by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
Shanna Groves, herself hard of hearing, and one of our HearingLossHelp eZine readers has just completed her first novel about a hard of hearing family.
Here’s your chance to read this brand new novel. (She just finished the final chapter on December 24th!) You’ll find the first chapter grabs you, and before you know it, you’ll have read the entire novel in one sitting—all 30 chapters. At least, that’s what happened to me!
To read the pre-publication version, simply email Shanna and ask her for access to her “Lip Reader” blog, because access to this blog is “by invitation only”. She’ll gladly send you the invitation link so you can enjoy it too. Let her know you learned about her novel right here in the HearingLossHelp eZine.
Now, here’s the “official” blurb on “Lip Reader”.
Young Woman Shares Hearing Loss Journey in Book, Blog
OLATHE, KS – Most people don’t expect to deal with hearing loss until their old age, but one person has years of experience and she is in her mid-thirties. Shanna Bartlett Groves has dealt with hearing loss in online support groups, speaking engagements, relationships and now in a new novel.
Groves, a freelance writer, completed the novel “Lip Reader” based on her own experiences with hearing loss. “I wrote ‘Lip Reader’ to tell the story of a family dealing with hearing loss. This is a story that not only tells about their experiences with being hard of hearing in a hearing world, but also some of the reactions that other people have had with their deafness.
“My own hearing journey inspired the two main characters in the story, 12-year-old Sapphie Traylor and her mother Rea. The extended family—the grandparents, uncles, aunt and cousins—were inspired by my father’s family, some of whom still live in the Fort Cobb/Anadarko, Oklahoma, area where I was born.”
She has written about her hearing loss journey in Hearing Loss Journal, The Kansas City Star, MOMSense and the book “A Cup of Comfort For Nurses”.
The full story was published at http://www.chickashanews.com/features/local_story_352163138.html.
Hi Dr. Neil Bauman
I am a 23 year old boy, and I had some difficulties in hearing, I did Tuning Fork Tests/(PTA) Audiometry three months ago which indicates that my Hearing threshold level in dB increases from 10 to 70 as frequency increases from 250 Hz to 8000 Hz for both right and Left ear, Also I did that test when i was 10 but both test result are Identical. I am wondering if there is any way to improve my hearing without hearign aids, and which type of hearing aid do suggest me?
Sincerely,
Amin
Hi Amin:
You have the typical “ski-slope” hearing loss–the same kind of loss most adults with hearing loss have. You hear the low frequency sounds at normal levels, but your high frequency sounds drop off to the severe range. This makes understanding what people say difficult. It sounds like they are mumbling, and hearing speech in noise is very hard to do.
Assuming that you have a sensorineural (inner ear) hearing loss, and not a conductive (middle ear) loss, basically there is nothing you can do to improve your hearing apart from wearing hearing aids or using various assistive devices.
You should discuss with an audiologist the best hearing aid for your hearing loss–after you have had a complete audiological evaluation.
The best hearing aid for you depends on the results of your audiological evaluation, your lifestyle, what you can afford, what features you need or want, etc. Thus I cannot tell you what is best for you.
Regards
Neil