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.

Featured image for “‘Reading’ the Eyes Above the Mask”

‘Reading’ the Eyes Above the Mask

We’re doing a lot of eye-reading these days. Eyes and their eyebrows and forehead are all we can see on the face in these days of pandemic. And, as everybody should know by now, that’s a problem for people with hearing loss. Mask-wearing hides our lower faces, leaving only the eyes to help speechreaders decipher what’s being said. The muffled

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Only a Person with Hearing Loss Can Tell You This

If you have hearing loss, you probably know a lot about it. Most of it you may not like, but the more information you have about your hearing loss, the better you will deal with it. It helps to know, or at least be aware, of what you should do or not do. Strategies that improve your understanding and practices

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What They’re Saying About Tinnitus on Facebook

I have tinnitus – badly. For five years it has been my constant companion, the one thing that I can count on to be there for me at every moment. But if I manage to forget about it, a Facebook alert that someone is posting about their constant companion, brings mine back to front of mind. My tinnitus – or

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Who Cares What We Call Our Hearing Loss?

I’ve shocked myself. For the first time ever, I’ve told someone that I’m deaf. Deaf – I’ve never used that term to describe my hearing levels – or lack of. For the first two thirds of my life, I described myself as hard of hearing. In the most recent third of my life, I use the term hearing loss, as

Featured image for “The Divide Between Being Hearing and Hard Of”

The Divide Between Being Hearing and Hard Of

In a recent article, “Are Hearing People Finally Getting It?”, I wrote how the pandemic’s use of masks have given hearing people a sharp glimpse into what it might be like to have hearing loss. Specifically – what it means to be dependent on speechreading to understand. The world has been brought face-to-partial-face. While some people are outraged at being

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Hearing Loss and COVID-19: The Ultimate Game of Trust

By Bowen Tang Imagine if you are no longer able to see, hear, smell, taste, or touch. Interference with any of these senses can shake a person’s confidence in navigating their world. For people with disabilities, this is an every-day reality that has turned into a nightmare with the arrival of COVID-19. The barriers and challenges presented by

Featured image for “Are Hearing People Finally “Getting It”?”

Are Hearing People Finally “Getting It”?

Who thought that it would come to this? Who knew that it would take an international health crisis for the light bulb to go on? Not me, I admit. I thought that if hearing health advocates around the world just kept at it with our advocacy, the hearing world would finally ‘get’ what it means to have hearing loss. What

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It’s YOUR Hearing Loss – Own It!

If someone asked me today who I am, one of my answers would be: I am a person on a long journey with hearing loss, who is still learning things along the way. And most of what I now know, came after the age of 40. Meeting other people like me for the first time, I started to morph from

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Where’s Your Sense of Hearing Loss Humor?

People with hearing loss – are you finding things funny during the pandemic? I don’t mean the pandemic itself, just things that may not be funny in normal times, or wouldn’t even happen in normal times. But now, in this insane world, some things just tickle us into a smile. For example, what do some people look like when they’re

Featured image for “The (Not-So) Easy Lessons of Hearing Loss”

The (Not-So) Easy Lessons of Hearing Loss

Does any of this seem like you, sometimes? Ever? Always? It’s EASY to convince ourselves that we’re doing OK with our hearing loss: That we’re catching most of what’s said, At least the important stuff – the rest’s not really worth listening to And no, we don’t intend to do anything about it Like a hearing aid or cochlear