Customizing Audibility Using Selective Amplification Principles – Who Does the Selecting Matters
By Brian Taylor, AuD, Editor-at-Large A few months ago, in the most recent edition of Signal and Noise, I outlined the value of customizing ear coupling by following the advice of Margaret (Margo) Skinner. The basic message was the clinician’s ability to customize earmold plumbing is likely to result in higher levels of patient benefit.…
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Readers’ Choice 2021: Don’t Forget Assistive Listening Devices – They’re Not What They Used to Be
Dear Readers: During this holiday season, the editors at Hearing Health & Technology Matters (HHTM) are taking some time off. However, we are not leaving you without anything to read on our blog this week. Instead, we are publishing a special holiday edition filled with what we call our Readers’ Choices. Our Readers’ Choices featured…
Read MoreTo Boost Outcomes for Hearing Aid Wearers, the Profession Should Commit to Telehealth Services
By Brian Taylor, AuD, Editor-at-Large It should concern every hearing care professional (HCP) that anywhere from 5 percent to one-quarter of patients never use their hearing aids. Or that by some accounts, an astounding 98 percent of hearing aid owners say they had at least one problem with their hearing aids in the first year.…
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Needs Assessment: The Most Important Component of the Hearing Aid Evaluation
Some blanket statements: Nobody ever obtained hearing aids because of the hearing test. The most important component of the hearing aid evaluation is the needs assessment. Absolutes can be tricky. There is always an exception to an absolute. (There’s another absolute right there.) Hyperbole!! “A rhetorical formulation of exaggerated statements or claims not meant to…
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Communication by Ear? New ‘Earswitch’ Technology Offers Hope to People with ALS, Other Neurological Conditions
Editor’s Note: A new ear-level device being developed by a UK primary care physician, along with a team of researchers at Bath University, is providing hope for people with neurological conditions that are unable speak or operate a keyboard, with new ways of communicating via a computer. HHTM President and CEO, Kevin Liebe, recently connected…
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Response to an Ignorant Argument: The True Value of Hearing Aids
I have a confession to make. Many years ago I was having a particularly bad day (perhaps someone took my green Phonak screwdriver) and a patient said to me, “I don’t understand why hearing aids cost so much. It can’t cost more than $100 to make them.” I think the first words out of my…
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