Jane Madell

Jane Madell, PhD, has a consulting practice in pediatric audiology. She is an audiologist, speech-language pathologist, and LSLS auditory verbal therapist, with a BA from Emerson College and an MA and PhD from the University of Wisconsin. Her 45+ years experience ranges from Deaf Nursery programs to positions at the League for the Hard of Hearing (Director), Long Island College Hospital, Downstate Medical Center, Beth Israel Medical Center/New York Eye and Ear Infirmary as director of the Hearing and Learning Center and Cochlear Implant Center. Jane has taught at the University of Tennessee, Columbia University, Downstate Medical School, and Albert Einstein Medical School, published 7 books, and written numerous books chapters and journal articles, and is a well known international lecturer.

News About Bilateral Cochlear Implants

Two ears are better than one. We fit eyeglasses in pairs. (Monocles went out of style with Peter Wimsey.) We routinely think about fitting bilateral hearing aids on kids. Research clearly demonstrates that two ears are a big help in noisy situations and in locating the source of sound. It has taken much longer to get this going for cochlear

I Have Purple Hearing Aids

This is not exactly a kid issue but it is an audiology issue so I have decided that I can write about it in my blog. I got new hearing aids last week. I have had a high frequency hearing loss for several years. I have tried hearing aids in the past and, while I got some benefit, it was

Let’s Look At Each Ear Separately Part 2

in my last blog I discussed looking at hearing in each ear to make decisions about technology. Now I would like to talk about looking at speech perception in each ear to manage technology. Why do we need two ears? There is tons of research about the advantages of two ears. Two ears help when the signal is not clear

Let’s Look At Each Ear Separately

When we describe hearing loss we usually only report one thing: “He has a mild hearing loss” or “She has a profound hearing loss.” But the situation is much more complex than that. Hearing loss is frequently different in each ear. It is not unusual for a child to have a moderate hearing loss in one ear and a severe

Who Needs a Cochlear Implant?

How do you know when it is time to consider a cochlear implant? Well, the answer to that is constantly changing. When implants were first developed the only candidates were people with very profound hearing loss who had been hearing impaired since birth. People with better hearing and children were not initially candidates. As implants improved, implant criteria expanded. Children

Research Rules: They Are There for a Good Reason

I have just read a most fascinating book. It is about how one woman’s cancer cells developed into the entire field of cell biology and virology. But even more importantly, it is a book about the development of human subject controls and protection in all areas of medical research. I very highly recommend The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by

Is This Kid Hearing Well Enough?

John I recently did school visits for two kids who were having problems in school. Before I went I asked the parents to get me all the recent reports so I would know how the child was doing. Child 1 (Let’s call him John) has two cochlear implants and is in third grade. He has received auditory verbal therapy privately and

Sounds In Motion

This week’s blog is written by my good friend Fran Santore. She is a speech-language pathologist who worked for many years as the Director of Communication Therapies at the New York League for the Hard of Hearing (now the Center for Hearing and Communication). She then moved into working with children in an elementary school where she continued her work

Should Kids with Hearing Loss Learn a Second Language

When I began working in audiology (in the age of the dinosaurs) we did not think it was possible for a child with a significant hearing loss to learn a second language. When families came who were not primary English speakers, we told them they had to talk to their child in English if they wanted her to succeed in

Bullying and Kids with Hearing Loss

We all know that kids can be bullies. I confess that I do not understand why, but anyone who has spent any time in schools has seen it. A group of kids pick on someone they perceive as weak and there it starts. Bullying is always unacceptable. It seems worse if it happens to someone we know and/or love. On