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 “Identification by Ears”

Identification by Ears

These days any type of identification is beneficial. Forget fingerprints, retinal scans or the color of your eyes, and other markers of identity, security could soon be looking at the shape of your ears when deciding whether you are who you say you are. This week’s Hearing International looks at ear identity scans. Researchers have discovered that each person’s ears

Featured image for “Hearing, Balance and Hyperloop: Part II”

Hearing, Balance and Hyperloop: Part II

Last week we discussed the development of a concept described as the Vactrain. While the concept began in the 19th century, Robert Goddard, as a freshman at Worchester Polytechnic Institute, substantially refined the idea in a 1906 short story called “The High-Speed Bet” which was summarized and published in a 1909 Scientific American editorial called “The Limit of Rapid Transit“. Goddard’s wife,

Featured image for “Hearing, Balance and Hyperloop: Part I”

Hearing, Balance and Hyperloop: Part I

As a brand new Air force recruit doing basic training in 1966 at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, I was detailed to Wilford Hall Hospital for a days work in the message center located in the basement of the building. The job was to take messages that came in tubes (similar to the tubes used in banks

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The Deaf and Disabled in Natural Disasters

Emergencies and disasters profoundly affect thousands of individuals around the world each year. Roughly 5% of the world’s population have some form of deafness, it has been well documented that the deaf and other disabled individuals often experience the most difficulty when it comes to preparing for and recovering from emergencies and natural disasters. The past few weeks in the

Featured image for “Air Bags and Hearing Revisited”

Air Bags and Hearing Revisited

A few years ago at Hearing International we did a post regarding air bags and their effect on hearing. That report was primarily about how these miracle devices work and save lives with a comment about the impulse noise issues surrounding the their deployment. Among people in accidents with airbags deploying, Price (2007) suggests that 17 percent suffer permanent hearing

Featured image for “Mandatory Central Auditory Processing Evaluation for Individuals Working in a Noisy Environment: A Commentary”

Mandatory Central Auditory Processing Evaluation for Individuals Working in a Noisy Environment: A Commentary

This week at Hearing International we are pleased to have two guest authors, Mr. Arun Kumar Yadav and Mr. Himanshu Kumar Sanju from the Department of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, Amity Medical School, Amity University, Gurgaon, Haryana, India. Introduction According to ASHA (2005), Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) refers to ‘difficulties in the perceptual processing of auditory information in the

Featured image for “Can you Hear an Eclipse?”

Can you Hear an Eclipse?

The big event of 2017 in the United States is the total eclipse of the sun happening today, August 21, 2017 at various times ar0und the country. It is the first total eclipse visible in the United States since 1979, which makes it a bit of a special event for young and old alike. States across a swath of the

Featured image for “Is “Brain Hearing” Just Marketing?”

Is “Brain Hearing” Just Marketing?

Audiologists in various parts of the world have heard of Brain Hearing due to hearing aid marketing materials and training and continuing education programs. This concept, now called by various marketing names, is beginning to become part of many hearing aid products…but WHY? Where does this idea come from? How long has it been around? Is it a passing fluke

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EUHA

Now it is official in Germany, the approximately 14,500 German Hörgeräteakustiker have become designated as Hörakustiker. These long-respected experts in hearing and hearing aids are now officially sanctioned as hearing care professionals by the German Federal Council. As such, the “equipment” portion of their title is no longer part of the name for their profession. Reason for the adjustment

Featured image for “FAAA: What does that REALLY Mean?”

FAAA: What does that REALLY Mean?

Now that the American Academy of Audiology is almost 30 years old it has become common practice among some segments of the membership to use the term Fellow of the American Academy of Audiology and designate that affiliation with the letters FAAA in their signature block as in John Jones, Au.D., FAAA. As an association we are still contributing to