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SpeakUpLibrarian

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Do You Believe Me Now?

SpeakUpLibrarian My husband landed in hot water with me this week and the story is pretty amusing (as told by me naturally) so I thought I'd share it.On Monday I heard the strangest noise coming from the basement. I was upstairs in the kitchen at the time. I went down to investigate and traced it to the hot water heater. Bang, bang, bang. Alarmed, I called my husband to come down righ...
Art and Storytelling Fri, Aug 29 2008 · 2 hours ago

Training The Brain to Hear Better

SpeakUpLibrarian Photo creditDiscover's September 2008 issue has an interesting article called "Mental Fitness" by Kathleen McAuliffe which describes Posit Science's Brain Fitness system. The article is mainly about improving cognitive skills but a short section on improving auditory processing caught my eye. Here's a quote from the article: "The Posit Science system strives to enhanc...
Tech Fri, Aug 22 2008

Photos, Stories, and HOH Funnies from my Michigan Vacation

SpeakUpLibrarian I just got back from a relaxing family vacation in Michigan. We stayed at my aunt and uncle's lakeside home which once belonged to my grandparents. They have totally remodeled the place from a cozy cottage to luxury living quarters. I was nostalgic for the familiar homeplace I remembered and at the same time impressed with all they had accomplished. (You can see their...
Art and Storytelling Sun, Aug 10 2008

SpeakUpLibrarian When I put myself out on cyberspace via a personal blog, I wondered who in the world would be reading my posts. At first it seemed that no one was reading them or even aware that my blog existed. I had to twist the arms of friends and family members to take a look and plead for them to leave a comment. With their encouragement and the support of another blogger, I add...
Culture Wed, Jul 30 2008

When a Sense Fails It's No Sense of Failure

SpeakUpLibrarian Last Saturday my mother-in-law celebrated her 94th birthday. To mark the occasion, my husband, son, and I went to see her at her nursing home. She was feeling fine so we took her out for a birthday lunch. At 94 years of age, this is not an easy thing to accomplish, but with the help of her walker, her wheelchair, my husband's supportive arms, and given all the time sh...
Culture Fri, Jul 25 2008

Should I Say Something Or Let the Opportunity Pass By?

SpeakUpLibrarian Recently I had two conversations with strangers about hearing loss. Both took place at work and in each instance I wondered if it was appropriate to broach the subject.Right outside the library's technical services department is an elevator being repaired. At various times throughout the day a loud drilling sound can be heard. Behind closed doors and at quite a distan...
Tech Culture Wed, Jul 23 2008

A Search Engine for Questions on Hearing Loss

SpeakUpLibrarian Originally posted: October 30, 2007Do you "Rollyo"? For the uninitiated, Rollyo (www.rollyo.com) is a website that allows users to create their own mini search engines. If your subject's a popular one, you won't have to recreate the wheel, you can simply use the search rolls of others.I was curious to see if anyone had put anything together for the topic of hearing lo...
Media Language Tech Sun, Jul 20 2008

People Who Get It

SpeakUpLibrarian Someone recently handed me an audiobook on CD saying "I think you'll like this story." I was less than enthusiastic as I have never enjoyed listening to audiobooks. My mind just drifts away and I lose track of the storyline. Now that I'm aware of my hearing loss, I was sure it would be just too much "work" to grasp the story without any visual input. Nevertheless, I p...
Art and Storytelling Culture Sat, Jul 19 2008

Book Review: Talk, Talk

SpeakUpLibrarian I just finished reading Talk, Talk by T.C. Boyle. This book is a thriller that explores the question of what someone might do if their identity were stolen. Dana is a deaf teacher who finds herself pulled over by a police officer when she rolls past a stop sign on her way to the dentist. A bad situation becomes a nightmare when the officer arrests her and takes her to...
Art and Storytelling Culture Sat, Jul 19 2008

SpeakUpLibrarian I have a love/hate relationship with my hearing aids. I love that some days I feel as though I could “pass” for hearing. On those lucky days, I blithely manage conversations with store clerks and other strangers. I don’t make any obvious blunders and I don’t betray myself with a puzzled expression on my face. On those occasions, my little coping strategies help me mak...
Tech Culture Sat, Jul 19 2008

That's Entertainment

SpeakUpLibrarian Awhile back my friend Linda told me she had started watching DVDs with the subtitles feature turned on. I was surprised because she has no difficulties with hearing. She explained to me that she enjoys watching literary movies with lots of conversation and often the actors use British accents so she finds the subtitles helpful. After that conversation the next time my...
Media Language Tech Sat, Jul 19 2008

Missing Sounds or Con-onant-

SpeakUpLibrarian This chart shows where vowel and consonant sounds are heard. Comparing it with my audiogram, it shows that I miss these sounds: k, f, s, h, and th. Even wearing my hearing aids, I often get mixed up by th and f. Here's two amusing examples:A friend was telling me about an exhibit she had seen at a museum featuring parts of the body. She described different displays an...
Tech Sat, Jul 19 2008

If Ever I Saw Your Face

SpeakUpLibrarian Today at the reference desk, I had a patron begin her request by looking at me and then in mid sentence turn her face away towards the book shelves as she continued speaking. When she finished, I had to tell her, “I missed what you said when you looked away.” Then she turned toward me and very s-l-o-w-l-y and emphatically repeated her request. I don’t know if she mean...
Language Sat, Jul 19 2008

Understanding My Audiogram

SpeakUpLibrarian One of my jobs at the library involves cataloging. The benefit of this work is getting a look at the new books before anyone else. Fortunately for me, a few months after my hearing exam, I received for cataloging Everyday Audiology: A Practical Guide for Health Care Professionals by Kazunari J. Koike. Although this book is intended for audiologists, I found the first ...
Tech Sat, Jul 19 2008

SpeakUpLibrarian One of the positive things that comes with hearing loss is always having some amusing stories to tell of what you thought you heard people say. Here are some of my classic errors:Misheard at a sporting event:An athlete's mother was proudly telling my friend and me that she had been promoted from a temporary cashier job to a permanent position because she is "fat and a...
Language Sat, Jul 19 2008

Why Ask Why? Drink Bud Dry.

SpeakUpLibrarian That classic Budweiser slogan is what comes to my mind when I ponder the essential question of why this hearing loss happened.During my first visits to my audiologist, I asked her what I had done to cause it. Had I injured my ears by using Q-tips? No, she patiently explained that it was nothing that I had done to injure my ears. I have a sensorineural hearing loss - a...
Fri, Jul 18 2008

A Rose By Any Other Name

SpeakUpLibrarian Fall 2006As mentioned before, I experienced hearing aid failure and was quite huffy about it. Here's a bit more of the story: The day I went to the audiologist and learned about ear wax, I actually had an earlier appointment with an otolaryngologist for a second opinion about my hearing loss and the hearing aids I was prescribed. I was that upset about my hearing aids...
Tech Fri, Jul 18 2008

Stupid, stupid, stupid

SpeakUpLibrarian Fall 2006My hearing aids came with a 60 day trial period. Thank goodness for that because very soon after getting them I did the stupidest thing. I wore them while blowdrying my wet hair. Stupid, stupid, stupid. The instruction booklet warned to keep the hearing aids away from 2 things: water and heat. Of course I learned this afterwards. Have you ever heard of a libr...
Tech Fri, Jul 18 2008

Common Misconceptions about Hearing Aids

SpeakUpLibrarian Many people seem to think that hearing aids are like eyeglasses - that by wearing hearing aids I can hear what I couldn't hear before in pretty much the same way that my eyeglasses and contacts correct my vision. Well, that's not quite right. I've learned that my hearing aids don't allow me to hear the high pitched sounds that I've lost. What they actually do is boost...
Tech Fri, Jul 18 2008

Through My Ears (Once Again)

SpeakUpLibrarian I just read Funny Old Life's excellent blog post about answering the question "What's it like to be deaf?". You can read it here. She includes links to a UK site with an audio demonstration of what hearing loss sounds like. I had written about a similar site from Phonak before and couldn't wait to try this new one out for myself. There's an example of backg...
Culture Tue, May 27 2008

SpeakUpLibrarian When the eartip on my open fit eartubes broke recently, I talked to my audiologist about getting the volume turned up on my hearing aids. Every time I had mentioned this to Carol,the other audiologist, she always put me off with the same answer, "No, your eartubes are just filled with wax. You only need a replacement." When Amy offered this same advice, I ...
Tech Wed, May 21 2008

Helping Soldiers Fight Hearing Loss

SpeakUpLibrarian I was proud to see the following news in today's Chicago Sun Times. Ronna Fisher, a Chicago audiologist, is offering free high-tech earplugs to area soldiers and National Guard volunteers who will be deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan through the end of next month. Until I read the article, I was unaware that hearing loss is the number one disability faced by ...
Tech Tue, May 20 2008

Washington DC, part one: My Listening Challenge

SpeakUpLibrarian I recently had the opportunity to attend my first professional library conference. My coworker Diane and I went to Washington DC to take part in the Computers in Libraries 2008 Conference. We had sessions scheduled from 9:00 in the morning until 5:00 p.m. in the afternoon with a 45 minute break in the morning and afternoon and a longer break for lunch. That meant 6 ...
Language Tech Thu, Apr 24 2008

The Deaf Musicians: Book Review

SpeakUpLibrarian When I got to my desk this morning, I found a coworker had left a newly cataloged children's book for me to see. It was The Deaf Musicians by Pete Seeger and Paul Dubois Jacobs. It's the story of how a jazz musician adjusts to losing his hearing. I was expecting him to get a pair of hearing aids but that isn't how the story unfolds. Instead Lee, a jazz pianist, learns...
Media Language Art and Storytelling Tech Thu, Apr 24 2008

Speaking Up For Others

SpeakUpLibrarian Today I went to a town hall meeting I read about on Karen Putz' blog. Two state legislators were there to hear testimony about how the lack of insurance coverage for hearing aids affects the people of Illinois. I brought my son along so he could see how democracy works. I wanted him to see that when there's a problem, the answer isn't to storm in to the capital with w...
Tech Legal Sun, Apr 13 2008

SpeakUpLibrarian Charlie: Is your sinus infection better, Mom? Me: I think so. Charlie: Mom, I said is your science infection better? Me puzzled: Huh? Charlie smiling: April Fools. Eleven year old humor, what can I say?
Language Art and Storytelling Tue, Apr 01 2008

Antibiotics & Ototoxicity: Read the Labels

SpeakUpLibrarian During the month of March my library's staff passed around the flu bug and a nasty upper respiratory infection. Despite my recent efforts to exercise regularly and eat better, I too succumbed. It took me awhile to realize how sick I really was. I just kept taking Tylenol cold medications and coming in to work. Finally my friend Carol approached me and said, "Sara...
Mon, Mar 31 2008

Fill in the Blank

SpeakUpLibrarian I love puzzles of all kinds, particularly word puzzles. I find it rather interesting how my brain struggles to find meaning from the auditory clues I get. I've read that those with a hearing loss use their brains more and thus get tired more easily and I believe it. Here's a recent example of how my brain tried to fill in the blanks to come up with a meaningful idea...
Language Art and Storytelling Wed, Mar 19 2008

Dance of Acceptance

SpeakUpLibrarian Two steps forward, one step back. One day I wear my hearing aids and ask people to speak up and repeat while pointing to my ear. Another day I'll go out shopping and leave my hearing aids at home and avoid having conversation with the store clerks. I attended my first hearing loss support group meeting alone and uncertain. Immediately, I knew I was in the right pl...
Tech Culture Fri, Feb 22 2008

SeekGeo's Weird Flavors Jellybean Challenge

SpeakUpLibrarian SeekGeo recently posted two very funny videos where he taste tested some of the strange (dare I say disgusting) Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. For those of you who haven't seen the videos, they're here: video one video two At the beginning of video one before he eats the first bean, Geo says that one of the conditions of watching the video is promising to eat the...
Thu, Jan 31 2008

bookmark post Moved from DeafRead Extra

Choosing a Hearing Aid Compatible Cell Phone

SpeakUpLibrarian After Christmas, I bought my first cell phone. I had been a hold out on a cell phone for a long time thinking I really didn't need one, especially now with my hearing loss making phone conversations more difficult. So what changed my mind? Having a car accident and being handed a phone to use by a stranger was a major factor as well as on two other occasions having di...
Tech Fri, Jan 25 2008

Update: My MRI Experience

SpeakUpLibrarian My doctor ordered an MRI test of my brain and auditory canals since I have been recently suffering from migraine headaches of increasing strength and frequency and have an unexplained sensorineural hearing loss. I posted earlier about this wondering if there could be a connection between hearing loss and headaches. It seemed as if my doctor was trying to establish a c...
Culture Sun, Jan 20 2008

SpeakUpLibrarian For all those interested, click here for the power point presentation of "Providing Equal Access of Information to Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students in Online Courses" presented by Dr. Sam Slike and Pam Berman of Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, the video portion of the presentation is available only to the participants. I watched it again and was...
Education Sat, Jan 19 2008

Webinar schmebinar

SpeakUpLibrarian I just finished up with a very frustrating hour in my webinar class. The whole point of the workshop was to highlight how Wimba technology could be used to benefit deaf and hard of hearing students taking online courses. Unfortunately, the technology did not work. An interpreter was provided but in the video her moving hands were continually pixelated or "blocked out"...
Higher Education Language Tech Tue, Jan 08 2008

Making Lemons into Lemonade

SpeakUpLibrarian One of my fears since learning about my hearing loss has been the fear of losing my job. When I mention this to hearing people, they usually dismiss this with a "that won't happen" attitude. Maybe they're right, but it's always in the back of my mind and spurring me on to work harder than anyone else to prove my worth as an employee.Imagine my surprise when a coworker...
Higher Education Language Tech Fri, Jan 04 2008

Do You Hear What I Hear? (No!)

SpeakUpLibrarian With my apologies to the little drummer boy, no, I don't hear what you hear. My parents were at my house this week for the Christmas holiday. When my dad went up to their room for the evening, he asked me, "Do you hear a cricket in there?" I couldn't hear anything from the hallway... but I did have a pretty good idea what the sound was. Earlier that day I had plugged ...
Art and Storytelling Culture Wed, Dec 26 2007

A Pleasant Surprise at the Christmas Pageant

SpeakUpLibrarian Yesterday was my son's school Christmas Pageant. After weeks of preparation, the children were ready to perform for expectant parents and grandparents gathered in the school gymnasium. When my son first brought home the part his class was reciting, I had decided to make a photocopy of the script. That way I would be sure to follow at least his class' contribution. The...
Language Art and Storytelling Education Mon, Dec 17 2007

Through My Ears

SpeakUpLibrarian I just came across this hearing loss demo on the Phonak website via another blog. I want all my hearing friends and family to check it out as it communicates far better than I can what the muffled quality of my natural hearing is like.The demo illustrates three levels of hearing: normal hearing, mild hearing loss, and moderate hearing loss. Comparing my audiogram to t...
Culture Wed, Dec 12 2007

Hearing Loss and Headaches: Is There a Connection?

SpeakUpLibrarian Over the last few years I have been suffering from terrible headaches. I'm not talking about the kind where you pop a couple Tylenol and you feel better in a half hour. My headaches no longer respond to over the counter treatment at all. These headaches are draining whole days of my life away seeking relief.I've been to my doctor for help. She has asked, "What is the ...
Culture Wed, Dec 12 2007

Hearing Loss and Church: My Experience

SpeakUpLibrarian One of the first places I noticed my hearing loss impacting me was in church. My small church offered limited seating options, all of which were frustrating. If I sat on the right side near the pulpit, I heard the sermon better but missed out on the choir's music. If I sat in the front for speechreading, I missed comments made by parishioners in the middle and back of...
Language Tech Tue, Dec 11 2007

Hearing Loss and Headaches: Is There a Connection?

SpeakUpLibrarian Over the last few years I have been suffering from terrible headaches. I'm not talking about the kind where you pop a couple Tylenol and you feel better in a half hour. My headaches no longer respond to over the counter treatment at all. These headaches are draining whole days of my life away seeking relief.I've been to my doctor for help. She has asked, "What is the ...
Thu, Dec 06 2007

Through My Ears

SpeakUpLibrarian I just came across this hearing loss demo on the Phonak website via another blog. I want all my hearing friends and family to check it out as it communicates far better than I can what the muffled quality of my natural hearing is like.The demo illustrates three levels of hearing: normal hearing, mild hearing loss, and moderate hearing loss. Comparing my audiogram to t...
Media Tech Fri, Nov 30 2007

SpeakUpLibrarian Check out this link for a Chicago Tribune story about a child fitted with hearing aids. click here I found it really touching to read about the difference hearing aids have made for her socially. She's adjusting to the new sounds in her life and to her family's surprise doesn't always want to hear the world around her. I can relate to that. Best of all she's dubbed he...
Tech Fri, Nov 30 2007

Learning to Lipread

SpeakUpLibrarian I was asked at Thanksgiving dinner if I could read lips. Yes, I responded because that answer always seems to reassure people about my hearing loss. But upon reflection I'd like to give a fuller answer here.What's the real deal on lipreading ability and being hard of hearing? The truth is that everyone can lipread to an extent if the mouth movements are exaggerated an...
Media Language Tech Fri, Nov 30 2007


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