Hearing News Watch

May. 10, 2011

Canadian pediatricians urge newborn hearing screening

David Kirkwood
OTTAWA–When it comes to providing its citizens with healthcare coverage, Canada has generally gone far beyond the United States. For example, its publicly funded health system ensures that all Canadians have access to free medical care. However, universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS), which  the U.S. introduced more than a decade ago, does not yet exist in most of its northern
May. 10, 2011

Senate bill calls for hearing aid tax credit

David Kirkwood
WASHINGTON, DC–Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Olympia Snowe  (R-ME) reintroduced Hearing Aid Tax Credit bill (S. 905) on May 5, with eight original co-sponsors. Rep. Tom Latham (R-IA) and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) introduced a companion bill (H.R. 1479) in the House of Representatives in April. The Senate bill is unchanged from legislation in the 111th Congress, which attracted a
May. 03, 2011

Expo to help hearing-impaired in work force

David Kirkwood
BRANCHBURG, NJ–At a time when the unemployment rate is unusually high, people with hearing loss are finding it especially difficult to find jobs. To help out, Bridges to Employment, a division of Alternatives, Inc., will host its 2011 Communication Expo this Saturday, May 7, at Raritan Valley Community College in Branchburg. The goal of this annual event is to raise
May. 03, 2011

A free guide to hearing aid maintenance

David Kirkwood
WASHINGTON, DC–The Better Hearing Institute (BHI) has unveiled its latest consumer e-Guide, Your Guide to Care and Maintenance of Hearing Aids. Authored by Drs. Ron Schow and Jeff Brockett, the comprehensive, 26-page e-Guide covers topics such as batteries, ear wax, ear mold/venting issues, moisture corrosion and intermittence, telephone use, feedback, static/noise, and prevention. The information is available on both the
May. 03, 2011

Using cotton swabs may rupture eardrums

David Kirkwood
CHICAGO–Hearing professionals have long been cautioning their patients not to use Q-tips or other small items  to clean their ear canals. Now a study by Henry Ford Hospital shows that their advice was well-founded.  The study, which was presented April 29 at the Combined Otolaryngology Spring Meeting in Chicago, found a direct association between the use of cotton swabs and
May. 03, 2011

Oregon to get its first AuD program

David Kirkwood
FOREST GROVE, OR—For more than a decade, there has been no place in Oregon where a prospective audiologist could get training in the field of her (or his) choice. That will change in fall 2012 when Pacific University’s College of Health Professions will begin training future audiologists through a clinical doctorate degree program (AuD) Ann Barr, vice-provost and executive dean
Apr. 26, 2011

NFL players bring hearing help to Africa

David Kirkwood
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK–While National Football League owners shut players out of training camps this spring, that doesn’t mean the professional gridders have been idle. Last month, a group of them spent a week in Rwanda and Uganda helping provide hearing aids to children in need. Their humanitarian trip was a project of Pros for Africa (PFA), a non-profit relief organization
Apr. 26, 2011

Audiologists helping kids in Japan

David Kirkwood
NORMAL, IL–The Educational Audiology Association (EAA) and the Marion Downs Hearing Center in Boulder, CO, have teamed up in a relief effort focused on schools for the deaf and for mainstream deaf and hard-of hearing students in areas of Japan recently  devastated by  earthquake and tsunami. A secure site for monetary donations has been established at Marion Downs Hearing Center
Apr. 26, 2011

Alma mater honors Ross Roeser

David Kirkwood
DeKALB, IL–Ross J. Roeser, PhD, the founder and long-time former executive director of the Callier Hearing and Speech Center in Dallas, has received the Northern Illinois University College of Health and Human Sciences Outstanding Alumni Award for 2011. Roeser, who earned his MA in audiology from NIU in 1967, is currently a chaired professor at the University of Texas, Dallas/
Apr. 22, 2011

NIH-funded study to look at value of high-tech hearing aids

David Kirkwood
MEMPHIS, TN–Robyn Cox, PhD, a prominent professor of audiology at the University of Memphis, has been awarded a  5-year, $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to research the effectiveness of hearing aids. Cox will recruit subjects to use hearing aids in the school’s laboratory and in their daily lives while measuring their performance with different levels of