Last July I wrote about the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, signed into law by President George Bush in July 1990. I wrote about how dramatically it changed life for people with disabilities, and how fortunate I felt to be a beneficiary of this act. My post was called What the ADA … Continue reading “Crip Camp”: When Disability Rights Became Civil Rights
Healthy Hearing
The Return of Social Anxiety?
Tips for Post-Pandemic Life. On the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization’s declaration of Covid as a pandemic, we are beginning to see the light ahead. Vaccine numbers are soaring, restaurants are offering indoor dining, people are traveling. Pandemic “pods” are expanding to include more than the two or three friends or family that … Continue reading The Return of Social Anxiety?
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On World Hearing Day, A Joyful Song and a Somber Accounting.
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.
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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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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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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.
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I Take It All Back!
Well, not all of it. But some of what I said last week -- "Coronavirus Concerns for People with Hearing Loss. It’s not just the disease" -- is already out of date. This is a very fast-moving story. Resist isolation. Get outside. Take a walk, I said. Wrong. A week later, it's clear that's … Continue reading I Take It All Back!
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Coronavirus Concerns for People with Hearing Loss. It’s not just the disease.
[This is a repost that contains new information on surgical masks.] The new coronavirus COVID-19 is an equal opportunity infector, affecting rich and poor, young and old, healthy and sickly. Among the more prominent victims is an attendee at the annual Conservative Public Action Conference (CPAC), exposure to whom has led President Trump’s new chief of … Continue reading Coronavirus Concerns for People with Hearing Loss. It’s not just the disease.
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Surgical Masks and Coronavirus – an Update
I heard from so many people today about my column on the extra-medical consequences of corona panic for people with hearing loss that I want to link to this excellent article from Johns Hopkins about see through surgical masks. "Transparent Surgical Mask to Improve Communication with Patients." Maybe this is something #HLAA should get behind. … Continue reading Surgical Masks and Coronavirus – an Update
Katherine Bouton: Smart Hearing 