Gael Hannan

Gael Hannan is an author, speaker and advocate on hearing loss issues. In addition to her weekly blog at the Better Hearing Consumer, which has a passionate international following, Gael has written two acclaimed books, “The Way I Hear It: A Life with Hearing Loss”and “Hear & Beyond: Live Skillfully with Hearing Loss”, written with Shari Eberts. She is regularly invited to present her uniquely humorous and insightful work to appreciative audiences around the world. Gael has received many awards for her work that advocates for individuals to become more knowledgeable and successful at dealing with their hearing loss and a more inclusive society for them to live in.

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I Can’t Hear You – I’m Too Tired!

What’s another word for tired, pooped, exhausted, or weary? Because whatever that word is, that’s what I am today. Today I can’t hear as well as I could yesterday. I can hear the birds just fine, but understanding speech or conversations is, temporarily, a lost art. Luckily, the only one around is the Hearing Husband and he’s not interested in

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6 Ways to Ask for What You Need (Hearing-Wise)

Fact: Our personal hearing and communication needs are not always top of mind in other people, in any given moment. Shocking, eh? Fact: Sometimes (or often), we just aren’t good at asking for what we need – at least, in a way that gets the results we want. All sorts of emotions get in the way – resentment that they

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The Mother of All Hearing Hacks

For any any author, publication day is an exciting event. And after months or years of working on a book, it can also be nerve-wracking. This is that week for Shari Eberts and me: the launch of our new book Hear & Beyond: Live Skillfully with Hearing Loss. A secret part of us wonders, although we don’t say it to each

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The Embarrassment of “Talking Over” Someone

I had one of those bad hearing moments the other day, the kind you don’t hear about until later. It was a talk over thing. During the pandemic, a group of neighbours started meeting outside on Friday nights for cocktails. Our houses are in pods of three, so we call this happy hour ‘podcocks’, short for pod cocktails. We sit

Featured image for “Two Crazy Years of Masked Communication!”

Two Crazy Years of Masked Communication!

Two years ago, I wrote an article about wearing masks. It had only been a month since the panic of the pandemic set in and masks were only recommended at the time. Who knew that there were at least two years of pandemic ahead of us – and counting! The masked pandemic is also responsible for revealing a massive communication

Featured image for “Let’s Support Ukrainian Refugees with Hearing Loss”

Let’s Support Ukrainian Refugees with Hearing Loss

Bombs. Terror. Acute stress. Anger. Grief. Fleeing for your life. Added to this unimaginable horror taking place is the lack of essential supplies – including hearing aid/processor batteries and communication access for people who are deaf or need assistive technology to understand. As a person with profound hearing loss and equally profound tinnitus, I can hardly guess at what a

Featured image for “Gaining Confidence in Our Hearing Loss”

Gaining Confidence in Our Hearing Loss

It should not amaze me that people hesitate or neglect to admit their hearing loss, or ask for something to be repeated – because there was a time when I was that person. (On a rare occasion, I still am.) Why don’t we want people to know we’re struggling? Do we worry they will think we’re not bright, or not

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CODA Movie: Thoughts From A Person with Hearing Loss

Congratulations to the CODA crew on its amazing wins at the Academy Awards on March 27th. As a person with hearing loss, I’m always gratified to see the attention garnered by deaf and hearing loss issues. But, as a person who uses the spoken language to communicate, my communication needs are different than someone who uses a signed language. Here

Featured image for “The Spiral of the Hearing Journey”

The Spiral of the Hearing Journey

It’s some journey, this life with hearing loss. And for most of us, it’s a journey with a vanishing horizon. An open-ended spiral. To be clear, my hearing is not taking a downward spiral – that ship sailed some time ago. Unaided and unamplified, my natural hearing levels are low on the ‘usable’ scale. No, I’m talking about another type

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Being a Woman With Hearing Loss on IWD

Today is March 8th – International Women’s Day (IWD). It’s also my birthday and it doesn’t matter how old I am. OK I’ll tell you – I’m 68. A 68-year-old woman with profound hearing loss: there are some who might consider such a person as to be elderly and disabled. And there was a time in my distant past when