They say the best part of being a parent is becoming a grandparent. I’m sure that’s true for many people, but as a new grandma I’m still ironing out some of the kinks. (Note: Although my husband and I have only one 17-year-old child together, he is the father of four, one of whom made me an earlier-than-expected grandmother.  They call me GG, for Grandma Gael, and we don’t use the ‘step’ word.) Continue reading →

New Research: Listening to Music Through Hearing Aids

Professor Brian Moore and his team at Cambridge University, including Ph.D. students Marina Salorio-Corbetto and Sara Madsen, are studying how hearing loss affects the perception and enjoyment of music and how music listening is influenced by the use of hearing aids.

Hearing aid designers have always prioritized making speech more audible and intelligible in both quiet and noisy situations, especially in modern digital hearing aids.  However, people often use their hearing aids to listen other kinds of sounds, in particular music – including some professional musicians. Hearing aids that are optimized for listening to speech may not be ideal for listening to music and some musicians complain that their digital hearing aids are not as good as their old analogue aids when it comes to listening to music. Continue reading →

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued an emergency Order regarding Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Services (IP CTS).

The FCC is alarmed that usage of IP CTS has risen dramatically. They are concerned that the fund which serves all Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) will run short this year if they do not do something immediately.

HLAA has made multiple visits to the FCC to provide them with information about the people who use IP CTS. We believe that there are many people with hearing loss who need and are well served by IP CTS. HLAA has said for years that there is a great untapped market for this service, a huge number of people who could benefit from it but who have never even heard of CTS. We look to the FCC to ensure all those baby boomers who are aging into their hearing loss and can no longer use an amplified phone will be well served by CTS in the coming years. Continue reading →