Hearing International

Over the past 10 years or so the landscape of audiology has changed significantly.  Of course, these landscape changes started in the US, arguably one of the largest and most lucrative markets for hearing aids worldwide. Other markets around the world have followed or are soon to follow the lead. In the past, patients would consult their audiologist for the type,

This assertion might startle more than a few historians of pop music. The origins of rock and roll have been fiercely debated by commentators and music historians.  Conventional literature indicates that Rock and Roll music arose in the Southern United States through the homogenation of  African musical traditions with European musical instruments.  Although it’s difficult, if not impossible, to pinpoint the exact birth of Rock

Some patients report that when the weather changes so does their hearing, vertigo or related symptoms, particularly those with diagnosed Meniere’s Disease.  If you see patients this is a relatively common complaint.   Could this be possible?  Was it a coincidence?  Could it be that it be the high pressure or low pressure in weather systems trigger some changes in the auditory mechanism

Over the past few years men have begun to wear earrings.  While that may have seemed strange a few years ago, it is commonplace now and seems to have some historical, cultural, and social basis. There are artistic and written references from cultures around the world dating to ancient times in history of men sporting earrings. Indeed, references indicate that the oldest

This week at Hearing International marks our “Final Chapter” in the development of the TTY.  Over the past few weeks we  found that the story began with Robert Weitbrect’s invention of the acoustic coupler,  a collaboration with Dr. James Marstens and Andrew Saks (see Part I, Part II and Part III).  These pioneers of the TTY became known as the “trio”

Welcome to Hearing International’s third component of the development of the TTY.  In parts 1 and 2 we learned that the inventor of the TTY, Robert H. Weitbrecht; a deaf orthodontist from Pasadena, James C. Marsters, and Andrew Saks, a deaf engineer and heir to Saks 5th Avenue, met at an A.G. Bell Convention in Salt Lake City in 1964. Marsters introduced Weitbrecht to

Lang (2000) reports that in 1964, at the time of the introduction of touch-tone phones, there were more than 85 million telephones in the United States and Canada but less than one percent were used regularly by deaf people.  If they didn’t ask their hearing neighbors for help, people with hearing loss depended upon their hearing children, some as young as three years

 In the mid 1970s, as a young audiologist working in a university aural rehabilitation clinic, I inherited an old TTY.  ‘Old’, at the time, was 1960s technology that cost between $650 and $1000, making it a luxury item that very few deaf individuals could afford.  Each person who was communicating required their own TTY so it was definitely an expensive device.  Additionally, the TTY was large, cumbersome, and somewhat frustrating

A couple of years ago at Hearing International we discussed a relatively new  surgical procedure that was being conducted in the UK for protruding/prominent ears.  The discussion of the Earfold procedure was so popular that in 2014 it was the Reader’s Choice for the year.  There have been so many comments to us on this topic that it seemed fitting at the beginning

As we begin another new year at Hearing International it is fitting to wish all that come here a Happy New Year in their own language (Click here for greetings in 40 languages).  The New Year means different things in the many cultures and it is celebrated differently in various parts of the world.  In Western culture, people stay up late to ring