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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Can We Be Kinder in Our Hearing Loss Advocacy?

Thank goodness that people with hearing loss are kind and supportive of other people with hearing loss. Aren’t we? Like almost everybody I know – and the millions of people I don’t know – I’ve been struggling with the fierce polarization of views in this challenging time of politics and pandemic. We all think: how can people not see things

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Let’s Let Other People Help Us Hear

One of the annoying things about hearing loss, for many people, is having to depend on things and other people to help them hear. Adults may be reluctant to admit their developing hearing loss because it threatens their independence, so they dismiss suggestions from their family to get help. But they don’t want help—from hearing professionals, from technology, from family,

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How to Zoom Like a HoH (with Hearing Loss)

(Note: HoH = Hard of Hearing = Person with Hearing Loss. HoH is snappy and easy to use – as long as you don’t say “I’m a HoH” out loud to the wrong person. Like your mom.) Virtual meetings – the pandemic’s go-to communication lifesavers! Can we even remember a life before Zoom or Google Meets? FaceTime seems so

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Zoom-Pooped: Virtual Hearing Loss Exhaustion

After a virtual meeting or two, do you ever feel like the above picture? When the pandemic sent us into isolation, whether forced or voluntary, we were rewarded with the beyond-amazing capabilities of modern technology. Through Zoom and Google Meets and other platforms, we were able to connect virtually in online meetings with family, friends and business associates. Soon we

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What To Do With Dead Hearing Aid Batteries

I have a question: what do you do with the sticky tabs you’ve removed from your fresh hearing aid batteries? This question was on Facebook the other day but I didn’t pause to read the responses. Now I’m curious – what do people do with them? Someone told me that whenever she changes her battery, she puts the sticker on

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As If Hearing Loss Stress Wasn’t Enough?

Oh my, stress is riding high these days. Aside from the politics-craziness, the pandemic keeps going and going, which means people keep wearing and wearing their masks. And for people with hearing loss who venture out in public, that means one stress moment after another as we try to communicate with other mask-wearers. As if our hearing loss stress wasn’t

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Can You Hear Frogs? (Why It’s a Thrill for Me)

On social media today, I’m seeing important articles that will benefit people with hearing loss (if they read the articles). My friend Shari Eberts writes about what a person should look for in a hearing health care professional. Other people are encouraging people to advocate for clear masks so that we can understand what the heck people are saying. Then

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Doctor, Ask Me How I’m Hearing

In our healthcare system, who is responsible for flagging hearing problems that could negatively impact a senior’s health and safety? Apparently, it’s the person with the actual hearing loss. My sister and I worried about our father. He was elderly but still had a razor-sharp mind and a killer sense of humor. He was proud, stubborn and fiercely independent. He

Featured image for “My Bonnie: A Hearing Loss Love Story Across the Years”

My Bonnie: A Hearing Loss Love Story Across the Years

For the first four decades of my life, I was alone with my hearing loss. I didn’t know anyone else who was ‘hard of hearing’ except, when I was young, my 90-odd-years-old great-grandmother, Bonnie. Bonnie’s hearing loss was probably age-related. But back then, I didn’t know or care what caused it; I was only a kid and she could be

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Yes, It’s Right to Ask For Our Communication Rights

I’m scratching my head. Also, a little miffed. Why has it been so hard to get our leaders to include sign language interpretation in daily updates on the pandemic that has upended our world?! I’m Canadian and back in March, I was shocked to see that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s daily updates did not, at first, include sign language interpretation.