When I was in elementary school one day every year was set aside for a group of audiologists to come in and perform pure tone hearing test on the students. At the time I did not know how important that screening could be, and I never considered how those tests could influence someone's life. Fast forward to my Junior year of college: I am now a Speech Language and Hearing Science major observing in the University of Arizona’s audiology lab, and I am becoming increasingly frustrated. Here we are with all the equipment we could possibly need to diagnose someone, but it felt like all we were doing was delivering bad news to our clients.

The other day I went rock climbing with some friends and I was reminded of the dangers of miscommunication and the need for appropriate repair strategies in order to ensure the safety of others.

Last week I threw out my back and had to have it x-rayed. The x-ray technician had me twisting and turning into many different positions to get the right images. Many times, he gave me instructions while standing behind my back. I realized that a person with hearing loss might have difficulty understanding his instructions, so I asked him how he would instruct a patient who had a hearing loss. He responded, “I wouldn’t. I would just turn them the way I wanted them to go.”

Practicing techniques for dealing with hearing loss on a daily basis is difficult, especially in public in social situations. I’ve recently found that I’m much less consistent in asking for help communicating in these environments and I think this is partly due to my ability to use visual and contextual cues to keep up with the conversation.

Moderating the Living Well with Hearing Loss class experience was a valuable learning tool.  As a graduate student working towards becoming a professional who works with hearing loss, I found Living Well with Hearing Loss valuable for the perspective it offers clinicians and patients outside of audiology clinic.  During the weekly classes, I was able to interact with individuals with hearing loss and their communication partners in a relaxed manner in an environment that focuses on trust and communication.  

Being able to participate in the Living Well with Hearing Loss class at St. Luke’s Home was a great learning experience. As a first year audiology student, I found the class at St. Luke’s to be a valuable learning experience for me and the group participants. At the first class I realized that many of the individuals were not surrounded by their families on a day-to-day basis. Instead they are surrounded by many different people in a congested environment. I began to think about who their communication partners are and what needs they might have.

A few weeks ago, when I heard my assistant Kate say to me, “I am going to choir practice,” I was surprised. I have never, in the 30 years we have worked together, heard her express the slightest interest in singing. But I thought, who knows? Perhaps this is a part of herself she has kept quiet about; perhaps it is a new interest; perhaps her son is in a choir; perhaps .…

I recently went on a trip to Los Angeles with a couple of friends for spring break. Walking around the Hollywood Walk of Fame, we decided to see a movie at the Chinese theater. As we walked up to the ticket booth I saw a sign for assistive listening technology.

Today I was reminded how important is to "Walk BEFORE you Talk". I needed to tell my husband that I was leaving to run to the store for something for dinner, but I was in a hurry. I hollered up to him in his office and I thought I heard him say "OK". Well, I had been gone for about 30 minutes when I got an angry phone call from John asking where I was and why I had left him at home. He didn't speak to me when I got home. It would have been so much easier if I had just walked up to his office and talked to him face to face.

Today is the first day of Fall and it is also Fall Prevention Awareness Day! Falls affect 1 in 3 Americans over age 65 years every year, but falls are not an inevitable part of aging. The good news is that most falls are preventable!