Clarity Cordless Phone Provides Maximum Amplification with Mobility

Amplification of a bad signal is worse than no amplification at all, and until recently many amplified phones made comprehension more difficult, not easier, for people with hearing loss. Recent advances in digital sound shaping technology borrowed from the digital signal processing in hearing aids have improved the situation markedly in wireline phones. But jamming all that processing power and software into a cordless handset has been a challenge. Clarity Products decided to tackle the problem head on, and people with hearing loss can be glad the company did. The Clarity Professional C4230 5.8GHz Cordless Amplified Phone not only provides up to 50 decibels of amplification, but also provides a very clear signal through its wireless handset.

Continue reading "Clarity Cordless Phone Provides Maximum Amplification with Mobility" »

Posted by David on Jun 15, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Peltor Headset Communicates Safely Even In Noisiest Environments

A tree came down in our yard this week prompting a visit from our treeman, Conor Gleeson. Something was different this time: in addition to their usual safety helmets, Conor and his crew each were sporting a pair of bulky two-way communication headphones. I've seen them with hearing protectors in the past, because the noise of a high-speed wood chipper combined with several chain saws running at once can ruin your hearing in no time. But the new gear went way beyond hearing protection. Conor said he'd been saving up for a while and gotten the Rolls Royce of two-way communications and hearing protection systems from 3M's Aearo Corp.'s Peltor manufacturing subsidiary. Conor showed me how the headset has an external microphone to catch ambient sound, which he can turn on when the machines are off but shut down for hearing protection when he needs it. A two-way radio connection lets him communicate with up to seven of his employees, replacing his more cumbersome previous setup using hand-held walkie talkies. A sturdy boom mike on a 360-degree hinge avoids snags on branches while letting him communicate even when he is climbing. And a Bluetooth connection to his cell phone lets him stay in touch with customers and juggle work schedules with crews at multiple locations. Conor started his company a few years ago and is in his early 30s. So he is not from the macho generation of tree men who eschewed hard hats and other protective gear as unmanly. He says he's seen too many of his colleagues in their late 40s and early 50s barely able to work because of their hearing disabilities, even though they are perfectly fit otherwise. You can get fully equipped Peltor headsets in the $500 range, although models with fewer bells and whistles cost considerably less.

Posted by David on Jun 14, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's Official: Bilateral Cochlear Implants Improve Quality Of Life

What people like Michael Chorost have long-suspected appears to be true: hearing in stereo is good for your health. A study by the Indiana University School of Medicine found “cochlear implants in both ears significantly improve quality of life in patients with profound hearing loss and that the cost of the second implant is offset by its benefits.” Researchers found that bilateral implants helped people hear regular conversational speech as well as speech in noisy environments better than those with just one implant.

"We didn't know that cognitive skills and emotional issues would so significantly improve with the implantation of a second cochlear device,” said senior study author Richard Miyamoto, M.D., Arilla Spence DeVault Professor and chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. “In addition to the physiological improvements we saw in patients who had bilateral implants, we found that patients were able to function better in noisy environments and definitely felt better about themselves."

Continue reading "It's Official: Bilateral Cochlear Implants Improve Quality Of Life" »

Posted by David on Jun 5, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Congressman Markey Demands Internet-Video Captions For Hard-Of-Hearing Web Surfers

Democratic US Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts is backing a bill that would require major producers of web videos to provide captioning, a piece of legislation that provides many other benefits for people with hearing, vision and other disabilities. Markey is one of the most senior legislators in Congress and a leader in shaping the nation's telecommunications policies. When he puts his whole weight behind a piece of communications legislation he usually gets it passed. So my recent cry for more web captions has been answered from on high! Federal legislation might also help motivate more standards for web-video formats, especially captioning, which still requires some work. Another element of the legislation would require that phones used for Internet calls (voice over IP calls) be compatible with hearing aids in the same way regular phone equipment now must work with hearing aids. For more on this landmark legislation, read today's Boston Globe article. I'll be tracking this one closely.

Posted by David on May 13, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Or, You Can Trade In Old Hearing Aids For $200 Back From America Hears

If you don't want to grind up your old unused hearing aids in a blender as seen in the funny Blendtec video, and if you have already made your charitable donations for the year and don't feel you need to donate them for recycling, there is another way to get them out of your drawer: you can trade in two of your old aids for $200 off the price of a pair of new digital hearing aids from America Hears. The promotion means you can get a pair from America Hears, the only direct-to-consumer online provider of premium programmable digital hearing aids, for $895 a piece.  It's a great deal, as America Hears' flat $995-per-hearing-aid price is already less than half the cost of other premium brands. I recently wrote about my experience with a new pair of America Hears aids, which allow you to make programming adjustments at home.

Posted by David on May 3, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Don't Blend Your Hearing Aids, Recycle Them Through The Lions Club

A few people were mightily disturbed by the funny video of Blendtec founder Tom Dickson grinding up a bunch of hearing aids in his company's high-tech blender. But at least one reader went beyond complaining and made the helpful suggestion to donate them to someone who needs them. The Lions Club will do it for you. I'm always up for a good laugh, and those "Will it Blend" videos are very well done. And compared to the tens of millions of dollars' worth of hearing aids sitting unsed in people's drawers, the waste of a few aids in Tom's blender seems like small change to me. If anything, I hope it's raised awareness of the problem of unused hearing aids and help encourage people to do two things: one, try new aids if the old ones didn't work the first time, because technology has gotten so much better; and two, do something useful with those unused aids--recycle them. The Lions Club International has been involved with hearing-loss issues since the days of Helen Keller and has a great recycling program. You can donate your aids at a number of the Lions Club centers around the country and rest assured they will be recyled for use by someone who otherwise couldn't afford them. It's a great program and worth your support. So, if you or a relative have some old hearing aids of your own sitting in the drawer, don't blend them, recycle them.

Posted by David on May 3, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Why Don't Hearing-Aid Companies Caption Their YouTube Videos?

My blogger friend Dr. Tom Goyne has several interesting posts with links to videos that Phonak, Widex, Oticon and other major hearing-aid companies are putting on the web. Great, but....Why aren't any of the hearing-aid manufacturers' videos  captioned?!??! Some of the videos are really slick productions. Like Tom, I applaud their efforts to reach out directly to consumers to erase the old stigma of hearing aids and educate people about the new technologies that make hearing aids so much better than they used to be. (They are the next step in the consumer marketing trend kicked into high gear last year by Phonak, which blitzed the fashion world with its high-glam Audeo ads.) How ironic, and what a disappointment, then, to find that none of the videos are captioned. I really would love to see what that earnest Widex customer has to say in her testimonial.

Continue reading "Why Don't Hearing-Aid Companies Caption Their YouTube Videos?" »

Posted by David on Apr 25, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

Blendtec Shows What You Can Do With Your Unused Hearing Aids

Are you tired of seeing your father’s hearing aids sitting unused in the drawer? Do you want to send him a message he won’t forget? Visit one of the funniest web sites I've seen recently. It's called "Will it Blend?" hosted by Blendtec, the commercial blender company, which created an internet sensation with its YouTube video showing an industrial-strength blender grinding an Apple iPhone to dust. The iPhone video has been viewed four million times and counting. Now click here for Blendtec founder Tom Dickson’s hilarious video of someone who looks like your father donating multiple pairs of hearing aids for the same treatment. The video is a hoot, but the old guy who has tossed his last hearing aid into the blender gets the last laugh when he says “That’s the quietest blender I ever heard!”

Posted by David on Apr 24, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

Yes, You Can Buy Premium-Quality Digital Hearing Aids Over The Internet

I recently got a new pair of hearing aids, and I'm as excited as if I'd just bought a new sports car. One of the reasons I'm so happy is that I was able to take ownership of the process for the first time by getting them from America Hears, Inc., which sells and supports hearing-aid consumers directly over the internet. I still love my audiologist, but I'm always looking for something new, and America Hears not only offered a new product but also an entirely new way of getting hearing assistance. I ordered exactly what I wanted, got a set of aids in the mail programmed to my audiogram, and then I was able to make adjustments using software they gave me for my PC with the help of the America Hears audiologist at the other end of the phone. Because the company manufactures and sells direct to consumers, their hearing aids are much less expensive than other premium brands. My expectation was that I'd get a serviceable product, but without the bells and whistles of my high-end Widex hearing aids. However, I was stunned when America Hears sent me full-function, premium digital products that provided me with a much better hearing experience in every way. 

Here's the short story, though I will write more about it in future posts. To get an America Hears hearing aid, all you have to do is fax the company a copy of a recent audiogram. They build a fully digital product, and their staff audiologists program it exactly to your specifications. They ship it to you along with software and a simple programmer you can use with your PC to adjust your hearing aids further. Because they sell and support direct without any middlemen, they are very affordable, charging only $995 per hearing aid. That's less than half what other makers of premium-brand hearing aids charge. They charge the same price for any of their models, wihch range from new open-fit speaker-in-the-ear products to traditional behind-the-ear models to numerous in-the-ear designs.  

Continue reading "Yes, You Can Buy Premium-Quality Digital Hearing Aids Over The Internet" »

Posted by David on Apr 20, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

He's Blind, I'm Deaf. What Do I Have In Common With New York State Governor David Paterson?

In the past few months my day job has picked up to the point where I haven't had a lot of time do write about hearing loss. In fact, I haven't had much time even to think about my hearing loss. That's a pretty amazing fact, given that only several years ago I thought about my hearing loss all the time and never imagined I'd function "normally" again. I've written before about how the brain gradually adapts and compensates for deficiencies, and how amazed I have been at the extent of my ability to function at higher and higher levels as time goes on. It's hard to describe. That's why I love the fact that David Paterson, the new governor of New York State, is demonstrating how and why he is able to do one of the world's most demanding jobs even though he is blind. Stephen Kuusisto, a blind author and educator, wrote an Op-Ed article in the New York Times this week that talks about this coping process very eloquently. It resonates well with anyone who has gone through the process of learning how to work around their hearing loss:

I imagine the future governor’s information-gathering skills are supple and inexhaustible. Blind people are invariably creative and resourceful. Obviously we’re good listeners. But what people may not know is that learning to have a keen sense for what others are talking about requires developing an equally sharp curiosity about human beings. When people talk to me, I can’t just listen; I am also compelled to take stock of the person behind the words....That’s perhaps the most important thing for the public to understand about professionals who are blind — we are by nature tireless in acquiring information, and we remember virtually every detail of what we read or hear.

I've found in business and life generally that dealing with a disability sharpens you in every other way. I need to know more going into a meeting and be more comprehensive in my follow-up. I have to think about the story behind the story, and understand on a deeper level who and what I am dealing with than people who can get by on more superficial information by hearing only what they need to, rather than truly listening. I know it's a cliche to say that sometimes adversity brings with it certain gifts, but it's true. 

Posted by David on Mar 15, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (2) |