Content uploaded by Nannette Nicholson
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Nannette Nicholson on Apr 17, 2017
Content may be subject to copyright.
HEARING HEALTH
Fall 2009
The Ultimate Consumer Resource on Hearing
HEARING HEALTH
SHAWNAE JEBBIA ON
MANAGING MENIERE’S
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle:
Environmentally Friendly
Batteries and More
Get Your Groove On
Enjoying Music with Hearing Aids and CIs
ConnectLine™ is a range of new devices which connect your
hearing aids wirelessly to cell phones, landline phones, TVs
and other audio devices – turning your hearing aids into a
personal wireless headset.
With ConnectLine you’ll be able to hear a cell phone, loud and
clear through both ears simultaneously. You’ll even be able to
use your cell phone hands free while you drive.
With ConnectLine, your existing home phone can become a
wireless phone which automatically connects to your hearing
aids as move around your home.
ConnectLine lets you watch TV with the family: you decide your
preferred volume level and they decide theirs.
In short ConnectLine can turn a pair of Oticon hearing aids
into an amazing personal hearing system.
Contact your hearing care professional or visit
oticonusa.com to learn more about ConnectLine.
At last an easy convenient wireless solution
that works with your hearing aids.
Introducing
Streamer TV Adaptor Phone Adaptor
Hearing Health ConnectLine Ad 5-09.indd 1 5/28/2009 1:51:53 PM
Volume 25 Number 4, Fall 2009
Publisher
Deafness Research Foundation
Andrea Kardonsky Boidman,
Chief Operating Offi cer
Editor-in-Chief
Donna Lee Schillinger
Art Director
Devorah Fox, Mike Byrnes and Associates
Associate Editors
Paola Segnini; Jamie Morrison
Medical Director
George A. Gates, M.D.
Staff Writers
Karen Appold; Amy Gross; Amy Morrison;
Nannette Nicholson, Ph.D.; Elizabeth Thompson
Advertising
866.454.3924
, advertising@drf.org
Contributors
Neil Bauman, Ph.D.; Ashley DeLaune; Ward R.
Drennan, Ph.D.; Barbara Gallagher; Shawnae
Jebbia; Lawrence R. Lustig, M.D.; Trisha Donaldson
Pitter; Steven D. Rauch, M.D.; Seimens Hearing
Instruments; Dawn Taylor, M.S.; Kim Waters; Lee
Woodruff
Council of Scientifi c Trustees
Patricia M. Chute, Ed.D.; Noel L. Cohen, M.D.;
Robert A. Dobie, M.D.; Judy R. Dubno, Ph.D.;
Bruce J. Gantz, M.D.; George A. Gates, M.D.; Stefan
Heller, Ph.D.; Matthew W. Kelley, Ph.D.; Anil K.
Lalwani, M.D.; David Lim, M.D.; Cynthia Morton,
Ph.D.; Yehoash Raphael, Ph.D.; Steven D. Rauch,
M.D.; Allen F. Ryan, Ph.D.; James C. Saunders, Ph.D.;
Sam Selesnick, M.D.; Robert V. Shannon, Ph.D.;
Peter Steyger, Ph.D.; Jennifer Stone, Ph.D.; Debara
V. Tucci, M.D.
WWW.DRF.ORG 866.454.3924 TTY 888.435.6104 FALL 2009 3
Opening Lines
A publication of
641 Lexington Ave., 15th Floor
New York, NY 10022
Phone: 866.454.3924 TTY: 888.435.6104
E-mail: info@drf.org
Web: www.drf.org
Deafness Research Foundation is a tax-exempt,
charitable organization and is eligible to receive
tax-deductible contributions under the IRS
Code 501(c)(3).
Federal ID # 13-1882107.
It is that time again – we are pleased to present the Deafness
Research Foundation’s Council of Scientifi c Trustees’ selection of
projects to receive funding from our annual research grant awards.
Each of the projects offers the promise of better hearing for all.
The ultimate benefi ts from some of these projects may be real-
ized years or decades from now, but for others with hearing loss,
restored hearing could be a reality very soon. In “Reversible Sensorineural Hearing Loss” (p.
28) by Steven D. Rauch, M.D., you may be surprised to learn that there are some forms of
hearing loss that can already be reversed, either by Mother Nature or with a little help from
medical treatment. Some of the very techniques used to restore hearing once started out as
a research project, perhaps even funded by Deafness Research Foundation!
As we anticipate more scientifi c solutions in the future, high-tech gadgets surely help out
today. We were thrilled to meet former Miss USA Shawnae Jebbia (p. 32) who uses a hand-
held device that enables her to talk on the cell phone, listen to music with an MP3 player and
watch TV without captions, despite hearing loss due to Meniere’s disease.
How about you – is technology working for you? Or is hearing loss keeping you from enjoy-
ing your favorite entertainment? “All Dressed Up...With Someplace to Go!” (p. 6) is your ticket
to enjoying cinema, live theater, sporting events and more. You will learn how new captioning
technology, looping and even a portable Nintendo can get you out on the town again.
Maybe the symphony was your favorite night out, but now that you have a cochlear im-
plant, the music is just not the same. The University of Washington’s Ward R. Drennan, Ph.D.,
helps us understand the musical limitations of the cochlear implant and what researchers and
manufacturers are doing to address them in “Music and the Cochlear Implant” (p.16).
We hope these articles will inspire you to further engage in an active social life, the arts
and entertainment. And for those blustery autumn evenings when all you really want is to
curl up with a good book or a movie at home, we have thrown in a few recommendations for
that as well. And now it is time for me to settle in with a good read...Hearing Health magazine.
What else?
Warm regards,
Rebecca Ginzburg
Rebecca Ginzburg
Deafness Research Foundation
Chair, Board of Directors
HEARING HEALTH
On the Cover Features
Shawnae Jebbia on
Managing Meniere’s ...............................32
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle:
Environmentally Friendly
Batteries and More .................................36
Get Your Groove On:
Enjoying Music with
Hearing Aids and CIs .............................16
LIFE-CHANGING TECHNOLOGY ----------------------------------------6
All Dressed Up…With Someplace to Go!
Technology and Accommodations to Get You “Out There” Again Amy Gross
HEARING HEALTH -------------------------------------------------------- 12
Fire Safety for People with Hearing Loss Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
MANAGING HEARING LOSS ------------------------------------------- 16
Music and the Cochlear Implant Ward R. Drennan, Ph.D.
Adventures of Power Movie Review by Donna Lee Schillinger
The Music Within Barbara Gallagher
RESEARCH ----------------------------------------------------------------- 28
Reversible Sensorineural Hearing Loss Steven D. Rauch, M.D.
LIFE WITH HEARING LOSS --------------------------------------------- 32
Meniere’s Disease Sets Former Miss USA on a New Track
Andrea Boidman interviews Shawnae Jebbia
ANNUAL GRANT AWARDS---------------------------------------------- 42
DRF 2009-2010 Grant Recipients Announced
Departments
Hearing Health (ISSN: 0888-2517) is published four times
annually by Deafness Research Foundation. Contact Hearing
Health for subscription or advertising information at: info@drf.
org or 866.454.6104. Copyright 2009, Hearing Health. All
rights reserved. Articles may not be reproduced without writ-
ten permission from Hearing Health. In no way does Deafness
Research Foundation nor Hearing Health magazine endorse
the products or services appearing in the paid advertisements
in this magazine. Further, while we make every effort to pub-
lish accurate information, Deafness Research Foundation and
Hearing Health are not responsible for the correctness of the
articles and information herein.
USPS/Automatable Poly
Opening Lines -------------------------------------------------------------------------3
Mailbag----------------------------------------------------------------------------------5
Viewpoints---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21
Mother-Nature ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 25
DRF Centerstage ------------------------------------------------------------------- 27
The Doctor Is In --------------------------------------------------------------------- 31
Trends ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 36
Under the Scope -------------------------------------------------------------------- 42
Marketplace -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 48
Have You Heard? -------------------------------------------------------------------50
HEARING HEALTH
Volume 25 Number 4 Fall 2009
Cover Photo: Shawnae Jebbia, photo
courtesy of Lauren Carceau
Theater photo this page courtesy of JD
Steakley
16
6
Next Issue
U.S. Military in Afghanistan’s No. 1
diagnosis: Hearing Loss
Hair Cell Renegeration:
Are we there yet?
Trends Holiday Gift Guide
Meet Melody, a musical friend with
bilateral cochlear implants.
Hearing Aid Insurance
Does Exist and Is
Affordable
“Hearing Aids: Available, Affordable,
Accessible” in the Summer 2009 issue goes
a long way in describing the coverage and
cost concerns for hearing aids, as well as
the range of options. One critical program
not included is the EPIC Hearing
Service PlanTM (HSP), the fi rst and only
fully insured, and state departments of
insurance-approved, program for hearing
care and hearing aids. EPIC HSP is the
only insured hearing aid and related
services product in the specialty care or
benefi ts arena. EPIC offers options in the
four tiers – from employee, to employee
plus family – indemnifi ed to pay the full
benefi t amount. Underwr itten by Fidelity
Security Life Insurance Company, this
plan is approved and offered in 46 states
to date. It provides coverage at various
levels for hearing exams, hearing aids or
both. Another program, SoundCareTM,
is a charge-based plan underwritten by
Ameritas Group Life Insurance Company.
The SoundCare plan is approved in 46
states and provides coverage for exams,
hearing aids and an annual maintenance
allowance that can be used for batteries
or accessories.
While discount plans and programs
have been around for some time, it is
EPIC Hearing Healthcare that is plac-
ing hearing and hearing care on the same
value plane as vision, dental and other
specialty healthcare concerns. The mar-
ket can see true affordability and hearing
care can achieve the same acceptance and
demand status as other life senses in the
health benefi ts marketplace.
Brad H. Volkmer, President/CEO
EPIC Hearing Healthcare
OP-ED
What Hearing Aids and
Power Tools Do Not
Have in Common
So you think you may need hearing aids.
You see “deals” every day in the paper
advertising hearing aids. Maybe you have
been checking prices on the Internet. And
then there are these mail-order devices
that promise to work “miracles.” All your
life you have been very careful with ma-
jor decisions, always shopping for the best
value. So what do you do now?
The best advice I can give, after more
than 30 years in practice, is to forget about
the hardware and concentrate on the soft-
ware. In other words, getting the best hear-
ing correction is much less about getting
the right product than it is about getting
the best individual help from experts who
know how to make the most skillful use
of these products. Nobody really wants a
¼-inch drill when they buy a power tool;
what they really want is a ¼-inch hole.
Similarly, no one really wants hearing aids.
What they want is to hear better.
First, one very important question needs
to be answered: Are hearing aids the most
appropriate solution to your situation?
The only way to correctly answer that
question is with a thorough diagnostic
hearing evaluation. And it is not just about
getting some test results – it is the medi-
cal history, a personal interview and even
input from signifi cant others that must
be considered. In some cases, earwax just
needs to be removed. Occasionally symp-
toms and history point to a potentially se-
rious medical condition. Your audiologist
can provide this evaluation and point you
in the right direction. Clinical audiologists
possess the Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.)
degree (if they are recent graduates), or
they may possess a master’s degree or a
Ph.D. if they graduated from their profes-
sional programs some time ago.
If you are a candidate for hearing aids,
you need a thorough assessment of com-
munication needs and lifestyle require-
ments. In tandem with an audiologist, you
will develop a list of realistic communica-
tion goals and adjust your expectations of
what amplifi cation can and cannot do. If
you have cosmetic or fi nancial concerns,
an audiologist can help you to sort out
which solutions will best address these
concerns and will also explain the trade-
offs certain choices might require.
When the time comes for your hearing
aid fi tting, the best results will come from
having your hearing aids programmed
using real-ear measurements. This may
be done with recorded or live speech, or
with special acoustic signals that are mea-
sured in the ear canal after it has been
amplifi ed by the hearing aid. Real-ear
measurements ensure that sounds will
have just the right amount of audibility
to make understanding speech as easy as
possible. Because of large individual dif-
ferences, just using a prescription based
on entering test data into a computer will
fall short of the best correction in most
cases. As evidence of this, the July 2009
Consumer Reports named fi nding a pro-
vider who uses real-ear tests as a critical
factor in getting good results with hearing
aids. All audiologists are trained in the ad-
ministration and interpretation of real-ear
measurement.
At the fi tting appointment a great deal
of time should also be devoted to orienta-
tion in the proper use of hearing aids, and
in training you to learn the new skills re-
quired to hear well. After the initial fi tting,
one or more follow-up visits within the
fi rst month or so will help to iron out any
wrinkles, resolve problems that come up
and reinforce the information and train-
ing provided at the fi tting. Maintenance,
such as deep-cleaning and servicing hear-
ing aids, generally needs to be done at least
twice a year for best results. Lastly, annual
or biannual hearing checks can monitor
changes that could require a modifi cation
in the hearing aid prescription, or other
necessary action.
When shopping for hearing aids, it is
most important to consider the whole pic-
ture – the process – of hearing correction.
Don’t be lured by promises of low pric-
es that don’t take into account adequate
evaluation, follow-up and ongoing main-
tenance services. You may not come out
ahead with that “cheap” hearing aid after
all! And in this way, shopping for hearing
aids is really not like shopping for power
tools. With that drill there is no evaluation,
follow-up, ongoing service or consultation
required to successfully get that ¼-inch
hole. With hearing aids, it is the services
surrounding the product that make the
difference between a great result and a
mediocre result or downright failure.
The best strategy for better hearing is
to shop for the best provider – the pro-
fessional who can help you get the most
value out of the equipment you purchase.
David A. Berkey, Au.D.
Past President of the Academy of
Doctors of Audiology
■
Mailbag
WWW.DRF.ORG 866.454.3924 TTY 888.435.6104 FALL 2009 5
LIFE-CHANGING TECHNOLOGY
I
t’s Saturday night! What do you have planned?
For the hearing, it would seem that entertainment possi-
bilities are limitless, with new choices popping up every day.
But for the deaf and hard of hearing (D/HH), fi nding viable
options for a night on the town can be more challenging.
Fortunately, accommodations for D/HH are out there – and
technology is increasing by leaps and bounds. Sometimes you just
need to know where to look.
Let’s see what’s available right now for D/HH, technologically
speaking, and take a peek at what’s on the horizon. Better shine
your shoes and slick back your hair – we’re goin’ out tonight!
GETTING THERE
Induction Looping
One of the most benefi cial inventions for people with hearing loss
is the induction loop. A wire, which is connected to a transmitter,
is strung across the sides and ceiling of a venue, or under the car-
peting. When a hearing aid wearer enters the room and turns the
hearing aid to the telecoil (t-coil) position, the transmitter sends
sound directly to the aid, acting as a personal amplifi er and creating
perfect, undistorted sound. According to HearingLoop.org, what
Wi-Fi is to laptops, induction loops are to hearing aids.
Both large and small venues can be looped, from churches, mu-
seums, movie theaters, live theaters, auditoriums, classrooms, sports
arenas and airport terminals, to taxicabs, ticket counters, kiosks and
even home living rooms. Unfortunately, loop induction technolo-
gy is still in relative infancy here in the U.S., primarily because not
all hearing aids are equipped with t-coils. In the United Kingdom,
where nearly 90 percent of all hearing aids have a t-coil switch,
looping is commonplace and mandated by law in certain venues.
You can catch a looped cab to the movie theater or travel by train
through a looped station, purchase your tickets at a looped ticket
window, and then listen to a live concert at a nearby cathedral with
perfect sound clarity, simply by fl ipping a switch on the hearing
aids you’re already wearing.
Here in the States, the cities of Holland-Zeeland, Grand Rapids
and Grand Haven/Muskegon, Mich., are experimental looping
communities where a good many public venues are looped. Let’s
assume you’re fortunate enough to live in a city like one of these
and you can catch a looped cab to your destination, then step up
to the looped will call window and claim your tickets. It’s time to
enjoy the show!
MOVIE THEATER TECHNOLOGY
It’s All About to Change
Your night out is set to include the latest Hollywood blockbuster
at a local megaplex. You’re a hearing aid wearer; your wife is hear-
ing and one of the friends accompanying you this evening is com-
pletely deaf. How are you all going to enjoy this movie?
If your local theater happens to be looped and you have a t-coil-
equipped hearing aid, fl ip that switch, sit back and enjoy! However,
we’ve already seen that looping is not prevalent in the U.S. If you’re
American Sign Language (ASL) profi cient, you could ask your
movie theater to provide an ASL interpreter, but again this requires
some forethought and pre-planning.
At present, the best option for D/HH moviegoers is captioned
All Dressed Up…
With Someplace to Go!
6 HEARI NG HEALTH A PUBLICATION OF THE DEAFNE SS RES EARCH FOUN DATION
Technology and Accommodations to Get You “Out There” Again
BY AMY GROSS, STAFF WRITER
WWW.DRF.ORG 866.454.3924 TTY 888.435.6104 FALL 2009 7
fi lm, of which there are two types.
Rear Window Captioning (RWC) is a closed-captioned
(CC) system. An LED panel located at the back of the theater
projects onto a transparent acrylic panel or refl ector that is bor-
rowed from the box offi ce when you purchase your tickets. The
movie captions appear on the refl ector, which hangs on the back
of the seat directly in front of you or sits in your cupholder. You
can adjust your own panel so that the captions appear superim-
posed on the movie screen. The primary advantage of RWC is that
you can watch any showing of any movie that is RW-captioned, so
you can attend and enjoy a movie in a mixed group of hearing and
non-hearing individuals. However, RWC does have its drawbacks.
Only certain movie theater companies use RWC. And patrons
complain that they need to hunker down to read the panel, while
constantly looking back up at the movie screen, creating neck and
eye strain. The equipment itself is often old, broken or not well
cleaned and movie theater employees do not always understand
how the equipment works or how to troubleshoot problems when
they occur. Unfortunately, for patrons who don’t want to draw at-
tention to their hearing loss, the RWC equipment does just that.
Open-Captioning (OC) is generally preferred by D/HH
moviegoers because the captions are incorporated in the fi lm itself
so that everyone can read them by simply looking directly at the
screen. The main advantage to open-captioning is that no assistive
technology is needed. On the fl ip side, hearing patrons complain
that the captions can be distracting, only a few movies are actually
open-captioned (and they amy not always be fi lms that appeal to
you) and showings are usually at less-than-optimal times. In all
cases of captioning, open and closed, captions are usually limited
to the English language.
So where is the hip, exciting new technology that’s going to
make moviegoing fun again?
In April 2010, movie theaters across the U.S. will go digital – a
conversion which, according to captioning advocate Nanci Linke-
Ellis of California, will change the movie industry forever. “For the
fi rst time since the invention of fi lm, fi lm production and distri-
bution is going to change,” says Ellis. Instead of distributing their
movies to theaters on 35mm reels, motion picture companies will
produce their fi lms on servers and distribute them digitally, essen-
tially as computer fi les.
The Intelligent Access Captioning System works with iPod
Touch
®
and iPhone
®
for portable open-captioning. The
WRAP visor will be usable in theaters, sports arenas, class-
rooms and anywhere open-captioning is possible.
Photo courtesy of Vuzix
Captionfi sh
National search engine for captioned movies by loca-
tion.
www.captionfi sh.com
Regal Entertainment Group (Regal Cinemas)
A complete listing of all OC and RWC movies in their
lineup.
www.regmovies.com/nowshowing/opencaptioned
showtimes.aspx
MoPix (Motion Picture Access)
See which movies are slated for Rear Window
Captioning, and their estimated release dates.
http://ncam.wgbh.org/mopix/
Marcus Theatres
Movie theater company operating in Iowa, Illinois,
Michigan, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio and
Wisconsin; offers open- and closed-captioning of most
fi rst-run fi lms.
www.marcustheatres.com
Fomdi
A cute little guy named Fomdi will search for captioned
movies for you by location.
www.fomdi.com
Cinemark Theatres
National chain of movie theaters lists its current open-
captioned movies.
www.cinemark.com/ocfi lms.asp
AMC Theatres
Complete listing of all OC, CC and Descriptive Video
(DV) showings in the AMC lineup.
www.moviewatcher.com/jsp/amg.jsp
Fandango
Advance ticket purchasing Web site lists movies
across the country by location. Not all movies listed
can be purchased through Fandango. See notes on
individual movie listings for captioning and DV infor-
mation.
www.fandango.com/movietheatershowtimes
■
NOW PLAYING
at a Theater Near You:
Finding Open and Closed Captioned Movies
8 HEARI NG HEALTH A PUBLICATION OF THE DEAFNE SS RES EARCH FOUN DATION
Unlike television’s recent conversion from analog to digital, how-
ever, the movie theater digital rollout won’t happen all at once. In-
stallation of the equipment is costly and time-consuming, with the
conversion of a typical megaplex taking anywhere from four months
to a year for equipment installation, at an average cost of $2.5 million.
But according to Linke-Ellis, the wait will be well worth it.
Imagine this: You’re sitting with your family in a movie theater. You
put on a pair of clear glasses that fi t comfortably and discreetly over
your head and then turn on your iPhone®. The movie begins. With a
quick push of a button, your iPhone syncs with the equipment at the
theater and captions to the movie appear on your iPhone’s screen, in
your preferred language. You don’t care for the font offered, so you
quickly adjust it. When you look up to the movie screen through
your eyewear, the captions seem to fl oat in front of your eyes, wher-
ever it’s comfortable for you to see them, with the movie in plain
view. Your family members, meanwhile, are watching the same movie
without captions.
Leanne West is the project director for a wearable captioning system
developed by the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), a project
funded by Wireless Rehabilitation Research Center, which is in turn
funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation
Research. According to West, the eyewear described above is slated to
become commercially available in the fall of 2009.
GTRI’s personal captioning system and eyewear will also boast ap-
plications outside of movie theaters. “Live theater, color commentary
at sporting events, auditorium presentations – anywhere captions are
useful, the system will be a benefi t,” says West. “The user can custom-
ize the font and color of the text to their own preference and receive
song lyrics and messages, such as emergency announcements.” Users
can view captions on their iPhone or iPod Touch®, or connect the
eyewear to have the captions appear in front of their eyes. Compat-
ibility with other platforms is under development.
West and her partner Ethan Adler are working to bring the prod-
uct to market through their company, Intelligent Access. It’s already
being used at Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, Conn., where visitors can
check out iPods and use the eyewear at various movies and exhibits
throughout the aquarium. When the digital conversion of movie the-
aters occurs next year, most theaters will likely maintain several sets in
their box offi ces for patrons to borrow, but the eyewear and software
will also be available for purchase by individuals, allowing for greater
mobility when captioning options present themselves. As with most
new technology, the price tag will seem a bit steep initially – in the
$250 range, West estimates – but as it becomes more popular, the
cost will likely drop, making this essential bit of assistive technology
practical for all.
LIVE PERFORMANCES
Open-Captioning Plays and Musicals
When she fi nally lost all hearing in the 1980s, Arlene Romoff
and her husband gave up one of their favorite pastimes: attending
Broadway shows. They kept their subscription to Paper Mill
Playhouse in Millburn, N.J., however, because the theater attempted
to accommodate her by seating her in the front row and providing
scripts to follow along with. She noticed that the theater offered a
few sign language-interpreted performances. Since Romoff did not
SPORTING EVENTS,
CONCERTS AND
CLUBS
65,000 Screaming Fans Can’t Be
Wrong…Or Can They?
If you’re hard of hearing and your night on the
town involves dragging – er, escorting – your
wife to, say, a professional football game, instead
of worrying about amplifying sound, at this type
of event you might want to focus on cutting it
down.
Concerts, clubs, sports arenas – all of these
venues are potentially damaging to hearing and
permanent damage can occur in a matter of min-
utes. If this is the entertainment that gets you
out of the house, be sure to take along a pair
of high-quality musician’s earplugs for every per-
son in your party. Be forewarned: these are not
the bright orange foam-rubber plugs that you can
pick up for 75 cents a pair – although those will
certainly help. At up to $200 a pair, professional
musician’s earplugs are not inexpensive but they
are an investment in your hearing health. Unlike
typical earplugs that squelch all sound, high-
quality earplugs are custom-made and allow the
wearer to hear all sounds, even intricate musi-
cal stylings, but at a lower, safer volume, ensur-
ing that you get to hear the music you love for a
much longer time, or allowing you to safely cheer
on your favorite team with 64,999 of your closest
friends.
WWW.DRF.ORG 866.454.3924 TTY 888.435.6104 FALL 2009 9
sign, she approached a court reporter with the idea of loading an
entire script in his computer and displaying it line by line on an
LED screen in sync with a live performance. The concept was
developed and, in 1996, Paper Mill Playhouse debuted its fi rst
open-captioned performance. Romoff went on to become one
of the country’s leading advocates of live theater captioning. As a
member of Theatre Access Project (TAP), Romoff is a supporter
of the Theatre Development Fund (TDF), which provides funding
to theaters for open-captioning and other assistive technologies.
Sunshine Lampitoc, director of institutional giving for Signa-
ture Theater Company in New York City, applies to TDF each
year for a grant to fund two open-captioned performances, which,
depending on the season, might be a play or a full-fl edged musi-
cal. She relies on assistance from David Chu at c2Net, a com-
pany that provides open-captioning for live theater. (Log on to
HearingHealthMag.com for a list of open-captioned live theater
performances through summer 2010.) Although a great deal of
preparation goes into live captioning of a play or musical, on per-
formance night all the audience sees is a small LED screen tucked
discreetly to one side of the stage. Lines, song lyrics and sound cues
appear on the screen so that no one in the audience misses a trick.
Lampitoc estimates that Signature Theater Company serves about
100 D/HH patrons each season – a number that she is certain
would increase if the service were more widely publicized.
SPORTING EVENTS
Gamers, Meet Game
Baseball fans in Seattle are testing a new video gaming device at
Mariners baseball games, with positive results. According to the
Washington State Communication Access Project, the Seattle
Mariners and their principal owner, Nintendo of America, have
developed the Nintendo Fan Network, which allows fans to
bring portable Nintendo gaming consoles to the game, then use
them during the game to access a number of interactive features.
To promote use of the network and the purchase of the gaming
devices, 150 of the devices are available for fans to borrow on a
fi rst-come, fi rst-served basis at each game and there are always
devices in reserve for people with hearing loss.
The Mariners’ radio broadcast is captioned and is fed into the
stadium. When the stadium announcer speaks, the announcements
10 HEARI NG HEALTH A PUBLICATION OF THE DEAFNE SS RES EARCH FOUN DATION
override the broadcast. The PA announcer’s remarks are then captioned
as well. The device can also be used for ordering food, checking scores,
reading players’ bios and disseminating other ballpark information.
IF THEY BUILD IT…WE WILL COME. AND
THE DALAI LAMA, TOO.
Speaking Up for Accessibility
What prevents many D/HH from being patrons of the arts is simply
not being aware that assistive technology is available to them, or being
reluctant to ask for it. “If there is a demand, [theaters] will have to accom-
modate it,” says Linke-Ellis. “The best way to get noticed is to get a group
of people together and request tickets for the same day. Talk to the acces-
sibility coordinator for the theater and explain what you are trying to do.
Basically, it’s helping them develop and keep a dwindling audience.”
Lampitoc agrees: “The key is information and outreach. If more people
demand open-captioning, it will become more prevalent.”
Of course, open-captioning is not limited to theater. A visit by the
Dalai Lama to the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in California prompted
one audience member to ask about captioning, which had never been
requested before at that venue. By the time the Dalai Lama had fi nished
speaking, the audience member who had requested the captioning found
herself surrounded by a group of other D/HH, eagerly watching the
screen.
The moral to that story is: Don’t be afraid to ask for the accommoda-
tions that you are entitled to, and encourage others to speak up as well.
You are not the only one who can benefi t from assistive technology!
Advocacy and accessibility go hand in hand; when more individuals re-
quest accommodation, they gain the attention of those who should – and
can – provide it.
Well, it’s time to turn in. Hope you’ve enjoyed your night on the town.
Be careful getting home and good night!
■
TV Amplifi ers –
Taking Advantage
of What’s Already
There
In 1998, George Dennis of Spring Valley, Calif.,
watched his father struggle to hear his televi-
sion as his hearing ability declined. Witnessing
his father’s frustration, Dennis was motivated to
develop a wireless TV listening device called
TV Ears, which allows users to set their own
volume and tone while others in the room can
listen to the TV at a normal volume level. TV Ears
and other brand-name TV amplifi ers are light-
weight, wireless headsets which hang beneath
the chin for greater comfort, easily connecting
to all types of television sets.
Because most TV amplifi ers use infrared tech-
nology, they can also be used outside the home.
Most movie theaters, live theaters and sporting
arenas use a specifi c frequency – 95kHz – in
their venues. TV amplifi ers connect to the infra-
red transmitters that operate on that signal to
provide audio amplifi cation to the user.
“The problem is that no one knows those
frequencies are there,” explains Dennis. “But
90 percent of playhouses are already equipped
with that technology.” Live theater, he says, is
probably the best application outside the home,
followed by movie theaters and sporting events.
However, Dennis cautions that not all theaters
and sports facilities operate on the 95kHz
frequency, so it might take a visit to one with
your TV amplifi er to determine compatibility.
Learn more about TV amplifi ers at Harris
Communications (www.harriscomm.com) and
other assistive technology retailers.
■
Professor Harold Hill riles up the folks of River City during
an open-captioned live performance of “The Music Man.”
Photo by David LeShay, courtesy of Theatre Development Fund
Online Exclusive!
National Open-Captioned Live Theater, Fall 2009 – Summer 2010 Schedule
Log on to www.hearinghealthmag.com
WWW.DRF.ORG 866.454.3924 TTY 888.435.6104 FALL 2009 11
In these times of economic belt-tightening and “stay-
cations,” dinner at a restaurant and a movie at $9 a pop
might just be beyond your budget. So why not stay
home, watch TV and order a pizza instead?
Monday night? You’re in luck. Tune in to “Heroes,”
an NBC fantasy/sci-fi epic drama about seemingly or-
dinary people around the world who come to discov-
er that they possess superhuman abilities of various
types, gifts they put to use in saving mankind from a
variety of nefarious characters. Deaf actress Deanne
Bray joins the cast in October as “Emma,” who is her-
self deaf, but fi nds that she has the amazing ability to
see sound, which appears to her like the aurora borea-
lis, or northern lights. Emma becomes the love interest
of character Peter Petrelli, whose brother Nathan sadly
turned against the other Heroes last season.
Bray, who has appeared in “Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye,”
“CSI,” “Ellen” and “Diagnosis Murder,” will bring a
depth of understanding and empathy to her character.
“I have the worst in both worlds, and I have the best
in both worlds,” she says of her life straddling the deaf
and hearing realms.
Bray was born profoundly deaf in her right ear and
has 86-decibel loss in her left ear. She’s fl uent in Amer-
ican Sign Language and learned to speak clearly by
hiring a voice coach to help her audition for a theater
role back in 2000 and has continued hard work on her
own. “Acting has been an interest of mine growing up,”
she says. “The more characters I meet, the better I un-
derstand people in real life that have similar traits in the
characters I play. I jump in, explore the character and
bring the character to life the best possible way I can.”
If the taut suspense of the “Heroes” drama makes you
hungry, Hungry Howie’s Pizza is ready to accommodate,
in more ways than one. Hungry Howie’s now uses text
relay services to enable people with hearing or speech
impairment to place and receive calls via computer,
cell phone, pager and PDA by clicking a text relay
icon on the restaurant’s Web site: www.hungryhowies.
com. The service is free and easier than traditional TTY
services. Hungry Howie’s has about 575 locations in
24 states – maybe one near you.
■
A Night In – The Affordable Night Out
Dispensers - Protect Your
Clients’ Hearing Aids
Offer Discovery Hearing Aid
Warranties to Your Clients
for the Best Protection from Loss,
Damage or Component Failure
Attn. Consumer: No Dispenser?
WARRANTY PROTECTION
starts for as little as
$60
a year
Call Karen at
800-525-7936
www.soundaid.com
"MM.BLFTt"MM.PEFMT
$PNQSFIFOTJWFt-PTTt%BNBHFt3FQBJS
800-525-7936
Call us for your nearest provider or call:
12 HEARI NG HEALTH A PUBLICATION OF THE DEAFNE SS RES EARCH FOUN DATION
I
n the United States in 2006, there were 412,500 home fi res
that killed 2,580 people and injured another 12,925 people.
That’s scary! On the average, these same fi res killed one per-
son with hearing loss every 15 hours, and injured a person
with hearing loss every three hours. That’s really scary if you
are one of the 36 million Americans with hearing loss!
But you don’t have to become one of those statistics. Although
having hearing loss puts you at a decided disadvantage when using
standard fi re-alerting devices, you can put the odds in your favor if
you follow these four basic steps.
Practice Good Fire Hygiene
Fires don’t know, or care, whether you are hard of hearing. They
strike when provided with the right conditions. Therefore, your
fi rst line of defense in fi re safety is preventing fi res from starting in
the fi rst place. Here are some of the most common causes of easily
preventable house fi res:
Smoking is the leading cause of fi re deaths in the home, 1.
resulting in one out of every four home fi re deaths. If you
smoke, be especially careful that you do not dispose of hot
ash in the trash. Surprisingly, this is the leading cause of
smoking-related fi res. The second most common cause of
smoking-related fi res is accidentally setting fi re to beds and
bedding. Coming in third is cigarettes or cigars setting fi re
to upholstered furniture. Fires in bedding and furniture
typically happen when the smoker falls asleep while smok-
ing – so don’t smoke when you are tired. Better yet, don’t
smoke at all.
Alcohol is involved in about 40 percent of all home fi re 2.
deaths. No doubt, alcohol and smoking go hand in hand.
Smoking and drinking increases the odds of accidentally
igniting furniture or bedding.
Seventy percent of U.S. households now use candles, es-3.
pecially during winter holidays. In 2001, candles were re-
sponsible for six percent of all fi re fatalities in the home.
Forty-one percent of candle fi res began in the bedroom,
killing a high proportion of sleeping occupants. Candle
fi res often result when people use candles to light their
homes when the power fails, and then forget about them,
or when they leave combustible material too close to the
candles. When using candles, blow them out before leaving
the room or going to sleep.
Although heating equipment accounted for 16 percent of 4.
all home fi res and 21 percent of home fi re deaths, a whop-
ping 80 percent of these fi res and 66 percent of the result-
ing deaths came from portable and fi xed space heaters. The
leading cause of such fi res was having combustible materi-
als too close to space heaters. Keep the area around electric
or wood-burning space heaters clear of all papers and other
items that can burn.
Kitchens are where more fi res start than in any other room 5.
in the home. In fact, kitchen fi res are the number-one
cause of home fi res (40 percent) and home fi re injuries
(36 percent) and result in 15 percent of home fi re deaths.
The leading cause of kitchen fi res is leaving the stove
unattended. The solution is simple: If the stove is on, stay
in the kitchen! It’s so easy to get distracted doing other
things (especially as we get older) and forget we’ve left the
stove on. When we can’t hear well, we typically don’t hear
the little sounds that can warn us of impending doom –
that’s why we need to be there to keep an eye on things.
Here’s how easily and unexpectedly something can happen.
One time I was hard-boiling some eggs and left the kitchen
for a minute. Then I got engrossed in what I was doing and
totally forgot about the eggs and the pot slowly boiling
dry on the stove. What brought me running back to the
kitchen much later was the sound of the eggs exploding!
(Don’t count on this though. Sometimes they just crack,
and don’t explode to get your attention.) Fortunately, this
did not cause a fi re but it was a close call. I now have a
little timer (Triple-Bel by Shake Awake® www.shakeawake.
com/product_info.php?products_id=28). I clip it to my
belt or pocket, and if I leave the kitchen while something
is cooking, Triple-Bel’s vibration, fl ashing lights and beeps
get my attention when the timer goes off.
Clothes dryers account for the largest share of appliance 6.
fi res in the home. The most common cause is lack of main-
tenance. Dryer vents, vent hoses and pipes can become
clogged with dust and lint. The lint then catches fi re, or
the heat backs up into the dryer and clothes catch fi re. One
such fi re call I answered when I was a fi refi ghter came in
at 1:30 a.m. when it was 35 degrees below zero! Although
there’s no opportune time to lose a home, the cold made
this incident even worse – and harder to fi ght, what with
hoses freezing up! To prevent such fi res, regularly clean and
maintain your dryer.
HEARING HEALTH
Fire Safety for People
with Hearing Loss
BY NEIL BAUMAN, PH.D.
WWW.DRF.ORG 866.454.3924 TTY 888.435.6104 FALL 2009 13
Have Working Smoke Detectors
Since smoke detectors came into common use in the 1970s, home
fi re deaths have fallen 50 percent. That’s how well they do their
jobs. Yet you may wonder, “Why are so many people still dying in
home fi res?”
Good question. The scary truth is that currently 70 percent of
all home fi re deaths occur in the fi ve percent of houses without
smoke detectors and in the 25 percent of homes without working
smoke detectors. Just having smoke detectors in the home isn’t
enough. They must be in good working order. Never disconnect a
smoke detector to avoid “nuisance” alarms. Did you know that in
20 percent of homes equipped with at least one smoke detector,
none of them work? That’s not only scary – it’s downright hazard-
ous to your health!
The most common reason for smoke detectors not working
is missing, dead or disconnected batteries. That is why you must
check or replace smoke detector batteries at least twice a year. Fire
departments recommend this be done each spring and fall when
we reset our clocks between daylight savings and standard time.
Another thing that few people realize is that smoke detectors
age. As they age, they become more unreliable. In fact, smoke de-
tectors that are 10 years old have a 30 percent chance of failing.
Thus, the National Fire Protection Association recommends re-
placing smoke detectors every 10 years.
How old are the smoke detectors in your home? I replaced all
the smoke detectors in my house a few months ago. They were
nine years old at the time and one had already begun failing. If
your smoke detectors are more than 10 years old, throw them out
and replace them with new ones. It’s important if you value your
life.
Have an Effective Alerting System
Having working smoke detectors in your home is only part of
the equation. It presupposes that you can actually hear the smoke
detectors when they go off. Surprisingly, this is not always the case.
Consider the following statistics: Twenty percent of home fi res oc-
cur between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., yet these fi res
account for more than half of all home fi re deaths.
It’s scary to think that roughly 40 percent of the people killed in
home fi res die in their sleep without ever waking. It’s even more
astonishing to realize that roughly 30 percent of deaths due to fi res
in the home are caused by fi res in which a smoke alarm is present
and operating properly! Obviously, many people are not hearing
their smoke detectors.
One reason for this is that most smoke detectors produce a rela-
tively high-frequency (3,100 hertz) sound. Recent studies have
revealed that this frequency is not particularly effective in waking
up various classes of people with normal hearing, such as chil-
dren, heavy sleepers, people in deep levels of sleep, people taking
sleeping pills and other medications and people who have had
too much to drink. In addition, high-frequency alarms are almost
totally ineffective in alerting people with high-frequency hearing
loss (which includes about 90 percent of people with hearing loss
and all deaf people).
Another reason why people with hearing loss are at greater risk
from nighttime fi res is that our hearing aids or cochlear implants
are peacefully reposing on the bed table beside us where they can’t
enable our smoke detectors to warn us. This is why those of us
with hearing loss need special alerting devices to wake us.
If you have hearing people in your home, you may think you
can just rely on them to warn you of a fi re. This may work, but
people may not always be there for you – they could be at work,
shopping or traveling when calamity strikes. Therefore, you need
an alarm system that meets your needs when you are alone.
The good news is that, although not all devices meet all our
needs in every situation, some do come close. The ideal device
would not only sound an alarm, but would also fl ash a light and
vibrate the bed. That would alert the three most important sens-
es simultaneously. A hearing service dog can alert you but if you
don’t have one, one of these two new systems may work for you
– without having to be fed and walked.
The Lifetone HL™ Bedside Fire Alarm and Clock (www.
lifetonesafety.com) alerts by sounding a loud low-frequency alarm
and by vibrating the bed. This fi re alarm is one of the fi rst systems
to use 520 hertz square-wave technology. Recent studies have
shown that a 520 hertz square-wave sound breaks through sleep
and wakes almost everyone (between 92 percent and 96 percent
of people), even those with high-frequency hearing loss. Other
studies have shown that intermittent bed shakers wake up virtually
100 percent of the people using them. It’s almost impossible to
Texting 911
A 911 call center in Black Hawk County, Iowa, has
become the fi rst in the nation to successfully receive
text messages from wireless subscribers. A live dem-
onstration of a 911 text request for assistance to the
Black Hawk Consolidated Public Safety Communica-
tions Center was held on August 5 at the Waterloo
City Hall in Iowa.
“We are pleased that our county has become the
fi rst in the nation to successfully deploy text to 911,”
said Chief Thomas Jennings, chairman of the Black
Hawk 911 Board. “This solution not only helps better
protect our speech and hearing impaired citizens but it
proves how important it is for public safety to support
all forms of communication.”
This will directly impact how individuals with speech
and hearing impairments communicate with a 911 op-
erator in an emergency. Before this, deaf and hard of
hearing persons had to communicate with 911 opera-
tors using a relay center or a specialized communica-
tions device. It also allows people to communicate with
911 when a voice call is not possible.
It is important to note that this solution is currently
only available to select wireless subscribers in Black
Hawk County. A voice call still remains the best way to
contact 911 and texting to 911 should only be used in
situations where a voice call is not possible.
14 HEARI NG HEALTH A PUBLICATION OF THE DEAFNE SS RES EARCH FOUN DATION
sleep through the double whammy of the low-frequency alarm
sounding and the bed shaking.
Lifetone works with existing smoke detectors. You don’t have
to purchase special ones. Note, though, that the Lifetone only
“hears” smoke detectors that put out the standard T3 signal. Since
all smoke detectors sold since 1998 conform to the T3 standard,
this is another good reason to make sure all the smoke detectors in
your house are less than 10 years old.
Each Lifetone unit is always “listening” and, if any smoke detec-
tor should go off, within 20 seconds Lifetone sounds its alarm.
Another advantage of the Lifetone system is that, when one unit
goes off (say, in the master bedroom), within a few seconds any
other units in your house begin sounding too – even through
closed doors and on different fl oors. Its microphone is that sensi-
tive. A new version of the Lifetone HL alarm is in the works and
will be available as soon as it receives UL approval. This upcoming
version will also sound an alert if deadly levels of carbon mon-
oxide (CO) are detected, provided the home has CO detectors.
The Lifetone will signal smoke by a repeated series of three long
beeps, while carbon monoxide will produce a repeated series of
four short beeps. Eventually Lifetone may also incorporate a fl ash-
ing LED strobe visual alert. These two additions, plus its existing
seven-day battery backup make the Lifetone unit close to an ideal
fi re alerting system.
Silent Call® (www.silentcall.com) makes another great alerting
system that works with more than just smoke detectors. It can
also alert to carbon monoxide detectors, weather radio emergency
messages and burglar alarms, as well as to phones ringing, doorbells
chiming, monitors sounding and so on. Furthermore, the Silent
Call system can tie into the existing house fi re alarm or smoke
detector system or work with its own stand-alone devices. I use
it both ways at once. And another great feature is that all these
alerts come to me instantly, whether I am out cutting the grass,
working in the garage or snoozing in my reclining chair, via Silent
Call’s unique vibrating wristwatch. The watch has different pat-
terns of vibrations depending on which device activates, while
a corresponding icon appears on the watch face. At night, I put
the watch in its special charger on my bedside table, and if I have
plugged in the bed shaker, it will shake me awake if any alerting
device goes off.
Silent Call’s Sidekick II bed table receiver has all the features of
the wristwatch, as well as a lighted alarm clock and battery backup.
A fl ashing strobe light and colored indicator lights activate so I
can see which device has alerted. With the Sidekick II, when an
alerting device goes off, the bed shaker activates, but if I’m already
awake or just getting up, I can see the fl ashing strobe light as well.
The Silent Call system can monitor up to three Silent Call
smoke detectors and indicate which one is going off. It also warns
when any of the detectors is not working or needs new batteries.
As its name implies, the Silent Call system does not use audible
alerts. I’d love to see them incorporate sound into the next version
of the system to make it even more useful for people with and
without hearing loss.
Lifetone and Silent Call alerting systems are readily available
from many suppliers of assistive devices for people with hearing
loss.
Have a Dress Rehearsal
Now that you have eliminated as many of the common fi re hazards
as you can in your home, checked and replaced smoke detectors
and purchased assistive devices, there is one fi nal, but critical, step
to take. Try out the new devices and practice a fi re escape plan.
Your life initially depends on assistive devices alerting you. That
is why you should purchase the best. However, do you know
whether your alerting device will wake you up under real-life
conditions – when you are in a deep sleep, when you have had
too much to drink, when you have taken sleeping pills or other
medications or when your hearing aids are off?
The only way to know for sure is to have someone set them off
when you least expect it and see how you react. The brain needs
to learn that these sounds and sensations mean an emergency is
occurring and bolt you out of bed. The brain only learns this with
practice. Firemen learn to wake up instantly when a fi re alarm
goes off. Their feet hit the fl oor running. We need to learn to do
the same.
When a smoke detector goes off, get out! There may only be
The Lifetone HL™
Bedside Fire Alarm
and Clock alerts by
sounding a loud low-
frequency alarm and by
vibrating the bed.
Photo courtesy of www.
lifetonesafety.com
Each October since 1922, the National Fire Protection
Association (NFPA) has sponsored a fi re prevention
campaign to raise awareness about the importance
of fi re safety and fi re safety education. Fire Preven-
tion Week is October 4 to 10, 2009, and this year’s
fi re prevention campaign, “Stay Fire Smart! Don’t Get
Burned,” focuses on preventing fi res and the deaths, in-
juries and property loss they cause. By providing valu-
able information on fi re and burn prevention and safety
tips, the campaign aims to help the public keep their
homes and its occupants safe from fi re and burns.
NFPA’s newly launched Fire Prevention Week Web
site, www.fi repreventionweek.org, offers an abundance
of safety tips, statistical information and other resourc-
es that can be used by fi re departments, teachers,
families and anyone else interested in learning about
fi re prevention.
WWW.DRF.ORG 866.454.3924 TTY 888.435.6104 FALL 2009 15
two or three minutes before it’s too late. One shocking survey
revealed that only eight percent of those whose smoke detectors
sounded thought they were in a real fi re and that they needed to
get out! In another study, 56 percent said they would investigate to
fi nd the source of the alarm rather than get out. This is a sure way
to increase the odds of becoming another fi re fatality.
Not only do we need to take immediate action, we need to
take the right action – and that means having an effective fam-
ily fi re escape plan. Fewer than 25 percent of Americans have an
escape plan and have practiced getting out. Maybe you think that,
because your bedroom window is just a few feet from the ground,
you won’t have any problems getting out. Have you tried getting
out that window to be sure? Maybe the window sticks, or is frozen
shut, or maybe the screen refuses to budge. Maybe you don’t fi t
through that window, or are no longer strong or agile enough to
get your body up on the windowsill. The only way to know for
sure is to try it. First, experiment sometime during the day when
you can take your time and see what you are doing. Then, after
you have your escape procedures down pat, try escaping in the
middle of the night without turning on any lights (a fi re could cut
your electricity). That is the true test of whether your plan really
works.
Incidentally, although men are more likely to be hurt trying
to fi ght a fi re, women are more likely to be hurt trying to escape
from the fi re. The whole family needs to practice escape routes to
be sure they are quick and safe.
Now, with working smoke detectors, an effective alerting sys-
tem beside your bed and perhaps elsewhere, and a practiced escape
plan, you are as prepared as a person can reasonably be for a fi re
in your home. Finally, because you have reduced fi re hazards in
your home, you have greatly reduced the chances that you’ll have
to implement your plan. And if your alarm system ever goes off,
you know exactly what to do in order to save your life and the
lives of those in your home. Sounds like a worthwhile endeavor,
doesn’t it?
■
Neil Bauman, Ph.D., is a specialist in hearing loss and coping skills,
as well as an author and speaker (and former volunteer fi refi ghter). He
has lived with a severe hearing loss all his life.
Bauman is the author of 11 books and hundreds
of articles related to hearing loss. You can read
many of his articles at www.hearinglosshelp.
com. E-mail him at neil@hearinglosshelp.com.
Most of the statistics quoted in this article
come from “Fire Safety Statistics from the
NFPA,” compiled by the City of Marshfi eld, Wis.
View the full article at www.ci.marshfi eld.wi.us/
FD/fi restats.htm.
The Silent Call
®
alerting system works
with smoke detectors, carbon monox-
ide detectors, weather radio emergen-
cy messages and burglar alarms, as
well as ringing phones and doorbells.
Photo courtesy of www.silentcall.com If you just can’t hear
on the phone...
Ask your Audiologist about
Hamilton CapTel
®
and the
new CapTel 800i
®
.
The CapTel 800i is as
simple to use as a
traditional telephone, with
one important addition: it
displays captions of what
is being said to you on
the phone. Simply use your
existing phone service
combined with a high-speed
Internet connection
*
to
receive captions on incoming
and outgoing calls.
• Free Captions
• Easy to Use
• Available Nationwide
See what they say with Hamilton CapTel
and the CapTel 800i.
Copyright © 2009 Hamilton Relay. All rights reserved.
CapTel and the CapTel 800i are registered trademarks of Ultratec, Inc.
*Phone line and high-speed Internet connection required.
For more information, ask your Audiologist or
Call: 888-514-7933
E-mail: info@hamiltoncaptel.com
Web: www.hamiltoncaptel.com
16 HEARI NG HEALTH A PUBLICATION OF THE DEAFNE SS RES EARCH FOUN DATION
A
s a researcher, I have had the distinct pleasure of work-
ing with numerous cochlear implant (CI) users, both
children and adults. Without exception, they are thank-
ful to be able to hear, and for many of them, I can
barely tell they have a hearing problem at all. Some
understand nearly everything I say and can hear me
just fi ne. Others have a little trouble understanding speech but
function as though they had mild to moderate hearing loss and
get along quite well. CI-users typically have great diffi culty hear-
ing speech in noisy environments, being much more adversely
affected by noise than even hearing aid users. Nevertheless, the
ability to understand a spouse, parent or child, or to hear birds or
one’s teacher demonstrates that the CI has been nothing short of
a technological marvel.
Nearly all of our research participants say that, next to hearing
people speak, nothing is more important than being able to hear
music. A number of those who have participated in our research
projects are or were musicians. Even for those who aren’t, old-time
rock ’n’ roll, country, jazz or the classics like Beethoven were an
important part of their lives. Here, the implant consistently disap-
points. And the accompanying question is: why?
The primary weakness of CIs is their inability to deliver pitch
information. There has been a long-standing controversy regard-
ing what acoustic information normally hearing people use to
allow them to perceive pitch. This controversy dates to the days of
Georg Ohm and Hermann von Helmholtz in the mid-19th cen-
tury. They postulated that the ear acts as a frequency analyzer, ex-
tracting the frequencies of the many tones comprising the sounds
we hear. This is consistent with a theory of hearing which says that
some places in the ear respond to high frequencies, others to low.
Later work by Nobel laureate Georg von Bekesy demonstrated
that this theory was true: The base end of the cochlea responds to
high frequencies and the apex (or the end) of the cochlea responds
best to the lowest frequencies.
Nearly concurrently, another scientist named August Seebeck
postulated that pitch perception actually involves hearing the tim-
ing of successive pulses. Seebeck generated a siren using a wheel
with holes in it. Then he forced air under pressure through the
holes with a fi xed nozzle. The air going through the holes made
noise and spinning the wheel created a pulsating sound with a cer-
tain pitch. The faster the wheel turned, the higher the pitch. If the
spin rate doubled, the pitch would go up an octave. Thus, Seebeck
demonstrated that there was a temporal element to pitch. Helm-
holtz was the more respected scientist at the time, so his theory
held for nearly a century. But in the 20th century, research was
conducted that confi rmed that timing information also contrib-
utes to pitch perception and that this could lead to the perception
of pitch at a place where there was actually no acoustic energy.
That is, a repetitive buzz-like sound could have the same pitch as a
200-hertz sine wave, but not actually have energy at 200 hertz, so
long as the repetition rate was 200 hertz. It turns out both theories
are correct. The human ear encodes pitch according to place and
timing information.
So, what does all this theory have to do with CIs? The CI en-
codes frequencies according to place. Unfortunately, however,
most of the fi ne timing information that could contribute to pitch
is lost. The implant divides incoming acoustic information into
12, 16 or 22 channels, whereas normal hear ing gleans information
from 30 to 40 channels. Even in the best scenario, place infor-
mation is already degraded relative to normal hearing. The de-
generated condition of the auditory nerves of implant recipients
further limits the end result to eight or nine functional channels.
Additionally, CI-users lack information that hair cells normally
“gather.” Groups of hair cells and their associated nerves, working
in tandem, have the ability to capture the detailed pitch timing
of each wax and wane of the acoustic wave up to 3,000 to 4,000
hertz. This ability is almost completely lost in the implant-user,
who rarely gets such information greater than 300 hertz. Thus, the
refi ned pitch, chords and melodies in music that normally hearing
people enjoy often become a garbled, blurred mess when heard via
a CI. For the CI-user then, the ability to perceive both place and
timing information about pitch is marginalized.
Despite these unfortunate limitations, rhythm perception, an es-
sential element of music, is nearly normal in CI-users. Rhythm
MANAGING HEARING LOSS
Music and the
Cochlear Implant
BY WARD R. DRENNAN, P H.D.
Online Exclusive!
“Dancing Against All Odds: Sarah Clark’s Story”
Log on to www.hearinghealthmag.com
WWW.DRF.ORG 866.454.3924 TTY 888.435.6104 FALL 2009 17
carries a lot of information and is an underestimated component
of music composition. In fact, half the challenge of composing
intriguing, aesthetically pleasing music is creating an intriguing,
aesthetically pleasing rhythm. If someone were to tap the rhythm
of a familiar melody, many people could identify the melody with-
out any pitch information at all. Imagine, for example, the rhythm
of “Happy Birthday” tapped on a table. As such, more rhythmic
or percussive music might be more enjoyable to CI-users. Addi-
tionally, the CI-user might be able to superimpose a melody they
learned at a time when their hearing was better, making good use
of auditory memory.
The brain is the CI-user’s greatest asset. With training and effort,
the CI-user can utilize the garbled mess they hear, perhaps fi nding
cues in the implant stimuli, and make the best use of music based
on memory. Also, in the vein of Charles Ives, in which any sound
might be considered music, the CI-user can learn to fi nd aes-
thetic value in the “new” sound. Perceiving art, and art in sound,
is primarily a state of mind. This is especially true for congenitally
deafened children who have no memory of “normal” pitch per-
ception. In a special session of the Association for Research in
Otolaryngology a few years ago, a number of outstanding musi-
cians who wear CIs were featured. They were all truly talented
artists and their ability to make music, with their marginalized
hearing, was amazing. As also evidenced by Beethoven, the famous
post-lingually deafened composer, a musical mind remains a musi-
cal mind, with or without hearing.
While musical perception occurs largely in the mind, there have
been efforts to improve the quality of sound delivered to CI-users.
One of the more promising is an Advanced Bionics device that uses
current-steering, a process by which the electrical current is bal-
anced between electrodes, creating “virtual channels.” It has been
well documented that current-steering can create an increased
number of pitch perceptions with a single pair of electrodes. Cur-
rent-steering has been implemented commercially with HiRes
Fidelity 120™ CIs (F120 for short). Many listeners like the quality
of sound that results from this CI’s processing, although there is
little evidence of objective clinical benefi t
of the processing. Some data has suggested
that spectral resolution is improved via F120
for some of the better listeners.
Another strategy developed by Cochlear,
called MP3000, reduces the number of spec-
tral peaks in the electrical excitation by only
delivering electrical information that a nor-
mally hearing person could hear. This could
theoretically improve spectral resolution.
Another experimental approach includes
extracting the fundamental frequency of
incoming sound, then setting up an electri-
cal pulse rate at that fundamental frequency
to recreate timing-based pitch. This has had
some marginal effect on improving speech
understanding in a noisy environment. Yet
another approach that is advantageous for
musicians involves adjusting the fi lters in
the implant to match known pitches. If the
fi lters are well-matched to known intervals, this could make music
that normally sounds “wrong” sound more right. This kind of ap-
proach is more technical and requires a musically astute CI-user.
Recently, a validated test of hearing has been developed to eval-
uate such engineering effects. It is called the Clinical Assessment
of Music Perception (CAMP). The CAMP incorporates a test of
complex pitch-perception using piano-like tones with a harmonic
structure; a test of musical timbre perception where listeners iden-
tify one of eight different instruments in a live recording; and a
test of melody perception without any rhythm information. For a
larger group of listeners in a multisite clinical trial of the CAMP,
average pitch discrimination was 2.6 semitones (half-steps on a
piano), which is signifi cantly worse than normal hearing, which
is less than one-half a semitone. For timbre and melody, average
scores were 43 percent and 27 percent, respectively, with about
half of the listeners scoring at chance levels on the timbre test and
two-thirds on the melody test. For a few star listeners, melody and
timbre scores were over 90 percent correct, which is near normal.
The CAMP has been used to compare different processing strate-
gies and unfortunately, to date, no signifi cant effects have been
observed.
In summary, CIs deliver musical rhythm well, but are mostly
poor at delivering pitch information. Some technologies have been
developed which are intended to improve music perception in CIs
and, while subjective qualitative benefi ts have been observed, none
of the new processing schemes have yet been shown to provide
objective improvement in basic music listening skills. Neverthe-
less, CI-users can still enjoy music, especially the rhythm of music.
With substantial determination and self-training, many CI-users
continue appreciating and partaking in the musical arts.
■
Ward R. Drennan, Ph.D., is a hearing scientist at the V.M. Bloedel
Hearing Research Center at the University of Washington. He has
previously worked for the Kresge Hearing Research Institute in Michigan
and MRC Institute of Hearing Research in Scotland. He also freelances
as a clarinetist in the Seattle area.
18 HEARI NG HEALTH A PUBLICATION OF THE DEAFNE SS RES EARCH FOUN DATION
I
f the news that cochlear implant technology still has a long
way to go before users can appreciate music is discouraging,
you need to know that you still have options: You can always
become an air drummer. Don’t laugh! (Or cry.) Air drum-
ming is serious business to those who have it in their blood,
like Power, the protagonist of a new movie this fall, called
“Adventures of Power.” An offi cial selection of the Sundance Film
Festival, this comedy in the vein of “Napoleon Dynamite” is a
window into the world of those who could have, should have, but
didn’t get a set of drums as a kid.
Power (played by writer-director Ari Gold) works in a mine
with his father (Michael McKean), but he’s only as productive as
the rhythm of whatever music he’s listening to will allow, making
him the object of constant ridicule, to which he is impervious.
When the inevitable work accident gets him fi red from his job, he
decides to follow his passion to Newark, where he trains with fi ve
other like-minded misfi ts to become a “set of drums.” The stakes
are high, with a $2,000 pot on offer in the upcoming air drum-
ming competition of the year. The only problem is that a ringer
has signed up to compete: Dallas Houston (Adrian Grenier), the
mine-owner’s son, who could have, should have and did get a set of
drums as a kid. In fact, his father was adamant that his son learn to
play real drums so he would give up the abomination of air drum-
ming. Trouble is, once it gets in your blood, there’s no cure.
The contest propels Power to air-drumming fame but the greater
gain of his move to Newark is meeting Annie (Shoshannah Stern).
Deaf as a result of sound trauma from a rock concert she attended
as a toddler (it’s a comedy, folks), Annie can only feel rhythms, but
has no recollection of what music sounds like. Through Power, she
“sees the music.”
“Adventures of Power” is understated on all but one level –
the soundtrack. Rockers of the 1970s and 80s will not be dis-
appointed, as the movie is peppered with memorable hits from
Rush, Dazz Band, Phil Collins, Mr. Mister, Bow Wow Wow, Lov-
erboy and Judas Priest. However, the superbly cast line-up suffered
under rookie direction, fi lm and sound editing. Even so, Grenier
was born to play Dallas Houston, the closet air drummer. And the
moment when Power and Dallas lock eyes in a pre-competition
meeting is cinema magic.
Although some minor misconduct (the cock fi ght, maybe?)
earned the fi lm a PG-13 rating, teens who dig cult fi lms will fi nd
a new icon in Power. Teens with hearing loss will enjoy Stern,
whose fi rst language is ASL, in a speaking role. And for the rest
of us, beyond the “feel-good” we get from just watching another
geeky underdog triumph in the end, “Adventures of Power” pro-
vides a funny way to seriously consider music appreciation via
rhythm. Gold and Grenier, both truly excellent air drummers (and
real-life musicians), yielded a new appreciation of something many
might regard as being on par with singing in the shower.
Watch the trailer and learn more at www.AdventuresofPower.
com. Limited release in theaters beginning in October; check the
Web site’s Theater/Events link for venues.
■
G
rowing up in a musical household, I always loved mu-
sic, spending countless hours exploring at the piano
– making up tunes, trying out combinations of har-
monies. Music was my special place to create, express
and play.
I studied music composition, earning degrees from
the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and The
Juilliard School, where I held a teaching fellowship in ear-training
and solfège, a technique for teaching sight-singing.
My career began to blossom as I took on freelance composing,
performed in restaurants and churches and was offered a teaching
position in the pre-college division of Juilliard. But in 1985, at
the age of 26, I started experiencing tinnitus and hearing loss,
which I suspect were related to noise exposure. I went to various
doctors hoping for a remedy but my hearing loss became so
problematic that in 1989 I decided to return to my home state of
North Carolina, which offered a quieter environment than New
York City.
I got my fi rst hearing aid, a Beltone, in 1990, which enabled me
to continue performing, composing and teaching at a local com-
The Music Within
BY BARBARA GALLAGHER
Adventures of Power
REVIEW BY DON NA LEE SCH ILLING ER
Ari Gold as
air drummer
Power in a
scene from
“Adventures
of Power.”
Photo cour-
tesy of Variance
Films
WWW.DRF.ORG 866.454.3924 TTY 888.435.6104 FALL 2009 19
munity college. As my career progressed over two decades, so did
hearing technology. Next I purchased a pair of Rexton CICs, then
Phonak ITEs and I now wear Widex BTEs. The next step will
be cochlear implants. Technology and professional medical assis-
tance have kept pace with my hearing loss and have enabled me to
compose, release several CDs, perform orchestral works, do radio
broadcasts, play for ballet, theater, live television and even tour. It's
been a busy 20 years!
One might wonder how a person with hearing loss can work as
a musician. I have adapted with some important communication
aids. I rely on visual signals: My cue to begin playing at church is
when the priest lowers his hands or makes eye contact. At holiday
carol parties and church hymn-sings, I have an assistant show me
which song I need to play. In workshops, I gather students around
the keyboard so I can more easily hear them and when teaching
classes, I walk up to the students' desks when they have a question.
I also try to get input in writing: I pass around a notepad on which
students can write their questions. And, instead of making phone
calls to conductors and performers, I use e-mail. Finally, I often
have my students sing their ideas to me because music is so much
easier to understand than speech!
But what about issues with the actual music? Both composing
and performing hold unique challenges. When I compose, I some-
times use a piano, but often the music evolves without an external
sound source, because the music exists internally, in my mind. To
better understand this concept, think of a song you like; you can
“hear” it in your mind with “internal ears.” Some composers rely
completely on this internal hearing such that their work is not im-
peded by hearing loss. I can play music with notes I can't physically
hear, but I know in my imagination what they sound like. When
I play these “inaudible” notes on the piano or organ, I can double
them with lower ones that are audible to me. My hearing loss is in
the higher frequencies, so playing the passage lower on the piano,
in a cello range, makes it easier to “feel” the effects of the chords.
I think the biggest challenge performing musicians have, regard-
less of hearing ability, is to focus and transcend – to forget we are
there, playing, that the audience is there, listening, and to let the
music break forth from its otherworldly realm into ours, into us,
into our souls. When I play, I try to reach out beyond the "cymbal
tremolo" and "snap, crackle, pop" of my tinnitus, beyond the dis-
torted sound of my physical ears, to another level. At times I can
do it easily while other times it eludes me, but when it happens it's
a wonderful experience.
My advice to any musician grappling with hearing loss is to
fi nd a hearing healthcare professional who really cares about your
situation. That person will be an important ally in your quest to
continue making music. My audiologist, Aimee Parker, has proven
to be such a person, taking the time to fi nd the best settings for my
hearing aid programs (including one especially for music), trouble-
shooting problems quickly and effectively and being sensitive to
my particular needs as a musician.
Every fi eld has its great masters. Some of music’s greatest
composers have faced deafness, including Gabriel Fauré, Bedrich
Smetana, and of course, Ludwig von Beethoven. His “Heiligenstadt
Testament,” written to his brothers, expressed anguish over his
condition. Yet in his music, perhaps even through his music, he
rose above his affl iction and gave the world affi rming, triumphant
works, becoming a voice for all people. Although his ears were
failing, he listened to his fellow humans with his heart and
expressed their longings, hopes and dreams. While we may speak
of music as sounding high or low, loud or soft, fast or slow, these are
only components of music that work together to express music’s
real intent. Music is not so much about the sound as it is about
the feeling, expression of imagination and communication of ideas.
And that expression reaches far deeper than the ear.
■
Online Exclusive!
“Musician No More” by Elizabeth Thompson. Log on to www.hearinghealthmag.com
Barbara Gallagher’s music has been
broadcast internationally on National
Public Radio and religious radio stations,
performed by several orchestras and is
published by Hal Leonard Corp. and
G.I.A., Inc. She is an active musician and
educator in southeastern North Carolina,
working with organizations such as
Carolina Ballet, Magic Trunk Theater
Co., Cape Fear Community College,
Fifth Avenue United Methodist Church
and St. Mary Catholic Church.
Photo courtesy of David Pell
20 HEARI NG HEALTH A PUBLICATION OF THE DEAFNE SS RES EARCH FOUN DATION
P
eople with cochlear implants (CIs) may not perceive
music the way a person with a typically hearing ear
does, but that does not mean that music can’t be fun
and enjoyed in a unique way. Children with CIs in par-
ticular need to be exposed to music so they can begin
to make their own sense out of this complex and won-
derful sound that is such a huge part of life in the hearing world.
To this end, Advanced Bionics offers Tune Ups: A Music
Program Designed to Foster Communication Development. As
the name implies, it is primarily an aural habilitation tool – mixed
with some good, old-fashioned schooling. For use by children from
preschool through elementary school, the CD with 18 songs also
comes with sheet music, lyrics and instructions on how to use each
song to promote language development. Additionally, there is an
illustrated fl ashcard for each musical instrument and voice featured
on the CD. Developers Christine Barton and Amy Robbins have
used the program successfully in the language development
of children with CIs; in fact, the background singers on many
tracks are children with CIs. Further support for the program
is available online at the Advanced Bionics’ Listening Room, by
clicking on “Kids” and then “Tune Ups,” located in the online
community forum www.HearingJourney.com. To purchase Tune
Ups ($19.99), visit www.BionicEar.com (then click on Support,
Educational Support, Therapy Resources
and then Therapy Resources for Children)
or call 800.678.3575.
Tune Ups is a great follow-up gift
for children recently implanted with an
Advanced Bionics CI, each of whom
receives Melody the Monkey, a plush
toy with bilateral CIs. The doll’s musical
moniker is a tribute to Advanced Bionics’
commitment to software upgrades for its
“bionic ears” that enable superior music
listening. The Harmony® HiResolution®
Bionic Ear is the only CI with the 120
spectral bands necessary for deaf persons to
go beyond deciphering simple speech to
hearing and enjoying music.
■
Our Hallmark Is Innovation
For Better Hearing Aid Performance…
For Single-Sided Deafness…
For a simpler way to hear better…
For more information
visit www.eartech.com or call 1.800.327.8547
Don’t Give up – Tune Up!
Children recently implanted with an
Advanced Bionics CI receive Melody
the Monkey, a plush toy with bilateral
CIs.
Photo courtesy of Advanced Bionics
MANAGING HEARING LOSS
WWW.DRF.ORG 866.454.3924 TTY 888.435.6104 FALL 2009 21
VIEWPOINTS
H
earing Health staff writer Amy
Morrison interviewed author
Lee Woodruff about her daugh-
ter Nora, who was diagnosed as
a baby with moderate to severe
hearing loss. Nora is now nine
years old and going into the fourth grade.
Hearing Health: Over eight years ago the
doctor told you that your baby girl would
have to wear hearing aids for the rest of her
life. What have been some of the surprises in
your journey with Nora since then?
Lee Woodruff: Probably the most surpris-
ing thing is all of those moments when I
worried that she’d never talk. I now have
moments where she’s chattering on and on
and I think to myself, “Why won’t you be
quiet? I need just a few moments of peace!”
Then, of course, I laugh at myself and just
revel in all of it.
HH: You wrote that when you were fi rst
dealing with Nora’s diagnosis, “No one
seemed to be able to venture any concrete
words of comfort.” What would you say
to parents who are now facing what you
faced?
LW: I would tell them that I have met
many examples of people moving through
the world beautifully with these defi cits.
People compensate in amazing ways. I
would also tell people to just take one day
at a time. It will never seem as bad or as
devastating again, as it does in those initial
moments.
HH: You have written that people “just
need to call it as it lays” regarding those with
disabilities. Can you explain that a little fur-
ther?
LW: I think a lot of parents feel a certain amount of shame around
the disability of their child, or maybe that they need to tailor their
child’s actions so that they don’t inconvenience anyone else or
make them uncomfortable. I think we need to get beyond that
and just realize there are many different levels of operating in this
world.
HH: How have you helped Nora to bridge the understanding gap
with new people she meets?
LW: We’ve tried to make her as comfortable as we possibly can
with the fact that she wears hearing aids, to not see it as any kind
of stigma but just as matter of fact as wearing glasses. When kids
question and see something in her ears, we just want her to be able
to say, “Oh, those are hearing aids. Big deal.”
Lee Woodruff
Photo courtesy of Stefan Radtke
Compensating in Amazing Ways
22 HEARI NG HEALTH A PUBLICATION OF THE DEAFNE SS RES EARCH FOUN DATION
HH: Does Nora attend the same school as
her twin sister?
LW: Yes, she is mainstreamed completely.
HH: Does she need any extra assistance in
the classroom?
LW: She wears hearing aids and there is
a sound amplifi cation system in the class-
room called Audio Enhancement. The
teacher wears a microphone that hangs
around her neck and there are speakers
around the classroom. This is recommend-
ed for every classroom, frankly, and many
schools are being built with it now.
HH: So it’s not something extra just for
Nora?
LW: Absolutely not. It really benefi ts all
the kids in the class. It has been proven to
be great for kids with all kinds of learn-
ing disabilities, for kids with ADD or kids
who have an ear infection that week or a
cold and their ears are fi lled with fl uid. It
really helps evenly distribute the teacher’s
voice around the room.
HH: Do you have some parting advice
for parents of children with hearing loss?
LW: Have faith in your children. Don’t
parent children with hearing loss any
differently or make them feel like they
are fragile or different from any other kid.
That will allow them to go through life
with a sense of themselves as no different
than anybody else.
■
The Woodruff family
Photo courtesy of Cathrine White
D
o the days pass by so quickly that you fi nd your vision
blurred and fuzzy? Do you sometimes wonder why
you decided to have a third child, chose your particu-
lar career path or married the person lying next to you
in bed? If a creeping numbness is dulling your capacity
for joy, you just might need a good dose of what Lee
Woodruff has to offer in her latest book, Perfectly Imperfect.
Many of us fi rst got to know the Woodruff family in 2006 by
following the public tragedy of ABC News Anchor Bob Woodruff ’s
injury from an explosion while covering the war in Iraq. Only
one year after shrapnel shattered his skull, the Woodruffs released
In An Instant, their co-written story of Bob’s amazing recovery
from a brain injury that threatened to leave him seriously and
permanently incapacitated. Anyone who has read the book knows
there is more to the tale than just a chronicle of the hard work and
determination that aided Bob’s recovery. In An Instant also tells the
greater story of the ability to draw on deep wells of courage and
love, and to learn to fi nd ways to recover and even thrive after the
traumas and tragedies of life.
While Perfectly Imperfect resonates with that same strength of
spirit, it stands on its own. There is no need to be familiar with
the Woodruff family story in order to appreciate the humor and
warmth found in this second book. And in fact, fans of In An Instant
will need to set aside any expectation of a single storyline; Perfectly
Imperfect is more a collection
of vignettes, offering out-of-
sequence snapshots of family
life that range from solemn to
downright silly.
In each engaging chapter,
Woodruff blends personal ex-
periences, both good and bad,
to demonstrate how life can
be a treasure hunt if only we
won’t tire of looking. One chapter highlights the value of friend-
ship and how it is measured and tested by grief. In another vi-
gnette Woodruff patiently searches for intelligence in her teenager
and is fi nally rewarded by one jewel of conversation with her typi-
cally monosyllabic son. Other humorous snapshots, where we read
about her husband’s complete inability to multitask or choose an
appropriate gift, show that life’s riches can include simple, good-
hearted laughter at our human foibles and follies.
Parents of deaf and hard-of-hearing children will recognize
much of their own journey in Woodruff’s chapter, “A Different
Ability.” Shattered by the words, “Your daughter is deaf,” Woodruff
tells of feeling overwhelmed by the future and isolated in her grief.
Despair is quickly replaced by utter frustration as she battles a
stubborn toddler who refuses to keep her hearing aids in place.
Perfectly Imperfect: A Life in
Progress by Lee Woodruff
REVIEW BY AMY MOR RISON
WWW.DRF.ORG 866.454.3924 TTY 888.435.6104 FALL 2009 23
S
umming up the fi rst four decades of her life,
the singular driving force that has propelled
Marlee Matlin forward has been her desire to
“experience as much of life as I can, pile up
moments – good and bad – as if there were
no tomorrow. No stopping, no regrets.” Mat-
lin’s autobiography, I’ll Scream Later, joins one to Matlin
on her roller-coaster ride of life experiences, with the
loops and dives coming so quickly that there really isn’t
time to scream.
First there is the mysterious onset of deafness as a toddler. Matlin’s
parents wonder for years if they have done something to cause her
loss of hearing and become fi ercely determined not to let deafness
defi ne or limit their daughter. Bucking the conventional wisdom of
the time, which said deaf children were best taught at special schools,
Don and Libby Matlin insist their daughter be mainstreamed into
public school. By age fi ve, Matlin is also receiving special instruction
in speech, lip-reading and sign language.
Nonetheless, Matlin grows up feeling shut off from her family
and “starved for attention.” Only her mother attempts to learn sign
language, but as Matlin becomes a fl uent signer, conversation with
her mother is like “talking to someone who knows just a little bit
of English – barely enough to get by, and far from enough to have
a real conversation.” This “hands-off” parenting approach leaves
Matlin to navigate growing up largely on her own.
The ride gets really intense when, as a teenager, she is secretly
sexually abused – followed soon thereafter by the thrills of her fi rst
boyfriends and then high school years that Matlin describes as “a
series of misadventures and a lot of drugs.”
One constant in Matlin’s life is a love of acting, discovered
when she plays Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz,” produced by the
International Center on Deafness and the Arts near Chicago. A
new play follows every year, with Matlin in the lead role. Her big
break fi nally comes when she steps out beyond the safe confi nes of
the Children’s Theatre for the Deaf and lands a role in a professional
production of the play “Children of a Lesser God.” A videotape of
the production made by a local talent agent leads to a call from
Paramount Pictures in Hollywood, then screen tests with actor
William Hurt and ultimately a movie contract that changes the
course of Matlin’s life.
Just 21 when she wins the Oscar for best actress for her role in
“Children of a Lesser God,” Matlin still holds the record for being
the youngest, and only deaf woman, to win in this category.
But true to her drive to “pile up moments,” Matlin’s life even
before Oscar night has already included a tumultuous two-
year love affair with her co-star Hurt and a drug addiction
that leads to a stay at the Betty Ford Center in California.
After the incredible high of Oscar night, I’ll Scream Later
races along two interwoven tracks. On one we get the in-
side details of each of Matlin’s acting assignments. There are
numerous Hollywood interactions, dirty jokes with Robin
Williams, pranks on the sets and professional advice from Whoopi
Goldberg. We also learn about the truly signifi cant people in Mat-
lin’s life: her mentor and “personal wizard” Henry Winkler, who
played the Fonz in the TV sitcom “Happy Days,” and her long-
time interpreter Jack Jason, vital for his role in helping her navigate
her career in a hearing world.
The other track twists and turns through Matlin’s relationships
with various Hollywood personalities and fi nally evens out when
she settles down. Once free from her volatile affair with Hurt,
Matlin enthusiastically explores the Hollywood dating scene.
Filling her readers in on much of what she fi nds, we learn that
Rob Lowe is a friend “with benefi ts” and that Billy Baldwin is a
“makes-your-knees-weak-and-your-heart-pound kind of kisser.”
Just when you think you might lose your lunch, the ride slows
down and Matlin meets Kevin Grandalski, the man of her dreams
and now father of her four children.
Being deaf, Matlin insists, is just a “footnote” in her life but it
makes for the most compelling footnote in her book. The fact that
she overcomes absolute terror to compete live on stage in “Dancing
with the Stars,” that she successfully negotiates motherhood while
not being able to hear her children – these are the examples of
real courage and triumph. Unfortunately, these glimpses into
what is truly inspiring about Matlin’s life and career are few and
far between, perhaps in an effort to keep deafness relegated to a
footnote.
Those who have followed Matlin will fi nd something of interest
in this beyond-the-screen look into her life, loves and career. She is
certainly true to her intentions as she escorts her readers through
just about every moment of her life, with “no stopping and no
regrets.” Hang on for the ride!
ISBN 978-1439102855, ©2009 336 pp. Hardcover $26.00
■
I’ll Scream Later – The Autobiography of Marlee Matlin
REVIEW BY AMY MOR RISON
Adding to the stress is a whole new routine of therapy, doctor
appointments, audiograms and evaluations. Managing slowly to
“inch out of the blackness,” Woodruff writes now, nine years later,
of her beautiful and engaging daughter and of “the overarching
capacity people have to adapt, to be patient and to recover.”
Perfectly Imperfect reminds us why we get out of bed in the morn-
ing and promises that there are rewards to be gained just from
faithfully putting one foot in front of the other. With a little help
from Woodruff, we can practice looking for those little “moments
of grace,” as she calls them, those “little shards of white-light” that
bring meaning and purpose to our lives. And though practice will
never really make perfect, by the end of the book we are better
able to appreciate our own perfectly imperfect lives for having
tagged along with Woodruff through part of hers.
ISBN 978-1400067312 ©2009 256 pp. Hardcover $25.00
■
t
h
B
b
y
t
h
r
a
si
n
You want to hear better in noisy settings, enjoy the wonderful harmonies and melodies of music
without missing a note, and easily converse with your friends, family, and colleagues. Cochlear
implants can bring the rich world of sound to you for deeper connections with loved ones and
a more complete hearing experience. With Advanced Bionics’ Connect to Mentor program, you
can learn about cochlear implants and have all your questions answered by someone who’s really
been there—an actual cochlear implant recipient or one of our trained professionals.
We’ve Been in
Your Shoes
Advanced Bionics has answers
for helping you hear your best.
Connect to a mentor of your very own and receive a free Bionic Ear kit by visiting
BionicEar.com/HearingHealth or calling the Bionic Ear Association at 866-844-HEAR (4327)
M
y son Jay has whiled
away the summer watch-
ing episodes of Sponge-
Bob, which he can now
fully enjoy via closed-
captioning since becom-
ing a profi cient reader. But with summer
drawing to a close and Jay about to return
to his fi rst experience of attending school
without a teacher’s aid in the classroom,
I fi nd myself wishing that everything
in life came with captions. I’m nervous
about him keeping up with the harder
material of third grade, and dread subjects
like social studies and science in which
the teacher spends a lot of time talking,
making it harder for Jay to follow along.
Although Jay won’t have the teacher’s
aid he’s had in previous years, thankfully,
he’ll still have access to an interpreter and
a dedicated teacher for the hearing im-
paired. The situation is an ideal one for us
and allows Jay to be mainstreamed while
still getting the benefi t of having educa-
tors who understand how children with
hearing loss learn best.
Back-to-school shopping this year also
included a new pair of hearing aids for
Jay, a set that interprets high-frequency
sounds, which he has diffi culty hear-
ing, into a lower register so that speech
is clearer rather than merely amplifi ed.
They are also water-resistant, although I
wouldn’t dare test that claim. As the moth-
er of an active, sweaty, eight-year-old boy,
I think this is the greatest innovation since
the lightbulb.
There is a function on these hearing
aids which enables them, in tandem with
a magnet attached to the receiver, to au-
tomatically select the telephone program
when the phone handset is held close.
Most of the technology is way over my
head – I don’t even know how to work
an iPod. But I do know there has been
a great improvement in Jay’s previously
one-sided phone conversations and he
loves talking on the phone with (or at) his
grandmother.
These hearing aids also come with a
command center where we can control
volume, select listening programs and
check battery status. Plus, there is an ac-
cessory that allows for Bluetooth® com-
patibility for MP3 players, televisions and,
when he gets older, a mobile phone. So
later on Jay can be as plugged in as the rest
of his tween peers – but right now I just
want to make it through the third grade.
As awesome as these new hearing aids
are, they are still visible reminders of Jay’s
separation from the rest of the kids in his
class. Thus far his classmates have accepted
the hearing aids and the presence of his
interpreter and Jay seems to have taken it
all in stride with no apparent embarrass-
ment. Whenever I casually ask about the
other kids in school, Jay always says that
everyone is nice, and he even brags about
how many girlfriends he has.
As Jay grows older and more indepen-
dent, I am both proud and anxious for
him as he learns more about how to ad-
vocate for himself in the classroom. This
year will be a huge milestone for us both.
I will have to remind myself that the ul-
timate job of a parent is to offer as much
support and encouragement to my child
as possible, knowing that he must learn
to take responsibility for himself – even if
there’s a little more to that for Jay than for
his classmates.
■
If Only Life Were Closed Captioned
BY KIM WATER S
Equipped with a new Phonak Naida
hearing system, Jay waits for the bus
on the fi rst day of school. The excite-
ment is palpable!
Photos courtesy of Kim Waters
Mother-Nature
WWW.DRF.ORG 866.454.3924 TTY 888.435.6104 FALL 2009 25
WWW.DRF.ORG 866.454.3924 TTY 888.435.6104 FALL 2009 27
DRF Centerstage
L. to r.: Roger Harris, DRF board member; Liz Saldana, DRF chief
development offi cer; Steven Starker, co-founder of BTIG; Andrea
Boidman, DRF chief operating offi cer.
Photo courtesy of BTIG
D
eafness Research Foundation (DRF) is grateful to
BTIG LLC, which specializes in global trading
and fund services for hedge funds, mutual funds,
separate accounts and family offi ces, for includ-
ing our organization in its 7th Commissions for
Charity Day, held on May 19, 2009. More than $3
million earned that day was donated to a number of charities
and nonprofi t organizations, including DRF.
Michael J. Fox, Eli Manning, Joe Girardi, Reggie Jackson
and Johnny Damon, among others, attended the Charity
Day in support of their charitable foundations. BTIG’s
Commissions for Charity Days have raised over $10 million
for children’s charities in the past fi ve years.
“Our 7th Commissions for Charity Day has been our most
successful yet, raising $1 million more than our last event for
these organizations,” said Steven Starker, co-founder of BTIG.
“The importance of charitable giving is heightened during
these uncertain economic times and we are pleased to have
been able to make such a signifi cant contribution to these
important children’s causes.”
“We are thrilled to have achieved a record donation as a
result of this year’s Charity Day,” added Scott Kovalik, co-
founder of BTIG. “We would like to thank our clients, em-
ployees and charities for their continued support and gener-
osity this year.”
■
Accolades Abound
Congratulations to Karl R. White,
Ph.D., and Hearing Health for receiving
a 2009 Apex Award of Excellence in
Health Writing, as well as an honorable
mention Magnum Opus Award, and to
www.drf.org for winning a 2009 Apex
Award of Excellence.
Hearing Health
E-News
If you haven’t already done so, don’t forget
to sign up to receive Hearing Health E-news,
the quarterly e-newsletter of Deafness
Research Foundation. Hearing Health
E-News provides updates on information,
programs and events related to DRF, and
features our funded researchers and the
work they are doing. Sign up at www.drf.
org.
DRF Benefi ts from Commissions for Charity Day
Dr. Marion Downs Joins
DRF’s Honorary Board
Deafness Research Foundation is extremely
proud that Dr. Marion P. Downs has joined
its Honorary Board of Directors. Downs
is a Distinguished Professor Emerita at
the University of Colorado School of
Medicine where she spent more than 35
years providing clinical services to benefi t
patients with hearing loss, devoting her
professional life to the promotion of early
identifi cation of hearing loss in newborns,
infants and young children. During her
outstanding career at the University
of Colorado Health Sciences Center,
Downs initiated, developed and evaluated
techniques for testing hearing in children
and fi tting them – some as young as a few
weeks of age – with hearing aids. She was
among the fi rst to recognize the need
for detecting and treating hearing loss as
early as possible to help nurture speech
and language skills during the critical
development years.
28 HEARI NG HEALTH A PUBLICATION OF THE DEAFNE SS RES EARCH FOUN DATION
H
earing loss is a huge public health problem, both be-
cause of its major negative impact on quality of life and
because it can occur at any age, being present at birth
or arising later during childhood or adulthood. There
are many possible causes of hearing loss – genetic,
traumatic, infectious, toxic, infl ammatory or neoplastic
(tumor) – with these causes being subdivided into two types: con-
ductive and sensorineural. Conductive hearing loss refers to situa-
tions where the inner ear and hearing nerves are intact but sound
vibrations are blocked from reaching them. Common examples
include earwax impaction, torn eardrum, middle ear fl uid build-
up (serous otitis media), middle ear infection (suppurative otitis
media) or damage to middle ear bones (ossicular damage).
Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), also called nerve deafness,
refers to the situation where sound vibrations reach the cochlea
normally but are not properly converted to nerve impulses and
transmitted to the brain. This might be due to a chemical change
in one of the inner ear fl uids; damage to the sensory hair cells that
convert sound vibrations to nerve impulses; a problem with the
supporting cells that maintain the inner ear environment; or some
disease or damage to the auditory nerve, to name only a few pos-
sible explanations.
Most people think that SNHL is irreversible but this is not the
case at all. It is true that the most common forms of SNHL –
congenital SNHL, age-related SNHL, many forms of ototoxicity
(hearing loss caused by drugs) and chronic noise injury (acoustic
trauma) – are permanent. However, there are forms of SNHL that
are reversible. Although not the most common forms of hear-
ing loss, they are extremely important. Some forms of reversible
SNHL include acute acoustic trauma, Meniere’s disease, acoustic
neuroma, sudden deafness and autoimmune inner ear disease.
Acute Acoustic Trauma
Loud sound damages hearing, and the louder the sound, the less
time it takes to do the damage. Some sounds, like a gunshot or two
steel plates banging together, can be loud enough to do instanta-
neous permanent damage, called permanent threshold shift (PTS).
Some other sounds, such as loud music in a dance club, can cause
a temporary threshold shift (TTS) that recovers in a matter of
hours or days. Repeated TTS exposures will eventually cause PTS.
It now also appears that some sounds that are not loud enough to
cause TTS may still gradually cause a progressive noise injury over
RESEARCH
BY STEVEN D. RAUCH, M.D.
Reversible
Sensorineural
Hearing Loss
time. The latest research even indicates that, like a snowball rolling
down a hill, noise injury that starts as a PTS may gradually get
worse over the years even if there is no further acoustic trauma.
Research studies have shown that acoustic trauma causes physi-
cal damage to inner ear hair cells. The tufts that stick up from the
top of hair cells are delicate. Normally they fl ex back and forth in
response to sound vibrations. In reversible TTS, the loud sound
causes the hair cells to soften and wilt, becoming unresponsive
to sound. When they regain their normal shape, hearing recovers.
However, if the sound injury is great enough, they do not recover
and the hair cells die, resulting in PTS. Currently, it is best to
use hearing conservation equipment to prevent exposure to loud
sound. There are many studies underway to fi nd drugs that may
someday help prevent or reverse acoustic trauma but none have
proven to be effective yet.
Meniere’s Disease
Meniere’s disease is characterized by a degenerating inner ear in
which both the hearing and balance functions have become un-
stable. This condition affects about one of every 5,000 individuals
yearly. Patients with this disorder experience fl uctuating and pro-
gressive SNHL in the affected ear, tinnitus (ringing/roaring/buzz-
ing sounds) and episodes of whirling vertigo lasting 20 minutes to
24 hours. In living organisms, the regulation or balance of com-
plex functions is called “homeostasis.” In a normal inner ear there
are a host of internal homeostatic systems that regulate production,
chemical composition and recycling of inner ear fl uids; regulate
incoming and outgoing nerve signals and blood fl ow; regulate in-
tercellular communication, energy metabolism and more. These
systems are so robust that a normal ear is impervious to changes in
the rest of the body or in the external environment.
However, if an ear is damaged and degenerating it may lose its
homeostatic controls and become vulnerable to changes inside or
outside the body. You can liken this to having an old car. When
you bought it, it ran well. Someday it will not run at all. But as it
deteriorates, it may become unreliable – sometimes it runs, some-
times it stalls, sometimes it runs rough. You can wrack your brain
for a pattern but fail to fi nd one. You can take it to the mechanic,
who pops the hood, jiggles the wires, puts it on the computer and
even swaps a few parts, but cannot make it into a new car. There
is a lot going on under the hood. Likewise, an inner ear has “a lot
going on under the hood,” but performance depends upon normal
homeostasis. It now appears that Meniere’s “disease” should more
properly be called Meniere’s “syndrome” because it is really a con-
stellation of clinical signs and symptoms that can arise from a host
of different disturbances of inner ear homeostasis. As researchers
learn more about these homeostatic systems they may be able to
offer new treatments to some Meniere’s patients.
At present, treatment consists of modifying diet and lifestyle to
avoid stressing the fragile Meniere’s ear. If these measures fail, di-
uretic or steroid medications may help restore some homeostatic
functions. If these measures also fail, destruction of the vestibular
hair cells or removal of the inner ear balance organs will elimi-
nate vertigo attacks. However, once hear ing loss has gone from the
fl uctuating stage to completely broken down, there are no treat-
ments known to reverse the loss.
Acoustic Neuroma
Acoustic neuroma, more properly called vestibular schwannoma,
is a tumor of the vestibular (balance) nerves. It occurs in approxi-
mately one of every 100,000 individuals yearly. Schwann cells are
supporting cells that wrap around nerve fi bers to insulate them,
just like the plastic insulation on an electric cord, so they do not
short-circuit and fail to carry signals normally. The two vestibular
nerves from each ear run in a bundle with the auditory (hear-
ing) nerve and the facial nerve from the inner ear, through the
half-inch long internal auditory canal, across the spinal fl uid space
and into the base of the brain. Schwann cells that undergo certain
genetic mutations may begin to grow uncontrollably and form
tumors. Although acoustic neuromas are almost always benign and
slow-growing, they occur in a location that cannot accommodate
their size. As they expand into the bony internal auditory canal,
they begin to compress the nerves. If there is a little bleeding into
the tumor or if it gets infl amed and swells quickly, it can cause a
sudden or rapid SNHL. In such cases, a short course of steroid
medication can sometimes reduce the swelling and bring back the
hearing. Over the long term, however, many acoustic neuroma
patients gradually go deaf in the affected ear – not from acute
compression, but from other chemical or physical changes in the
nerve or the inner ear environment.
Often the recommendation for small and slow-growing tumors
is periodic observation by MRI brain scanning. If the tumor is
larger, or if it is growing more quickly, it can be treated by radia-
tion therapy (so-called gamma knife therapy) or surgical removal.
While these treatments can sometimes preserve some residual
hearing, they cannot restore hearing that is already lost.
Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease (AIED)
AIED is an extremely rare condition of rapidly progressive SNHL
that affects both ears, with hearing in at least one side declining
rapidly. Serial hear ing tests administered monthly show hearing
loss progressing each month – too slow to be sudden deafness
but much too fast to be age-related or genetically determined
progressive loss. About 10 percent of AIED patients have other
organ system involvement or other autoimmune diagnoses, such
as infl ammatory bowel disease, lupus, polymyalgia rheumatica or
rheumatoid arthritis. Although the name of this condition suggests
that the person’s immune system is attacking their own ears, this
has never actually been proven. What is certain is that about 50
percent of persons with rapidly progressive SNHL have a revers-
ible condition treatable with high-dose steroid therapy. Patients are
given prednisone at a dose of 60mg per day for one month to see
if their hearing loss is steroid-responsive. If so, the drug dose is ta-
pered slowly over the next six to 12 months. If they get no benefi t
from the fi rst month of high-dose therapy, they are tapered rapidly
in about 10 days and treatment is discontinued. Nonresponders
are presumed not to be suffering from AIED but rather from some
other unknown cause.
Persons with AIED are prone to relapse. Even if they have a
good response to a long course of steroid therapy, they may lose
hearing again in the future. Typically each relapse is progressively
less responsive to treatment. AIED patients usually end up with
hearing aids, and occasionally with cochlear implants, to remedy
WWW.DRF.ORG 866.454.3924 TTY 888.435.6104 FALL 2009 29
30 HEARI NG HEALTH A PUB LICATION OF THE DEAFNESS R ESEARCH F OUNDATION
hearing loss when it becomes irreversible.
Sudden Deafness
Finally, sudden deafness of unknown cause is surprisingly com-
mon. Every year approximately one person in 5,000 suddenly loses
hearing in one ear. The deafness may be partial or total in the af-
fected ear and progresses within 72 hours or less. Half the patients
experience some transient dizziness or imbalance that clears in
hours or a few days. All persons with sudden SNHL are advised
to have an MRI brain scan because approximately one percent of
cases turn out to have acoustic neuroma. In the remaining 99 per-
cent, the cause is unknown. In fact, there may be several different
causes, including viral infection, blocked circulation or immune-
mediated changes or infl ammation. If left untreated, 25 percent to
50 percent of persons with sudden SNHL may recover some or
all of their hearing. If caught promptly and treated with a taper-
ing course of oral steroid medication, at least 50 to 60 percent of
persons will regain some or all of their hearing. There is a critical
window of two to four weeks to get the steroid treatment. If treat-
ment is delayed beyond that window, it does not help.
In recent years some doctors have been treating their patients
with steroid injections into the ear in hopes of improving the re-
covery rate and lowering the risk of steroid side effects. Although
a number of early studies have hinted that steroid injections may
be as good as or better than steroid pills, these studies have been
small and have had design fl aws that leave their conclusions some-
what questionable. The National Institutes of Health is currently
sponsoring a multicenter trial to compare oral and injected steroid
treatment for sudden SNHL (www.suddendeafness.org) but the
results of this study will not be available for about another year.
Living with SNHL produces hardship for millions of Ameri-
cans. For many, this loss is progressive. For the vast majority, it
is irreversible. However, Mother Nature has provided us with a
number of exciting opportunities in the form of reversible SNHL
conditions. These instances of reversible SNHL are not the most
common forms of hearing loss but they are disproportionately
important because they teach us so much about the workings of
the inner ear, about the way it fails and about possible pathways to
effective treatments for hearing loss and deafness.
■
Steven D. Rauch, M.D., is a professor of otology and laryngology at
Harvard Medical School, a researcher at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear
Infi rmary, president of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology and
a member of the Deafness Research Foundation Council of Scientifi c
Trustees.
Use your voice on the telephone again!
SIPRelay® with CaptionCallSM Voice Carry
Over (VCO) is a free text-based relay
service for people with a hearing loss. It is
ideal for those who want to use their own
voice and residual hearing, but who would
benefit from a captioning of the other
party’s voice. A computer with an Internet
connection and a telephone is all you need
to use SIPRelay with CaptionCall VCO.
Communication is fast and easy—whether
you’re making a reservation, changing a
doctor appointment, or calling a friend.
Relay Anyone, Anytime
www.siprelay.com
12:05 pm Change doctor appointment 5:45 pm Call a friend10:00 am Make a reservation
© 2009 Sorenson Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. All
trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.
Did we mention that SIPRelay is free?
Visit www.siprelay.com to find out more.
Last March, I had surgery for
chronic mastoiditis but my ear is
still odorous. It is bothering me
and is inconveniencing me so-
cially. What do you recommend
to address the odor?
Christopher C. via www.drf.org
Depending on what type of mastoid
surgery you had, there are many
reasons why an ear would continue
to drain. In “canal wall up” surgery,
the ear canal remains intact but the
mastoid air cells behind the ear are
opened up to clear out the infection.
This operation is often combined with
a tympanoplasty to reconstruct the
eardrum. In this operation, it is pos-
sible the graft did not take and the
infection has returned. It is also pos-
sible your ear canal or eardrum is in-
fl amed, causing drainage.
In a “canal wall down” opera-
tion, the ear canal wall is removed
to make one large cavity, combining
the ear canal and mastoid air cells. In
this operation, ongoing drainage oc-
curs because of ongoing infection or
leaving the opening to the canal too
small, leading to skin and wax build-
up, among other things. Mastoid cav-
ity cleaning can help, including daily
fl ushing with a diluted solution of rub-
bing alcohol and vinegar. For grossly
infected drainage, a culture can be
taken to see what bacteria may be
causative. Lastly, anything that would
make an infection more severe, includ-
ing diabetes or immune-suppression,
would warrant a more aggressive ap-
proach. All these treatments should
be done under the supervision of a
physician. I advise you to consult the
surgeon if the ear continues to drain.
If he cannot stop the drainage, you
may want to seek the opinion of an
otologist.
I have a 68-year-old, mentally
retarded sister with Usher syn-
drome. She lost her sight and
hearing at age 43. She has pro-
found hearing loss and uses be-
hind-the-ear aids. I am wondering
if her cognitive abilities would
support a cochlear implant (CI).
Esprit64 via www.drf.org
There are three
types of Usher
syndrome: In type
1, children are
born deaf. In type
2, children are born
with moderate hear-
ing loss and in type 3,
children are born with nor-
mal hearing that worsens over
their lifetime at varying rates. Your sis-
ter likely has type 2 or 3. Her other
medical conditions should not have
a major impact on her ability to hear
or the progression of her hearing loss
as a result of Usher syndrome.
At present, treatment for hearing
loss in Usher syndrome is limited,
generally consisting of providing
hearing aids to treat the hearing loss,
with close monitoring of changes
in hearing. In cases where hearing
loss is too severe to be treated with
a hearing aid, which sounds like the
case with your sister, it is good to
consider a CI.
There are many factors involved in
selecting a good candidate for a CI:
degree of hearing loss; cause of deaf-
ness (people with Usher syndrome
can do very well with CIs); length
of time a person has been deaf (the
shorter, the better); and personal
and family expectations of how well
someone can do with an implant. All
of these factors can be adequately
determined by having your sister
evaluated at a CI program.
■
WWW.DRF.ORG 866.454.3924 TTY 888.435.6104 FALL 2009 31
In 1963, the nation’s leading ear, nose and throat specialists came to-
gether with a simple but important goal: to advance the research
crucial to their fi elds, knowing that their practices and pa-
tients would directly benefi t from this work. This innovative
group became The Centurions – champions and sup-
porters of Deafness Research Foundation (DRF).
The Centurions now enjoy the support of more
than 1,800 physicians, researchers and other
professionals in fi elds related to hearing and balance
sciences. Under the leadership of President David
S. Haynes, M.D., and Secretary/Treasurer John L.
Dornhoffer, M.D., The Centurions play an essential
role in promoting DRF.
To learn more about The Centurions, how to become
a member or identify Centurions members in your area,
please contact DRF at 866.454.3924, 888.435.6104 (TTY),
visit our Web site at www.drf.org or e-mail centurions@drf.org.
In each issue, a member of The Centurions fi elds questions about
hearing health and related issues. In this issue, questions were addressed
by Centurion Lawrence R. Lustig, M.D., director, Division of Otology,
Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery; medical director, Department
of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery; and a professor at the
University of California, San Francisco.
DRF Centurions — At the Forefront of Our Cause
Got a question you
would like one of the
nation’s leading ear, nose
and throat doctors to
answer? E-mail it to
info@drf.org.
The Doctor Is In
The Centurions help ensure that clinical research
continues in the fi eld of hearing and balance
science. To learn more about The Centurions
or how to contribute to the Centurion Clinical
Research Award, please visit www.drf.org/
Centurions or e-mail centurions@drf.org.
32 HEARI NG HEALTH A PUBLICATION OF THE DEAFNE SS RES EARCH FOUN DATION
A
ndrea Boidman, chief operating
offi cer of Deafness Research
Foundation (DRF) and
publisher of Hearing Health, sat
down with 1998 Miss USA
Shawnae Jebbia at the DRF
offi ces in New York City on June 3, 2009,
to discuss Jebbia’s journey through the
diagnosis and treatment of an early-onset
of Meniere’s disease.
Andrea Boidman: Shawnae, before we
met I had a chance to see the YouTube
recording of your 1998 Miss USA victory.
It must have been an amazing experience.
Shawnae Jebbia: It was, especially since
I wasn’t a pageant-goer. For me, it was a
new world. I was an NCAA Division 1
athlete and a personal trainer. I was work-
ing in television, though, so I knew this
was a venue I wanted to transition into. It
was interesting because I wondered, “Are
they going to want me, or do I need to
transform myself a little to fi t it into this
pageant world?” I went off to the fi rst cou-
ple of appearances and realized that I was
going to have to work harder than I was
expecting, which was a fantastic challenge.
I just had to make sure I was prepared be-
fore I got to each city. If I was speaking for
11 minutes on breast cancer, I had to learn
what was going on with breast cancer. I
couldn’t just search the Internet. I had to
have a press briefi ng before I went. It was
awesome – I got to grow professionally. It
gave me a chance to showcase all my tal-
ents and hopefully be the best I could be.
AB: I understand that you’ve been diag-
nosed with Meniere’s disease. Were you
involved with hearing-related charities
when you were Miss USA?
SJ: I didn’t have hearing loss during my
reign. It happened right at the end of it,
LIFE WITH HEARING LOSS
Meniere’
s
Miss USA
INTERVI EW BY ANDREA BO IDMAN
Shawnae Jebbia
Photo courtesy of Lauren Carceau
Sh J bbi
developing slowly for about a year or two. I was traveling about
20,000 miles a month, constantly congested and sick. My aller-
gies were horrible and I just never cleared up from a cold. I got
a job at DIRECTV and was working 32, 33 days straight at 16,
18 hours a day. I was functioning, but my voice sounded horrible
and I was not hearing things well. I got an MRI to see what was
going on with my ears. By process of elimination, my ENT fi g-
ured out what was wrong. I only had a couple of the symptoms
of Meniere’s. I had a fl uctuating hearing loss and some ringing in
my ears, but have never experienced vertigo. My symptoms were
not severe. My diet while traveling affected my sodium levels and
caused water retention, which was part of the disease. This was the
onset of Meniere’s.
AB: When you found out that you had the onset of Meniere’s,
what were those fi rst few hours or minutes like? What were your
initial reactions?
SJ: There was actually no initial reaction, since I had no idea what
Meniere’s was! The doctor explained my symptoms and warned
that I might acquire others. So for me, the reaction of not being
able to adjust for a year, knowing something was wrong was much
more disheartening and troubling than learning I had the onset
of Meniere’s. We started to tackle the sodium levels, which really
improved the ringing of the ears. It’s not that much of an issue
anymore. Hearing aids are a way to correct the hearing loss with
Meniere’s and hearing better also improves my vocal quality. If I
hadn’t gotten hearing aids, I wouldn’t be talking the way I do now.
When I take the hearing aids out, I talk much louder than normal.
Since I have a background in broadcast, I’m sure to enunciate –
and I’m Italian. I’m always talking!
AB: What advice would you give to somebody who was recently
diagnosed with Meniere’s?
SJ: Whenever there’s something going on with you – even if it’s
mild hearing loss – you need to investigate. I actually have much
more hearing loss than what is expected with Meniere’s. Trying to
fi nd out what’s wrong is most important, and if it is Meniere’s, the
challenge is treating all of those symptoms. Even with mild hear-
ing loss, getting hearing aids is one of those things that you need
to address, because if you don’t, it will affect every facet of your
life. You have to be proactive and address all the symptoms and
fi gure out what you need to do with each one of them. I’ve been
involved with Siemens this past year, speaking about my story
and being candid and open. It’s important to know that there are
people out there who understand and have the knowledge to help
you. I’m comfortable with myself now and able to speak to others
more openly about Meniere’s disease than I was in the beginning
when I just didn’t want to believe it was happening… sometimes
I still want to deny it.
AB: And are you using Siemens products now?
SJ: Yes, the Siemens Pure® 700 with the Siemens Tek® wireless
enhancement. Siemens was my fi rst hearing aid 10 years ago and
it’s so interesting now, after 10 years, to see how everything has
developed and how things have changed so drastically. I had no
idea that there would be something like this now. You just get sort
of set in your ways, thinking, “Okay, this is what we’ve got, this is
all there is,” but technology is evolving drastically. I can’t wait to
see what’s going to happen in the next fi ve years.
AB: Do you have hearing aids in both ears?
s
Disease Sets Former
on a New Track
WWW.DRF.ORG 866.454.3924 TTY 888.435.6104 FALL 2009 33
The Siemens Pure
®
700 with the Siemens Tek
®
wireless enhance-
ment is a Bluetooth
®
device that connects wirelessly to a phone.
Photo courtesy of Siemens Hearing Instruments
34 HEARI NG HEALTH A PUB LICATION OF THE DEAFNESS R ESEARCH F OUNDATION
SJ: I got only one the very fi rst time and then I realized I needed
a second. Originally I got a tiny completely-in-the-canal hear-
ing aid, thinking, aesthetically, that I didn’t want anyone to know
about it. Now I don’t care about any of that and the hearing aids
have gotten so much smaller and prettier. The kids like the bright
colors – I like the ones that match my toenails.
AB: How does Tek work? Do you use it to make phone calls on
a cell phone?
SJ: Yes. Siemens Tek wirelessly connects my Bluetooth®-enabled
hearing aids to a number of everyday electronics, including my cell
phone. As long as I keep the phone close to me, all calls ring di-
rectly into my hearing aids. I also use Siemens Tek to connect my
hearing aids with my MP3 player. With the symptoms of Meniere’s
disease, some days I hear more clearly than others. Fortunately, my
Tek device has multiple settings for days when my hearing is a bit
worse. The multiple settings are useful in social situations as well.
I may have it on my normal setting, but in a restaurant I always
activate the directional microphones to minimize the background
noise and help me just focus on what’s in front of me. Sometimes
you see a hearing impaired person cup their ears – that’s sort of
what’s happening with directional microphones. Tek adjusts to dif-
ferent situations and does that work for me. And for me, the best
feature is being able to watch television without closed-caption-
ing! I had been watching closed-captioning on television for 10
years. Now I bring all my stuff with me, my little cords, and I just
plug them into the back of the TV wherever I go.
AB: That’s great. So what is next for you?
SJ: At fi rst I was worried because I wasn’t able to work in the busi-
ness as successfully as I did in the beginning. It was frustrating for
a couple of years, but I realized the most important thing for me
was to understand what was happening to me and what I was go-
ing to do next. So I immediately dove into my education. I started
classes to stimulate my mind and think of other things and then I
realized, “Gosh, I really like healthcare.” This is the next phase of
my life without a doubt. I’m planning on getting a second degree,
a Bachelor of Science, and intend to become a nurse practitioner.
Share your hearing loss story with Shawnae by logging on to www.
usa.siemens.com/decibel and following the “Talk to Shawnae”
link. More information about Pure hearing instruments, Tek
wireless enhancement and other solutions from Siemens Hearing
Instruments can be found at www.siemens.com/hearing.
■
Former Miss USA Shawnae Jebbia is entering the healthcare fi eld, the next phase of her life, “without a doubt.”
Photo courtesy of Tina Hunter
Former Miss USA Shawnae Jebbia is entering the healthcare field the next phase of her life “without a doubt”
Answers for life.
Siemens Pure hearing aids blend in,
so only you stand out.
Siemens Pure® is advanced hearing aid technology packed into an ultra-small housing,
available in an array of colors to match many hair and skin tones! Compatible with the
optional Siemens Tek® remote, Pure can help connect you to TV and cell phones wirelessly.
To receive more information and a list of hearing care professionals nearest you call
1-800-724-1264 or visit www.usa.siemens.com/hearing.
Why miss a decibel
of your life?
A91AU-9073-A1/A1-7600
36 HEARI NG HEALTH A PUB LICATION OF THE DEAFNESS R ESEARCH F OUNDATION
Trends
BY NANNETTE NICHOLSON, PH.D., AND DAWN TAYLOR, M.S.
W
e all want to be good
stewards of Planet Earth,
right? And wouldn’t we
like to save some of the
other kind of green too
– the kind that doesn’t
grow on trees? Hearing aid and cochlear
implant users can get greener both ways
by making wise battery choices. Re-
chargeable batteries, which normally can
be recharged hundreds of times before
they ultimately run out of juice, promote
both environmental and monetary green.
Regardless of which batteries we use,
when it’s time to dispose of them (sooner
or later), it’s vital to know how and where
we can dispose of and recycle batteries to
have as little impact on the environment
as possible.
First, let’s cover some battery basics.
Rechargeable Batteries
Lead-acid batteries are the oldest
rechargeable technology, having been
around for more than 150 years. They
tend to be of signifi cant size and are used
to power motor vehicles and other large
mechanisms.
Lithium-ion (Li-on) batteries are
commonly used for portable household
electronics. First introduced in 1991, they
have become one of the most popular
types of rechargeable batteries due to
their slow loss of charge when not in use.
They are used in some cochlear implant
rechargeable systems. Advanced Bionics,
Cochlear Americas and MED-EL each
offer device-specifi c rechargeable Li-on
batteries/battery packs and chargers for
their behind-the-ear sound processors.
Nickel-cadmium (NiCd) batteries
have been the mainstay rechargeable for
years but now they are being edged out
by newer technology. NiCds are most
commonly used in cameras, cell phones,
PDAs, laptop computers, medical devices
and rechargeable appliances. Manufacturers
of NiCd rechargeable batteries include
American Toppower, Saft and Sanyo.
Nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH)
batteries are now the preferred
rechargeable because they last almost
twice as long between charges and they
contain no toxic metals that require special
disposal. However, their rechargeable life
expectancy seems to be inferior to that of
NiCd batteries. Also, NiMH batteries must
be recharged before they drain completely
and can be ruined by overcharging, if the
charger does not automatically shut off.
Cochlear Americas offers AAA NiMH
rechargeable batteries and a charger for use
with their body-worn sound processors.
Advanced Bionics and MED-EL body-
worn sound processors take rechargeable
AA NiMH batteries. Duracell, Energizer,
Panasonic, Rayovac and Varta Microbattery
make NiMH batteries in AAA, AA, C, D
and 9-volt for common household uses.
Two disadvantages to both NiCd and
NiMH batteries are that they put out less
voltage than alkalines (1.2V instead of 1.5
V) and even if not in use, they discharge
over a period of a couple of months. For
this reason, they are not a good choice for
assistive technologies that might require
use in emergencies.
Nickel-zinc (NiZn) batteries contain
Thinking Green for Household,
Hearing Aid and Implant Batteries
COLLECTION, SAFE DISPOSAL AND RECYCLING
no heavy toxic metals such as mercury,
lead or cadmium. Touted as the next gen-
eration of rechargeable batteries, they are
commonly used in cordless telephones,
among other things. Currently, the con-
sumer availability of this battery technol-
ogy is limited to AA cells offered for the
digital camera market.
Reusable alkaline batteries have
been in commercial use more than 10
years, although they have yet to gain
popularity.
Unfortunately, not all devices can accept
rechargeable batteries and sometimes
convenience demands that we press a
nonrechargeable battery into service, such
as when no fully charged rechargeables
are available. Following are the types of
nonrechargeables widely available.
One-time Use Batteries
Alkaline batteries are by far the most
popular type of household battery,
combining low cost, reasonably high
output and long shelf life. Popularized by
common name brands such as Duracell,
Energizer and Rayovac, they are widely
available to the consumer.
Lithium batteries use lithium metal
or compounds and are widely used in
consumer electronics such as cameras,
calculators, computers, clocks and watches.
WWW.DRF.ORG 866.454.3924 TTY 888.435.6104 FALL 2009 37
A consumer committed to good-earth stewardship needs
the cooperation of concerned manufacturers to truly make
a positive impact on the environment. Battery consumers
have willing partners in several major battery manufactur-
ers who are not only developing products that are more
environmentally friendly, but also are implementing green
business practices.
Well ahead of the 2011 goal that the industry set for
making all hearing aid batteries mercury-free, several
battery manufacturers now have mercury-free products
on the market. Earlier this year, Rayovac began shipping
mercury-free hearing aid batteries. They last 30 percent
longer than other mercury-free hearing aid batteries and
performance is similar to that of a mercury-containing
product. Duracell also offers a mercury-free product op-
tion for hearing aids, available at Wal-Mart since January
2009.
Energizer launched its new zero-mercury hearing aid
batteries in October 2008. Yet, their big news involves
another dangerous pollutant: lead. Through a combina-
tion of design, purer raw materials and new manufactur-
ing processes, Energizer has developed batteries that
can now be produced without added lead and without
sacrifi cing performance. Energizer’s low-lead hearing aid
battery contains only 12 to 15 parts of lead per million,
compared to competitors who use up to 250 parts of
lead per million.
Rechargeable battery technology has shown recent
improvements as well. Advanced Bionics, the fi rst to
sell cochlear implant rechargeable batteries when they
were approved by the FDA in 1996, now offers its fi fth-
generation proprietary PowerCel™ batteries: large power
capacity in a small package. And in a commitment to
environmentally sound practices, the Advanced Bionics
Harmony™ HiResolution® Bionic Ear System only works
with rechargeable batteries.
Varta Microbattery, with its Power One line, is the fi rst
manufacturer to introduce a full range of mercury-free re-
chargeable hearing aid batteries and portable charging
solutions suitable for all digital and analog hearing instru-
ments. Power One’s Innovation Plus has nanotechnology
that considerably extends battery life compared to previ-
ous versions.
It’s not just the batteries themselves that have become
greener; packaging and practices make for a compound-
ed positive effect on the environment. More than 97 per-
cent of Duracell’s alkaline batteries in the U.S. are pack-
aged in 100 percent recycled card stock and all of the
outer cartons are 100 percent recycled card. Addition-
ally, Duracell’s energy-effi cient manufacturing processes
have resulted in a 15 to 20 percent reduction in energy
use over the past eight years.
Rayovac’s Portage, Wis., and United Kingdom pro-
duction facilities are ISO14001 certifi ed, meeting in-
ternational standards for controlling and improving their
environmental performance and sustainability. Rayovac,
with plants on two continents, is uniquely positioned to
support global customers, minimizing its carbon foot-
print. Additionally, its packaging materials are made from
recycled and recyclable materials.
Advanced Bionics recently moved into a new green
building in Valencia, Calif., that is Leadership in Energy
and Environmental Design-certifi ed, a process overseen
by the U.S. Green Building Council.
Finally, Duracell, Panasonic and Varta Microbattery
are licensees of the Rechargeable Battery Recycling
Corporation (RBRC), actively demonstrating their
commitment to the preservation of the environment by
voluntarily funding the RBRC’s Call2Recycle program.
Additionally, Panasonic and Varta Microbattery have
representatives on the RBRC board of directors.
■
Doing Their Part: Green Products and Practices BY KAREN APPO LD, STAFF WRITE R
38 HEARI NG HEALTH A PUB LICATION OF THE DEAFNESS R ESEARCH F OUNDATION
Duracell, Energizer, Panasonic, Rayovac,
Saft, Sanyo and Varta Microbattery, among
others, manufacture a variety of lithium
batteries.
Mercury batteries were banned in 1996
due to the toxicity of mercury, though
an allowance was granted of up to 25mg
of mercury per button cell (i.e., hearing
aid, watch and calculator batteries). The
National Electrical Manufacturers Asso-
ciation announced the battery industry’s
commitment to eliminate mercury in
button cells by 2011.
Silver-oxide batteries were patented
by Rayovac in 1971 and are still widely
used today in watches, cameras and
calculators. Although once found in many
high-power hearing aids, this application
has declined over the years due to the
increasing costs of silver; the introduction
of high-power zinc-air batteries; and
increasing numbers of consumers
with severe to profound hearing loss
opting for cochlear implantation. Silver
oxide batteries continue to be used in
specialty applications and are available
from manufacturers including Duracell,
Energizer, Rayovac, Panasonic and Varta
Microbattery.
Zinc-air (ZA) batteries virtually
replaced mercury batteries for hearing aid
use soon after their introduction in the
late 1970s. Since they last twice as long
as mercury batteries, are environmentally
friendly and cost less than half as much,
they were a welcome solution for most
hearing aid users. Duracell, Energizer,
Panasonic, Rayovac, Renata, Varta
Microbattery and ZeniPower manufacture
zinc-air hearing aid button cells in size 10,
312, 13 and 675. Energizer, Rayovac, Varta
Microbattery and ZeniPower manufacture
a higher-powered button zinc-air battery
(675P) designed specifi cally for cochlear
implant users.
Although most zinc-air batteries have a
small amount of mercury in them, some
manufacturers have been successful in
developing mercury-free cells (see “Doing
Their Part” on p. 37).
Safe Handling of General,
One-time Use Batteries
As many batteries do contain pollutants
such as mercury and lead, it’s vital for
both consumer safety and the health of
the environment to store and dispose of
nonrechargeable batteries properly, using
these guidelines:
Keep batteries in their protective •
pack to minimize the risk of short
circuiting.
Keep out of the reach of animals and •
small children.
Store fresh batteries at room tem-•
perature in a dry place, not in the
refrigerator.
Used batteries should have at least •
one terminal insulated prior to stor-
age in a nonmetal and leak-proof
container in a dry, well-ventilated
environment.
Use rubber gloves on batteries that •
are leaking liquid, have a powdery
white substance on the surface or
emit a strong odor.
Place each battery individually in a •
small plastic bag before disposing or
storing to minimize risk of igniting.
Keep battery away from fi re or other •
sources of extreme heat, which may
result in an explosion.
Precautions for One-
time Use Button Cells
Don’t remove the color-coded tabs •
until ready for use.
Don’t carry loose batteries in your •
pockets or purse.
Keep loose batteries in a battery •
holder to prevent contact with metal
objects.
Open the door of your hearing aid/•
implant when not in use to minimize
battery drain.
Store hearing aids in a dry place •
when not in use to prevent moisture
exposure.
Recycling
While rechargeable batteries are
environmentally friendlier than their
nonrechargeable counterparts, they also
require extra care in disposing of them.
The Rechargeable Battery Recycling
Corporation (RBRC, www.rbrc.org),
a nonprofi t, public service organization
funded by rechargeable product and
battery manufacturers, reclaims the metals
within old batteries to make new products.
RBRC’s Call2Recycle program offers a
convenient, no-cost and environmentally
sound way to recycle rechargeable batteries
and cell phones. Call2Recycle provides
prepaid, preaddressed, preassembled
collection boxes and plastic bags in which
to place rechargeable batteries and cell
phones.
The small, dry-cell rechargeable
batteries eligible for collection and
recycling in the Call2Recycle program
are lithium-ion, nickel-cadmium, nickel-
metal-hydride and nickel-zinc. Batteries
excluded from the program are any kind
of nonrechargeable battery, including
alkaline and lithium. RBRC does not
accept household cordless phones, mobile
Heari
n
and C
o
Company and Web site
Advanced Bionics www.advancedbionics.
c
Cochlear Americas www.cochlearamericas
.
*Duracell www.duracell.com
*Energizer www.energizer.com
MED-EL www.medel.com
*Panasonic www.panasonic.com
*Rayovac www.rayovac.com
Renata www.renata.com
Varta Microbattery www.us.varta-microbatt
com
ZeniPower www.zenipower.com
*Members of the National Electrical Manufactur
e
ZA = Zinc Air; Li-on = Lithium Ion; NiMH = Nickel-Metal-Hydr
i
WWW.DRF.ORG 866.454.3924 TTY 888.435.6104 FALL 2009 39
n
g Aid, Implant, Hearing Assistance Technology
o
mmon Household-Use Battery Manufacturers
Features
Available
Hearing Aid Cells and
Implant Batteries
Hearing Assistance Technology
and Common Household-Use
Batteries
10 312 13 675 675P Packs AAA AA C D 9 V
c
om Rechargeable Li-on NiMH
.
com Rechargeable Li-on NiMH
EasyTab
Mercury Free
ZA ZA ZA ZA Alkaline
NiMH
Alkaline
NiMH
Alkaline
NiMH
Alkaline
NiMH
Alkaline
NiMH
Cochlear Implant
EZ Change
Tear Pack
Mercury Free
ZA ZA ZA ZA ZA Alkaline
NiMH
Alkaline
NiMH
Alkaline
NiMH
Alkaline
NiMH
Alkaline
NiMH
Rechargeable Li-on NiMH
Rechargeable ZA ZA ZA ZA Alkaline
NiMH
Alkaline
NiMH
Alkaline
NiMH
Alkaline
NiMH
Alkaline
NiMH
Cochlear Implant
Proline Advanced
Extreme Performance
Mercury Free
ZA ZA ZA ZA ZA Alkaline
NiMH
Alkaline
NiMH
Alkaline
NiMH
Alkaline
NiMH
Alkaline
NiMH
ZA ZA ZA ZA
ery. Cochlear Implant
Rechargeable
ZA ZA ZA ZA ZA Alkaline
NiMH
Alkaline
NiMH
Alkaline
NiMH
Alkaline
NiMH
Alkaline
NiMH
Cochlear Implant
High Performance
ZA ZA ZA ZA ZA
e
rs Association
i
de
MED-EL has received approval by the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration for its new rechargeable DaCapo
battery and charging system, developed for the MED-EL
OPUS 1, OPUS 2 and TEMPO+ speech processors
for cochlear implants. MED-EL speech processors
continue to be the lightest and slimmest available. The
DaCapo system additionally reduces the weight by
another 20 percent without limiting performance.
DaCapo is an environmentally friendly, convenient
alternative to existing battery options. The system is
shipped with a charging unit and three PowerPacks, re-
chargeable batteries each lasting for 10 to 12 hours. It
is compatible with most FM systems and other external
hearing devices. DaCapo is available in six frame colors
for a perfect match with existing MED-EL speech pro-
cessor colors. Visit www.MEDEL.com.
OPUS 2 and DaCapo
Recharging System.
Photo courtesy of MED-EL
Power-Packed Cochlear Implant Batteries
40 HEARI NG HEALTH A PUB LICATION OF THE DEAFNESS R ESEARCH F OUNDATION
Nannette Nicholson, Ph.D., is an associate
professor and the director of audiology in
the Department of Speech Pathology and
Audiology with a joint faculty appointment
at the University of Arkansas for Medical
Sciences and University of Arkansas at Little
Rock, and a clinical staff appointment at
Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Contact her by
e-mail: NN@uams.edu.
Dawn Taylor, M.S., is an Au.D. graduate
student at the University of Bloomsburg, Pa.
The authors would like to express their thanks
to Ashley DeLaune, an Au.D. graduate stu-
dent at the University of Arkansas for Medical
Sciences for her assistance with this article.
Ready for a new hearing aid? Don’t toss that old one
in the landfi ll; one man’s trash can be another man’s
treasure when it comes to hearing aids. Inquire with one
of the worthy causes below to give your hearing aid a
second life with a new owner.
Local Delta Zeta Sorority chapters collect used
hearing aids for recycling through the Starkey Hearing
Foundation. To fi nd a local Delta Zeta chapter, visit www.
deltazeta.org or call 513.523.7597.
The Lions Clubs Hearing Aid Recycling Program
(HARP) is an international program to promote the
collection, refurbishment and distribution of hearing
aids. To fi nd a local participating Lion’s Club chapter,
visit www.lionsclubs.org or call 630.571.5466.
The Sertoma Hearing Aid Recycling Program
(SHARP) helps needy people obtain hearing aids.
Clubs collect used hearing aids, have them refurbished
and distribute them to people in need. In cases where
an individual cannot afford to buy a hearing aid, a club
can raise the funds needed to purchase the aid (or to
repair one). To fi nd a local participating Sertoma Club,
visit www.sertoma.org or call 816.333.8300.
Service organizations or individuals who want to
donate hearing aids should contact the Starkey
Hearing Foundation (www.sotheworldmayhear.org,
800.328.8602x2432) or send aids directly in a padded
envelope or box to: 6700 Washington Ave. South, Eden
Prairie, MN 55344. Include a name and address to
which the foundation can return a letter acknowledging
the donation for tax purposes.
■
installed or bag phones, two-way radios or
pagers for recycling. For questions about
recycling rechargeable batteries or cell
phones through RBRC‘s Call2Recycle
program, call 877.723.1297x250, e-mail
rbrc@rbrc.com or visit www.call2recycle.
org.
In addition to RBRC’s program,
RadioShack is part of a national program
called Charge Up to Recycle, allowing
customers to drop off used rechargeable
batteries at any Radio Shack nationwide.
Visit www.radioshack.com to fi nd the store
nearest you. It’s an easy way to protect our
environment and conserve Earth’s natural
resources. By recycling the batteries from
your cordless or wireless phone, laptop,
camcorder or power tools, materials can be
reclaimed to make stainless steel products
and new batteries.
■
Your Old Hearing Aid
–
Another Man’s Treasure
Improved speech understanding and
sound quality in background noise
Improved gain in high frequencies
Highly-rated patient satisfaction,
based on comfort and maintenance
Quick-fit for Audiologists
MED-EL offers today’s most advanced hearing implant technology in cochlear and middle ear implants.
As a leader in worldwide hearing implant solutions, our innovative research brings us to the verge of
breakthroughs that will offer users a lifetime of more exciting tomorrows. For more information about
our products or research, contact us today. www.medel.com
An innovative treatment
solution for sensorineural
hearing loss
MED-EL’s innovative middle-ear implant, the Vibrant
Soundbridge, is now available, offering improved patient
satisfaction over conventional hearing aids in 94% of research
subjects1. The external Audio Processor,
™ a small digital
signal processor, is designed to leave the ear canal completely
open – ideal for patients who are unsuccessful with hearing
aids or unable to wear them.
The tiny Floating Mass Transducer™ (FMT), attached
to the incus during a surgical procedure, amplifies sound
through a “direct drive” application. This eliminates many of
the issues inherent to acoustic systems (occlusion, insertion
loss, feedback, discomfort) and provides a measurable
improvement in sound quality.
For clinical details and availability, call (888) 633-3524
or visit www.medel.com.
VIBRANT SOUNDBRIDGE®
The Implantable Hearing System
The World’s First FDA-Approved Middle Ear Implant
Source: Leutje, et. al. Phase III Cinical Trial Results with Vibrant® Soundbridge® Implantable Middle Ear Hearing Device. Otolaryngology-HNS. 2002; 126;97-107 hearLIFE
42 HEARI NG HEALTH A PUBLICATION OF THE DEAFNE SS RES EARCH FOUN DATION
Under the Scope
EDWARD L. BARTLETT, P H.D., PURDUE
UNIVERSITY Bartlett is currently an assistant
professor in biological sciences and
biomedical engineering at Purdue
University. He graduated from Haverford
College in 1992 with a degree in physics
and attended the University of Wisconsin-
Madison for graduate school, where he
received a Ph.D. in neuroscience in 1999 in the laboratory of
Philip Smith. Bartlett did his post-doctoral work at the University
of Wisconsin-Madison and at Johns Hopkins University in the
laboratory of Xiaoqin Wang before coming to Purdue in 2006.
CELLULAR MECHANISMS CONTRIBUTING TO IN VIVO NEURONAL
RESPONSES IN AUDITORY THALAMIC NEURON
Hearing depends not only on proper function of the cochlea,
but also on the entire brain pathway to the cerebral cortex. An
essential region in this pathway is the auditory thalamus. Auditory
thalamic neurons provide nearly all sound information to the
auditory responsive portion of the cerebral cortex. Abnormalities
in the auditory thalamus correlate with hearing defi cits in aging,
dyslexia, schizophrenia, autism and Alzheimer’s disease. This
research will show how the neurons communicate at a cellular
level, resulting in more precise hypotheses regarding what can
cause hearing defi cits.
MARTIN BASCH, P H.D., BAYLOR COLLEGE
OF MEDICINE Basch received a degree in
biological sciences from the University of
Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1996 and a
Ph.D. from the California Institute of
Technology in 2004. He began his post-
doctoral training at the House Ear Institute
in Los Angeles and is currently a post-
doctoral associate in the neuroscience
department at Baylor College of Medicine.
LIVE IMAGING OF THE DEVELOPING COCHLEA
The goal of this research is to understand how sensory cells be-
have during normal development of the cochlea using live imag-
ing techniques. The long-term goal is to understand the behavior
of these cells in pathological situations or in response to drugs that
cause hearing loss, with the aim of designing preventative or pal-
liative treatments.
ADRIÁN RODRÍGUEZ-CONTRERAS, P H.D.,
THE CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK
Rodríguez-Contreras studied biology
at the National Autonomous University
in Mexico City. He received a Ph.D.
from the University of Cincinnati and
did post-doctoral work at the
DRF 2009-2010 Grant
Recipients Announced
D
eafness Research Foundation (DRF) is excited to an-
nounce that it has awarded 17 grants of up to $25,000
and one Centurion Clinical Research Award of
$50,000 to outstanding young scientists in the fi eld of
hearing and balance research.
Grants will support research in the following areas:
Fundamental auditory research – development, genetics, mo-•
lecular biology, physiology, anatomy and regeneration biology;
Hearing and balance restoration for infants, children and adults •
– cochlear implants, surgical therapy for otosclerosis, hair cell
regeneration, hearing aids, medical therapy;
Hearing loss – aging, noise-induced, otosclerosis, viral infec-•
tion (sudden deafness), ototoxicity, temporal bone pathology,
otitis media, cholesteatoma and tumors;
Vestibular and balance disorders – dizziness and vertigo, •
Meniere’s disease;
Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) and hyperacusis (decreased tol-•
erance of sound).
For over 50 years, DRF has been the leading source of private
funding for basic and clinical research in hearing and balance sci-
ence and has awarded nearly $24 million through more than 2,200
research grants to scientifi c researchers. This seed money has led
to dramatic innovations that promise to increase options for those
living with hearing loss, as well as protect those at risk.
For this year’s grant selections, DRF’s Council of Scientifi c
Trustees reviewed applications from scientists at renowned re-
search institutions around the U.S. The selected research projects
underwent detailed peer review for scientifi c merit and program
relevance. The DRF grant recipients are highlighted below, with
information on their academic background followed by the title of
their research project and a description of their research aims.
First-Year DRF Grant Recipients
WWW.DRF.ORG 866.454.3924 TTY 888.435.6104 FALL 2009 43
University of California, Davis, and the Erasmus MC in the
Netherlands. In 2008 he joined the faculty at the City College of
New York.
DEFINING THE ROLE OF OLIVO-COCHLEAR FEEDBACK IN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THE AUDITORY BRAINSTEM
During early brain development, auditory neurons spontaneous-
ly generate highly patterned electrical activity in the absence of
sound. This research will explore how the brain fi ne-tunes electri-
cal activity during the development of hearing. His work could
provide clues to the development of treatments that ameliorate
hearing impairments such as tinnitus and deafness.
ALAIN DABDOUB, PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF
CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Dabdoub
received a Ph.D. at the University of
Maryland and did her post-doctoral training
at the National Institute of Deafness and
Other Communication Disorders before
starting her lab in 2008 at the University of
California, San Diego School of Medicine.
CANONICAL WNT SIGNALING IN THE
DEVELOPING ORGAN OF CORTI
Irreversible loss of hair cells is the major cause of deafness. This
research will provide a better understanding of genetic pathways
responsible for the development and function of the auditory sys-
tem that will facilitate the advancement of strategies for the regen-
eration of sensory hair cells.
MICHELLE HASTINGS, PH.D., ROSALIND
FRANKLIN UNIVERSITY OF MEDICINE AND
SCIENCE Hastings received a Ph.D. from
Marquette University in 1998 and did post-
doctoral training at Cold Spring Harbor
Laboratory. She recently established her
own laboratory at the Chicago Medical
School/Rosalind Franklin University.
THERAPEUTIC CORRECTION OF USH1C SPLICING IN A MOUSE
MODEL OF USHER SYNDROME
Usher syndrome is the leading genetic cause of combined hearing
and vision loss. The long-term objective of this project is to devel-
op therapeutics for the disease. Antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs)
will be used in a mouse model of Usher syndrome to correct a
specifi c genetic defect that causes the disease. This work will dem-
onstrate the effi cacy of ASOs as a therapeutic for Usher syndrome
and will also provide insights about curing the disease.
RONNA HERTZANO, M.D., PH.D.,
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND Hertzano
received her M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from
the Sackler School of Medicine, Department
of Human Molecular Genetics, at Tel-Aviv
University in Israel. She is now a fourth-
year resident in the Department of
Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck
Surgery, at the University of Maryland,
Baltimore. Her research is performed in the laboratory of Scott
Strome, M.D., whose research is focused on the study of tumor
immunology and autoimmunity.
A NEW PROTOCOL FOR SELECTIVE AND EFFICIENT SORTING OF
THE AUDITORY SENSORY EPITHELIUM
Identifi cation of deafness-causing genes is instrumental in supply-
ing molecular diagnostics and designing new molecular treatments
for hearing loss. The goal of this research is to develop methods for
separating and characterizing the unique cell types of the auditory
sensory epithelium using methods commonly used by immunolo-
gists. This would reveal the genetic profi le of the different cells in
the auditory sensory epithelium, identify new cell-type-specifi c
genes and possibly discover new deafness-causing genes.
CHRISTINA KAISER, PH.D., BOSTON
UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Kaiser earned a B.A. in biology and
chemistry in 2000 from Drury
University in Springfi eld, Mo., and a
Ph.D. in anatomy and cell biology in
2005 from the University of Kansas
Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan. She is currently a post-
doctoral fellow in the Department of Otolaryngology at the
Boston University Medical Center.
AN ACTIVE ROLE FOR THE SUPPORTING CELL CYTOSKELETON IN
CONTROLLING HAIR CELL DEATH AND REGENERATION
Cochlear hair cells are the primary targets of most damaging
agents. When these cells are lost in humans and other mammals,
the resultant hearing loss is permanent. However, chickens and
other avian species can create new hair cells from a population of
supporting cells in the cochlea when the original hair cells die.
This research project is designed to examine the active role that
supporting cells play in regulating hair cell death and how this
subsequently impacts hair cell regeneration.
THE BURCH-SAFFORD
FOUNDATION RECIPIENT
ADAM MARKARYAN, PH.D., UNIVERSITY
OF CHICAGO Markaryan received a Ph.D. in
biochemistry from Moscow State University
and post-doctoral training at Ohio State
University and the University of Illinois at
Chicago. He is currently a research associate
(assistant professor) in the Department of Surgery, Otolaryngology-
Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Chicago.
MITOCHONDRIAL DNA DELETIONS AND COCHLEAR ELEMENT
DEGENERATION IN PRESBYCUSIS
The long-term goal of the Bloom Temporal Bone Laboratory at
the University of Chicago is to understand the molecular mecha-
nisms involved in age-related hearing loss and develop a rationale
for therapy based on this information. This research will quantify
the mitochondrial DNA common deletion level and total dele-
tion load in the cochlear elements obtained from individuals with
presbycusis and normal hearing controls.
This research award is funded by The Burch-Safford Foundation, Inc.
44 HEARI NG HEALTH A PUB LICATION OF THE DEAFNESS R ESEARCH F OUNDATION
KHALEEL A. RAZAK, PH.D., UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE Razak received
a B.E. in electronics and communications
engineering from the College of Engineer-
ing at Anna University in Madras, India, a
Ph.D. in zoology/physiology/neuroscience
and an M.S. in bioengineering, both from
the University of Wyoming. He did post-
doctoral work at Georgia State University.
He is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Psy-
chology at the University of California, Riverside.
IMPACT OF AG E-RELATED HEARING LOSS ON CORTICAL PROCESSING
OF FREQUENCY-MODULATED SWEEPS
Aging-related plasticity of the brain causes impairments in audi-
tory processing. This is exacerbated by peripheral hearing loss. The
mechanisms underlying such processing defi cits are unclear. This
project will focus on how aging and hearing loss affects neural
processing of frequency modulated (FM) sweeps, a type of sound
common in most vocalizations, including human speech.
OLGA STAKHOVSKAYA, M.D., PH.D.,
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN
FRANCISCO Stakhovskaya received her
M.D. at the Russian State Medical
University in Moscow, where she also
completed her Ph.D. She did three years of
post-doctoral training at the University of
California, San Francisco, in the Department
of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck
Surgery, where she was recently appointed to the position of
assistant research specialist.
ESTIMATING OPTIMUM INSERTION DEPTH FOR THE HIFOCUS
ELECTRODE ARRAY IN INDIVIDUAL HUMAN COCHLEAE BASED ON
HIGH-RESOLUTION CT IMAGES
The human cochlea, as with any structure in the human body, can
vary substantially in size among different individuals. This study
will determine whether specifi c analyses of the anatomical di-
mensions of the cochlea obtained on CT images prior to implant
surgery can provide more detailed information for the surgeon
by defi ning the insertion depth required to cover the optimum
frequency range in a given individual and help to minimize the
risk of insertion trauma.
ARMINDA SULI, PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF
WASHINGTON Suli received a Ph.D. from
the Department of Neurobiology and
Anatomy at the University of Utah, where
she studied nervous system and vascular
system development during embryogenesis.
Suli currently works as a post-doctoral fel-
low at the University of Washington in the laboratories of David
Raible and Edwin Rubel using zebrafi sh as a model system for
understanding sensory hair cell regeneration.
ASSESSING FUNCTIONAL RECOVERY AFTER MECHANOSENSORY HAIR
CELL REGENERATION IN THE ZEBRAFISH LATERAL LINE
One way of restoring hearing loss due to hair cell damage is
to promote the regeneration of the damaged sensory hair cells
through restoring the molecules that instruct these cells to form.
This research will establish a user-friendly method that will al-
low researchers to determine the functionality of the regenerated
mechanosensory hair cells in the larval zebrafi sh.
PATRICIA A. WHITE, PH.D., HOUSE EAR
INSTITUTE White received a Ph.D. from the
California Institute of Technology, where
she studied development and neural stem
cells. She transitioned to hearing research
and regeneration at the House Ear Institute
in Los Angeles, where she is a senior post-
doctoral fellow.
FORKHEAD BOX-O TRANSCRIPTION
FACTORS AND MAMMALIAN COCHLEAR REGENERATION
Deafness can be mitigated with hearing aids or other devices but
to restore hearing by regenerating the damaged inner ear currently
remains out of reach. The proposed research investigates the regu-
lation of a gene that controls cell number in the adult cochlea, as
a preliminary step to a therapy that could replace lost sensory cells
in the human ear.
RUILI XIE, PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF NORTH
CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL Xie received
a B.S. in biochemistry from Peking
University in China and a Ph.D. in
neuroscience from the University of Texas
at Austin. Currently he is a post-doctoral
research associate at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
SYNAPTIC TRANSMISSION IN THE PRINCIPAL CELLS OF THE
ANTEROVENTRAL COCHLEAR NUCLEUS DURING AGE-RELATED
HEARING LOSS
Age-related hearing loss (AHL), or presbycusis, is a common disor-
der that affects most individuals as they age and causes conditions
ranging from deteriorated hearing sensitivity to complete deafness.
This research will help to identify such changes by studying neural
synaptic transmissions during AHL in the cochlear nucleus, which
is the fi rst neural station of the central auditory system that gates
all the sound information going into the brain. This research will
help to provide guidance in restoring normal synaptic transmission
during AHL, therefore preventing or postponing its development.
EUNYOUNG YI, PH.D., THE JOHNS
HOPKINS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF
MEDICINE Yi received a B.S. and M.S. in
pharmacy from Chonnam National
University in Kwangju, Korea, and a Ph.D.
in pharmacology and toxicology from the
University of Mississippi Medical Center.
Yi is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the Johns Hopkins School
of Medicine, Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck
Surgery in Baltimore, Md.
WWW.DRF.ORG 866.454.3924 TTY 888.435.6104 FALL 2009 45
DOPAMINERGIC MODULATION OF INNER HAIR CELL AFFERENT
SYNAPTIC TRANSMISSION
This research will identify the cellular and molecular mechanisms
of dopaminergic feedback signaling from the brain to the ear.
This is most likely one of the body’s own ways to protect the ear
from noise trauma. Therefore, identifying and understanding the
underlying mechanisms may lead to the devising of pharmaco-
logical preventive measures against noise trauma.
CHRISTIAN N. PAXTON, PH.D., UNIVERSITY
OF UTAH Paxton received his M.S. from
Brigham Young University in 2000 where
he searched for genetic markers associated
with a heart condition, known as Round
Heart Syndrome, in turkeys. He earned a
Ph.D. from Iowa State University in 2006
where his research focused on gene regulation during heart de-
velopment. Paxton moved to hearing research two years ago
when he began his post-doctoratal work.
THE ROLE OF FGF4 IN OTIC PLACODE INDUCTION
This research will focus on signals responsible for the early stages
of inner ear development. By identifying the signals responsible
for normal development, an understanding can be gained of how
development goes awry, resulting in congenital hearing loss. Un-
derstanding the mechanisms of hearing loss will ultimately give
healthcare providers tools for diagnosis, treatment and perhaps
prevention of congenital hearing loss.
KATHLEEN T. Y EE, PH.D., TUFTS
UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE Yee
received a B.A. in neurobiology from the
University of California, Berkeley, and a
Ph.D. in neurobiology, anatomy and cell
science from the University of Pittsburgh.
She was a post-doctoral fellow at the
University of Cambridge in England, and
a post-doctoral fellow in molecular
neurobiology at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San
Diego, Calif. She is currently a research assistant professor at Tufts
University School of Medicine in Boston.
A ROLE FOR PAX6 IN COCHLEAR NUCLEUS DEVELOPMENT
This research will clearly benefi t individuals with PA X 6 mutations
by determining specifi c effects of PAX6 on subdomains of the
cochlear nucleus and how specifi c cell types are affected. One
benefi t of these studies is that insight into the precise nature of
hearing defi cits at a cellular level will permit the possibility of
the design of more refi ned hearing prostheses. This work will
also provide benefi t in more general terms since a PAX 6 mutant
model system will be employed to expand on the roles of other
molecules in cochlear nucleus development and function.
Second-Year DRF Grant
Recipients
46 HEARI NG HEALTH A PUB LICATION OF THE DEAFNESS R ESEARCH F OUNDATION
CHIN-TUAN TAN, PH.D., NEW YORK
UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
(SECOND-YEAR DRF GRANT RECIPIENT)
Tan received B.E., M.E. and Ph.D. degrees
in electrical and electronic engineering
from Nanyang Technological University in
Singapore in 1992, 1996 and 2000,
respectively. He is currently an associate
research scientist in the Department of
Otolaryngology at the New York University School of Medicine,
and adjunct associate professor in the Department of Electrical
and Computer Engineering at the Polytechnic Institute of New
York University (formerly Polytechnic University).
NONLINEARLY DISTORTED MUSIC AND SPEECH AS PERCEIVED BY
HEARING-IMPAIRED PEOPLE
Hearing aids and other communication devices, such as tele-
phones, introduce signifi cant nonlinear distortion which reduces
sound quality and may interfere with speech perception. The pur-
pose of the research is to characterize and model the perception
of distorted speech and music by hearing-impaired listeners. The
fi nal model and its associated software will be useful in the design
of hearing aids, assistive listening devices and cellular telephones
for use by people with hearing loss.
The C.H.E.A.R. endowment was created to support an annual sen-
sorineural deafness research grant. C.H.E.A.R. (Children Hearing Edu-
cation and Research) was absorbed into DRF in 1991 and we are very
proud to continue their legacy of funding research in sensorineural deaf-
ness.
MARK ECKERT, M.D., MEDICAL UNIVERSITY
OF SOUTH CAROLINA Eckert is an associate
professor of Otolaryngology – Head and
Neck Surgery at the Medical University of
South Carolina. He is a cognitive
neuroscientist with a Ph.D. from the
University of Florida. A common thread
through his developmental and aging
research is the study of individual differences in neurobiology that
limit or enhance sensory perception, cognition and intervention
outcome. He uses neuroimaging techniques to examine brain
structure and function in people with normal and atypical
cognition, with an emphasis on studies designed to explain why
older adults experience speech perception diffi culties.
NEURAL CHANGES UNDERLYING SPEECH-PERCEPTION TRAINING IN
THE AGING BRAIN
Many older adults with hearing loss have diffi culty understand-
ing speech in noisy environments and some feel socially isolated.
Although hearing aids can improve speech understanding, hear-
ing aid benefi t may be limited if the perception of certain speech
sounds has changed. Speech training programs have been shown
to improve the recognition of amplifi ed speech by older adults by
focusing on re-learning cues important for perception of specifi c
sounds. This research will examine how the brain changes during
speech-training programs designed to improve speech understand-
ing in noise.
This research award is funded by The Centurions of the Deafness Research
Foundation. DRF has partnered with the CORE Grants Program of the
American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery to offer
a one-year Centurion Clinical Research Award for clinical research in
hearing and balance sciences.
■
DRF CENTURION CLINICAL
RESEARCH AWARD
RECIPIENT
DRF C.H.E.A.R. ENDOWMENT
GRANT RECIPIENT
For 26 years, our team has been committed to
listening to the needs of our customers. With
each conversation we learn more; about your
life, your hopes, your frustrations and what
matters most to you.
We know our products are not just something nice to
have- they are a necessity – something you depend on.
You, our customers have motivated us to redesign and
launch our new ClearSounds® line of amplified products.
We’ve updated our products as part of our commitment
constant improvement and to fit your changing needs.
Call 1-800-965-9043 or email us at customersolutions@clearsounds.com today and request your
FREE copy of our report “Managing the changes in Amplified Technology So It Works For You.”
In addition, call before September 30th and we will give you a 20% early order discount.
Mention promo code HH08 when you call and get your FREE report and 20% discount!
We are very excited to introduce to you our
new line of ClearSounds® products.
• CSC600 HearBetter™ Amplified Phone
• A55 HearBetter™ Amplified Cordless
• A300 HearBetter™ Amplified DECT 6.0 Cordless
• PHOTO50 Amplified Photo Dial Phone
with Answering Machine
• TALK500 Amplified Talking Telephone
• TALK500 ER Amplified Talking SOS Phone
• IL95 HearBetter™ Portable Telephone Amplifier
Hear Better Now and Save 20% with
HEARING HEALTH
48 HEARI NG HEALTH A PUB LICATION OF THE DEAFNESS R ESEARCH F OUNDATION
Marketplace
Harris Communications is the one-stop
shop for deaf and hard of hearing people
and carries a full line of assistive devices.
Free catalog available.
www.harriscomm.com; 800.825.6758
p.9
Since 1982, HITEC Group has been one
of the largest independent distributors of
assistive products in the U.S., providing our
customers with superior service, integrity,
innovation and competitive pricing.
www.hitec.com; 800.288.8303
p.47
By advancing the fi eld of hearing implant
technology, MED-EL’s people and products
connect individuals around the globe to
the rich world of sound.
www.medel.com; 888.ME DE L.CI
p.41
“Jodi-Vac has been producing hearing
aid vacuum cleaners since 1999. As the
owner of Jodi-Vac and a hearing aid
repair technician for 15 years, I fi rmly
believe that daily hearing aid vacuuming
will keep your hearing aids free of wax.”
— John Maidhof
www.jodivac.com; 866.856.5634
p.19
Through funding researchers exploring
new avenues in hearing and balance
science and providing education, DRF
helps those living with hearing loss and
balance disorders and protects those at
risk.
www.drf.org; e-mail: info@drf.org
866.454.3924
p.45
Dedicated to Healthy Hearing
If you’ve ever missed out on what was said
during a phone call – you no longer need
to. Visit www.hamiltoncaptel.com to learn
about a free service that provides captions
of your telephone conversations.
www.hamiltoncaptel.com; 888.514.7933
p.15
Advanced Bionics is dedicated to improving
the quality of life for hearing impaired
individuals through the application of
advanced technology and the delivery of
high-quality products and services.
www.BionicEar.com; 877.829.0026
p.24, 51
HEARING HEALTH
Hearing Health magazine is the ultimate
consumer resource on hearing loss
and related products. Readers of our
publication are individuals, families
and professionals who are interested
in learning more about hearing loss
and options. Sign up for your free
subscription today!
www.drf.org; e-mail: info@drf.org
866.454.3924
p.46
Ear Technology Corporation’s hallmark
is innovation with a purpose, and with
uncompromising quality. Our history is
made up of practical, real-world solutions
to unmet needs in the hearing healthcare
industry. Our future is bright: Helping
people hear better every day.
www.eartech.com; 800-327-8547
p.20
WWW.DRF.ORG 866.454.3924 TTY 888.435.6104 FALL 2009 49
Sound Clarity, Inc. offers a complete line
of assistive devices for people with hearing
loss, including amplifi ed telephones,
personal amplifi ers, hearing aid batteries
and supplies and much more.
www.soundclarity.com; 888.477.2995
p.40
Oticon Pediatrics is dedicated to helping
children with hearing problems achieve
their full potential by delivering child-
friendly solutions and services to children,
families and professionals.
www.oticonusa.com; 888.OTI.PEDI
p.2
Sprint WebCapTel® Click. Listen. Read.
Talk. It’s that simple! Read AND hear
your conversation on the phone with the
convenience of the Internet! Register
at www.sprintcaptel.com and enjoy
telephone communication over the Web
today!
www.sprintcaptel.com
p.26
Sorenson IP Relay® (SIPRelay®) enables
instant communication between deaf or
hard of hearing people and hearing people
via a personal computer or mobile device
and a trusted Sorenson Communications
Assistant.
www.siprelay.com; 866.756.6729
p.30
SayWhatClub (SWC) is an online
support group for people with hearing
loss. Members meet at an annual
convention. SWC is a nonprofi t
organization run by volunteers and
membership is free.
www.saywhatclub.com
p.9
Siemens Pure® advanced hearing aid
technology fi ts in an ultra-small, discreet
housing that’s compatible with the
optional Siemens Tek® remote offering
Bluetooth® wireless connectivity.
www.usa.siemens.com/decibel
800.724.1264
p.35
SoundAid Hearing Aid Warranties is a
direct-to-consumer hearing aid warranty
company offering loss, damage and/or
component failure coverage on all makes
and models of hearing aids and tinnitus
devices.
www.soundaid.com; 800.525.7936
p.11
Rayovac, the number-one choice of
hearing care professionals, now offers
a mercury-free hearing aid battery that
delivers 30 percent longer life than
other mercury-free batteries. Don’t
sacrifi ce performance for going green!
www.rayovac.com; 800.237.7000
p.52
Too much noise can harm a child’s hearing.
The Deafness Research Foundation and
the National Institute on Deafness and
Other Communication Disorders urge you
to learn about noise-induced hearing loss
and how to prevent it.
www.noisyplanet.nidcd.nih.gov
800.241.1044
p.11
A Perfect Partnership
HearUSA recently announced the
launch of the initial phase of a hearing
care program designed exclusively for
members of the American Association of
Retired People (AARP). The program is
scheduled to be made available to AARP
members in Florida and New Jersey this
October and will eventually extend to
AARP members in all 50 states and U.S.
territories.
HearUSA’s nationwide network of
credentialed hearing care providers will
offer all AARP members reduced costs,
uniform pricing and extended warranties
on its selection of state-of-the-art digital
hearing aids and related products, plus
personal hearing rehabilitation services to
help persons with hearing loss experience
the maximum benefi t of the latest in am-
plifi cation.
“The innovative model HearUSA has
created will give AARP members access to
a hearing wellness program that focuses on
education and quality of care,” said David
Mathis, senior vice president of AARP
Services, a subsidiary of AARP. “Our
members will have access to thousands
of hearing care professionals and a choice
of specialized hearing care solutions. We
are pleased to work with HearUSA to
help meet this important and increasing
healthcare need.”
When fully implemented, the AARP-
branded hearing care program from
HearUSA will require a nationwide
network of least 5,000 independent
hearing care providers and will enable
them and the industry’s manufacturers to
provide millions of Americans with more
affordable, quality hearing care solutions
they need.
“The negative impact of untreated
hearing loss on family members, social re-
lationships and in the workplace is enor-
mous,” said Dr. Cindy Beyer, audiolo-
gist and HearUSA senior vice president.
“Hearing loss is a critical quality of life
and health issue and we are committed to
seeing quality hearing care recognized as a
medical necessity.”
Sound Abatement and
Insulation Materials
A new soundproofi ng product is avail-
able for industrial noise abatement, as
well as in homes, hotels, hospitals and
offi ces. Acoustiblok® is a viscoelastic
polymer material with a high-density
mineral content, which is heavy yet ex-
tremely fl exible. Acoustiblok uses a ther-
modynamic process, engineered to trans-
form sound energy into inaudible friction
energy as the material fl exes from sound
waves. At one-eighth of an inch thick, the
material can be added to home remodels
to take care of noisy neighbors once and
for all. Tune into the soundproofi ng dem-
onstration video at www.acoustiblok.com
to hear how effective it can be.
■
Have You Heard?
The Seattle Quality of Life Group at the University of Washington is conducting a study seeking to more
fully understand the quality of life of English- or Spanish-speaking youth with hearing loss, ages 11 to 18
years, and parents of children with hearing loss ages fi ve to 10 years. Each participant will receive $25. For
more about eligibility and further information, visit www.project-hql.org.
Sean Gerlis, president of the New Jersey Association of the Deaf and board member of the National
Association of the Deaf, is now the director of fi eld services and outreach, Northeast Region for Snap!VRS,
a video relay service creating innovative communication solutions for the deaf and hard of hearing. To learn
more about Snap!VRS, visit www.snapvrs.com.
The Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) now offers a webinar series to broaden knowledge
of assistive technology and the evaluation skills required to assess assistive technology products. For a full
listing of the ATIA webinar series go to www.atia.org/webinars.
The U.S. Department of Labor has re-named and re-launched www.Disability.gov. The Web site offers
information about programs and services to better serve Americans with disabilities, their family members,
veterans, employers, educators, caregivers and anyone interested in disability-related information.
Sertoma awarded $1,000 scholarships to12 outstanding college-bound students with hearing loss. Oticon
Pediatrics funded the scholarships for the ninth consecutive year. For more information, visit www.sertoma.org,
click on the “Scholarships” link and look for Sertoma Hard of Hearing and Deaf Scholarship Information.
■
T
T
h
h
e
e
e
e
fu
u
u
ll
y
y
y
y
ye
e
a
a
ar
r
r
s
m
m
mo
o
o
r
r
e
S
S
Se
e
e
a
a
a
an
A
A
As
s
s
s
so
o
a
a
v
v
vi
i
d
d
d
m
m
mo
o
o
r
r
e
T
T
h
h
e
e
e
e
A
o
of
f
a
a
a
as
s
li
s
st
t
t
i
in
n
n
g
T
T
h
h
e
e
e
e
i
n
n
n
f
fo
o
o
r
rm
v
ve
e
t
te
e
e
e
r
S
S
Se
e
e
r
r
t
t
o
P
P
Pe
e
d
d
d
d
i
a
c
c
li
c
c
c
k
k
k
Hot Tips & News Clips
50 HEARI NG HEALTH A PUB LICATION OF THE DEAFNESS R ESEARCH F OUNDATION
She hears her granddaughter sing “happy birthday” on the phone. She even hears the
leaves rustle on her morning walk. Everywhere Evelyn goes, SHE HEARS HER BEST WITH AB.
If your patients aren’t hearing as well as they’d like to with hearing aids, they may be struggling to hear in
settings, talk with friends on the phone, and listen to their favorite music. At work, home, and play, AB can
help your patients HEAR BETTER with the world’s MOST ADVANCED cochlear implant system.
Refer your patients today and we’ll send them a FREE Bionic Ear kit and DVD.
Tell your patients to contact AB by visiting BionicEar.com/HearingHealth,
emailing hear@AdvancedBionics.com or calling 866.844.4327
Evelyn hears Nat King Cole’s unforgettable ballads.
Help Your Patients Hear Better
*Size 10,13,312 only. Independent testing based on current ANSI test regime.
CS38780
© 2009 SBI ® Registered trademark of Spectrum Brands, Inc., or one of its subsidiaries.
30% longer
Talk with your Hearing Care Professional
for more details, or call Rayovac at 800-237-7000!
WORLD’S
LONGEST
LASTING
MERCURY FREE
HEARING AID BATTERY!
Lasts up to
*
You will notice the difference!
than other mercury free hearing aid batteries,
Y ill ti t
h
h
diff !
than
other
mercur
y
y
free
hearing
aid
batteries
,
,
giving you
more days
of life
per battery!
L
L
a
s
t
s
u
p
t
o
Lasts up t
o
Lasts up t
o