Clive and Tanisha
LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ—Bravo has not (yet) found room on its schedule for The Real Audiologists of Hennepin County or Desperate Dispensers, and it will be a while yet before the nation gets to watch Snooki’s newborn being screened for hearing loss.
However, what is loosely referred to as “reality television” really did pay a visit to Family Hearing Center in Lawrenceville, NJ. That’s where Clive Muir, Tanisha Thomas’s betrothed, went to find out what could be done about his hearing loss, which had worsened over the last several years.
If you don’t know who Clive Muir is, that’s probably because you don’t watch Tanisha Gets Married, a TV docu-series that airs Mondays at 10 pm Eastern on Oxygen.
The good news for Clive is that Joanne Rosenberg MS, the audiologist whom he went to see, was able to fit him with the hearing aids that she thought would be best for his condition. They were, as it happens, a pair of ReSound Alera 9 receiver-in-the-ear hearing aids.
That was no surprise, as Oxygen had first contacted ReSound and asked if it would be willing to donate hearing instruments and fitting services to the show, said Kevin Mensink, VP of Marketing, ReSound. The answer was a definite yes.
Mensink said, “Having ReSound hearing aids featured on Oxygen is great exposure for our brand. It’s important that the public is aware that hearing loss does occur in young people and that hearing instruments are simple, practical solutions that can completely transform a person’s quality of life.”
Although in real life, Clive got his hearing aids several months ago, the episode, entitled “Can You Hear Me Now?,” did not air until this Monday, May 14. If you missed it, watch for re-runs or check out the show’s web site.
A FIRST FOR HER
Interviewed by this blog, Joanne Rosenberg sounded amused by having been selected to practice her profession on TV. It was a first for her, she said.
Actually, she is still new to private practice in general, having purchased the Family Hearing Center only last fall. Before that, she said, she was “a road warrior” for 19 years, working as a sales rep for Siemens, Sonic Innovations, and Starkey.
Both Clive and Tanisha came to her office, Rosenberg said, and as the TV camera rolled, she conducted the hearing assessment and fitting process. It was an unusual case, she said, since the patient had suffered sudden hearing loss about six years earlier. That loss was accompanied by tinnitus and vertigo that was so severe that he was hospitalized. In the aftermath, he went to various clinics, but without much success.
However, when she turned Clive’s hearing aids on for the first time, Rosenberg said, “It was the perfect response, the one every audiologist dreams of. His eyes just lit up.” She added that while the choice of brand had already been made for her, she was extremely impressed by the product, especially ReSound’s wireless technology.
How’s the groom-to-be doing with his hearing aids? “Very well,” said his audiologist, adding, “when he wears them.”
