Coping
More Boomers Than We Knew Have Hearing Loss
Bad news for boomers, good news for hearing aid manufacturers: A survey by The Ear Foundation finds that more American baby boomers than previously thought are losing their hearing, with nearly half the total of those aged 50 to 59 reporting some degree of hearing loss. A 1990 National Health Interview Survey by the National Center for Health Statistics found that only 20 percent in a comparable group were suffering from hearing loss. Read more
Turn Down The Volume On Your IPOD
So now it’s Apple Computer’s IPOD. The London Evening Standard this week published a warning issued by the Royal National Institute of the Deaf in the U.K. that London commuters are permanently deafening themselves by turning up the volumes on their IPODs to drown out the noise in the city’s underground subway system. Read more
If You Ever Wondered Whether Early Screening Works….
Read “In This Silent World,” today’s entry in the personal weblog of British journalist Charles Arthur. It’s a beautiful, moving account of the agonizing process of discovery he and his wife went through with their newborn son. Read more
William Austin, Hearing-Aid Promoter Extraordinaire
The only thing William Austin seems to work at harder than promoting himself is promoting the benefits of hearing aids. But in fact, the two go hand in hand. Over the past 40 years, the founder of Starkey Laboratories, one of the world’s seven dominant hearing aid manufacturers, has waged what at times has seemed a one-man war against the stigma of wearing hearing aids. Read more
So How Does “The World’s Greatest Communicator” Communicate When He Can’t Even Hear?
On paper, at least, I am one of the world’s great communicators. I was CEO of one of the world’s largest public relations firms. Before that I was co-founder of one of the fastest growing high-tech marketing communications firms in Silicon Valley. And before that I was a successful journalist. I haven’t counseled kings, but I have whispered in the ears of some of the world’s most important business executives. When I lost most of my hearing, being the world’s greatest communicator got a lot more complicated. What I’ve discovered, though, is that communication involves a lot more than using your ears, and that you can still be one of the world’s greatest listeners even when you can’t hear. Read more
A Night at the Theater
Usually a trip to the theater is frustrating because getting any of the dialogue is such a challenge. Even the headphones available in larger theaters most often don’t do the job for me. But last weekend I went to see my friend Steve Cooper play a leading role in Blinders, a political satire put on by the Out of the Blue Theater Company at the Boston Playwrights’ Theater. The company is staffed by both veteran and up-and-coming actors in a small, intimate theater next to the campus of Boston University. And this time, I had two things going for me that made going to the theater enjoyable again. Read more
Will Mick Fleetwood Replace the Energizer Bunny?
You know a manufacturer is smelling a market opportunity when it hires an aging rock star to promote its products at a staged event at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Go to the Energizer web site for hearing aid batteries and you will be treated to news of Mick Fleetwood “teaming up with Energizer® to drum out an important message for his fans’ hearing health — how to keep rockin’ responsibly.” Read more
It’s April 15. Do You Know Where Your Hearing Aids Are?
Tax Day presents an excellent opportunity to lobby your federal congressional representatives for passage of the Hearing Aid Assistance Tax Credit Act. The bill (H.R. 414) was filed in the House of Representatives by Congressman Jim Ryun (R-KS). It will allow Americans 55 and over and dependents 18 and younger to receive a $500 tax credit per qualified hearing aid once every five years. Read more