Archive for June, 2017

Online video streaming services have become widely popular lately, especially in the video game community. Many gamers tune into streams on sites like Twitch to watch competitive gaming in real time.

Unlike other videos published and captioned before hand, streams usually don’t have a live captioning tool, alienating deaf and hard of hearing gamers.

I enjoy Twitch and watching others play games, but I often feel left out, as the commentator and the game itself are sometimes difficult to hear.

A league of Deaf gamers

Competitive gamer Chris Robinson is fighting this issue by starting his own Twitch channel Deaf Gamers TV, according to Kotaku.com. He hopes to build a group of deaf gamers and offer accessible tutorials for those wanting to try competing.

Robinson mentioned the lack of deaf friendly communities and options in the competitive community. The lack of subtitles both in game and in tutorial videos on Youtube is unfortunate, but improvements are being made, he says.

While the majority of gaming competitions do not have live captioning of the hosts’ commentary, some tournaments do feature subtitles. The commentary is often vital to the competition, and without it there’s no way of knowing what is going on.

Not to mention, Youtube’s auto-captioning service is getting slightly better. It has a long way to go, sure, but I’ve noticed an improvement in accuracy.

Read more: Deaf YouTuber begings campaign for better captions #NoMoreCraptions

The future of streaming

Robinson’s work is definitely a step in the right direction. I think there’s a great need for more deaf friendly groups in gaming- it’s always nice to have some solidarity.

Streaming services are likely going to become more and more popular as the technology gets better. Although captioning and accessibility seem to be lagging behind, I hope we as deaf gamers can continue to advocate and inspire change.

Check out Robinson’s Twitch channel if you’re interested in competitive games!

1. A flurry of studies in recent years has linked hearing loss to other serious health issues, including depression, sleep apnea, dementia, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, moderate chronic kidney disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and an increased risk of falls, hospitalization and mortality. Treating hearing loss can bring many quality-of-life benefits.
2. Research shows that when people with hearing loss use hearing aids, it often has a positive impact on several aspects of their quality of life. Consider just these few: People with hearing loss who use hearing aids are more likely to be optimistic, feel engaged in life, and even get more pleasure in doing things. What’s more, using hearing aids reduced the risk of income loss by 90 to 100 percent for those with milder hearing loss, and from 65 to 77 percent for those with severe to moderate hearing loss, according to a Better Hearing Institute study. People with untreated hearing loss lost as much as $30,000 in income annually, the study showed.
3. Hearing aids have advanced dramatically, even in just the last couple of years. Today’s hearing aids are high-tech, tiny and discreet, easy-to-use, and perform far better than ever before. In fact, a national survey showed that the vast majority of people who purchased hearing aids in the last year are glad they did (91%). They’d even recommend getting hearing aids to family members and friends (90%).

Content provided by Better Hearing Institute

My Dog ate my hearing aids.

Commonly it’s an excuse used by school-aged kids who forgot to do their homework, but for me, was a nightmare that I actually did not think existed or would happen.

When something happens to our hearing technology, not only do we have to consider the cost of the hearing aids but we also worry about how we will do without hearing until we can get new ones.

When my dog ate my hearing aids, my initial thoughts were; what will I do? I don’t have thousands of dollars to buy new hearing aids! I cried out all the things running through my head. I texted my parents and told them what happened, and thankfully, I found a program that provided funding for new ones.

My dog ate my hearing aids

When my dog ate my hearing aids I was living in an apartment in Colorado with my then-boyfriend and 1 year old puppy, Arya.  I had just gotten home after finishing work, and wanted to get cleaned up. I took my hearing aids off and set them on the dresser in our bedroom, then hopped in the shower.

Twenty minutes later, I got out of the shower and opened the door to head to my room to change.  I looked down the hallway and saw Arya chewing on something…

At her puppy stage, she wouldn’t chew on a lot of human stuff but once in awhile she would find something interesting and go to town. I walked towards her and asked “Arya, what do you have?” As I got closer, I couldn’t see what she was eating exactly, but it looked like small plastic pieces. When I approached her, I finally realized what she had in those sweet little puppy paws: my hearing aids!

“…I finally realized what she had in those sweet little puppy paws: my hearing aids!”

My heart stopped, I froze with disbelief and fear.

I reached down, pushed Arya away and picked up the little pieces that once allowed me to hear.  The hearing aids where still somewhat intact but dented, broken and had little pieces broken off from Arya’s strong teeth. I turned them over in my hands thinking this could not actually be happening. The wave of emotions hit me, and I went into panic mode.

Read more: Don’t Eat my Hearing Aid!

Sobbing uncontrollably, my boyfriend had approached me and seen what had happened.  I was blubbering out “I don’t know what I’m going to do.  I can’t work without these.  What will I do? I don’t have thousands of dollars to buy new hearing aids!”

She looks innocent now…

I cried out all the things running through my head. I texted my parents and told them what happened.

My parents and boyfriend tried to comfort me and find options to hear again.

I found my old hearing aids, which were now old and lacked the new technology that my Phonak Naída  hearing aids had, but they worked.

Then, we called my audiologist to make an appointment to see my audiologist the next day.

*Phonak always recommends you keep hearing aids away from pets. Hearing aids that are still switched on and lying around emit high pitched sounds that can irritate dogs. This has resulted in some aids getting eaten.

How I found funding for new hearing aids

I frantically told my audiologist Zach what had happened.  I told him I didn’t have money to buy new hearing aids, but he kept a calm attitude and explained there might be a way to get new hearing aids without paying for them.

He explained that since I worked full time, I was part of the workforce and I could apply to have them grant me new hearing aids so I could continue working for the state.  He referred me to the Colorado Workforce, a program with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment,  and told me to set up an appointment with them.

“He explained that since I worked full time, I was part of the workforce and I could apply to have them grant me new hearing aids so I could continue working for the state.”

I met with a counselor at the Workforce and explained my situation.  She handed me an application, which I filled out promptly.

The application included questions about my background, what I was doing for work, what goals I had for work, my bank account information and what my financial situation was like.  A couple weeks later, they told me I had been accepted but would be put on a waiting list as the next recipient.  The workforce informed me it could be a month or maybe a year.

Time went by and about five months later, they contacted me and told me I was off the waiting list and due for my hearing aids!

I met with Zach and we figured out what hearing aids I would receive, which was the new version of the pair that Arya ate, the Phonak Naída V hearing aids. A week later, I got fitted with the new hearing aids.

I continued to keep in touch with the Workforce in the following three months to keep them up to date with what I was doing and where I was working.  After that, they told me good luck and that I was no longer to be ‘monitored’.

What a situation and a process!  It was an awful situation that ended up working out in the best way possible.  I could not fathom coming up with the money for new hearing aids, and I am so grateful for Zach’s knowledge of this program. I’m also very thankful for the experience with the Workforce and their willingness, determination to help me get the technology I needed to continue working and living my life to my fullest potential. If I hadn’t found out about this, there’s a good chance I would still be wearing outdated hearing aids that lessen my hearing experience.

“I’m also very thankful for the experience with the Workforce and their willingness, determination to help me get the technology I needed to continue working and living my life to my fullest potential.”

It was a process that required interviews, meetings and contracts.  It was a long wait and I didn’t know what would actually happen.  In the end, I got a fresh pair of ears and a major lesson: Now, I don’t leave my hearing aids ANYWHERE within proximity where Arya can find them. When I go to sleep, they go into a hard case. If I’m in the shower, they are far from where Arya can find them.  Never underestimate the power of puppies!

If you’re ever in a situation like this, do your research, talk to your audiologist, there will be a way!

contributor Jamie Del Pizzo to Hearing Like Me

Jamie is a 25-year-old who loves to travel and do extreme sports, such as surfing and snowboarding. She has bi-lateral, severe-to-profound hearing loss, and wears the Phonak Naida hearing aids. She’s currently traveling the world and documenting her travels through her photography on Instagram @jaybirdphoto

Decorating hearing aids is a great way to show off individual style and increase confidence. Phonak hEARo Jessica Flores walks us through one way to decorate hearing aids.

“It’s totally up to you if you want to decorate them,” she says. “If you don’t want to decorate them, that’s fine. But while we have them, we might as well make them something that we enjoy wearing!”

Nail stickers, sticky paper and washi tape are some popular methods to decorate hearing aids. There are also pre-cut options that make decorating hearing aids super simple, such as Skinit designs for Phonak hearing aids and accessories.

Those who do decorate their hearing aids say they feel more confident.

“When I wore beige hearing aids, I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed by them; they felt like large, ugly bananas behind my ears, and I was compelled to constantly hide them,” says Phonak hEARo Eloise Garland. “Nobody knew that I was deaf, and anyone who caught a glimpse of my hearing aids wouldn’t ask me about them out of fear of upsetting or embarrassing me.

“In contrast, when I began to decorate them, my confidence gradually increased as I felt a sense of ownership and pride over my hearing aids. My bright hearing aids also directly challenge society’s perceptions. They are pink and often covered with brightly colored stickers and patterns and have pink, lilac, and white swirled ear molds and colored tubes attached to them.”

Read more: Why I Decorate My Hearing Aids

A few summers ago, I had one of my worst nightmares come true.

My hearing aids got wet.

When it happened, it was like super slow motion, as gravity pulled me into the pool. I tried to find some way to keep my head above water.  I flailed my arms and kicked away I can only imagine my face being covered in sheer terror.

I never thought they would survive.

The Pool Party

It all happened when I was working on a guest ranch in Wyoming.  I was living and working as a cabin host (fancy name for housekeeper) lives away from the nearest city – or even a sufficient town for that matter. Around July 4, we had an employee party with dinner, along with the privilege to use the swimming pool, which mostly off limits to non-guests.

I was fully clothed and was walking from one end to the pool to the other, when suddenly one of my colleagues thought it would be really funny to push me in.  (If I had not been wearing my hearing aids, I would have thought so too!)

He snuck up behind me and gave me a good push. I immediately only thought of one thing – my hearing aids.

Then, I hit the water and the pool swallowed me.

I immediately swam up in panic mode out of the pool, exited the water and ran back to my dorm room.  I couldn’t help but cry and have all those questions of what I was going to do without my hearing aids run through my head.

How I saved my hearing aids

When I got back to my room, I took my hearing aids off, removed the batteries and tried to dry the case as much as I could.

A couple girls who saw what happened had gotten a bag of rice from the kitchen and brought it to me. I put the my hearing aids in the bag and let the rice soak up any moisture for a couple of hours.

The girls comforted me and all I could do was wait and see if the water had any impact on my wet hearing aids.

Thankfully, a couple of hours later, I slowly put them on my ears and hit the power door for the verdict – they worked!

Did I have waterproof hearing aids?

After this experience I learned that my Phonak hearing aids actually are water resistant.

They aren’t made to scuba dive with, or be in water for long periods of time, but they can handle being submerged or splashed with water here and there.

Phonak Tip: Phonak hearing aids have an IP67 rating. (IP is the Ingress Protection or International Protection rating system, which is a classification system showing the degrees of protection from solid objects and liquids.)  The first number 6 is the level of dust protection which is dust proof. The second number, 7 is the level of water or moisture protection. This means it is water resistant to a level that it could withstand up to 30 min in 3 feet of water before it must go into the company for repair due to water damage.

This fact is actually amazing, and I wish I had known this before – seeing how terrified I was after the pool incident.

Read more: Ask Anna: What do I do when my hearing aids get wet?

In the end, I was ecstatic that I had lived one of my true nightmares and had made it out alive. Traveling and just daily life in general can leave you faced with lot of scenarios that can lead to a hearing aid’s demise (including my dog eating my hearing aids.)

Now, I know I can at least enjoy being around water without too much worry.  My dog is another story. 

contributor Jamie Del Pizzo to Hearing Like Me

Jamie is a 25-year-old who loves to travel and do extreme sports, such as surfing and snowboarding. She has bi-lateral, severe-to-profound hearing loss, and wears the Phonak Naida hearing aids. She’s currently traveling the world and documenting her travels through her photography on Instagram @jaybirdphoto

Hearing health experts have suspected that smoking contributes to hearing loss since an initial study in 1962; however, on-going studies confirm it. Smokers are 70 percent more likely than non-smokers to suffer hearing loss, according to an article in the June 1998 Journal of the American Medical Association. The study also found that non-smokers living with a smoker were twice as likely to develop hearing loss as those who were not exposed at all.

Young smokers’ hearing health is at risk, too. Researchers from the New York University School of Medicine found that teens exposed to cigarette smoke are to two to three times as likely to develop hearing loss compared to those with little or no exposure. Eighty percent of the participants in the 2011 study had no idea their hearing health had been affected.

Cigarettes contain a lot of nasty chemicals, including formaldehyde, arsenic, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide and nicotine. Nicotine and carbon monoxide deplete oxygen levels and constrict blood vessels all over your body – including those in your inner ear responsible for maintaining hair cell health.

• Nicotine interferes with neurotransmitters in the auditory nerve, which are responsible for telling the brain which sound you are hearing.
• Nicotine can cause tinnitus, dizziness and vertigo.
• Smoking irritates the Eustachian tube and lining of the middle ear.
• Smoking damages cells in the body, turning them into free radicals that can damage DNA and cause disease.
• Smoking may also make you more sensitive to loud noises and therefore more susceptible to developing noise-induced hearing loss.

Content provided by HealthyHearing

A lot of things are more difficult without the sense of hearing, but darkness might be our biggest weakness.

People with hearing loss often make up for the lack of sound it with visuals. Whether it’s reading lips, body language, sign language or our surroundings, we rely heavily on our eyes. When the sun sets, we lose even more of our senses, and this can be really scary.

As an outgoing, outdoorsy woman, I seem to spend a good amount of time in the dark. I love camping, moonlit snowboarding, bonfires, headlamp hiking or photography excursions to get starry images. I’ve done a lot of these nighttime activities but they don’t get easier! Each experience is different but most don’t make me feel “good.” I have overcome many obstacles, I’ve grown to love myself, accept what I need, what I can or can’t do and persevere through things. However, night activities are unique in the fact that I fail at a lot of moments but I keep putting myself in these tough situations because of my love of the outdoors, adventures and connecting with people.

Normally, I can communicate pretty fluidly with people, but once it gets dark it sometimes becomes impossible. It can be very isolating, frustrating, scary and degrading. Not being able to talk to people without shining a blinding headlamp in their face becomes aggravating.

“…once it gets dark it sometimes becomes impossible. It can be very isolating, frustrating, scary and degrading.”

Doing nighttime activities takes a bit of mental preparation. If it is an outing with close, long time friends sometimes they already know how it works and will make sure I can see them in some way. Or when it is just me and another person, conversation becomes a bit easier then if it was a group of people.

The double whammy comes when it is with a large group of people. I often camp with 10 or more people and at night, people will sit around the fire and chat for hours. This is a time where I’m not able to be my fullest self. A lot of times, I end up just sitting there and contemplating life. Or I will talk to someone sitting next to me with a lot of concentration, depending on how bright the fire is.

The most embarrassing, hopeless situation is meeting strangers in the dark. It is really hard to describe this because it becomes a very internal experience. Sometimes it works out somehow, whether a friend helps and explains that I lip read, other times the situation becomes awkward and I’m left feeling inadequate and insufficient. People will attempt to converse as I try to mediate the doomed preconception that I’m not normal.

Bonfires are pretty popular with my friends and people I choose to hang out with. Currently, I just relocated to Southeast Alaska for a summer job working for a guiding company. There have been a handful of bonfires already. The real Jaime, wants to go, mingle, make friends and connect with people. However, those thoughts also come with the warning that I might just be isolated in my own world at said bonfire.

As I get older, I sometimes find myself avoiding these situations which is really hard since I am mostly a social person who does not like to miss out on anymore then I already do.

-contributor Jamie Del Pizzo to Hearing Like Me

Jamie is a 25-year-old who loves to travel and do extreme sports, such as surfing and snowboarding. She has bi-lateral, severe-to-profound hearing loss, and wears the Phonak Naida hearing aids. She’s currently traveling the world and documenting her travels through her photography on Instagram @jaybirdphoto

Auditory training might improve the ability of older participants with hearing loss to recognize the speech of their spouse and improve communication interactions between couples, according to a new study.

Historically, audiologists have tended to assume that familiarity with a voice might limit the patient’s ability to further improve understanding of that same voice, but researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are hoping to determine whether auditory training with the speech of an individual’s spouse can lead to enhanced recognition of their spouse’s speech.

 The Study

By listening to recordings of words being spoken by a range of different voices, including spouses’, researchers were able to track communication and speech recognition.

“Our program includes traditional generic voices, but we also have a recording and editing system that lets patients train with the voices of people they most want to hear—often spouses, children or grandchildren,” said researcher Tye-Murray in an interview for Futurity.org. “The patient’s spouse, for example, sits down and records the samples. Our software edits the audio clips. As soon as the recording is finished, the patient can begin training with his or her spouse’s voice.”

Each participant worked with an audiologist, who served as a coach, providing encouragement and monitoring progress. Tye-Murray says her research shows that patients want to know that a professional cares that they are training, and they want the professional’s encouragement and structured guidance.

“Tye-Murray says her research shows that patients want to know that a professional cares that they are training, and they want the professional’s encouragement and structured guidance.”

The training program can be used by anyone dealing with hearing loss, whether hearing aids, cochlear implants, or no hearing devices are in use.

“Some people with hearing loss don’t want to use these devices,” Tye-Murray told Futurity.org. “We want to make sure people know they can use this training program even without augmented hearing.

“Conversation is a cooperative effort—there are implicit rules that people follow when speaking with another person, but when people have hearing loss, they break these implicit rules without realizing it. It may appear that they’re not paying attention, but the problem may be simply that they can’t hear what’s being said. They miss subtle cues, and that can make conversation difficult.

“…there are implicit rules that people follow when speaking with another person, but when people have hearing loss, they break these implicit rules without realizing it.”

“We want to bring these problems into the light and talk about them, deal with them and come up with solutions that help patients communicate with the people who are most important in their daily lives.”

The Results 

At the end of the six weeks, performance on a word identification task did not change, however, the research subjects indicated subjectively that training reduced their communication difficulties.

“Results suggest that auditory training might improve the ability of older participants with hearing loss to recognize the speech of their spouse and might improve communication interactions between couples,” according to the The Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing. “The results support a task-appropriate processing framework of learning, which assumes that human learning depends on the degree of similarity between training tasks and desired outcomes.”

The researchers have launched a St. Louis-based start-up company to provide the software to patients and hearing health-care professionals, according to Futrity.org.

Mandy Harvey, a singer with hearing loss, wowed judges with her perfectly pitched vocals on the reality TV show, ‘America’s Got Talent,’ on Tuesday.

Harvey, who lost her hearing about 10 years ago due to degenerative ear disease, was awarded the “Golden Buzzer” after her performance that received a standing ovation and hug from judge Simon Cowell.

“I’ve done this a long time and that was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen and heard,” Simon said.

“…that was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen and heard”

Harvey said she’s been singing since age four but stopped singing for a while after she lost her hearing. Harvey lost her residual hearing in 2006-2007  due to a connective tissue disorder that effected her nerves, according to her website.

“After I lost my hearing I gave up, but I want to do more with my life than just give up,” she told the judges.

To sing with her hearing loss, Harvey says she relies on muscle memory using visual tuners. She has also learned to trust her pitch. During her performance, she stood on stage without her shoes on in order to feel the music’s tempo through the vibrations.

Read more: How hearing rehabilitation can help deaf musicians

She performed an original song called ‘Try,’ which inspired Simon to award her with the Golden Buzzer. Each judge can only press the Golden Buzzer once each season. The act sends the deaf singer straight to the live shows.

Follow Harvey’s journey on  ‘America’s Got Talent,’ which airs in the U.S. on Tuesdays at 8/7c on NBC.

People with normal hearing – especially parents, spouses and friends of those with hearing loss – are often eager to better understand what hearing loss sounds like. While a blindfold worn around the house for an afternoon might help someone learn what it’s like to live without vision, hearing loss comes in varying degrees and forms. Simply blocking out all sound won’t provide the right information. To really understand the complex nature of hearing loss, you have to experience the loss of both volume as well as specific sounds.

Using computer simulation algorithms, we’ve put together a group of audio files that simulate what someone with sensorineural hearing loss is able to hear in specific contexts. The sound files are grouped by type, from conversations in different contexts – background noise; restaurant; traffic – to various kinds of music. For each sound clip, you can listen to what it sounds like with “normal” hearing, as well as mild and moderate hearing loss. Here’s the hearing loss simulator link:

Hearing Loss Simulator

About  the Hearing Loss Simulator

Which sounds, and how much of each sound a person with hearing loss misses, depends on the degree of loss. For the person who still has some hearing and is listening to speech, the missing sounds are often the consonants P, K, F, H, T, and S, and the Sh sounds. Higher voices and higher-pitched sounds are harder to hear, as well, and it’s more difficult to hear anything when there’s background noise involved. So, unlike the blindfold experiment, wearing earplugs or noise-cancelling headphones isn’t a good way for a hearing person to experience hearing loss.

If you have hearing loss, consider sharing this this page to your friends and family. It may finally show them why you need them to look at you the next time they’re asking “SO HOW ARE YOU?” at a busy restaurant.