Latest Stories on Hearing and HIs - April 20th, 2008

Divers Colwill, Tarantino win 3-meter synchro
San Diego Union Tribune - United States
"The 23-year-old Colwill is hearing impaired and has to take his hearing
aids out before diving, which can make things difficult in synchronized
events."

Easton Place church has Wright way to do things
DesMoinesRegister.com - Des Moines,IA,USA
When she was informed that members of the church wanted to make her a
recipient of the new church Blessing Fund - to help her obtain hearing aids
that cost ...

House committee puts hearing to the test
Southtown Star - Chicago,IL,USA
"The cost of her hearing aids? Upward of $2500. Your health insurance plan
doesn't cover it. Add hearing aids to the long list of products and
services many..."

Latest Stories on Cochlear Implants - April 19th, 2008

Television: Hearing, deaf worlds collide in thoughtful 'Sweet Nothing'
Salt Lake Tribune - United States
"Dan learns from a doctor that Adam might be a good candidate for a cochlear
implant, an electronic device surgically implanted in the ear..."

Summary of five conference workshopsReading Eagle - Reading,PA,USA
How does a cochlear implant and hearing aid differ?
Accommodating Young Children with ADHD
More...

Matlin tackles life’s challenges feet-first
Boston Herald - United States
It also got the facts right and presented the cochlear implant debate from
both sides without advocating either. I loved that.” The implant issue
has been ...

Political Correctness on TV Sometimes Goes Too Far
Huffington Post - New York,NY,USA
"Daniels could hear and Matlin could not... (should) their deaf child should receive a cochlear implant...?"

Japan's Cyborg Research Enters the Skull
Slashdot - USA
"he's hearing-impaired, and has a cochlear implant. Currently the speech
processor is still external, but you could imagine an internal one run off
of the..."

Embracing The World Of Sound
Washington Post - United States
" realized how much this cochlear implant had brought me. And it wasn't
just the implant; it was all of those doctors and nurses..."

April 9th - Latest Stories on Hearing

Access for the Disabled: Center helps partially deaf student adjustThe Daily Utah Chronicle - Salt Lake City,UT,USA
"The FM stereo connects the professor's lecture to her hearing aids so she
can better understand content. Note takers allow Whitesides to focus on the
..."

Boomers eye trendy hearing aids
Centre Daily Times - Centre,PA,USA
"Hearing aids are becoming hip - or at least that is what more than 100
vendors at the national audiology convention want you to believe."

April 8th - Latest Stories on Hearing

Teen overcomes his hearing impairment to fulfill a dream
Ventura County Star - Camarillo,CA,USA
"Wearing a pair of behind-the-ear hearing aids, he started taking violin
lessons before age 4 and, about six months later, took up the piano. ..."

Headphones, music lead to noise-induced hearing loss?
Vallejo Times-Herald - Vallejo,CA,USA
"They're designing low-profile hearing aids with them in mind," he said. A
significant percentage of hearing loss is caused by prolonged exposure to
noise, ..."

April 7th - Latest Stories on Hearing

Selective hearing happens in every home
Yakima Herald-Republic - Yakima,WA,USA
"When I cautiously think about hearing aids, I'm reminded of a
hard-of-hearing friend from long ago. Widowed when she married a widower,
their blended family ..."

Feeling the music, deaf performers make mark in Inland ballet ...
Press-Enterprise - Riverside,CA,USA
"If it weren't for her hearing aids, no one would guess that she hears only
some of the music. She cannot hear her teacher at all."

April 7th - Latest Stories on Cochlear Implants

Keeping the dream alive
Sunday Sun - Newcastle upon Tyne,England,UK
He said: "When I was a bit better, they offered me a cochlear implant.
But my mam refused. She asked the doctors to let nature take its course.
...

"Sweet Nothing in My Ear"
April 20, CBS
Catholic Online - Bakersfield,CA,USA
When Dan Miller (Jeff Daniels) learns that a recently refined therapy
called a cochlear implant offers his 8-year-old son, Adam (Noah Valencia),
..."


I was focused on what I could do to help my daughter hear
ChronicleLive - Newcastle upon Tyne,England,UK
I decided to get Faith a cochlear implant, and it has been a great success.
"She was one of the youngest babies in the North East ever to have the
procedure ..."

The benefits of cochlear implantsChronicleLive - Newcastle upon Tyne,England,UK
"THE first UK adult was given a cochlear implant in 1983, but it wasn't
until 1987 that the first child received one. The procedure is safe and the
benefits ..."

Hearing Loss - Top War Disability

digtriad.com
North Carolina, USA
March 2008

Hearing Loss - Top War Disability

"The loud sounds of mortar shells going off in battle has been found to have more soldiers coming back with damage to their hearing than any other disability."

Hearing Impaired Children Learn To Enjoy Music

WCSH6 TV
Portland, Oregon
March 2008

Hearing Impaired Children Learn To Enjoy Music

"Modern technology, including hearing aids and cochlear implants, allow the kids to hear the music. And they were responding to it on Wednesday, swaying and using hand signals to represent the animals the instruments were depicting musically in the story."

Moose Antlers Act as Hearing Aids?

The Independent
London, England
March 2008

I'm thinking it's not April 1st yet...

Interesting theory emerges from study of moose antlers - may act as hearing aids!

"...the moose was already known to have excellent hearing, with ears 60 times the size of humans. Their calls can travel almost two miles, allowing the deer to communicate over long distances. But antlered bulls can locate the position of moose cows much more accurately than males without antlers or other females, suggesting the antlers play a part in hearing."

Antennaes, maybe?

Child with Cochlear Implant Stars in Childrens' Book, Wins Literary Award

Ok, so it's a baseball yarn, but still...

"RALLY CAPS is a humorous, fun-filled baseball camp story. Ten-year old Jordan is injured in a frightening baseball accident. Recovery is difficult. At summer camp, he forms a friendship with a deaf Italian boy, Luca, who wears a cochlear implant. Luca’s compelling “Nothing is Impossible” attitude, along with the inspiration from his idol, Cal Ripken Jr., gives Jordan the courage to return to baseball with a passion."

http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=61752

Blood-sucking Leeches Settle Near Man's Eardrum

Egypt
ENT News
February 2008

An Egyptian ENT doctor reported removing seven (!) 2-cm long blood-sucking leeches were removed from a farmhand's ear. The leeches lodged themselves in the victim's ear canal, and reportedly were having a jolly good time...

Jamaican School for the Deaf Celebrates 50 Years

Jamaica
Jamaica Gleaner
February 2008

Imagine Jamaica 50 years ago.
Imagine being deaf in Jamaica in the 1950's.
Beautiful story of how two determined Canadian missionaries launched a school for the deaf in 1957 Jamaica.

Top Israeli TV Channel Reports Extensively on Hearing-impaired Basketball Team

"Playing in Silence"Israel
February 2008

The top Israeli TV channel, "Channel 2," ran a 9-minute story tonight on a recently formed basketball team that embraces hearing-impaired players. This is a key turning point for the rarely covered hearing-impaired population. Reporting - and my kudos and response on the channel's site - are of course in Hebrew. Includes video.

Not Wearing Hearing Instruments Turns Deadly

Altoona, Pennsylvania
Altoona Mirror
January 2008

A woman fell asleep while smoking in Altoona, Pennsylvania, sparking a fire that killed herself and her hearing impaired 68-year-old mother. The mother, who was asleep upstairs, did not hear the smoke alarm go off without the assistance of her hearing instruments, which she had properly taken off prior to retiring.

"Snyder’s death raises another issue that some people might not have considered: the problems the hearing impaired may have in being awakened by a smoke alarm. Isenberg said that a smoke alarm on the second floor was sounding, however, authorities believe Snyder probably didn’t hear it because she wasn’t wearing her hearing aids at the time."

Had the family installed a special smoking alarm with adequately loud alerts for the hearing impaired the woman's life would have likely been spared...

"Personal Communication Assistants" in WSJ (Wall Street Journal)

Melinda Beck, health reporter for the Wall Street Journal, has been testing out the new generation of "personal communication assistants" - cool, nifty hearing instruments for the baby boom generation.

British Trust to the Rescue of Hard of Hearing Kids in South Africa

TRUST PROVIDING CRUCIAL HELP FOR DEAF CHILDREN

Bath, UK
The Bath Chronicle
January 2008

A British trust has been helping restore hearing to children in South Africa, donating as many as 2,000 instruments to South African children. The UK-based Signal Trust collects donations of hearing aids and repairs them prior to shipping them south, where audiologists identify needy children and fit them with the instruments. Most children fitted do not have the benefit of verbal communication.

Jailed Rapper Petitions for Leave to Repair Implant...

New York
The New York Times
January 2008

Foxy Brown, a rapper in jail for violating probation after being convicted for the assualt of two New York manicurists, has claimed her hearing is deteriorating in jail because she is not being allowed to seek clinical treatment of her cochlear implant...

Can you hear me now?

Foxy Brown Asks to be Released from Jail

Al Mann's Prescription for Improving the Human Condition

Mann Power
Los Angeles, California
Smart Business
November 2005

Al Mann, the billionaire founder of Advanced Bionics (cochlear implants), dishes out management wisdom in this profile by Laura Taxel. Mann founded several companies among them Spectrolab (electrooptical systems, 1956 - today a subsidiary of Boeing), Heliotek (semiconductors, spacecraft solar cells), Pacesetter Systems (pacemakers, sold to St. Jude Medical), MiniMed (insulin pumps, sold to Medtronics), Mannkind Corporation, Second Sight, Bioness, Quallion, and Stellar Microelectronics.

Referring to the major elements required to create a successful business enterprise, Mann says, "Capital is most important, I can’t emphasize that enough...The failure of most promising businesses is usually due to inadequate funds for the start-up and early growth phase of the enterprise."

Forty-Year-Olds Thrive with New Hearing Instruments

Hearing from a Younger Crowd

Chicago, Illinois
The Beacon News
January 2008

New hearing instruments from leading companies are facilitating adoption of the latest hearing technology by younger and younger people.

Struggling with Hearing Loss

Brentwood, California
Bethel Island Press
January 2008

Hear today, gone tomorrow?

Great account of a baby boomer's struggle with the potential for hearing loss, written by a Pulitzer-nominated journalist, Beth Witrogen

Hearing Review "Top 10" Stories - Hearing Science, Tech, and Trends

Hearing Review has published its year-end round-up of top ten stories in each of three segments:

Top Ten Hearing Science / Fitting Stories

Top Ten Technology Stories

Top Ten Hearing Segment Trends