Hearing News Watch

By Brian Taylor, AuD There have been distant rumblings over the past few years that the devices many consumers are inserting into their ears can do much more than play music–some have the capability of shaping and amplifying speech sounds, monitoring bodily functions and providing a 3-D listening experience. The one commonality among all these applications is the smartphone, which serves

By Brian Taylor, AuD A recent media report suggests the musician Rob Swire of the Australian band Knife Party suffered a sudden hearing loss, which he attributed to vaping. Given the rising popularity of vaping, this incident is cause for concern, as many anecdotal reports suggest vaping is a safer alternative to smoking. The chemical propylene glycol, which is used

By Brian Taylor, AuD Former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, along with luminaries such as Gene Simmons and Katy Perry helped the Starkey Hearing Foundation raise more than $9 million dollars to fund mission trips to provide hearing services around the globe. The event took place in the Twin Cities on Sunday, July 26. Although the annual gala

NEW YORK — Actress Marlee Matlin will make her Broadway debut in the upcoming Deaf West production of Spring Awakening this fall at the Brooks Atkinson Theater in New York. Previews will begin on September 8th and will be performed simultaneously in English and American Sign Language (ASL). Matlin, who has starred in a number of well known television series and movies, is the only deaf actress to

WASHINGTON, DC — Leaders from the International Hearing Society (IHS) expressed their frustration this week in an email circulated to the organization’s members on July 22, which was obtained by Hearing News Watch. The ongoing congressional lobbying efforts by IHS towards the passage of the Veteran’s Access to Hearing Health Act of 2015 (H.R. 353) and its US Senate companion bill (S.

GRANDVIEW, WASHINTON—a rural school district in Washington state has settled a Federal Civil Rights case for $1 million dollars according to a recent news release. According to the report, the Grandview School District had claimed that student José Garcia was at fault for his inability to learn, due to “ineffective use” of hearing aids. Additionally the district had made claims

LIVONIA, MICHIGAN – The International Hearing Society (IHS) announced that it has received Certification of the new National Guidelines for Apprenticeship Standards for the Hearing Aid Specialist occupation from the US Department of Labor (DOL), Office of Apprenticeship. According to IHS, the newly registered apprenticeship program will provide a path for standardized training for Hearing Aid Specialists in the US; provide career matching services to

By Brian Taylor, AuD A recently published study in the European Heart Journal linked exposure to traffic noise of moderate intensity levels to higher rates of hospital admissions for stroke, according to a recent New York Times article. The study, which adjusted for sex, age, smoking, air pollution and socioeconomic factors, compared exposure to traffic noise for individuals in several

By Brian Taylor, AuD The Hearing Loss Association of America’s (HLAA) 2015 Convention took place June 25 – 28 at the St. Louis Union Station Hotel in St. Louis, MO. Approximately 1,000 educators and hearing loss advocates were in attendance. As usual, talks and workshops addressed at the convention addressed wide ranging topics, such as employment issues for people with hearing

In response to our story about the Walgreens-Sonova partnership that published on July 8th, we received a clarification from Michael Isaac, Director of Media Relations for the Sonova Group and will share his response with our readers. Mr. Isaac was kind enough to provide Hearing News Watch with details of the relationship between Sonova and the pharmacy chain.   We