Better Hearing Consumer

It’s that time again. As 2013 gasps its last breaths, it’s time to review how well we met our personal goals for 2013, no matter how low we set them. My new year’s resolutions about communication and hearing technology were carried forward from the year before. This annual review of the same ol’ resolutions will probably go on for as

This post is a Reader’s Choice selection for 2013.   Hearing loss changes lives. I know this because without hearing loss, I’d be married to a completely different guy and my son would look very different – like a girl, maybe? And I know this because of the secret vice that interfered with my marital selection process. My dark-and-dirty secret is

Dear Readers: During this holiday season, the editors at Hearing Health & Technology Matters (HHTM) are taking some time off. However, we are not leaving you without anything to read on our blog this week. Instead, we are publishing a special holiday edition filled with what we call our Readers’ Choices. The Readers’ Choices are the posts published on each

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

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

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,

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

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

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

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