Hearing and Kids

I asked some young adults what they would want people to know about living with a hearing loss. Here is what they said:   JAKE Hearing technology can change your life, but it takes work to make it work. Having a good support network of friends, family, professionals to coach you through the journey is everything. There’s a lot on

I receive questions often about what is good speech perception so I think it is time to bring this up again in this blog. I wrote an article in 2011 with colleagues from the Beth Israel/NYEE Hearing and Learning Center and Cochlear implant Center where I had been the director. We had done a survey of audiologists, speech-language pathologists, listening

This weeks blog is written by Camille Dunn, PhD. Dr Dunn joined the Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Iowa in 2003 where she is an Assistant Professor and the Director of the Cochlear Implant Program.  She received her Masters and Doctor of Philosophy Degree from University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Dr. Dunn holds her Audiology license from

Those of us who work with children with hearing loss have learned good skills about identifying hearing loss, fitting technology, and developing speech and language. There is not very much in our professional training about providing support for children and families, or understanding the communication difficulties of our young patients. If we are going to help these kids be successful

For children with hearing loss to succeed they need a village. The village is a big one. Obviously parents and extended family play a big role. They need therapists, teachers, physicians etc. But today I want to focus on the role of the audiologist.   Why is the audiologist important?   The answer is obvious. Audiologists are the people who

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. Our Readers’ Choices featured this week are the posts

I have cheered cochlear implants for many years as everyone knows. When cochlear implants first came out I did not believe that they could possibly work. I thought “what a ridiculous idea.”  I have laughed at myself a lot about this. CI’s have changed the lives of so many people that is it difficult to believe. Clinically I have seen

There has been a lot of research which has demonstrated that with cochlear implantation, as with many other things, earlier is better. This is based on research on critical periods for brain development. Delay in auditory access results in auditory deprivation which decreases cortical plasticity over time. This effects both cognitive and linguistic development. And delays in linguistic development refers

The school year is well on the way. How do we know that our children with hearing loss are getting what they need in school? Only one way – someone needs to go in and observe. If we do not observe we really do not know if they are hearing well in the classroom, if they can follow conversation, are

There is a lot of data which shows that children with hearing loss who use hearing technology 10 or more hours/day have better language skills than children who do not use their hearing technology for 10 hours/day. Dave Sindrey has made a wonderful video for families in early intervention to help them understand why we need to monitor technology use