Hearing Loss and Healthy Aging Workshop Summary (2014) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
2 Hearing Loss: Two Perspectives
2 Hearing Loss: Two Perspectives
Pages 9-16
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 9... ...
LIVING WITH HEARING LOSS Katherine Bouton Author of Shouting Won't Help Katherine Bouton, a former editor at the New York Times, has a hearing aid in her right ear and a cochlear implant on her left ear. "I wear them all day, every day.
|
From page 10... ...
Eventually, she said, she reached "that elusive stage of acceptance. I was able to accept that hearing loss is part of who I am." People experience hearing loss in different ways, depending on the degree and the nature of the loss, the kind of correction they have, the kind of person they are, and the relative difficulty of the challenges in their daily hearing environments.
|
From page 11... ...
My hearing loss doesn't own me." But she still has fits of what the blogger Gael Hannan calls "ear rage."1 "Hearing loss is always there and always ready to trip you up," she said. The Hearing Aid Marketplace Most consumers find the hearing aid marketplace incredibly frustrating, said Bouton.
|
From page 12... ...
(Telecoils and other technologies are discussed in Chapter 4.) "This isn't unusual -- 40 percent of hearing aids today still do not have T-coils." Her audiologist did offer Bouton a variety of assistive listening devices, most of which she turned down as being "too much stuff." Bouton finally bought an iCom Bluetooth for use with her telephone, which worked as long as she was in a quiet place.
|
From page 13... ...
Bouton urged hearing aid companies to develop products that work even in noise, make assistive devices that are simple to use, and bring their prices in line with other consumer electronics. "I think we are all baffled by why this is not possible." The government needs to mandate coverage for hearing aids, said Bouton.
|
From page 14... ...
The technology and ergonomics of hearing aids and personal sound amplifier products have become extremely good, he said, but "the truth is that many users, including myself, are less than satisfied with the performance of hearing aids in noisy situations." The basic problem is the inadequate acoustic technique used in hearing aids. When the microphone is placed on or in the ears, it is too far away from the desired sound source to pick up a clean enough signal to extract speech from noise.
|
From page 15... ...
"People who have tried it, including people with severe hearing loss, have told me that this system works. There is starting to be peer review of this technology, and it basically bears out what I am telling you anecdotally." Further refinements could include directional microphones, wireless transmission to hearing aids, and further signal processing.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.