Better Hearing Consumer

Summer’s here, whoo-hoo! Hot weather, summer rain, swimming, fresh air parties, and simply being outside. What’s not to love about summer? online pharmacy keflex for sale with best prices today in the USA Well, there’s bugs. Heat rash. Sunburn. Bad pedicures. And to be even more of a wet blanket, all that fabulous summer living poses a threat to both

Next week I’m going to Portland for  the annual Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) Convention, and I can’t wait.  Forgive me for being corny, but my absolute favorite part of the event is chatting with amazing people, who come from everywhere, with heart-rending and hilarious stories to share and a willingness to listen to yours. Betty Coombs is one

I have a shiny new bike.  It’s pale green and pretty and has 15 gears, although I don’t know what to do with 12 of them. It has a ringy-dingy bicycle bell which other riders can hear a mile away. But when I push the lever, I can only feel the vibrations. Even with my ear almost on top of

They say the best part of being a parent is becoming a grandparent. I’m sure that’s true for many people, but as a new grandma I’m still ironing out some of the kinks. (Note: Although my husband and I have only one 17-year-old child together, he is the father of four, one of whom made me an earlier-than-expected grandmother.  They

As a hearing aid user, I want to enjoy music the way other people do – clearly and on demand. Whom should I ask about this – my audiologist, a hearing aid manufacturer, or the government who helps me pay for hearing aids? All three, maybe? As my hearing loss progressed through the years, so did my music loss. and

“Were you born with ‘it’?” I get this question a lot when I, and my hearing loss, meet someone for the first time. Sometimes they ask hesitantly, not sure what to call ‘the problem’, which they indicate with little finger jabs at their own ear. Talking about hearing loss is usually one of my favorite things to do, and I’m

Yo, hearing care professionals!  Hey, hearing loss groups!  In your area, where can a family sign up for a communication strategies course? (And I’m not talking about mandatory programs involving a psychologist or the police.) It’s tough enough for a hard of hearing person to find access to effective aural rehabilitation, let alone a program that includes communication partners like

I am a talker, a gesturer and a reader of faces. Put another way, I speak, sign (a little) and speechread. As a hard of hearing person, my language is a spoken one with heavy dependency on visual cues and expressions. I often punctuate my speech with  signs picked up through a few years of exposure to American Sign Language

I woke up with a snort and for a brief moment I wasn’t sure where I was.  Then the noise reached my brain – I was on a plane heading home.  But – had I been snoring?  Most other passengers were wearing headphones, so it was difficult to tell if anyone had been ready to reach across the aisle and punch me.

The fruits of advocacy are both bitter and sweet.  You win some, you lose some. Sometimes you advocate your little heart out (I need captioning!  The music’s too loud!), but nothing changes.  The winds of change hardly stir the leaves.   It can drive an  impatient advocate crazy. Then one day, a door shuts in your face because there’s no communication access