Advocacy

When Disability Is A Design Opportunity

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

The Cooper Hewitt museum in New York City is currently running a fascinating exhibition entitled Access+Ability. The exhibit features new and innovative products that help people with disabilities experience their world more effectively through design. Some of the products are in the marketplace today, while others are in the prototype stage. All are inspiring in their use of design to solve every day problems for people with a variety of accessibility issues, including more “traditional” disabilities like mobility challenges, blindness and deafness, but also other obstacles like dementia, blood clots, and tremors.

Living With Hearing Loss | A Hearing Loss Blog

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Can An App Help You Find A Quiet Place To Eat?

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

Eating out has become a lot more challenging, as restaurant design and booming music have given many restaurants a club-like atmosphere. Sounds from clattering dishes, voices raised in conversation and the ever-present soundtrack rocket around the room, bouncing from one hard surface to another. It’s almost enough to inspire me to cook for myself! Well, let’s not go that far.

What if there was a way to find a quiet restaurant, or even a coffee shop for a quick meeting with a business colleague or for socializing with a friend? And what if you could do this right on your smartphone? Well, now you can.

Living With Hearing Loss | A Hearing Loss Blog

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Please Ask Me About My Hearing Loss

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

When I was growing up, my father never wanted to discuss his hearing loss. He was embarrassed and ashamed of not hearing. It was an unmentionable topic in my family which just perpetuated the stigma. When I emerged from my hearing loss closet almost 10 years ago, I wanted to do everything I could to crush that stigma. I sought to make hearing loss a normal topic of conversation, like someone’s back problems or new glasses. I try to do this each week on my blog.

Living With Hearing Loss | A Hearing Loss Blog

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When Dinner Includes A Decibel Reader

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

Certain members of my family are very hard for me to hear. Part of it is no fault of their own — their voices are in the frequency range where my hearing loss is greatest. But I do often wonder if there isn’t more that they could do to project and enunciate their speech to make it easier for me to hear.

In fact, I think other people often have trouble hearing them too. But when I ask them about it, they say they are speaking at a normal volume and sometimes ask me if maybe the batteries on my hearing aids are getting low. Lovely.

Living With Hearing Loss | A Hearing Loss Blog

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Your Hearing Loss Is Unique, And So Is Mine

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

Every hearing loss is unique. Each like a snowflake with its own nuances and sharp edges. Its own beauty and challenges. Some of us hear high frequencies better, while others detect only low sounds. Certain of us lipread or use sign language, but not all of us do. We all have different tolerances, lifestyles, and capacities. And varying degrees of residual hearing. This diversity makes hearing loss difficult to explain, and very hard for people without hearing loss to understand. 

Living With Hearing Loss | A Hearing Loss Blog

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