Technology

The Next Best Thing in Speech to Text Apps

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

I love captions and look for them everywhere I go — even when they are not there. Last week at my daughter’s high school play, my eyes would involuntarily slide to the side looking for the caption screen anytime I missed some of the dialogue. The play was not captioned, but my reflex to look for the text anyway made me laugh.

So when I read about the new Google Live Transcribe app (available only on Android so far) I was eager to try it. I have tested other speech to text apps over the years, but none had really done the trick — the accuracy was typically poor and the timing was stilted. Still, these apps are sometimes better than nothing and usually good for a laugh or two when the captions really miss the mark.

Living With Hearing Loss | A Hearing Loss Blog

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5 Reasons You Should NOT Ignore Your Hearing Loss

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

Today I share an excerpt from an article I wrote for Hearing Tracker.

Let’s be honest. It is tempting to ignore your hearing loss. You rationalize the times you don’t hear things, thinking, “If only he would stop mumbling,” or “This restaurant was just too loud.” Those things may be true, but so, too, is your difficulty hearing.

Hearing loss often comes on gradually, making it hard to detect as it is happening. Once treated, people are often amazed at the sounds that they have been missing — birds chirping, water running in the faucet, the refrigerator humming — many of which they have not heard for years.

Living With Hearing Loss | A Hearing Loss Blog

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Person-Centered Care Requires Thinking Beyond The Technology

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

This is the fifth and final article in a series I am writing for Ida Institute on person-centered care. The first article was about what person-centered care means to me — the hearing loss patient. The second article discussed why partnering with your patient is so important. The third article described how to make your audiologist office hearing loss friendly. The fourth article talked about how important creativity is to successfully implementing person-centered care. This final article focuses on the importance of thinking outside the technology to enhance communication options for your patients. 

An excerpt from the fifth article appears below. To read the full article, click here. 

Living With Hearing Loss | A Hearing Loss Blog

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How to Handle Hearing Loss in the Workplace

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

It was my first meeting with the new CEO of a large retail company and he was clearly under the weather. His eyes were watery, he was coughing and his voice was weaker than usual. “I’ll sit across the table from you,” he said, “so I don’t get you sick.” This was a thoughtful gesture, but as I sized up the large conference table now lying between us, I worried I wouldn’t be able to hear him. As he began to answer my first question, my fears were realized — I couldn’t understand a word he said.

I hadn’t yet begun to disclose my hearing loss to people, preferring to fake it when I couldn’t hear, rather than reveal what I still considered my shameful secret. How was I going to handle this critical meeting?

Living With Hearing Loss | A Hearing Loss Blog

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Are Movie Theater Caption Readers Properly Maintained?

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

Since discovering caption readers at the movies a couple of years ago, I have firmly embraced heading to the movie theater to take in a film now and again. And with most movie theaters in my area now offering some type of captioning device, I can choose the movie based on where and when I want to see it, not where and when the accessibility options are offered. This is a treat, and one that I have come to expect.

But recently, things are feeling less secure. In each of the last four times I went to the movies, there has been an issue with the captioning. It makes me wonder if the devices are being properly maintained.

Living With Hearing Loss | A Hearing Loss Blog

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