Coping with Hearing Loss
Coping with hearing loss is a lot more than just getting hearing aids.
Unfortunately the folks who sell us hearing aids too often forget that,
and people can have hearing loss for 20 years or more and never learn
about the other components to a good program to deal with hearing loss.
Here are some thoughts on the often-neglected components.
August 2007 - Here's Steve Barber with his thoughts
on the topic.
October 2007 - And here's Denise
Portis' "Between a Rock and a Hard Place"
October 2007 -
Spouses Also Affected by
Hearing Loss
April 2008 - Teen overcomes his hearing
impairment to fulfill a dream
October 2008 -
Does Hearing Loss Affect or Change Your Personality?
November 2008 -
Arlene's Holiday Survival Tips
November 2008 -
Holiday Tips from Ann Warren
September 2009 -
Iraq Vet Discusses Life After Hearing Loss
December 2009 -
UA program helps Tucsonans cope with hearing loss
January 2010 -
Not hearing grandchildren main
reason for hearing test
December 2010 - Hearing Loss a Major Concern
Among AARP Members
December 2010 - Holiday Season Can Be Especially
Difficult for People with Hearing Loss
April 2011 -
Handbell Choir Adventures of
Musician with Hearing Loss
August 2011 - Matt Lauer Highlights Adult
Hearing Loss
August 2011 -
New Book Helps Recently Deafened Adults
August 2011 - Hearing Loop Conference:
Providing Effective Communication Access
August 2011 -
Living Well: Everyday Conversation and Hearing
Impairment
August 2011 - Self-efficacy and Successful Hearing Rehabilitation
September 2011 - Hearing Aids Improve Quality of Life
and Social Involvement
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
April 2008
At age 3, Ben-Han Sung was clinically diagnosed
with moderate to severe hearing loss in both ears. Now 15, the violinist
and piano player is among a select group of five young musicians who have
been chosen to perform as Discovery Artists with the New West Symphony
Orchestra. [ . . . ] A ninth-grader, Ben-Han is concertmaster of the
Harvard-Westlake Middle School Symphony Orchestra and the California
Association of Independent School Honor Festival String Orchestra, and
served the same role for the Los Angeles Unified School District Honor
Orchestra in 2004, 2006 and 2007. He has also won top honors in
competitions with groups, including the Music Teachers' Association of
California, the California Association of Professional Music Teachers and
the American String Teachers Association.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
November 2008
Here's Arlene Romoff with some wonderful tips on how
to cope with difficult communications challenges that folks with hearing
loss often face during the holidays.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
November 2008
The holidays are coming up, and it can be a time
that's very stressful for those with hearing loss. But there are things
that can help make the situation a little easier. Ann Warren, the
coordinator for the North West Texas Chapter of the Hearing Loss
Association of America, spoke with CBS 7 today. You can watch the
interview online. If you would like more information on the Hearing Loss
Association of America, you can visit
www.hearingloss.org.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
September 2009
Mark Brogan tells the story about his time in Iraq
easily and with intensity, although he may not remember all of it. On
April 11, 2006. Captain Brogan was approached from behind by a suicide
bomber during his mission in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The bomb detonated.
The suicide bomber was dead and Brogan was left for dead. Such is the
custom of soldiers on the battlefield to stand silently over the dead and
give them their final prayers and a send-off. They said goodbye to Captain
Brogan.
Full Story
Holiday Tips Video
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
December 2009
The last time Bob Maddox was at a party, he was
miserable. The 65-year-old retired scientist, who had been steadily losing
his hearing over 25 years, recalled, "I couldn't understand anything that
was going on." Over the years, he'd had trouble hearing his university
students. He dreaded the airports, with the buzz of humanity and the poor
public address systems. And don't get him started on answering machines.
But he'd finally had enough, and recently wrapped up a five week course at
the University of Arizona designed to help adults with hearing loss learn
coping skills. The UA's speech, language and hearing sciences department
started offering the courses in the fall, and with two more sessions
coming up in the spring. Frances Harris, the clinical chair in
audiological rehabilitation for adults at the University of Arizona, said
people with hearing loss are dealing with the aftermath of losing a vital
sensory function that affects their social and work relationships, their
self-esteem and their feelings of security. "Sometimes, as people lose the
ability to communicate, they become more withdrawn. Groups are harder for
them, and they don't know how to advocate for themselves," Harris said.
"Untreated hearing loss absolutely affects quality of life - and not just
for the people who have hearing loss, but those around them, including
partners, family members and caregivers as well."
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
August 2011
"A Survival Guide for New Deafies" by Deaf Girl
Amy Sargent, is a witty, insightful quick read. It is designed to provide
hearing people with an understanding of hearing loss and deafness, as well
as insight and coping skills to newly deafened people or those hard of
hearing people who fall somewhere in between . . . . Deaf Girl Amy has
lived through the hell of losing her hearing, including all the angst and
self-doubt that accompany hearing loss. She fully understands the
frustration and anxiety that it causes both the person with hearing loss
and his or her family members. Having survived all the adversity and
finding herself on the other side, filled with peace, joy and lightness,
she wants to share what she has learned to spare those new to the life of
hearing loss.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
August 2011
The ability to successfully converse with others
is critical to one's image as a competent human being and impacts one's
perceptions of happiness or living well in society. All conversation may
be judged by the way participants are able to take responsibility toward
mutually successful interaction, and living well with a hearing loss will
be influenced by the way all people in the conversation play their part.
Adults who have acquired hearing impairment (HI) commonly report
difficulties in everyday conversation, and as such, amelioration of these
difficulties is a legitimate goal of intervention for audiologists and
other hearing care professionals. The success of a clinical intervention
may be judged by the success hearing-impaired adults and their partners
perceive in everyday conversation. This article discusses how clinicians
can gain insight into both the way hearing-impaired adults communicate
with their partners and how this might influence their perceptions of
living well.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
August 2011
There are a number of theories to explain how
individuals accept their health diagnoses and decide to engage in
treatment. The Health Belief Model (HBM),1 developed in the 1950s by
social psychologist Godfrey Hochbaum, is one of the most commonly used
theories in health promotion and health education. Used by scientists to
try to predict health behaviors, it continues to be relevant to health
care in the 21st century. The HBM focuses on the role of personal beliefs
in taking action regarding health and is particularly relevant to hearing
loss and the rehabilitative process. The HBM theory states that "an
individual's behavior can be predicted based upon certain issues...that an
individual may consider when making a decision about a particular behavior
concerning their health."2 The HBM suggests that the probability an
individual will take action is based on a careful weighing of the
perceived benefits of the action and the perceived barriers to
accomplishing that action. In brief, the attitudes and beliefs of people
are core components of managing change.
Full Story
