I’ve been traveling again, and as I have mentioned before, when I book my flights online I always check the “Hearing Impaired” box in the “Special Services” option, but rarely, am I ever approached by the flight attendant with regard to this designation, and never Read More
Author Archive
“LET US HEAR FROM YOU”
July 20th, 2010 by SayWhatClub Weblog
Posted in Deaf, Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened |
AUDIOLOGISTS, TECHNOLOGY AND HEARING AIDS……oh my!
July 11th, 2010 by SayWhatClub Weblog
Approximately a year ago, I felt it was time to get a new hearing aid. I felt my aid was no longer giving me what I needed to function both at work and socially. I began to sense that I was losing additional hearing but was not absolutely certain. I’ve always been sensitive to any Read More
Posted in ASL, Deaf, Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened |
Why I’m not ‘Hearing-Impaired’
May 4th, 2010 by SayWhatClub Weblog
This happened about ten years ago as I was beginning to come to terms with my hearing loss. Those who have experienced a progressive hearing loss like mine will understand. When you grow up hearing, it sometimes takes a while to realize that you are no longer a ‘hearing’ person. I guess Read More
Posted in Hard-of-Hearing, Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened |
LOSING MY HEARING, LOSING MY VISION OF INDEPENDENCE BY saytheword
April 9th, 2010 by SayWhatClub Weblog
I recently saw a Neuro-Otologist due to my experiencing dizziness. I am deaf in one ear and wear an aid on my good ear. I was relieved to find out that there’s a difference between dizziness and spinning and therefore, a diagnosis of Menieres was able to be ruled out. However, the Doctor Read More
Posted in ASL, Deaf, Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened |
STOP, THE WORLD IS SPINNING by Saytheword
March 28th, 2010 by SayWhatClub Weblog
For the past two weeks, I’ve been slowly headed toward a new planet I never encountered but heard a great deal about. The Planet Vertigo. The day it started was just a regular day when suddenly, I felt dizzy and unbalanced. My tinnitus was roaring, my ears popping. The world appeared Read More
Posted in Deaf, Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened |
HEARING AIDS, HEARING GADGETS AND HEARING LOSS by Saytheword
March 6th, 2010 by SayWhatClub Weblog
When u look at all the technology out there from the beginning of their creation to its current status, you willl note that most technology started out large and clutsy looking and eventually the product was reduced in size BUT improved in its functioning purposes . Look at computers, Read More
Posted in Deaf, Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened, Uncategorized |
The Valentine’s Gift by L. Smith
February 15th, 2010 by SayWhatClub Weblog
The package landed silently in my office mailbox. The white cardboard box and courier company label didn’t give a hint of its contents but the sender’s name and description provided a clue: “OTICON LTD. VALENTINES GIFT” I cut the tape and opened the flap. Inside was a personalized letter Read More
Posted in Hard-of-Hearing, Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened |
Choosing Quiet in a Noisy World
February 11th, 2010 by SayWhatClub Weblog
No matter how good your hearing aids, there will always be some sound distortion, which is unfortunately directly proportionate to one’s hearing loss. A pretty good example of this would be my bi-weekly swim class. I swim unaided. There are about fifty women in my class. You can imagine Read More
Posted in Hard-of-Hearing, Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened |
One Red, One Blue
February 4th, 2010 by SayWhatClub Weblog
I am traveling… I just walked down to the lobby area of the hotel to get a cup of coffee. As I was descending the stairs, a little girl, about age 7, exclaimed “Your shoes are different colors!!” I had to laugh, as I’ve gotten so much mileage, literally, out of my odd matched Read More
Posted in Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened |
Hearing Loss Isn’t Funny
December 22nd, 2009 by SayWhatClub Weblog
I don’t know how many of you watched the Biggest Loser this past season, but one of the contestants, Abby, lives my worst nightmare. She lost her husband and kids after they were broadsided in a car accident. I can’t think of anything worse. I’m sure every woman in the world feels Read More
Posted in Deaf, Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened |
Study of People With Hearing Loss Reveals Reluctance to Acquire Hearing Aids
December 3rd, 2009 by SayWhatClub Weblog
We’re not alone. But it must seem that way to many people who are new to hearing loss and its impact on their daily lives. That’s one suggestion that can be drawn from the latest MarkeTrak survey of the hearing loss population in the United States . One of the key findings is that the Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened |
Quality of Life Study for parents with deaf and/or hard of hearing children
November 12th, 2009 by SayWhatClub Weblog
The University of Washington is conducting a Quality of Life Study for Children who are deaf and hard of hearing. They are looking for deaf and hard of hearing children and youth ages 5 to 18 and their parents for participation in the study (US residents only). Your involvement would be as Read More
Posted in ASL, Deaf, Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened, Uncategorized |
Clueless at the Ball
November 9th, 2009 by SayWhatClub Weblog
This past weekend was the 234th Marine Corps Birthday Ball. I had been looking forward to the Ball, but also had been dreading placing myself in the kind of situation I struggle with–a noisy crowd of strangers, numerous introductions, low lighting, music–the general roaring mix of 250 Read More
Posted in Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened |
Deafaphobia? Is it them or us?
October 5th, 2009 by SayWhatClub Weblog
I have a bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. We hear those words often but they mean different things to each individual. I am only aided on my right ear because my left ear is totally unfriendly to any speech discrimination. Or should I say, speech discrimination is unfriendly to my Read More
Posted in Deaf, Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened |
THE BEST OF THE BEST? IT’S ALL RELATIVE!
September 7th, 2009 by SayWhatClub Weblog
An observation during my recent travels… Pick up any in-flight magazine, thumb through the pages, and you will find endless “Best” lists. These lists mostly, but not always, are dedicated to highlighting the best restaurants–Seafood, Italian, American Steakhouses, and more Read More
Posted in Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened |
TELL ME WHAT YOU HEAR, AND I’LL TELL WHAT I SEE
August 25th, 2009 by SayWhatClub Weblog
We all need a friend. Someone to share thoughts with, laugh with, cry with. Someone who will take the time to be what we need, and who can expect the same from us. That might be especially true for those of us who face each day not hearing all we used to hear, all we want to hear, and Read More
Posted in Deaf, Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened |
Not Your Mama’s Hearing Aids
August 17th, 2009 by SayWhatClub Weblog
I remember the first time I saw a blue tooth in someone’s ear. I thought it was a super cool looking hearing aid. Not long after, Oticon came out with their first ‘non-hearing-aid’ aid, which they called a “hearing device.’ The Delta (now called Dual) is a colorful modern Read More
Posted in Hearing Aid, Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened, Uncategorized |
Deaf Audiologist
August 1st, 2009 by SayWhatClub Weblog
I sometimes wonder how audiologists can sell hearing aids they have never tried. I realize not every audiologist can be hard of hearing or deaf, but because most aren’t, I wonder how it’s possible for them to know what we hear when we put on hearing aids or to understand our feelings about Read More
Posted in Deaf, Hearing Aid, Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened |
Educating Cluelessness
July 20th, 2009 by SayWhatClub Weblog
I have just about had it with people who totally do not understand hearing loss. Sitting around the picnic table on my deck with family, when suddenly my niece turns to me, taps me on the shoulder and says out loud, “are your hearing aids on?” I looked at her with complete contempt and Read More
Posted in Deaf, Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened |
Captioning the Internet by Jan Christensen
July 13th, 2009 by SayWhatClub Weblog
Target was sued recently because its website was inaccessible to the blind. A court ruled that a retailer’s website is a virtual “location,” and must be as accessible as an actual store. In June of 2008, Representatives Edward Markey (D-MA), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Read More
Posted in Advocacy, Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened |
More on SayWhatClub: by Jan Christensen
July 3rd, 2009 by SayWhatClub Weblog
More than 36 million people in America alone have a hearing loss, with an estimated 278 million worldwide according to a World Health Organization (WHO) survey in 2005, ranging from moderate to profound. Hearing loss is the third most common health problem in America, behind only arthritis and Read More
Posted in ASL, Deaf, Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened |
Silent News– A New Trend
June 6th, 2009 by SayWhatClub Weblog
Like many people I get my news on-line. Unlike many people I don’t hear very well. Over the past few years there’s been a trend toward offering breaking news in video format. Unfortunately the videos aren’t captioned. Take today’s news. Yahoo offered a video simulation of Read More
Posted in Advocacy, Deaf, Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened |
Sometimes I Don’t Know Whether to Laugh or Cry?
May 27th, 2009 by SayWhatClub Weblog
Written May 16, 2009 I’ve been visiting my two oldest kids in New England for the last two and a half weeks. Last night my daughter and I drove, from where she lives in Vermont, to my son’s home, in Salem, Massachusetts, so the four of us–my husband had driven from Vermont earlier that Read More
Posted in Deaf, Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened |
Lets talk about hearing loss cluelessness
May 23rd, 2009 by SayWhatClub Weblog
I HATE when people just don’t get it. Hearing people that is. I use to hate when people with hearing loss are in denial that they are losing their hearing and these are bright intelligent people, who rather suffer and pretend than look into wearing a hearing aid. I don’t want to hate Read More
Posted in Deaf, Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened, Uncategorized |
Getting to know us is to love us
May 11th, 2009 by SayWhatClub Weblog
It all started nearly 14 years ago. I was one of New Zealand’s first cochlear Implantee’s back in 1993. In fact there was very little information about Cochlear implants on the web back then. As editor of New Zealand’s cochlear implant newsletter I was always looking for articles, Read More
Posted in ASL, Deaf, Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened |
Hearing loss at age 45
May 9th, 2009 by SayWhatClub Weblog
John Samanic said May 1, 2009 at 12:36 pm e Hello, My hearing loss began in late 2003 at the age of 45. My mother and my maternal grandfather both lost their hearing at about the same age. I am on my second set of hearing aids, which, thankfully, enables me to hear, but not so well. Read More
Posted in Deaf, Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened |
I’d rather be Hearing-impaired than Listening impaired
April 28th, 2009 by SayWhatClub Weblog
This morning I woke up coughing, again. My head, back and chest hurt. My throat was raw and swollen. I have been sick for over a week. With these latest warnings of a near swine flu pandemic, a doctor seemed like a good idea. The receptionist was able to squeeze me in with someone I hadn’t Read More
Posted in Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened |
Is There a Hard of Hearing Culture? by Shanna Groves / The Lip Reader Blog
April 17th, 2009 by SayWhatClub Weblog
In my soon-to-be-published novel Lip Reader, a church pastor goes out of his way to make sure his deaf congregants understand the music and sermon. He uses sign language while preaching. The music is interpreted through sign and a loud beating drum. Any deaf person visiting this church for the Read More
Posted in ASL, Deaf, Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened, Uncategorized |
I AM dEAF
March 29th, 2009 by SayWhatClub Weblog
I am finding that telling people, “I am deaf.”, nets so much more understanding and accommodation than any of the other descriptions (hard of hearing, hearing impaired, et al.) I have tried over the years. Before joining the SayWhatClub (SWC), I would have felt like a fraud using “deaf” Read More
Posted in Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, Hearing Loss, Late-Deafened |
All In A Days Work
February 24th, 2009 by SayWhatClub Weblog
14/365 – the librarian in me, originally uploaded by ~shepdc~. Last week it happened again. At the beginning of the day, I went out to my car for something and accidentally locked myself out of the building. I do this about once a year. In fact, most of us do. There were two people Read More
