Blamey & Saunders Hearing are a supplier of self-programmable hearing aids, they also sell Neurotone’s listening enhancement (LACE) software to compliment their hearing aid range. Dr. Daniel Taft, Australia Hears’ Chief Technology Officer, was kind enough to take the time to answer some questions about LACE.

Can you give us a brief introduction to LACE?

[Daniel Taft] LACE stands for Listening And Communication Enhancement. It was designed by leading audiologists at the University of California at San Francisco. LACE is an adaptive, interactive aural rehabilitation program that people can perform on their own PC, on their DVD player, or in a clinic under the supervision of their audiologist.
In the same way that physiotherapy helps rebuild muscles and compensate for physical weakness or injury, LACE training is used to help people develop skills and strategies to deal with situations when their hearing is inadequate. It helps people who have just acquired hearing aids (and also others who simply struggle in difficult situations) to make the most of their hearing.

Do you think people always understand the need for it? Hearing loss is obviously associated with ears, is it difficult to show the need to improve your brain’s ability to listen too?

[Daniel Taft] I think it is harder for some people to realise that there are real benefits to improving cognitive skills, unlike say physical training where the benefits are more obvious. Many people feel that purchasing a hearing aid is all that is needed to regain full communication abilities, but that is often unrealistic – just as it would be with any new tool or prosthesis. Hearing and listening are subtly different; one is a sense, the other is a skill.

Neurotone Inc. have a saying that “you hear with your ears and listen with your brain”.

How long typically would someone use LACE for before they start to see benefits?

[Daniel Taft] Data from Neurotone shows that after ten 20-minutes sessions, LACE users increase their ability to hear speech in a noisy room by up to 33%. Even after one or two sessions, LACE shows users that they are actually hearing more than they gave themselves credit for. LACE also offers lots of communication tips that help improve communication – every three minutes a new hint pops up.

You sell self-programmable hearing aids, seems like LACE is a perfect partner as it gives people complete control over their hearing?

[Daniel Taft] We agree! If a person is willing to regain control of their own hearing, and purchase and program their own hearing aids at home, then they are prime candidates to benefit from LACE. These sorts of people have no trouble becoming active listeners. We think we provide the perfect platform for LACE training.

Are there any plans for a iPod/mobile version?

[Daniel Taft] I’m told that Neurotone are developing a web-based program that will be platform independent. For now, there are Mac and Windows versions of LACE, and a DVD player version too.

Thanks again to Daniel for answering my questions. You can find out more about Blamey & Saunders Hearing by going to their website. To read more about LACE, or to download the free demo, go to the Neurotone website.

The National Associations of the Deaf (NAD) have been given the go-ahead by a federal court in Massachusetts to bring a legal action against Netflix. The NAD is attempting to make it a legal requirement for Netflix to offer closed captions on its streamed movie service.

NAD is suing Netflix under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Netflix tried to dismiss NADs claim as they said the ADA only applied to public buildings and structures, not to Internet services. The court denied Netflix’s motion for dismissal, stating that it would be “irrational to conclude” that “places of public accommodation are limited to actual physical structures. …In a society in which business is increasingly conducted online, excluding businesses that sell services through the Internet from the ADA would run afoul of the purposes of the ADA and would severely frustrate Congress’s intent that individuals with disabilities fully enjoy the goods, services, privileges and advantages, available indiscriminately to other members of the general public.”

Read more on NAD.

When you want the latest and greatest in hearing aid technology, Bluetooth is a must-have feature. Bluetooth allows hearing aids to wirelessly communicate with other devices, including the hearing aid in your other ear, your computer, television, cell phone and digital music player. Picking the best Bluetooth hearing aid requires some attention to detail as you examine its features and choose the right aid for your needs.

Bluetooth transmitter

Although technology is continually moving to smaller components, Bluetooth hearing aids still come with a separate transmitter. You must wear this transmitter to facilitate wireless communication between your hearing aids and other devices. The transmitter may be worn around your neck, on your belt or in a pocket. When shopping, consider the size of the transmitter and where you will wear it. With most types of Bluetooth hearing aids, you will need to access the transmitter to turn it on when you want to use the Bluetooth function.

Environmental noise

Bluetooth hearing aids transmit the sound directly to the hearing aid – i.e., it does not have to come through the microphone. Therefore, some types of hearing aids will turn off the microphone when you’re using the hearing aid to listen through a Bluetooth connection. This, however, can make it difficult for you to hear what else is going on around you, such as having a conversation with someone while you watch TV. Depending on the situations in which you see yourself using the hearing aid, you may want to choose one like the Alera, which amplifies environmental noise for you even while you’re using the Bluetooth function.

Setup and technology

Not all electronics automatically give a Bluetooth signal, so you may have to set them up to communicate with Bluetooth. The most technologically advanced electronics, like new computers and cell phones, generally come with built-in Bluetooth technology. With older electronics, you’ll have to plug a small device into your television, phone or other item you want to hear wirelessly with Bluetooth. Your hearing aid provider will also have to link your Bluetooth transmitter to your hearing aids and show you how to work them.

Cost and care

Bluetooth-equipped hearing aids, especially those with the latest technology, tend to be quite expensive. Therefore, you’ll need to look into what your health insurance covers, not only when purchasing your hearing aid, but also when repairing or replacing it. You’ll also need to be attentive to caring for your hearing aid by dehumidifying it and keeping track of your transmitter, which you need to have with you for the Bluetooth functionality to work.

Hearing aid technology is advancing in leaps and bounds with Bluetooth’s help. Wirelessly connect not only with telephones, but with almost any electronic device that creates sound. The crystal clear sound you will hear makes it easier for you to enjoy audio experiences with other people without having to crank up the volume or deal with fuzzy sound or feedback in your hearing aids. Ask about Bluetooth next time you go to replace your hearing aid.

The Audicus blog is running a fun little competition, they are asking people to take photos of ear-like shapes and send them in. Don’t think there’s any prizes, just for fun.

Grab your camera and send a picture to: http://audicus.wordpress.com/2011/06/23/five-eary-pictures-ear-appreciation-campaign/

We all accept that noise is part of our everyday lives, however, if noise in a workplace reaches a certain level, the employer has a duty, by law, to protect their employees’ hearing.

We can prevent hearing loss caused by work but once your hearing has gone, it won’t come back.

It is estimated there are hundreds of thousands of people in the UK who suffer Industrial Deafness due to harmful levels of noise at work.

What are the limits?

Noise levels are measured in decibels and to give you an idea of some average decibel measurements, you could expect to hear the following:

Bedroom or quiet living room — 40dBA
Normal conversation — 60dBA
Vacuum cleaner (10ft) — 70dBA
Food blender (2ft) or Pneumatic drill (50ft) — 80dBA
Heavy truck or motorbike (25ft) — 90dBA
Chain saw — 110dBA

If noise levels reach an average of 80dBA your employer must:

Make every effort to reduce noise levels by replacing/modifying /maintaining equipment and machinery.
Explain the risks and explain how to protect your hearing.
Provide PPE (Personal Protective Equipment).

If noise levels reach an average of 85dBA your employer must:

Comply with all of the above.
Enforce the compulsory wearing of hearing protection.
Clearly mark hearing protection zones.

As a general rule of thumb, if you have to raise your voice to communicate with colleagues over a distance of 3 feet then the noise levels are likely to be in excess of 85dBA. If you have to shout then the noise levels are in excess of 90dBA.

Have you been affected?

Most people know when an accident has occurred at work because of the dramatic effects and impacts they can impose, but very few employees are aware of industrial ‘illnesses’ – such as ‘industrial deafness’. This is because the damage being done to the hearing happens very slowly, over a long period of time. As a result, the symptoms go unnoticed in the early stages, manifesting themselves after a prolonged period, when you are then more likely to put the cause of your hearing problems down to the ageing process. You may never be aware that your symptoms are due to your working environment.

Do you work using noisy machinery or power tools?

Do you work in a noisy industry, such as construction, road repair, demolition, woodworking, plastics processing, engineering, textiles, general fabrication, forging, pressing or stamping, paper or board making, foundries, canning or bottling, mining, or one of many other similar industries?
Are there noises because of impacts? (e.g. hammering, drop forging, pneumatic impact tools etc), explosive sources such as cartridge-operated tools or guns?

If you have worked in what you consider to be a noisy environment, without adequate hearing protection, the chances are you may have been affected and are suffering from some degree of Industrial Deafness (Noise Induced Hearing Loss).

The following are common signs that your hearing has already started to suffer:

You may find that conversation starts to become difficult, especially if there is any background noise.
You may find it difficult to use the telephone.
Your family may complain that you set the television volume too high.
You may suffer from tinnitus (ringing in the ear)

What you should do next

The only way to determine if you’ve been affected by noise is to have a hearing test.

If you are still working in a noisy environment the first thing you and your employer should do is ensure you are doing as much as possible to prevent any further damage to your hearing. By law, your employer should find out the levels of the noise that you are exposed to and assess the risk to your hearing.

Depending on the severity of the noise your employer must comply with the following:

Control the noise exposure by ‘engineering’ it out.  They may fit a silencer, or put in screens or barriers.
Change the layout of your working environment or the way you work.  They must not rely on hearing protectors alone.
They should provide you with the quietest machinery that will do the job.
Provide you with a choice of adequate hearing protection.
Send you for regular hearing checks.
Provide you with correct training and information.
Consult you and your representatives.
Whilst the onus is on the employer to protect your hearing, you should do all you can to remain safe.

You should always:

Co-operate with your employer.
Wear any hearing protection that you are given.
Look after your hearing protection.
Report any problems immediately.

You should never remove hearing protection in an Ear Protection Zone even for short periods. Removing protection in an environment with 107dBA for just one minute would give a noise dose equal to the recommended level of 80dBA for 8 hours.

Hearing Loss Compensation?

If your employer has exposed you to excessive noise levels, and your hearing has been damaged as a result, you may be entitled to compensation. Many thousands of innocent victims have already received substantial awards for the permanent damage they have sustained. Typically, awards in noise induced deafness claims range from £3,000 to £20,000.

Claiming what is owed to you is a simple process and can be administered under the terms of a risk free ‘No-win, No-Fee’ agreement with a solicitor. However, you only get one chance to make a claim for noise induced hearing loss, so when you do, you need to make sure you have the support of professionals who have the right experience and know-how to guide you through the process and maximize the award you’ll receive.

Atrium Legal Services

Atrium are a great company to handle an industrial hearing loss claim. You can contact them through their website:

www.atriumlegal.com

The Oticon Focus on People Awards recognize outstanding individuals with hearing loss who show that hearing loss does not limit a person’s ability to succeed, contribute and inspire.

Not that I am biased or anything but I have voted for Samantha in the Student section and Sarah in the Advocacy section.

I wrote about Samantha’s book a little while ago, it’s an amazing piece of work that inspires as well as teaches. I’ve been reading Sarah’s SpeakUpLibrarian blog for years now, it’s an informative account of the struggles with hearing loss and – hope Sarah doesn’t mind me saying this – I think it has helped Sarah cope with her own hearing loss. Sarah doesn’t just blog, she is also the Social Chair of the Association of Late Deafened Adults Chicago.

Both are doing great work to educate and raise awareness of hearing issues – give them your vote!

This is a guest article by Patrick Frueler.

Patrick is the founder of Audicus. Audicus is a new, simple and affordable way of buying great quality hearing aids that fit.

While hearing loss is often attributed to natural ageing or the iPod generation’s exposure to loud music, hearing impairment due to noise at work is particularly prevalent. Have you ever seen a fire truck blasting through with full sirens and asked yourself how on earth those firefighters manage to stay sound? Or construction workers wielding a sledge hammer? Or military personnel in combat areas?

Hearing Loss Incidence

Approximately 30 million workers in the US are exposed to hazardous noise on the job. Audicus tried to compile the available data on the incidence of hearing loss in occupations where the average noise levels are above the 90dB safety limit – and the numbers were astounding.  In manufacturing or even agriculture, workers are at least three times as likely to experience hearing loss when they are 50 years old– in other industries it’s up to six times!

Mind those Sirens, Bomb blasts and Squealing Pigs

In mining and construction, 2 out of 3 workers will experience hearing loss by the time they are 50. Most of it is due to the use of heavy equipment (think jackhammers and heavy drills), the drilling of rock and the confined work environment. What is particularly alarming is that the ability to hear well is essential to maintaining standards of safety – which, if jeopardized, can put workers in such extreme environments in a life threatening situation.

Personnel in the armed forces also face threatening noise levels, especially those in active duty: a recent study by the Deafness Research Foundation showed that more than 65% of returning combat troops from Afghanistan suffer from noise-induced hearing loss or sustained acoustic trauma.

Farmers are three times as likely to exhibit hearing loss as the average American. Exposure to damaging sounds starts at a relatively young age, such with the squealing of pigs, tractors, combines, grain dryers, chain saws and other equipment and tools.

For firefighters, hearing loss is the second most common work related ailment, mostly due to exposure from sirens, machinery and other tools.

One of the largest employers in the US, the manufacturing sector is also one of the noisiest. Therefore it is responsible for the highest number of occupational hearing loss cases. A study in Michigan showed that more than half of all cases of permanent hearing loss came from manufacturing.

No cure and no support

While substantial efforts were made to encourage the use of hearing protection in these industries, most notably in construction and manufacturing, the results are meager. Construction workers spend on average 70% of their time in hazardous noise environments yet they protect their ears less than 30% of the time. The incidence of hearing loss among military personnel has remained largely unchanged since the 1980s.

Noise induced hearing loss is permanent and irreversible; once you have it, you can only assist it with a hearing aid. The problem there is that many of those employed in “noisy” occupations belong to the lower income brackets and simply don’t have the means to finance the $3,000 to $7,000 for a pair of hearing aids. What is worse is that this relationship backfires into a spiral, where workers become less productive due to their untreated hearing impairment and face lower salaries and wages.

Military personnel are currently the only ones seeing a real and effective form of government subsidy for hearing aids via the Veterans Affairs (VA).  The rest can only rely on very limited support through their industry trade bodies (e.g. $1,000 every 3 years from the New York transit authority) and some private insurance schemes. In fact, 60-70% of all yearly hearing aids expenditures are paid out of pocket by the patient!

While Audicus is trying to make hearing technology more accessible and affordable, there is still a long way to go.

So What is the occlusion effect? Hell, honestly, pure hell. The occlusion effect occurs when our ears are completely blocked. For instance, when a hearing aid completely fills the outer part of the ear canal. It can cause the wearer’s voice to sound loud and boomy in their own head. Many people complain that they sound hollow or it’s like they are talking into a barrel. Chewing food can also sound odd, and even cause discomfort, to someone with occluded canals.

No Escape

Normally when people talk or chew, the produced sound vibrations escape through the unblocked ear – nothing is heard. But when the ear is blocked by a hearing aid, the vibrations cannot escape and are instead bounced back down to the eardrum, which produces the louder hollow sound.

Open Fit hearing aids are an answer to this problem as they do not occlude the canal. The in-ear section of the aid is not moulded to fit tightly in the way that other types of hearing aids are.

If you think you are suffering from the occlusion effect, visit an audiologist. Depending on the type of hearing aid you have, they may be able to open up the vent to reduce the problem.

A young deaf girl learns sign language to try and find herself, but instead becomes caught between the deaf and hearing worlds

My Song is the debut drama from C&B Films, a new production company headed by director William Mager and scriptwriter Charlie Swinbourne, aiming to tell stories that express deaf culture in an original, compelling way.

Starring Lara Steward, My Song is a coming of age story which follows Ellen, a young deaf girl stuck in the middle of the deaf and hearing worlds.

Feeling as if she doesn’t fit in, Ellen learns sign language, attempting to enter the deaf world by taking part in a sign song competition in London.

You can find out more about this film or watch some of the other excellent shorts on the British Sign Language Broadcasting Trust website.

I hate waiting rooms, they make me nervous. Doctor surgeries, opticians, dentists, business foyers, hospital waiting rooms – they’re all the same: large rooms full of people with lots of potential for embarrassing hearing mistakes.

Waiting rooms are either incredibly noisy, full of chatter, kids playing and parents shouting; or they are deathly silent with no-one uttering a word. I’m not sure which is better.

When it’s really noisy I have basically no chance of hearing when I’m called for whatever appointment I’m waiting for. But then at least I have an excuse, “Sorry, so noisy in here, couldn’t hear you“.

When it’s quiet it’s probably worse as everyone is bored and is watching everyone else as they have nothing better to do. Plus, the caller doesn’t call so loud because there isn’t so much noise to shout over. In the past, many years ago, someone called out a name (I had no idea if it was mine) and I waited for about ten seconds and didn’t see anyone else moving, so I got up. That could’ve gone really, really wrong.

It’s usually while I’m sat in waiting rooms that I’m reminded how much I don’t hear. I always try and sit as close to where the caller is going to be as possible and even then I still sometimes don’t manage to pick up the name being called and yet someone from the other side of the room – waaaaay over there – gets up for their appointment. Wow, my hearing is bad.

You’re probably wondering why I don’t just tell someone about my hearing loss? I usually do. But even then the caller might not realise how much louder they need to go, or they can’t be bothered, or they forget. I’m always on edge.

I went to an NHS Audiology department some years ago and was pretty shocked to find that even though they had a huge waiting room they were calling people for appointments by shouting at them from the corner of the room. I mean… c’mon.

Another thing I hate about being in waiting rooms is when my appointment time has passed and I start wondering if I’ve actually been called and I didn’t hear. Are they just running late or should I go and see if I was called?

It would be great if waiting rooms could have a screen up and print the name of the person being called. Or maybe send a text message to my phone. Anything to make the experience a bit less stressful really.