Life Sounds Great: audiologic assessment

Thursday, October 5, 2017

Can you get a service dog to help with hearing loss?

As you may already know, dogs have been used for years for a variety of reasons as service animals. Dogs can be used to help warn their partners of on-coming seizures, used as seeing-eye dogs, companion dogs for those who suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), or a variety of other concerns and including those with profound hearing loss. Yes, there is such a thing as a hearing service dog. Hearing service dogs can be trained to respond to American Sign Language (ASL) in the case of those with significant hearing loss that are non-verbal. Hearing dogs are trained to alert their partners to common sounds such as doorbells, fire alarms, morning alarms, cooking timers, a telephone ringing, a baby’s cry etc. The service dog is trained to nudge their partner, get their attention and take them to the location of the sound source. As you can imagine, for people who have significant hearing loss that cannot hear these common sounds, their companion dog can help them live independently. The service dog could also protect them and save their lives when thinking of something as serious as fire alarms or alerting them to someone trying to break into their homes. So yes, hearing loss is no different, there are service dogs available that can be trained to support those who need it.

Life sounds great! Enjoy every moment!

Jane Kukula, AuD & Ashley Spisak, AuD

8897 Mentor Ave

Mentor, Ohio 44060

440-205-8848

Fax: 440-205-9818

Thursday, January 12, 2017

I have a ringing sound in my ears, does this mean I have hearing loss?

There are several signs that indicate you may be experiencing decreased hearing ability including ringing in the ears. While many things can cause ringing in the ears, hearing loss is one of the most common causes.

It is rare that someone goes from normal hearing all the way to no hearing. For most people hearing decreases gradually over time. In the beginning, the signs are subtle and often go unnoticed. It’s not until the decrease impacts hearing conversations and/or interferes with hearing child’s voices that people become aware of the difficulty.

Some of the first noticeable signs are people sound like they mumble or that voices are muffled. You may hear someone say it’s not me, it’s the way people talk today. When left undiagnosed and untreated, people start to withdraw from social situations, and can become angry or frustrated. These are indications that it’s time for an Audiologic assessment.

Treating hearing loss has many benefits. Those who use hearing instruments are more active socially and physically. They have more rewarding relationships and are happier. It’s easy to get started, schedule an appointment for the evaluation. Most insurance programs have a benefit for the assessment and some even help with the cost of hearing instruments.