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.

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COVID-19, How Do I Save My Practice?

While COVID-19 is a serious disruption of clinical income, there have been many storms before and there will be many more after this one. This is not total disaster, especially for an established practice. During the week of March 18-24, 2020, Strom (2020) conducted a poll to review the actual situation for clinic owners. The small sample of 220 notwithstanding

Caffiene & Tinnitus: Revisited

Hearing International reviewed this innovative finding at Hearing Health and Technology Matters, October 18, 2011. This update and modification of the original blog suggests that caffeine still might not be a tinnitus enhancer, but could even be beneficial. ———————————————————————————————————————– One of the world’s most international experiences is coffee, but so is tinnitus….. While there are lots of sources

Featured image for “Working with Tinnitus Is More Than Masking”

Working with Tinnitus Is More Than Masking

Dear Readers: During this holiday season, the editors at Hearing Health & Technology Matters (HHTM) are taking some time off. However, we are not leaving you without anything to read on our blog this week. Instead, we are publishing a special holiday edition filled with what we call our Readers’ Choices. Our Readers’ Choices featured this week are the posts

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Can Cerumen Removal Be An EROTIC Experience?

In Japanese culture, many activities that may seem mundane or purely functional in other parts of the world take on a uniquely erotic or intimate nature. From the consumption of certain foods like eels and raw fish to the practice of ear cleaning, the Japanese have elevated these experiences to new heights. Ear cleaning, in particular, holds a special place

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Breaking the Legal Sound Barrier

Stanton (2016) indicates that the history of deaf and hard of hearing lawyers parallels the history of deaf and hard of hearing people in general. As technology progressed, and as accessibility laws were enacted, the opportunities for deaf and hard of hearing lawyers (and deaf and hard of hearing people in general) increased and the barriers faced by them were

Featured image for “The Potato Famine Brings Communication to the Deaf-Blind”

The Potato Famine Brings Communication to the Deaf-Blind

The Potato Famine In the 1830s-40s most of Ireland lived in terrible housing conditions. A census report in 1841 found that nearly half the families in rural areas lived in windowless mud cabins, most with no furniture other than a stool. Their pigs slept with their owners and heaps of manure lay by the doors. In the culture of the

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Who was “Dif” Smith?

If you were not raised in Texas or live outside the US, this Texas hero may have escaped your history lessons. Erastus Smith was born in New York on April 19, 1787. In 1798, at age 11, his family moved to Port Gibson, Mississippi Territory (near Natchez) where he finished his formative years. According to Huston (1973), his parents were

Featured image for “The Deaf Prince of the US Civil War”

The Deaf Prince of the US Civil War

Neuilly-sur-Seine is a French commune just west of Paris, in the department of Hauts-de-Seine. A suburb of Paris, Neuilly is immediately adjacent to the city and is composed of mostly wealthy, select residential neighborhoods. For centuries it has been the wealthiest and most expensive suburb of Paris, often recognized as one of the safest and most child-friendly of all Parisian

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The Deafness of Black Coyote

As told by the Eye Witness to History (1998), by 1890 the once proud Sioux Indians found their free-roaming life destroyed, the buffalo gone, themselves confined to reservations dependent on Indian Agents for their existence. In the late 19th century, the job title of Indian agent was to attempt to civilize Indians by assimilating them into American culture. Despite the

Featured image for “Working with Tinnitus Is More Than Masking”

Working with Tinnitus Is More Than Masking

All of a sudden there is lots of talk and ads by audiologists about tinnitus on television and in the mailbox, where did that come from? Audiology is highly competitive these days and in the 2019 US marketplace the treatment of hearing loss alone is no longer a lucrative business in many areas. As the competitive climate for new patients