Advocacy

Yoga For People With Hearing Loss

Shari Eberts Advocacy, Community, Coping Strategies for Hearing Loss, Hearing Loss , ,

Yoga combines physical poses with the philosophy of patience and self-acceptance. Its health benefits include developing stronger muscles, better balance, and increased flexibility. A robust yoga practice can also help people cope with the day-to-day frustrations of living with hearing loss. When combined with meditation, it can also help minimize tinnitus symptoms.

People with hearing loss may be skeptical about trying yoga. They wonder if they will be able to hear the instructor well enough to follow along in a class or if their devices will fall off when performing different yoga poses. These are real concerns, but the following tips should help you enjoy your yoga practice even when you have hearing loss.

Living With Hearing Loss | A Hearing Loss Blog

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Will Hearing Loss Soon Be The New Normal?

Shari Eberts Advocacy, Break the Stigma, Community, Hearing Loss , ,

Can you imagine a time when hearing loss would be commonplace? When it would be more prevalent than not in a social setting? When it would be the new normal? Given demographic trends, we may be rapidly approaching such a time. This is driven by three important factors — (1) the median age of the US population is increasing, (2) people are living longer, and (3) the higher incidence of hearing loss in older adults. We have the Baby Boomers and improved health care trends to thank for most of this.

Living With Hearing Loss | A Hearing Loss Blog

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The Time I Could Hear Better Than My Hearing Family

Shari Eberts Advocacy, Break the Stigma, Coping Strategies for Hearing Loss, Hearing Loss , ,

Sometimes in difficult listening situations, I hear better than my hearing family. It is probably because I am skilled at lipreading, attentive to visual clues, and use other communication strategies to enhance my hearing, while my family typically just hears without having to do much of anything else. But not this one time.

We were visiting a Bedouin community in the Negev desert for a camel ride and to learn more about Bedouin culture. We were lucky to have one of the leaders of the community speak with our group to explain the customs and culture of this nomadic people. The man was talking in an incredibly faint voice.

Living With Hearing Loss | A Hearing Loss Blog

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What This Hearing Aid Wearer Learned At An Audiology Conference

Shari Eberts Advocacy, Audiology, Community, Hearing Loss, Technology , , , , ,

I am proud to share my hearing loss story and tips on Hearing Tracker. 

A Unique Opportunity

I was lucky to present recently at the American Academy of Audiology’s annual convention in Nashville held April 18-21, 2018. You can read about my presentation here. It was a fascinating experience to attend an audiology conference, not as an audiologist, but as a patient. It was interesting to attend the various educational sessions for the audiologists, listen in on the latest product launches from the hearing aid manufacturers, and walk the expansive exhibition hall to explore new and innovative products for people with hearing loss. I am so glad I attended.

Living With Hearing Loss | A Hearing Loss Blog

Positive take-homes from the AAA conference

1. Audiologists are genuinely concerned for our welfare. There were many sessions describing the details of patient-centered care in attempts to provide more personalized and effective hearing care for people with hearing loss. These talks were well attended and numerous questions were raised.

2. Over-the-counter (OTC) hearing devices are slowly being accepted. While there seemed to be push-back from some audiologists when the OTC hearing aid concept was first floated, most sessions at AAA 2018 seemed to regard OTC as a done deal. Attention was focused on how to best integrate OTC hearing aid wearers into an audiology practice, rather than rejecting the initiative entirely.

Click here to read more positives on Hearing Tracker. 

Negative take-homes from the AAA conference

1. Limited hearing assistance was offered. Few sessions were captioned or had listening assistive technology available. This was not surprising since the audience did not likely include many people with hearing issues, but making the options available would have shown respect for the people who did need them.

2. Poor communication habits were on display. At many of the sessions, questions were asked without using microphones and presenters did not repeat these questions before answering them. This is fairly typical at large meetings, but I had hoped for better from professionals whose job is focused on improving communication.

Click here to read more negatives on Hearing Tracker. 

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When Your Family Worries More About Disturbing Others Than Helping You Hear

Shari Eberts Advocacy, Coping Strategies for Hearing Loss, Hearing Loss ,

It was a wonderful day on a recent family vacation filled with big adventures, beautiful weather and a great evening meal. It was time to relax on the hotel bar balcony to take in the view while enjoying a drink and dessert. We settled into our spot and suddenly everyone in my family started talking so quietly that I could no longer follow the conversation. There were a few other groups enjoying the balcony but overall, it was a quiet environment. Automatically, my family had dropped the volume of their voices to match the surrounding noise level.

This is a natural reaction, but for people with hearing loss, it doesn’t work. Things must be of a certain loudness in order for me to hear them — especially voices.

Living With Hearing Loss | A Hearing Loss Blog

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