Hearing News Watch

Tinnitus, a distressing  condition that commonly accompanies hearing loss, is the subject of a new e-Guide for consumers published by the Better Hearing Institute (BHI). Written by Richard Tyler, PhD, one of the world’s leading authorities on tinnitus, Your Guide to Tinnitus is available to consumers and to hearing professionals who want to share it with their patients. Just click

NAERUM, DK— The Ida Institute has created a counseling tool to help clinicians view the hearing rehabilitation process through the eyes of a pediatric patient. In so doing, My World: Understanding Hearing Loss from the Child’s Perspective is expected to enable practitioners to better address the challenges that children with hearing loss face in their day-to-day interactions. This latest addition

ST. PAUL, MN—Parents hoping to light up their young children’s eyes with Christmas toys should take care not to unintentionally affect their ears as well. So advises the Sight & Hearing Association (SHA), a Minnesota-based non-profit organization, which reported that 24 toys tested for noise levels prior to the holiday shopping season produced sounds louder than 100 dB—similar to the

PORTLAND, OR—As a 14-month-old baby in England, Peter Steyger suddenly lost his hearing, the result of an antibiotic given to him to treat meningitis. Now, 48 years later, as a scientist at the Oregon Hearing Research Center at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), he may have discovered exactly how aminoglycosides, the class of antibiotics that caused his deafness. In

WASHINGTON, DC–Approximately 75% of Americans age 50 and over view hearing as a very important or extremely important issue for them personally, according to a survey commissioned by AARP and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). The results of the survey, which was conducted in September by Crux Research, Inc., were released last week by the sponsoring organizations. The report published by

HARRISONBURG, VA–James Mason University has awarded the 2011 Roger Ruth Memorial Fund Student Research Awards to three graduate students in audiology at the university. The awards were created in memory of Dr. Roger Ruth, 1950–2009, for his tireless efforts to promote student research as an integral part of graduate education in audiology. This year’s recipients were Verleyne Andrews and Kristie

ORLANDO/TAMPA—A $1.1 million grant funded by the U.S. Department of Education will enable the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando and the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa to train speech-language pathologists to help deaf and hard-of-hearing children whose first language may not be English. Dr. Linda I. Rosa-Lugo, an associate professor in the Department of Communication Sciences

MADISON, WI—C. Scot Frink, president of Salem [OR] Audiology Clinic, was named National Hearing Professional of the Year for 2011 on November 29 by Rayovac, the largest manufacturer of hearing aid batteries in the world. Last year, Frink was named Rayovac’s Pacific Northwest Hearing Professional of the Year. Also honored by Rayovac this year as regional Professionals of the Year

By David H. Kirkwood In the month since Hearing News Watch reported on the giant strides being made to “loop America,” the campaign to make induction loops as routine in public venues in this country as they are in parts of Europe has picked up new momentum. As a result, more and more people with telecoil-equipped hearing aids now have

OSAKA, JAPAN–Panasonic announced this week that it has developed a new method for determining a hearing aid wearer’s tolerance for loud sounds. The Japanese company, which last year began distributing hearing aids in the U.S. through the Panasonic Corporation of North America Healthcare, issued a press release on November 28 in which it described its innovative technology for fitting hearing