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.

♪ Do You Hear What I Hear? ♪

Very soon, I’m going to be an angel. Before you reach for the sympathy cards, I can assure you I feel fine; I’m not planning on leaving this earth any time soon. On Christmas Eve, I’m doing my annual gig at my church: as the Christmas Angel, I narrate the Nativity story at the early children’s service. It’s one of

It’s Me Again, Santa – the Lady with Hearing Loss?

Dear Santa, How are you? I am fine. Don’t you just love this time of year? What a dumb question – of course you do. You’re a rock star of the season! Ok, now that all the nicey-nice stuff is out of the way, I’ll tell you why I’m writing again. Yes, that’s right – again. I’m the HoH (hard

Dementia & Hearing Loss: Methinks Hearing Aids Are Not Enough

Note from Gael: I am pleased to welcome Dr. Sandra Vandenhoff as my guest author this week. Her post on hearing loss and dementia contains links to a number of interesting articles and studies. Sandra is an audiologist with hearing loss, founder of HEARa, Hearing Strategies coach, speaker, and Canadian author. She does not remember saying on her first day of wearing hearing aids: “Mom,

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The Return of the Ear Noise

Are you hearing noises? In your head? That nobody else is hearing? Welcome to the tinnitus club. Actually, I’m not the official meet ‘n’ greeter of the club because I’m somewhat new myself. While you may have had discordant symphonies playing between your ears for a long time, my head-noise switch has only recently flipped back on. What is

Featured image for “If I Were a Hearing Person….”

If I Were a Hearing Person….

When trying to remember a time of not having hearing loss, I can’t. That’s beyond the edges of remembering. But I can dream… If I were a hearing person…. I would wake in the morning, and immediately connect With the sounds of house-life around me Husband breathing, cats playing, cell phone vibrating There would be no noiseless pause as

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Movember: A Lipreader’s Hell

I have some serious issues with mustaches. First, I’m never quite sure how to spell it. Mustache is the American spelling; other English-speaking countries, including my own, spell it moustache. Then there’s mustachio, which sounds Italian but isn’t, and refers to an especially luxuriant growth of hair on the upper lip. Second, I don’t know why mustaches are even there. They

Featured image for “Am I a Hearing Loss Nut?”

Am I a Hearing Loss Nut?

Sometimes – just sometimes – when I mention hearing loss to my family or friends, I hear something, very soft, that I’m pretty sure is the sound of an inner groan. “Oh no, here it comes again. The hearing loss thing.” It’s not that my nearest and dearest don’t care about my hearing challenges, or don’t want to communicate with

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How to Tell Your Mother (She Has Hearing Loss)

Hi, Mom, how’re you doing? Fine, darling! This is a treat – are you staying for dinner? No, I just dropped in for a coffee chat. You usually phone, but this is nicer, face to face. Well, that’s what I wanted to talk… Sorry, dear, I didn’t catch that? …Mom, I didn’t call you, because talking on the phone is

On Waking Up Deaf

When I first met other people with hearing loss, I was fascinated by their stories, often inspiring but also heartrending. Other people had great difficulty in expressing their emotions, and I realized I could help do it for them, by creating a dramatic, spoken-word depiction of life with hearing loss. I turned to my friend Dalene Flannigan, a fellow actor and a

Thoughts on a Pole Walk: A Sentimental (Hearing) Journey

Warning: Some readers may find this blog a bit too gushy and mushy for their taste. This weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving, a holiday based on the English harvest festival of pumpkins and hymns. The earliest North American Thanksgiving was celebrated by the explorer Martin Frobisher in 1578 when he and his men managed to escape the fate of becoming human