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 “Whazzat? Changing Cochleas, Part 6”

Whazzat? Changing Cochleas, Part 6

How’s my life going with a cochlear implant (CI)? Well, for starters—although I can’t speak for other recipients—it’s a lot LOUDER. All sounds are louder: the ones that I recognize as well as new ones that, without any visual clues, I need help in identifying. Luckily, there are trained people standing by for this job. For years, my family, friends

Featured image for “Changing Cochleas, Part 5: Learning What We Need to Learn”

Changing Cochleas, Part 5: Learning What We Need to Learn

“Changing Cochleas” is a 7-part series about my hearing journey with a cochlear implant. CI organizations produce the technology and also play an important role in helping recipients successfully adjust to a new way of hearing. So, in writing about my CI experience, I also write about the brand I chose, Cochlear. I know many people who have happily and successfully

Featured image for “Changing Cochleas, Part 4: Celebrating with 1000 New Friends”

Changing Cochleas, Part 4: Celebrating with 1000 New Friends

A group of geese is called a ‘gaggle’ and cows form a ‘herd’. So what do we call a group of cochlear implant users? A “cockle”? A “CI-heard”? I don’t know, either, but recently I attended a very large gathering of electrically-operated people who, like me, have electrodes inside their heads and processors on top of them. And every single

Featured image for “Becoming a Bimodal Babe”

Becoming a Bimodal Babe

I’ve got news for myself—I’m bimodal. Until recently, I didn’t know that bimodal was a thing. For the last two thirds of my life I’ve been a hearing aid user (20 years unilaterally and 20 years bilaterally). Now I’m a cochlear implant recipient, and the right side hearing aid is history. (Are you with me so far?) I’ve written

Featured image for “Changing Cochleas, Part 3: Horns, Hisses & Hugs (Activation)”

Changing Cochleas, Part 3: Horns, Hisses & Hugs (Activation)

On January 12, 2017, I received my cochlear implant (CI) at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. This article is the third in a series, “Changing Cochleas”, in which I share this new segment in my lifelong pursuit of better communication. (Read Part 1 and Part 2.) As a writer about hearing loss, the brand of my hearing aids has

Featured image for “Changing Cochleas, Part 2: “A Perfect 1 & 1/2 Turns””

Changing Cochleas, Part 2: “A Perfect 1 & 1/2 Turns”

The Big Day—Before, During and After Are you one of those people who never looks back, who never second guesses a decision? Well, I’m not. In the 14 months between saying let’s do it and actually having my cochlear implant, I did not regret my decision. But when people asked me if I was excited about the cochlear implant,

Featured image for “Changing Cochleas – Part 1: “Why a CI?””

Changing Cochleas – Part 1: “Why a CI?”

It was time. On January 12, 2017, I received my cochlear implant (CI) at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. This was a huge step—one I had never expected to take in my lifelong pursuit of better communication. This article is the first in a series called “Changing Cochleas”. The series starts with my decision to have a cochlear

Featured image for “The F-Word (with 11 Letters ) of Hearing Loss”

The F-Word (with 11 Letters ) of Hearing Loss

If you have hearing loss, there are times you want to cry. If you’re related to someone with hearing loss, there are times you want to cry. All because of that awful, 11-letter F-word. FRUSTRATION. Tears may flow from the eyes, sobs escape from the throat, our face becomes a scowling, grumpy mask—how we handle hearing loss frustrations is an

Featured image for “Tearing Down the Fence of Family Hearing Loss”

Tearing Down the Fence of Family Hearing Loss

Does a relative’s hearing loss cause challenges in your family? If so, you’re a member of a very large club. No matter how much love there is, when hearing loss interferes with the easy flow of communication, it’s easy to get irritated, annoyed and tired, over and over and over. And it’s a shock when hearing aids don’t completely remove the

Featured image for “When I Walk Into the Hearing Clinic…..”

When I Walk Into the Hearing Clinic…..

The news station on TV in the hospital waiting room wasn’t captioned. I wasn’t terribly interested in the news as I waited for my cochlear implant surgery but still, I felt the familiar emotion: “Oh for heaven’s sakes, how do they expect people with hearing loss to understand!” A little bit of access would have improved the experience. What about