Better Hearing Consumer

Note from Gael:  This week, I am pleased to welcome Denise Portis as my guest author to write about life with hearing dogs.  I have many friends with hearing dogs and I’ve always been fascinated by their accessible way of life. I have asked Denise to share her experiences, rather than to write about her and Chloe – because my objectivity

It was 6 am and several people were waiting to check out of the hotel and get to the airport for flights home. We were all weary, slightly hunched and dreaming of the Tim Hortons coffee we would grab as soon as we paid our bill. The 30th anniversary conference of the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association (CHHA) had ended the

What’s another word for tired, pooped, exhausted, or weary? Because whatever that word is, that’s what I am today. Today I can’t hear as well as I could yesterday. I can hear the birds just fine, but understanding speech or conversations is, temporarily, a lost art. Luckily, the only one around is the Hearing Husband and he’s not interested in

Fact: Our personal hearing and communication needs are not always top of mind in other people, in any given moment. Shocking, eh? Fact: Sometimes (or often), we just aren’t good at asking for what we need – at least, in a way that gets the results we want. All sorts of emotions get in the way – resentment that they

For any any author, publication day is an exciting event. And after months or years of working on a book, it can also be nerve-wracking. This is that week for Shari Eberts and me: the launch of our new book Hear & Beyond: Live Skillfully with Hearing Loss. A secret part of us wonders, although we don’t say it to each

I had one of those bad hearing moments the other day, the kind you don’t hear about until later. It was a talk over thing. During the pandemic, a group of neighbours started meeting outside on Friday nights for cocktails. Our houses are in pods of three, so we call this happy hour ‘podcocks’, short for pod cocktails. We sit

Two years ago, I wrote an article about wearing masks. It had only been a month since the panic of the pandemic set in and masks were only recommended at the time. Who knew that there were at least two years of pandemic ahead of us – and counting! The masked pandemic is also responsible for revealing a massive communication

Bombs. Terror. Acute stress. Anger. Grief. Fleeing for your life. Added to this unimaginable horror taking place is the lack of essential supplies – including hearing aid/processor batteries and communication access for people who are deaf or need assistive technology to understand. As a person with profound hearing loss and equally profound tinnitus, I can hardly guess at what a

It should not amaze me that people hesitate or neglect to admit their hearing loss, or ask for something to be repeated – because there was a time when I was that person. (On a rare occasion, I still am.) Why don’t we want people to know we’re struggling? Do we worry they will think we’re not bright, or not

 Congratulations to the CODA crew on its amazing wins at the Academy Awards on March 27th. As a person with hearing loss, I’m always gratified to see the attention garnered by deaf and hearing loss issues. But, as a person who uses the spoken language to communicate, my communication needs are different than someone who uses a signed language. Here