Better Hearing Consumer

Featured image for “Would You Repeat That, Please?”
Jan. 22, 2023

Would You Repeat That, Please?

Gael Hannan
Everyone does it. Everyone, not just the people with hearing loss, asks for things to be repeated and for many reasons. We are momently distracted from the speaker’s words. What’s being said doesn’t quite make sense. The speaker is talking and eating at the same time. People are talking over each other. The words and facial expressions don’t match, such
Featured image for “Noise Zaps My Energy!”
Jan. 18, 2023

Noise Zaps My Energy!

Gael Hannan
I don’t like noise. It’s not so much the noise itself, but what it does to me – and what I have to do to counteract its toxic effects. For many people, noise exposure can cause a stress reaction. Others have noise sensitivity. For the person with hearing loss (aka ME), the noise of public spaces, large gatherings or even
Featured image for “How Can People with Hearing Loss Help Other PWHL?”
Jan. 04, 2023

How Can People with Hearing Loss Help Other PWHL?

Gael Hannan
This the week we vow to exercise more, eat better, be nicer, and reduce, reuse and recycle – and this week, we mean it. Ask us next week how it’s working out so far. But as a person with hearing loss, I’ve realized that there is more that we can do, not just for ourselves but for other people impacted
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Dec. 21, 2022

Thank You to My Hearing Loss Champions

Gael Hannan
It’s the end of the year. And this year, many of us are hunkering down inside, nursing a cold or the flu (like the Hearing Husband), trying to find something good on TV that we haven’t yet streamed, and maybe even a backward glance over the past year. It’s been a year of amazing additions to my Hearing Loss Champion
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Dec. 13, 2022

Now Hear This, Santa!

Gael Hannan
Dear Santa, Hi, it’s me again. You should remember me because you probably don’t get too many letters from Canadian HoH (hard of hearing) kids who transform into Canadian sixty-somethings who are deaf without their hearing devices. Ring a reindeer bell? Firstly, thank you very much taking my suggestion to trim your moustache a titch – the elves with hearing
Featured image for “Cheat Sheet for Better Holiday Hearing”
Dec. 08, 2022

Cheat Sheet for Better Holiday Hearing

Gael Hannan
It’s that time of year again—the season of being pummeled with advice on how to survive the holidays. All sorts of issues pop and bloom with the festivities: anxiety and stress, weight problems or financial worries. For me and my people, we have holiday hearing issues that exclude us from what’s going on. This time of year is particularly tough
Featured image for “The Bad Communication Hangover”
Dec. 07, 2022

The Bad Communication Hangover

Gael Hannan
If you’ve ever drunk or eaten too much or participated in an event that went from fun to unpleasant, how you feel the next day is often not good. “How did I let that happen to me?”   Hangovers are the lingering effects of any negative situation. For people with hearing loss, this can be a Bad Group Communication Event
Featured image for “Online Dating Questions for People with Hearing Loss”
Nov. 30, 2022

Online Dating Questions for People with Hearing Loss

Gael Hannan
An alternate title for this article might be: If I Were Dating Again (Which I’m Not), What Questions Should a Deaf Dater Ask? In the many years I’ve been hitched to the Hearing Husband, the dating scene has changed dramatically. The term ‘online’ existed only to describe what to do with your laundry: hang them “on(the clothes)line”, although we did
Featured image for “Got Hearing Loss? Get a Cat!”
Nov. 24, 2022

Got Hearing Loss? Get a Cat!

Gael Hannan
You’ve seen the videos.  A dog brings slippers to his human, or becomes delirious with joy and jumps into his owner’s arms after a separation, even if it’s only been for a day. My cat sits on my slippers and is grumpy when I finally manage to pull them out from under her. When I walk through the door, Nicky
Featured image for “A Bluffer’s Guide to Beauty Services”
Nov. 22, 2022

A Bluffer’s Guide to Beauty Services

Gael Hannan
Today I had a long overdue manicure and pedicure. I escaped with my fingers and toes intact, but the service would have gone more smoothly if I’d followed my own rules for hearing loss self-advocacy For most people, having a manicure, haircut, barber’s shave, dye job, eyelash lift, massage or any other personal beauty service is a pleasure. People with