Robert Traynor

Robert M. Traynor, Ed.D., is a hearing industry consultant, trainer, professor, conference speaker, practice manager and author. He is a founding member of HHTM and had previously written a regular weekly column for the site for many years. He has decades of experience teaching courses and training clinicians within the field of audiology with specific emphasis in hearing and tinnitus rehabilitation. He serves as Adjunct Faculty in Audiology at the University of Florida, University of Northern Colorado, University of Colorado and The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Featured image for “Who Was the REAL Captain Marvel?”

Who Was the REAL Captain Marvel?

Another fun Hearing International post this year was May 16, the story of a lost super hero of audiology. It was a post about a rather forgotten radio engineer from Bell Telephone Labs and Sonotone, Orin E. Marvel, who was typical of the engineers and scientists that began the field of Audiology. This post capitalizes on the super hero craze

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The Road to the First Electric Portable Hearing Aid….and Beyond

There are so many great moments of Hearing International these days with over 350 posts since we began HHTM in 2011. Another personal favorite post was about Miller Reese Hutchinson, inventor of the first Electronic hearing aid. This post allowed me to “meet” Miller Hutchinson’s great-great grandson via email. As you can see, from this post, Hutchinson was quite an

Featured image for ““Who the Hell is Ken Dahlberg?””

“Who the Hell is Ken Dahlberg?”

Toward the end of the year many of the Editors at HHTM are presenting the best post of the year. One of the best for 2017 at Hearing International was the discussion of Ken Dahlberg, a giant in our industry. The posting on Ken generated many comments and emails from those that worked him over the years…… So here is

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Howard Hughes: The Road to Hearing Loss Part III

The past couple of weeks we have looked at the hearing loss of Howard Hughes. The story is one of a bazaar journey as Mr. Hughes goes from being a famous movie maker, aviator and aircraft designer to the mentally incompetent recluse that we came to know at the end of his days. But was 1976 really the end of

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Howard Hughes: The Road to Hearing Loss, Part II

Last week we discussed the bizarre behavior of one of the richest people in world history, Howard Robards Hughes, Jr. There are reasonably credible stories that have surfaced about Mr. Hughes suggesting that the person on record as dying as Howard Hughes while descending into Houston April 12, 1976 may not have actually been him. It seems that Mr. Hughes

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Howard Hughes – The Road To Hearing Loss, Part I

Forty-two years after the first US oil well was drilled in Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1859, a wildcatter known as Captain Anthony Lucas was convinced there was oil beneath the salt domes near Beaumont, Texas. His 1901 discovery of oil at Spindletop, near Beaumont, Texas, marked the birth of the modern petroleum industry. News of the new “Oil Boom” drew the

Featured image for “Oysters CAN Hear…….”

Oysters CAN Hear…….

Oysters CAN Hear! Nah….….They don’t have ears! Well, maybe not, but for you disbelievers there is new research that suggests that oysters not only can hear but are affected by the overall noise pollution of the seas. Sounds such as cargo ships, underwater oil exploration and other noisy activities are causing interesting activities in molluscs as well as

Featured image for “Other Considerations in the US Cuban Embassy Sonic Attacks”

Other Considerations in the US Cuban Embassy Sonic Attacks

Last week at Hearing International we left this story with the “the jury is still out” as to whether the attack is real or a myth. It was pointed out by one of our readers, a physicist, that this “sonic attack” could possibly have been the result of an Infrasound. His suggestion was that studies from medical and audiological professionals

Featured image for “Cuban Sonic Attacks: Fact or Myth?”

Cuban Sonic Attacks: Fact or Myth?

Over the past few weeks there has been a lot of “noise” about the sounds heard in the American Embassy in Havana, Cuba. This week Hearing International will take a close look at this issue and even play the Associated Press’s recording of the sound alleged to be heard in the embassy, creating a severe loss of hearing among a

Featured image for “Otosclerosis meets the Falsetto: Frankie Valli’s Battle with Hearing Loss”

Otosclerosis meets the Falsetto: Frankie Valli’s Battle with Hearing Loss

During the vibrant musical landscape of the late 1950s and early 1960s, cities across the United States reverberated with the harmonious melodies of Doo-Wop songs that breathed new life into classic tunes. This era witnessed the rise and fall of numerous musical ensembles, as some faded into obscurity while others catapulted into the limelight, achieving widespread fame. Among these rising