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.

The Quandary over Vaccinations

Childhood diseases seem to be making a comeback in the United States, other Western countries, and around the world. Once thought to have been eradicated in some parts of the world, these diseases are reappearing in more and more places. One reason for this is parental fear that vaccinations for these diseases might cause autism. That has resulted in children increasingly skipping or delaying

Globalization of the Doctor of Audiology Degree – Part II

As discussed in last week’s Hearing International, most audiologists in the United States have taken advantage of the new Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.) programs. While in the early 1990s only about 3% of audiologists were at the Doctoral level, today the majority of audiologists have a doctorate. While most residential audiology programs in the US have modified their curriculum and the

Globalization of the Doctor of Audiology Degree – Part I

Recently there more audiologists outside the United States that are looking toward the Doctor of Audiology Degree (Au.D.). The next topic at Hearing International is to look at the Au.D. and its proliferation in countries other than the United States. The Doctor of Audiology is defined as an individual that helps patients with hearing and balance problems primarily by diagnosing hearing loss and balance

Football for the Deaf

Summer is now upon us in and it is time to turn our interests to summer sports. A summer sport that is becoming more and more popular in the US –though still far less so than almost anywhere else–is what Americans call”Soccer” and the rest of the world knows as football. For Americans, of course, “Football” means the Gridiron version (American

Auditory Clues to Extraterrestrial Visits – Part III

The past couple of weeks Hearing International has explored auditory clues that may suggest that extraterrestrials have either been to Earth contributing to our society and/or are attempting to communicate with us from various parts of the universe. As our final Hearing International week with extraterrestrials, we will review how WE may be offering auditory clues to the extraterrestrials in our attempt to communicate with them. Our story begins

Auditory Clues to Extraterrestrial Visits – Part II

In an effort to “set up” a discussion of auditory clues to extraterrestrial visits, Hearing International may have gone beyond the bounds of international and into the world of interplanetary fiction. While there are a myriad of hoaxes and Internet scams related to the ancient aliens and UFO topics, there seem, however, to be at least some credible archaeological efforts to explain the strange artifacts, writings, and monumental

Auditory Clues to Extraterrestrial Visits – Part I

What if it’s True? According to ancient alien theorists, extraterrestrials with superior knowledge of science and engineering landed on Earth thousands of years ago, sharing their expertise with early civilizations and forever changing the course of human history. But how did this concept develop? Is there any evidence to support it? And, especially, is there any connection with Hearing or auditory

Making Hearing Health a Global Priority

Hearing International would like to call our readers’ attention to an organization making a major difference to the hearing impaired across the globe. The Coalition for Global Hearing Health (CFGHH) was first organized in March 2009 by bringing together hearing health care professionals working in low resource communities around the world. Their first meeting took place at the 2009 Alexander Graham Bell Association for

The Morning After Pill

Most audiologists realize that noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) refers to a gradual, cumulative and preventable decline in auditory function that follows repeated exposure to loud noise. It is, of course, the leading cause of preventable hearing loss. It is also estimated that 10% (30 million) of Americans are encountering hazardous levels of noise, that 25% of those working in the construction,

Pure Presbycusis and Easter Island

Easter Island has long been a destination for those that have a spirit to travel to distant places and to visit remarkable historical areas. Easter Island is one such very remote place that is located roughly half way between Tahiti and Chile – 2,337 miles (3,600 km) to the west of Chile, to be precise. The Island was discovered on Easter Sunday, 1722