Volume 27 Issue 8

Our advertisers make it possible for us to provide HOH-LD-News as a free service. Please let them know you appreciate their support, and please mention that you saw their message in HOH-LD-News.

- Advertisers in this Issue
First Premium Placement:
Clarity C2210 phone at Sound Clarity
Second Premium Placement:
Dual Corded and Cordless Phone at Harris Communications
Third Premium Placement:
IHHD Online Educational Opportunities
Classified Section:
Two online stores, one captioning company, and two employment opportunities

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Contact information and disclaimers are at the end of this newsletter.
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- Article 1: The Pros and Cons of Buying Hearing Aids Online
by Henry Smith
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Editor: You may be surprised to learn that a lot of people are choosing to buy their hearing aids online, and several companies are working to meet that demand. One such company is America Hears. Here's founder Henry Smith to discuss the pros and cons of buying hearing aids online.

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Before the advent of the Internet created the ability to buy hearing aids online, if you were looking to obtain digital hearing aids for yourself or for a loved one, your options were limited. Historically, you would most likely purchase your hearing aids from someone local: a licensed dispenser, a dispensing audiologist, or an otologist, who in turn acquired the hearing aids from a manufacturer. You could also purchase digital hearing aids from mail order businesses, but they were limited in number and offered limited products as well.

But we now live in a technological world, and the Internet has created a global market for millions of products. Whether you are looking to buy a product such as a new television or a medical item such as a pair of prescription contact lenses, you now have the ability to choose from a wide selection of vendors, right from your own home, simply by using the World Wide Web as your guide. As hearing loss affects millions of people, the market for digital hearing aids online has also grown. And now it is possible for a manufacturer to safely sell hearing aids online, direct to customers, cutting out the middleman entirely.

Is buying hearing aids over the Internet really your best choice? It can be, as long as you are careful to make sure that any vendor you choose is following proper medical protocol. If you do your research, buying hearing aids online can save you time and money and can also allow you to purchase the best product for your specific needs.

Time Savings

One of the main benefits to purchasing digital hearing aids online is that you can save a great deal of time. Your comparison shopping can all be done from home, eliminating the need for you to travel from place to place. And once you have ordered your digital hearing aids online, you may get them more quickly. On the other hand, you may need to be without your hearing aid for a longer period of time if you have to send it away for repairs. Find out what the turnaround time on repairs of digital hearing aids will be before you buy.

Cost and Comparison Shopping

Because providers and manufacturers can sell their hearing aids online, customers now have a wider variety of vendor options and, as a result, pricing has become more competitive. Take your time to do a comparison of several sellers of digital hearing aids, both local and online, so you can learn exactly what they are offering for your money. Reputable sellers of hearing aids online will often either list their prices right on their website or will make a price list available to you via email or over the phone. In addition, find out if you are buying your digital hearing aids direct from a manufacturer or from a third party, and what the costs associated with each option will be. When you purchase hearing aids online, you have the ability to get digital hearing aids that use top of the line technology for a great price.

Help Before and During the Sale

It can at first seem daunting to buy your hearing aids online because you may have questions or concerns that you want answered before you make your purchase. Make sure that the provider has customer support available to you via email or telephone. Find out what the provider's policy is about answering questions, and who will be answering your questions. Are there audiologists or licensed fitters of digital hearing aids on staff? Do they promise to be available around the clock? Do they promise to respond within a specific period of time? Will they answer questions before you make a purchase?

When you make your first query, analyze the answer that you are given carefully. If you feel uncomfortable, if you feel like the response is inadequate, or if you feel like you are being pressured to make a purchase before you have had your question answered, you have the right to either ask additional questions or find a different provider who can help you. But, often, online providers of hearing aids will offer you high-quality support to answer all of your questions.

Repairs and Upgrades after the Sale

It can be just as important to have a relationship with the provider of digital hearing aids that you have chosen after you make your purchase as it is during the buying process. However, when you purchase hearing aids online, you may wonder if your relationship with the provider will end once the sale has been made. Unfortunately, this may be the case with some online retailers, and you will have to decide it is worth trading lower prices and good support during the sale for little to no support after the sale.

Find out what the provider's policy is on repairs and upgrades after you have purchased your digital hearing aids. If you need any adjustments performed, can they be made by the provider? Can you make adjustments over the Internet? If you need to return your hearing aid, what sorts of fees are associated with that return? Some providers of hearing aids charge high restocking fees, while others may not. And will there be someone to answer your questions after the sale? The bottom line is that when you buy your digital hearing aids online, you need to find out where you can go for answers after you have made your purchase.

Special Deals

Be wary of vendors who seem to offer excessive discounts or extremely low sale prices. Occasionally these special offers will only be valid on a limited number of hearing aids, and those may be of low quality or have outdated technology. On the other hand, some online providers of digital hearing aids are able to keep their prices low on a regular basis, particularly if the seller is also the manufacturer or is an Internet-only business, and you may be able to find some great deals. Examine sales carefully, and use other factors alongside price to determine whether you are making a good choice of online vendor.

Conclusion

As with any other purchases you may make, either online or offline, it is important to do your homework before buying your hearing aids online. Make sure any seller you consider is diligent about observing proper medical procedures. Then, weigh all the pros and cons, from cost savings to time savings, before you make a final decision. Then you can be sure that when you buy online, you're getting the best digital hearing aids for you.

About the Author

Henry Smith is the founder of America Hears (http://www.americahears.com), a leading manufacturer and distributor of hearing aids online for over 26 years. Henry started the company in 1979, following a 15-year career at the Pennsylvania School of the Deaf, including his work as an Acoustic Technician. Henry is a pioneer in the use of computers and the Internet to allow customers to have a hands-on approach to the tuning and adjusting of their digital hearing aids http://www.americahears.com/technology.shtml). He strives to be customer-centric in all aspects of his work

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- Article 2: Guidelines for Care, Diagnosis of Swimmer's Ear
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Editor: If you've ever had swimmer's ear you're probably pretty interested in taking measures to ensure that you don't get it again. Here some recommendations that will help prevent the often painful condition.

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Antiseptic or antibiotic ear drops should be the front-line treatment for people suffering from swimmer's ear, while restraint should be exercised in using oral antibiotics, according to new treatment guidelines issued as the nation's public pools prepare to open around Memorial Day.

The guidelines, crafted by a panel of experts that includes the chairman of otolaryngology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, are the first official recommendations for dealing with the common, often painful, infection.

"The most important feature of these new guidelines is that they are entirely evidence-based," said Dr. Peter S. Roland, chairman of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery. "They do not depend on clinicians' opinions, but instead are based on what has been scientifically demonstrated in the medical literature."

Dr. Roland is one of a dozen physicians on a national panel representing multiple disciplines that treat swimmer's ear, including otolaryngology, pediatrics, emergency medicine, family practice, internal medicine and infectious diseases. The specialists poured over thousands of articles and studies spanning back to the 1960s to compare various treatments and come up with the first guidelines for diagnosing and treating swimmer's ear.

The guidelines are published in the April 2006 edition of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

The panel's findings and recommendations include:
• Initially treat the condition with antiseptic or antibiotic ear drops, which inhibit bacterial growth. The drops usually relieve the pain within a day and clear up the condition within a week. Patients should also be shown how to put in the ear drops to ensure they are effective.
• Administer oral antibiotics with restraint unless other conditions are present, such as diabetes or some immune diseases, because studies indicate those medications are less effective and have more side effects.
• Ear candles have not been shown to be effective and can have adverse side effects, including burning or perforating the ear drum. Ear candling, often found in new age shops, involves putting a cone-shaped device - usually a fabric soaked in wax to harden - into the ear to remove impurities with smoke.
• To avoid swimmer's ear, keep moisture out by using ear plugs or by drying the ears with a hairdryer, and avoiding water that may be polluted.
• Otolaryngologists caution against putting fingers or other objects in the ear, including cotton swabs, which can damage the ear or push material deeper into the canal.

Swimmer's ear, a condition formally called acute otitis externa, is an infection of the outer ear and ear canal, often resulting from water becoming trapped in the ear. Water can remove the protective earwax, allowing infections to develop. It is most often found in swimmers but can also result from showering or bathing. Other causes can include cleaning or scratching the ear, as well as skin conditions such as psoriasis or acne.

Symptoms usually involve redness and swelling, itching, mild to moderate ear pain, particularly when moving the head, or a feeling that the ears are blocked. There may also be pus drainage, fever, decreased hearing, radiating pain and swollen lymph nodes.

"Swimmer's ear is a very common and often very painful condition. It's important that the most effective treatments be identified and widely disseminated," said Dr. Roland, who is also a professor of neurological surgery. "These guidelines are designed to assist all physicians who treat swimmer's ear."

The American Academy of Otolaryngology estimates about one in every 100 to 250 Americans annually are affected with swimmer's ear. It is more common in children and young adults, but can affect any age. People with itchy ears, flaky or scaly ears, or extensive earwax are more likely to develop swimmer' s ear, according to the academy, and allergic conditions such as eczema, allergic rhinitis or asthma may also be factors.

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You're Career Oriented... Career Driven...and Hard of Hearing or Deaf
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The Institute for Persons Who Are Hard of Hearing or Deaf (IHHD) is a nonprofit Congressionally-funded agency dedicated to facilitating workplace and career advancement for aspiring professionals like you.

IHHD provides important online educational opportunities to share experiences, access top professional leaders, and develop crucial communication and business skills. Choose from a number of programs that cover all aspects of career growth - from starting a business to leadership and advocacy development.

These month-long courses are delivered online using National University's acclaimed state-of-the-art interactive learning system to provide optimal accessibility. Visit: http://cha.nu.edu/ec/formihhd-careerdev.html?ypd002
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- Article 3: Elders' stereotypes predict hearing decline, says study
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Editor: I think we can all agree that our attitudes can affect our physical well-being. So it should come as no surprise that older people who have negative stereotypes about the elderly are more likely to develop hearing loss, right?

Here's the story from the folks at Yale University

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Older people who have negative stereotypes about the elderly have a greater chance of hearing decline, researchers at the School of Medicine report in the March issue of Journals of Gerontology.

"This is the first study to demonstrate that older individuals' age stereotypes can predict their sensory perception," says first author Becca R. Levy, associate professor in the Departments of Epidemiology and Public Health (EPH) and of Psychology.

"Although a wide array of biological factors have been identified that contribute to hearing decline, our team felt it was important to understand whether social psychological factors, such as the age stereotypes that individuals take in from their culture, may also influence hearing," said Levy.
Levy and her team studied 546 people age 70 and older. The participants were part of the Precipitating Events Project, a long-term study of residents of the Greater New Haven area. Their age stereotypes were measured when they entered the study. Hearing was measured with a hand-held audioscope at the beginning of the study at baseline and again three years later.

To measure age stereotypes, participants were asked, "When you think of an old person, what are the first five words or phrases that come to mind?" The responses were judged on how negative or positive they were and how internal or external they were.

Stereotypes rated as negative included "senile" and "feeble," whereas stereotypes rated as positive included "wise" and "active." External stereotypes included visual images such as grey hair, wrinkles and stooped posture. The study adjusted for initial levels of hearing, as well as several other variables that are known to affect hearing including age, education, gender, race, depression, chronic conditions and smoking history.

Older persons with more negative and external age stereotypes performed worse on hearing measures at the end of the three-year study. According to Levy, "Hearing loss is the third most common chronic condition among persons age 65 years and older and can lead to increased social isolation, self-denigration, loneliness and depression."

Both negative and external age stereotypes could have adverse health-behavior consequences, such as older individuals becoming more accepting of hearing loss than younger people and not seeking medical attention, says Levy.

Other authors on the study were Martin D. Slade and Dr. Thomas M. Gill.

The study was funded by the National Institute on Aging and was conducted at Yale EPH and the Yale Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center.

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- Article 4: Short Takes
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Editor: Here are our picks of some additional stories that you may find interesting. For more, please point your browser to:
http://www.hearinglossweb.com/news/curr.htm

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Signs of change at Gallaudet

Protests swept I. King Jordan into the presidency of Gallaudet University 18 years ago. Now, as he prepares to retire, protest once again has erupted on campus. But it is the differences between the two that are instructive -- instructive about changes in our perceptions of deafness and disability and about how progress in medical science may shape more change in the future. This spring, many students, faculty and alumni are objecting to the trustees' choice of provost Jane K. Fernandes to replace Jordan -- though she, too, is deaf. So what's the problem? "Now," Jordan said, "it's what kind of deaf person is deaf enough?"

http://tinyurl.com/q536u

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Will new hearing aids attract new users?

At first, awareness dawns that you are struggling to follow conversations amid babble and noise. Soon "your family and close friends joke about your getting deaf," says Joanne Pogue, 74, who as president of the library board in Washington, Maine, recalls finding it harder with each meeting to hear board members around the large table. "I joked about it." Better, perhaps, than to be patronized ("Uncle Jim, do you want me to listen to the specials and order for you?") or treated as barely there. Locked in growing silence, older people with impaired hearing often withdraw and grow isolated. Studies show they may even die before their time.

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/articles/060522/22hearing.htm

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Hearing Dog Makes a Difference

Tammy Catalano, of Mt. Pleasant, doesn't go anywhere without her black Labrador, Windy. Restaurants, shopping malls, grocery stores and Westmoreland County Community College, where Catalano works as a secretary in the athletic department, all welcome Windy, her hearing assistance dog. Catalano, who is hearing impaired, obtained Windy through Paws With A Cause, a nonprofit group that trains assistance dogs for people with special needs. Paws provides assistance dogs to its clients free of charge.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_451552.html

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- Classifieds
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Two online stores, one captioning company, and two employment opportunities appear in this issue. (Ads appear after this brief table of contents.)

WCI - Your Single Source for Assistive Technology
Save 15% on Clarity Phones at WCI
http://www.weitbrecht.com

Potomac Technology - Everything You Need Under One Roof!
Save 15% on Alerting Systems plus Free Shipping!
http://www.potomactech.com

Sawyer Court Reporting
Closed Captioning Services for the hearing impaired
http://www.sawyercourtreporting.com/contact_info.cfm

Employment Opportunity 1
Various Opportunities
GLAD
Various Southern California Locations

Employment Opportunity 2
Account Manager
Deaf and Hard of Hearing Service Center (DHHSC)
Fresno, CA

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WCI. Providing Solutions for People with Hearing Loss.
Save 15% on Clarity Phones at WCI
http://www.weitbrecht.com
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Call us now at 1-800-233-9130 (V/TTY) or visit us online at http://www.weitbrecht.com

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To receive a copy of our catalog, email sales@weitbrecht.com to request it.

WCI. Providing Solutions for People with Hearing Loss.

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Potomac Technology - Everything You Need Under One Roof!
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Save 15% on Alerting Systems plus Free Shipping!

For a safe and secure home or business environment Potomac Technology is offering 15% savings on alerting systems through May. Choose from the dependable Simplicity and Sonic Alert products including a variety of telephone, doorbell, and sound signalers. Check out the new Sonic Alert Video Phone Signaler designed to alert you to your videophone with a choice of three distinct flash patterns.

Orders over $50.00 get free shipping! Visit us online at http://www.potomactech.com or call 1-800-433-2838 (V/TTY).

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Potomac Technology. Everything You Need Under One Roof!

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Sawyer Court Reporting
Closed Captioning Services for the hearing impaired
http://www.sawyercourtreporting.com/contact_info.cfm
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news, weather, sports and meetings

eight years experience working in closed captioning in captioning broadcast news, sports (soccer), arts and entertainment, and history international shows live for several companies

for more information on rates and scheduling appointments, click on:
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to reach Sawyer Court Reporting via relay:
voice: 816.761.5536 cell: 816.916.8042

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Employment Opportunity 1
Various Opportunities
GLAD
Various Southern California Locations
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GLAD is an Affirmative Action Employer with equal opportunity for men, women and people with disabilities. For more information on the following positions, please go to: www.gladinc.org. The status of all positions is: Regular, Full-time, Non-Exempt, Full Fringe Benefits unless otherwise noted. All positions are open until filled.

* Community Advocate- Los Angeles
* Job Developer/Interpreter - Norwalk
* LIFESIGNS Director - Los Angeles
* LIFESIGNS Clerk- Los Angeles
* Network IT Administrator - Los Angeles

If interested for any of these positions then please submit resume and application to:

Jeff Fetterman
Human Resources Specialist
Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness, Inc.
2222 Laverna Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90041
V/TDD: (323) 550-4207
Fax #: (323)550-4204
E-mail: jfetterman@gladinc.org

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Employment Opportunity 2
Account Manager
Deaf and Hard of Hearing Service Center (DHHSC)
Fresno, CA
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Position Title: ACCOUNT MANAGER
Status: Regular, Full-Time, (37.5 hours per week), Exempt
Salary Range: $3,166.00 - $3,333.00/ month + Benefits
Application Deadline: Open until filled

Duties
Under the direct supervision of the Executive Director, the following tasks will be performed:
* Prepare budgets for agency grant submissions
* Monitor agency grant budgets on an on-going basis
* Complete /invoices to all funding sources
* Monitor bookstore inventory, sales and receipts
* Prepare cash flow projections and monitor all revenues and expenses
* Prepare agency Payroll
* Supervise maintenance of the general ledger
* Analyze all financial statements
* Work closely with the Executive Director on fiscal planning, reporting, and analysis
* General administrative duties, i.e., corporate records, taxes, insurance, etc.;
* Provide supervision to all bookkeeping personnel.
* Coordinates physical operations of headquarters and outreach facilities
* Participate as a member of the agency's management team.
* Other fiscal duties as assigned.

Qualifications
* Experience and training in accounting for non-profit organizations
* Knowledge and experience of accounting duties - posting general ledger, preparation of financial statements and reports, cash flow projections, etc.
* Knowledge of, or willingness to learn, American Sign Language
* Knowledge of current computer and accounting software

To apply, please send a letter of interest, resume, three letters of recommendation, and three references to previous employers to:
Denise Lanier, Human Resource Manager
5340 N. Fresno ST.
Fresno, CA 93710
Or Fax to (559) 225-8215

DHHSC does not discriminate on the basis of age, sex, race, mental or physical disability, religion, ancestry, national origin, medical condition, sexual orientation, political activity, or marital status.

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- Contact Information and Disclaimers
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