World Hearing Day celebrates hearing, but it also is an opportunity to remind ourselves that hearing is easy to lose and hard to get back.
Author: Katherine Bouton
Defining Disability
Do I have a disability? It depends on when you ask. If I am alone at home with no noise except my breathing and quiet tapping on the computer keyboard, and I’m wearing my hearing aid and cochlear implant, then No, I don’t. Or at least I don’t perceive the disability. If the phone rings … Continue reading Defining Disability
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When Seeing is Hearing
Isolation isn't conducive to writing about communication difficulties. Since communication difficulties are what this blog is about, I haven't written much in recent months. I'm getting along just fine with no one to talk to. I’m hearing well. Or at least I feel like I’m hearing well. But that’s because everything I hear – the … Continue reading When Seeing is Hearing
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A Question About Sound
If a tree falls and I’m not wearing my hearing aids, does it make a sound? One morning last week I was sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee when I noticed something odd out the window. We have a large, old, beautiful and very decrepit barn. From where I was sitting, a tree trunk … Continue reading A Question About Sound
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What the ADA Means to Me
30 years ago this week, George H. W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act, which had been passed by a bipartisan Congress. Change for people with visible disabilities came quickly. Curb cuts became the norm, and allowed people in wheelchairs to cross the street. Wheelchair ramps aided not just wheelchair users but people with … Continue reading What the ADA Means to Me
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Heroes with Hearing Loss
This Memorial Day, there will be very few parades to celebrate our veterans. But it's a good time to remind ourselves of the toll that war takes on hearing. When we think about the injuries our servicemen and -women endure, we focus on major life-changing injuries like Traumatic Brain Injury and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. We worry about suicide in veterans. … Continue reading Heroes with Hearing Loss
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Are Your Hearing Aids Surviving Social Distancing?
Mine are getting a workout. And the batteries are showing it. I have an Oticon Made for iPhone hearing aid, which means that whatever I hear via the phone is channeled by Bluetooth to my hearing aid. This is wonderful! I can hear phone conversations, I can listen to podcasts, I can watch and hear … Continue reading Are Your Hearing Aids Surviving Social Distancing?
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Communicating in the Age of Covid: An Unexpected Benefit
There aren’t many bright spots when it comes to Covid 19. The death toll is enormous, the financial impact is potentially catastrophic, the fear of what lies ahead can be overwhelming. Still, for many with hearing loss, this period offers an insight into what it’s like to have equal access to spoken communication. Many of … Continue reading Communicating in the Age of Covid: An Unexpected Benefit
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Gratitude
I have my curmudgeonly side and I don’t always like being told to see the bright side of things. I enjoy a good wallow in misery. But the misery of the Covid pandemic is sustained and severe. We share funny things to lighten the day – jokes, cartoons, animal videos, kids doing kid things. We … Continue reading Gratitude
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Coronavirus Got You Stuck at Home? It’s a Good Time to Improve Your Hearing.
Social Isolation can get awfully boring. Many of us find ourselves with not much to do except anxiously watch TV. Here's a suggestion: make the most of house arrest by tackling one the online auditory rehabilitation programs. Working on hearing better during this period has an added benefit. Since you are probably isolated and not … Continue reading Coronavirus Got You Stuck at Home? It’s a Good Time to Improve Your Hearing.
Katherine Bouton: Smart Hearing 