

Through education and raising awareness about the prevalence of hearing loss among Americans, Hearing Health Foundation hopes to erase the stigmas surrounding hearing loss.

We hope you will join Hearing Health Foundation this Labor Day in celebrating the achievements made so far to improve the lives of working Americans while also encouraging further progress to improve American lives both in and out of the workplace.

That Annoying Ringing in Your Ears Has a Name: Tinnitus

HHF's communications and programs manager, Laura Friedman, shared her knowledge of tinnitus treatments with Boomer in "Have You Heard? That Annoying Ringing in Your Ears has a Name: Tinnitus."

There are currently no permanent solutions to cure this constant, unexplained noise, but the efforts of HHF's Hearing Restoration Project, an international scientific consortium working collaboratively in search of a biological cure for hearing loss, may produce one.

"One of the more interesting experimental treatment possibilities for tinnitus is reported by Laura Friedman...Since hair cell loss in the Corti (the organ containing sensory hair cells required for hearing) leads to hearing reduction, missing hairs may cause persistent imbalances in the auditory nerve, resulting in tinnitus. To address this possibility, the HHF’s Hearing Restoration Project is working to discover factors that would allow new human hair cells to be regenerated and restored in the Corti, or to convert non-sensory cells into hair cells."

Read the full article from Boomer, here.

Preparing Deaf & HoH Athletes: Assistive Technology & Your Rights

Lexi, a nine-year-old athlete with hearing loss, prepares to bat. Her helmet hides the processors she wears over her ears. Photo by Gina Bailey.

By Jaime Vernon

I knew it would come: the day my daughter, Lexi, faced discrimination in sports related to her hearing loss. A helicopter parent questioned Lexi’s use of a device that allows her to hear on the field—a mask for her real outrage over her child’s strikeout. Awful sounding, right? But it happened to Lexi.

I authored this piece as a blueprint for everyone with hearing loss and deafness. I believe everyone with hearing loss and their family members should know their rights and what to do when something like this happens. And, as always, I want to share the needs and rights of individuals who wear cochlear implants or hearing aids with typical-hearing people.

Lexi Vernon, my nine-year-old daughter, is truly a force to be reckoned with. I'm not saying she's perfect. She is tough to coach. She experiences mental fatigue that sometimes makes her appear "spaced out.” Many times, she can’t hear you during softball practice due to distance or loud noises. She is headstrong and stubborn. However, Lexi is a raw, talented athlete and a fierce competitor. She's strong, tall, and determined. She is a talented basketball player and, more pertinent to her story, a fast pitch softball player.

The coolest part about Lexi's story is that she is 100% deaf. Lexi is a bilateral cochlear implant recipient. She had a surgery in both of her ears in which they implanted a cochlear implant into her cochlea which is located in her inner ear. That implant is also attached to her hearing nerve which sends signals to her brain. Lexi wears processors on the outside of her head (just over her ears) which are the microphones and small computers that send the sound (signals) into the implant. See how a cochlear implant works here.

During athletic games, Lexi needs a small device called a "mini-mic" which is an amplifier for the coach's voice. When she is wearing additional equipment, which can cover her microphones on her processors, or when distance is an issue; this mini-mic allows Lexi to hear her coach better. It’s still not perfect, but it really helps. Learn about a mini-mic device.

This weekend, I had to witness some awful behavior by parents of young athletes. I also had to witness umpires handling it all wrong.

Our team, the Tennessee Bash, of which I’m one of the coaches, was playing in a World Series in Tennessee. We were one of the “teams to beat.” Lexi is a pitcher on the team. During the final game to determine or placement in the Winner’s Bracket, not only did our opponent question Lexi’s assistive technology, but so did the umpires.

I have no problem if anyone asks about her equipment—and I usually disclose it. This tournament, however, only allowed one coach out at pregame, so I didn’t have an opportunity to do so.

The fans started yelling and acting foolishly, thinking I was feeding Lexi information into some mic when they noticed her device. To be honest, I don't even call the pitches. That coach does not wear the mini-mic. She takes the sign from her catcher like everyone else. Then our first base coach uses it when she's up to bat.

The umpire soon raised the questions to our first base coach. Their conversation went like this:

Umpire: “So, is she hearing impaired?”

Coach: “Yes. She is deaf. She was implanted with cochlear implants in both her ears and this mic helps her hear me with all the equipment.”

At that point, it should have been done. Finished. End of conversation.

But no. The umpire wasn’t satisfied. “Can’t she use signs?” she insisted.

Stop. Wait a minute. That is more offensive to us than anything. We fight every day to mainstream Lexi in a spoken language world. Lexi went through five years of intense speech therapy, a special “oral deaf rehab” school and speech tutoring at home three nights a week. She worked hard to be able to hear and speak.

The opposing fans went on about it. Then, an umpire not officiating the game, sitting under a tent, started questioning it. And we’re in the middle of the game! Our coach was trying to coach! Lexi wasn’t even up to bat; she was in the dugout!

Thankfully, Lexi couldn’t hear any of what was going on and Coach Charles took the mini-mic away from his mouth. How would Lexi have felt if she knew half of the people at that game were going on and on about how she shouldn’t be able to use equipment to help her hear?

So, after all the hullabaloo, I went out and spoke to the umpire directly. She seemed satisfied with my explanation. However, the fans didn’t let up. My co-coach handled it sublimely.

So here’s the truth. If our circumstances permit something that stretches our emotions or mind or will, we are supposed to use it. I’m going to use this situation as an example of how to be equipped for this in the future.

Let’s say someone was on the softball team with a prosthetic leg. Do you think anyone would ever be upset that they were playing with their leg on? No, because any human being would be touched by this person’s courage to participate in mainstream athletics!

Simply because you cannot see someone’s hearing loss or deafness doesn’t mean it isn’t something very real and very difficult to overcome. That’s Lexi—and hundreds of thousands just like her. They overcome deafness every single day due to amazing technology, but it isn’t human, natural hearing. They do, at times, require special needs.

Resources

• Laws, Rules, and Regulations: These laws state that people with hearing loss and deafness have the right to an “even playing field” figuratively and literally speaking.

• How to Manage the Use of Assistive Technology in Athletics

Whatever you do, prepare yourself or your child for this possible scenario. Remind them that people can be ugly many times and to simply ignore it. Remind them that there are also incredible human beings in this world that fight for these laws to exist, so let’s focus on the fact that they can hear, use spoken language and play sports like every hearing person!

Jaime Vernon is the Founder and CEO of Songs for Sound, a nonprofit organization focused on hearing healthcare and inclusion opportunities for those with hearing loss. This story was republished with her permission. For more on her daughter Lexi Vernon’s cochlear implant story, visit Songs for Sound’s Mission & History page.

Don’t Let Swimmer's Ear get in the Way of Your Summer Fun

By Lauren Conte

After a long day spent enjoying the public pool, your youngest child runs towards you clutching one of his ears. You calm him down, and after a few moments he tells you that his ear itches, hurts to the touch, and sounds are muffled.

Unsure of how to treat his pain, you book an appointment with your family's doctor. In the meantime, you try to stop your son from shoving his fingers into his ears as the burning pain worsens.   

At the appointment, the doctor sees the red inflammation in the ear canal and notes the clear, odorless discharge draining from your child's ears. "Yep," the doctor says, "its Swimmer's Ear."

Well, what exactly is Swimmer's Ear, and how does it occur? Swimmer's Ear (also known as acute otitis externa) is an ear infection caused by bacteria, and though instances are rare, sometimes can occur from viruses or fungi.

Long exposure to contaminated water, such as recreational pools or lakes makes individuals susceptible to infections. The water softens the skin inside the ear and allows bacteria to multiply and cause irritation. When people use their fingers, cotton swabs, or other objects to itch their ears, the softened skin is easily broken, spreading the infection further.  

To catch the infection early, some symptoms include:

• Itchiness in the ear canal

• Pain when pushing or pulling on the outer ear

• Clear drainage

• Swelling and redness of the ear

• Sensation of fullness in the ear

• Swollen lymph nodes around the ear, upper neck, and jaw

Treatment options vary, but often your doctor will prescribe an antibiotic or antifungal medication to kill the infection. Your doctor may prescribe a steroid to decrease the inflammation, or an acidic solution to restore the normal pH inside the ear. (When applying the drops, have someone else help you. Also, lie down with the affected ear facing upwards in order to fill the ear completely with medication.) To decrease the pain before and during treatment, over-the-counter pain relievers are effective at helping relieve some of the discomfort in the ears.

Okay, so now we know how it happens and how to treat the infection should it occur, but let's try to avoid getting to that point. Spoiler alert: you don't have to give up the pool, lake, or beach time!

While in the water, keep ears dry by using earplugs or a swim cap.

If that isn't your style, dry the outside of your ears with a towel, drop some drying-aid into each ear, and then tilt your head to the side to help the water drain out.

Pro-Tip: DIY Ear-drying Aid

• 1 tablespoon white vinegar

• 1 tablespoon rubbing alcohol

• (Or however much solution you desire, but keep equal parts vinegar and rubbing alcohol)

• Mix solution together and add drops into both ears.

The alcohol in the solution combines with the water and because alcohol evaporates at a lower temperature, pulls the water out with it. The acidity of the vinegar lowers the pH of the ear so bacteria cannot grow. Use this solution each time you leave the water, to ensure that infection does not occur.

Also, never use cotton swabs or fingers to try to remove water from ears. Your fingernails can cut up the inside of your ears, cotton swabs can puncture eardrums, and scrape the ear canal as well. Similarly, do not try to use cotton swabs to remove earwax, as the natural substance protects against infection and waterproofs your ears.

There you have it, the signs to look out for, and the ways to avoid putting a damper on your summer.

Lauren Conte is a Communications Intern for Eosera, a biotechnology consumer products company.

The Path to Funding for Universal Newborn Hearing Screening

By Pranav Parikh

Due to the complexities of a multi-trillion-dollar federal budget, it can often be difficult to understand where all the money ends up. For recipients of Medicaid and their children, part of the government’s longstanding policy is to provide access to quality healthcare low-income communities could not otherwise afford. Medicaid recipients represent approximately 23 percent of the total U.S. population, with an enrollment of 74,550,529 individuals.

According to President Donald Trump’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 proposed budget, deemed the “America First” budget, and a nonpartisan CBO report, Medicaid will receive cuts totaling $610 billion USD over the next 10 years. In 2015, the U.S. Government spent $545.1 billion USD on Medicaid services. President Trump alludes to waste and redundancies as his justification of the proposed cuts.

One of the planned cuts will negatively impact newborn children and be detrimental to the well-being of infants across the country: Universal Newborn Hearing Screening. The terrifying impact is summarized below.
 

What exactly is being removed?
In his FY18 proposed budget, President Trump upheld his campaign promise by cutting what he deems “unnecessary and wasteful spending.” Unfortunately, one program that got the axe was the $18 million USD allocated towards newborn hearing screenings. This earmarked funding has doubled the percentage of newborns receiving hearing screenings before leaving the hospital from 46.5% to 97% just in the last decade. Without early detection, children will be at a distinct disadvantage in tackling hearing loss present at birth.

Why does this matter?
Every day, 33 children are born with some form of hearing loss, designating hearing loss as the most common congenital birth defect in the U.S. Reasons babies may have hearing loss present at birth include an inherited trait, ototoxic chemical, or a viral infection during a mother’s pregnancy. Challenges associated with having hearing loss can be overcome through early intervention, however it is imperative treatment and therapy are started as early as possible. As stated on the U.S. Government Department of Health and Human Services website, “If not identified early, [hearing loss] is likely to delay or impair a child’s development. Hearing problems are difficult to detect through observation alone, so almost all newborns have their hearing checked with special equipment.” 

What types of tests are done?
Aside from behavioral characteristics displayed by infants with hearing loss, there are two main tests conducted by physicians to determine any level of auditory impairment. The first of which is called Otoacoustic Emissions, a test designed to the test functionality of outer hair cells. A negative reading on this test is typically associated with cochlear dysfunction. The second test is called Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) and determines activity of the auditory nerve through stimulation in the baby’s ear. A negative reading on this test indicates some issue with the vestibulocochlear nerve such as auditory neuropathy, but could also indicate problems with other parts of the ear. Both of these tests can be done while the baby is asleep and offer more concrete evidence to either rule out or diagnose infant hearing loss.

Have studies shown early intervention to be more effectual than later in childhood?
Yes, there are many studies that have shown that early intervention, especially for those receiving treatment within the first six months after birth, increases levels of cognitive function and advanced development. The control group of one study, led by Dr. Christine Yoshinaga-Itano at the University of Colorado-Boulder, showed that those who did not receive treatment or therapy within the first six months after birth had greater difficulty with oral communication and language comprehension.

What happens if children have undiagnosed hearing loss?
Hearing loss as a condition can present a number of symptoms associated with other disabilities, leading to improper diagnoses. For example, when children exhibit a lack of response to loud noise, or don't answer when spoken to, they sometimes are misdiagnosed by professionals as being autistic. If hearing loss is present and detected at birth, doctors will have access to necessary information earlier and children will be better off in the long run in developing their communication and learning abilities.

If funding for newborn hearing screening is decreased or removed entirely, what does that mean for those suffering from hearing loss?
At the moment, only 67.1% of those diagnosed with hearing loss receive early intervention before six months of age. With lower early detection and screening rates, this percentage will drop further. Without early intervention programs in place, children are at a noticeable disadvantage in developing hearing and speech functionality. After the age of three, it is considerably more difficult for children to develop the speaking and listening skills that are in line with their typical-hearing peers.

Would early intervention actually save money down the road in potential education costs?Some students with hearing loss utilize special education services, such as CART or note-taking, to ensure they don’t miss any of the materials and learnings while in the classroom. Access to the necessary technology and equipment, as well as highly trained teachers, is an expense incurred by school districts across the country.

A recent report released by the National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management states that treatment of hearing loss in children within the first three months of life can save up to $400,000 USD in eventual special educational costs by the time the hard of hearing student graduates high school. By bridging the gap early, and ensuring better interpersonal and cognitive skills in the first years of age, these children will require much less specialized instruction in future years. Essentially, early detection and intervention pays for itself.

Is there any legislation, not including the President’s proposed budget, that addresses this issue?
In March 2017, the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EDHI) Act was introduced on the House floor by Representatives Doris Matsui (D-CA-06) and Brett Guthrie (R-KY-02). A companion measure was also introduced in the Senate by Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Tim Kaine (D-VA). EHDI reauthorizes funding for Universal Newborn Hearing Screening for the next five (5) years, as well as establishes a database hub to collect information on the results of these tests. If the measure passes, parents will be assured of their child’s hearing health, and one of the nation’s largest public health concerns receives the necessary attention it deserves.

Undoubtedly, funding for newborn hearing screening is imperative. Hearing Health Foundation (HHF)'s Pranav Parikh spoke with Congresswoman Matsui’s staff on the reasons for proposing the legislation, and why she took the lead on tackling such an important issue. “So much of a child’s development happens in the first few years of their life, which is why early detection and intervention is so important,” said Matsui. “This bill will ensure that more infants have access to critical hearing screenings, so parents can be informed about the options for their children’s care.” It is comforting to know children suffering with hearing loss have an ally in our nation’s capital.

As Vickie Glenn, a Medicaid Coordinator for Tri-County Special Education recently stated in a New York Times article, “This isn’t Republicans or Democrats. It’s just kids.” Fortunately, President Trump’s proposed budget appears to be a “purely political document,” according to Peter Coy from Bloomberg BusinessWeek, possibly serving as a trial balloon and nothing more. Congress, even with a conservative majority consisting of many fiscal hawks, will likely reject many of the proposed cuts, as Texas Senator and chairman of the Freedom Caucus John Cornyn remarked, “we know the President’s budget isn’t going to be passed as is.” For now, at least, Universal Newborn Hearing Screening will receive its necessary and deserved funding.

And, finally, an urgent call to action from Nadine Deghan, CEO of HHF:
HHF has strongly supported Newborn Hearing Screening. In the 1990s, we championed legislation to encourage these simple but critical tests for our nation’s babies. For those who feel passionately about newborn screening funding, please contact your Congressional Representative and your Senator to let them know your views.

Welcome to HHF's New Website!

By Nadine Dehgan, CEO, Hearing Health Foundation

Hearing Health Foundation (HHF) proudly introduced a new website today, August 2. The contemporary design features an engaging storytelling format, clear calls to action, and mobile responsiveness, all of which will enable HHF to better serve and communicate with constituents.

Take a look around to familiarize yourself with HHF’s new virtual headquarters. Below are the site’s most exciting improvements:

Simplified Navigation Bar
We reduced our primary navigation bar to just six categories inspired by user analytics from our old website. Choose from About, How to Help, Research, News, Resources, and Hearing Loss. Between the home page and these six key sections, you will find everything you need.

Streamlined Donation & Partnership Hub
How to Help lists every single action that you can take to advance cures and treatments for hearing loss, tinnitus, and related conditions. The options shown here apply to both individual contributors and corporate partners.

Mobile-Friendliness
Did you ever visit the old HearingHealthFoundation.org on your cell phone? If you did, you probably quickly abandoned the page, frustrated by small text and the need to zoom in and out. Our new website fits perfectly on your smartphone or tablet. Try it!

Consolidation of Research Programs
The Research page provides information on our programs, Emerging Research Grants (ERG), Hearing Restoration Project (RFP), and, the newest, Ménière's Disease Grants (MRG), to keep you informed of our critical investigative work. The reorganization of the Research Programs will also more efficiently attract talented scientists who are researching cures and treatments.

Centralized E-Newsletter and Hearing Health Magazine Registration
Subscribing to HHF is no longer a two-step process. Conveniently opt into to our e-newsletter and free print magazine with fewer clicks on the Subscribe page. The modification will increase viewership and, therefore, hearing health awareness.

More Social Sharing Options
Share useful educational resources or inspiring blog posts with your friends and family seamlessly. Every page includes a sharing sidebar from which you can quickly send information through social media or email.

Ad Space
The new website is more customizable than the previous, allowing for greater advertising capacity. As a result, more organizations will be able to contribute to HHF’s life-changing research and education programs and show commitment to the many Americans with hearing loss, tinnitus, and related conditions.

We welcome your feedback about the new website in the comments section.

Early Detection Improved Vocabulary Scores in Kids with Hearing Loss

By Molly Walker

Children with hearing loss in both ears had improved vocabulary skills if they met all of the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention guidelines, a small cross-sectional study found.

Those children with bilateral hearing loss who met all three components of the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention guidelines (hearing screening by 1 month, diagnosis of hearing loss by 3 months and intervention by 6 months) had significantly higher vocabulary quotients, reported Christine Yoshinaga-Itano, PhD, of the University of Colorado Boulder, writing in Pediatrics.

The authors added that recent research reported better language outcomes for children born in areas of the country during years where universal newborn hearing screening programs were implemented, and that these children also experienced long-term benefits in reading ability. The authors said that studies in the U.S. also reported better language outcomes for children whose hearing loss was identified early, who received hearing aids earlier or who began intervention services earlier. But those studies were limited in geographic scope or contained outdated definitions of "early" hearing loss.

"To date, no studies have reported vocabulary or other language outcomes of children meeting all three components of the [Early Hearing Detection and Intervention] guidelines," they wrote.

Researchers examined a cohort of 448 children with bilateral prelingual hearing loss between 8 and 39 months of age (mean 25.3 months), who participated in the National Early Childhood Assessment Project -- a large multistate study. About 80% of children had no additional disabilities that interfered with their language capabilities, while over half of the children with additional disabilities reported cognitive impairment. Expressive vocabulary was measured with the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories.

While meeting all three components of the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention guidelines was a primary variable, the authors identified five other independent predictor variables into the analysis:

• Chronological age

• Disability status

• Mother's level of education

• Degree of loss

• Adult who is deaf/hard of hearing

They wrote that the overall model was significantly predictive, with the combination of the six factors explaining 41% of the variance in vocabulary outcomes. Higher vocabulary quotients were predicted by higher maternal levels of education, lesser degrees of hearing loss and the presence of a parent who was deaf/or hard of hearing, in addition to the absence of additional disabilities, the authors said. But even after controlling for these factors, meeting all three components of the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention guidelines had "a meaningful impact" on vocabulary outcomes.

The authors also said that mean vocabulary quotients decreased as a child's chronological age increased, and this gap was greater for older children. They argued that this complements previous findings, where children with hearing loss fail to acquire vocabulary at the pace of hearing children.

Overall, the mean vocabulary quotient was 74.4. For children without disabilities, the mean vocabulary quotient was 77.6, and for those with additional disabilities, it was 59.8.

Even those children without additional disabilities who met the guidelines had a mean vocabulary quotient of 82, which the authors noted was "considerably less" than the expected mean of 100. They added that 37% of this subgroup had vocabulary quotients below the 10th percentile (<75).

"Although this percentage is substantially better than for those who did not meet [Early Hearing Detection and Intervention] guidelines ... it points to the importance of identifying additional factors that may lead to improved vocabulary outcomes," they wrote.

Limitations to the study included that only expressive vocabulary was examined and the authors recommended that future studies consider additional language components. Other limitations included that disability status was determined by parent, with the potential for misclassification.

The authors said that the results of their study emphasize the importance of pediatricians and other medical professionals to help identify children with hearing loss at a younger age, adding that "only one-half to two-thirds of children met the guidelines" across participating states.

This article was republished with permission from MedPageToday. 

Small Solution, Large Impact: Updating Hearing Aid Technology

By Apoorva Murarka

For many people, the sound quality and battery life of their devices are often no more than a second thought. But for hearing aid users, these are pivotal factors in being able to interact with the world around them.

One possible way to update existing technology – which has gone unchanged for decades – is small in size but monumental in impact. Apoorva Murarka, a Ph.D. candidate in electrical engineering at MIT, has developed an award-winning microspeaker to improve the functions of devices that emit sound. Murarka sees hearing aids as one of the most important applications of his new technology.

The Current Problem – Feeling the Heat

Most hearing aids have long used a system of coils and magnets to produce sound within the ear canal. These microspeakers use battery power to operate, and lots of it. Valuable battery life is wasted in the form of heat as an electric current works hard to travel through the coil to eventually help produce sound. The more limited a user’s hearing is, the more the speaker must work to produce sound, and ultimately that much more battery is used up. 

As a result, research has shown that many hearing aid users in the United States use about 80 to 120 batteries a year or have to recharge batteries daily. Aside from the anxiety that can accompany the varying dependability of this old technology, the cost of constantly replacing these batteries can quickly add up. 

But battery life is not the only factor to consider. Because the coil and magnet system has not been updated in decades, the quality of sound produced by hearing aid speakers (without additional signal processing) has been just as limited. Even small upgrades in sound quality could make a world of difference for users.

The Future Solution – Going Smaller and Smarter

Apoorva Murarka has invented an alternative to the old coil and magnet system, removing those components completely from the picture. In their stead, he has developed an electrostatic transducer that relies on electrostatic force instead of magnetic force to vibrate the sound-producing diaphragm. This way of producing sound wastes much less energy, meaning significantly longer battery life in hearing aids. Apoorva was recently awarded the $15,000 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize for this groundbreaking development.

The biggest difference? Size. You would need to look closely to even see this microspeaker’s membrane – its thickness is about 1/1,000 the width of a human hair. 

Additionally, the microspeaker’s ultrathin membrane and micro-structured design enhance the quality of sound reproduced in the ear. Power savings due to the microspeaker’s electrostatic drive can be used to optimize other existing features in hearing aids such as noise filtration, directionality, and wireless streaming. This could pave the way for energy-efficient “smart” hearing aids that improve the quality of life for users significantly. 

This invention is being developed further and Apoorva hopes to work with the hard-of-hearing community, relevant organizations and hearing aid companies to understand the needs of users and explore how his invention can be adapted within hearing aids.

You can read more about Apoorva and his invention here. 

More People = Less Noise?

By Kathi Mestayer

Beautiful, open, echoey space.

In the summer, attendance at our church falls noticeably as people go on vacation and spend weekend mornings doing other seasonal things, like birdwatching. After the service on a recent Sunday, we all headed out of the sanctuary, toward the atrium. Normally, this is a time when it’s really difficult for me to talk with anyone because of the reverberant nature of our building. It’s an architectural masterpiece and wonderful for music—and an acoustical nightmare, at least for speech comprehension.

To be fair, our church is not the only one with a large, open worship space where sound bounces around for what can seem like…. forever.  It’s actually becoming more common; when churches get bigger, sound challenges follow. As the authors of a research paper on the topic point out, “We are witnessing a paradigm shift from small church enclosures to very large church auditoriums.  Most of these auditoriums fall short of providing good sound quality and… sooner or later it becomes a very serious problem because such buildings are places for communication to an audience.…”

So, I’ve gotten used to the reverberation, and just try to avoid conversation until we’re out of the sanctuary. That summer day, however, as I worked my way toward the exit, I noticed that the noise level was significantly louder than usual. “That’s weird,” I thought, "fewer people, but more noise?” I checked with a couple of friends, and they had also noticed that the noise level seemed much higher than usual. So it wasn’t just me.

When I got home, I told my (physicist) husband about it, and he asked me how many people were at the service. I said, "Way fewer, less than half the usual number…probably vacations.” He replied, "Oh, that’s probably why it was noisier. People absorb sound.” But at such a noticeable level?

Ask an Acoustician

In search of a second opinion, I contacted Rich Peppin, the president of Engineers for Change, a nonprofit acoustics and vibrations consulting firm. Rich had helped me with a Hearing Health article, “Caution: Noise at Work,” so I knew he’d have the answer. I posited our working hypothesis in my email to him: that a reverberant space would be noticeably noisier if there are fewer people in it.

Rich replied: “Yes. Because people absorb sound and hence reduce reflections. We can calculate the reduction of reverberation if we know before and after numbers of people.” Now, we’re getting somewhere.

The calculations Rich was talking about are based, in part, on how much sound humans absorb. In addition to the sound absorption by human bodies, there are other variables that impact reverberation, such as: what the people are wearing, whether they are sitting or standing, whether there are padded seats in the room, and the size and shape of the room.

In my church example, however, most of the major variables were unchanged between winter and summer: lightly padded seats with metal frames; hard floor, walls, and ceiling; and no drapes. And everyone was standing up, walking out to the atrium, where conversation is a little more possible.

So, how much sound can people absorb? The study Rich shared with me had the results of controlled tests of sound absorption with different numbers of people (zero, one, two, three). The results varied widely for different frequencies (more sound absorption per added person at the higher frequencies tested).  

Human speech, however, was the source of the sound in our church sanctuary, and its frequencies range from an average of 125 Hz (for males) to 200 Hz (for females).  

And the result? Sound absorption increased by about 5 to 20 percent (depending on the frequency) with each person added to the test chamber.

Even though I didn’t know the exact numbers of people at my church, it was a big difference between the winter months, when it’s close to full, and that summer day, with its small attendance.  I estimate at least 75 fewer people. So it was not so surprising that the sanctuary was noisier the day that I, and a few others, noticed it. The bottom line? My husband was right—again. Oh, me of little faith!

Kathi Mestayer is a staff writer for Hearing Health magazine.