Are you an NDIS participant?  Have your say….

Cochlear is collecting information about the experience of cochlear implant recipients with the National Disability Insurance Scheme.  Sharing your feedback is easy – simply go to the link below.  Thank you for your consideration and please spread the word.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CochlearNDISSurvey

Is Technology Killing Sign Language (And Does It Matter)?

Sept 2019 10 Daily

With advanced hearing aids, wearable technology and even mind-reading devices, the number of native sign language users is declining. But this might not spell the end for signing. More than one million people in Australia live with some form of hearing loss, yet National Disability Practitioners estimate that only around 20,000 people use Australian Sign Language (Auslan). “Sign language use is dropping,” National Acoustic Laboratories Director Dr Brent Edwards said. “It was invented because IT didn’t exist, and the most important thing is communicating with other people, so the need for signing was there.”

Read more: Is Technology Killing Sign Language (And Does It Matter)?

Noise affects sound processing in the brain more rapidly than ageing

July 2019 earth.com news

The two most common types of hearing loss are caused by ageing and exposure to excessive noise. In both cases, the hairs or nerve cells in the cochlea that are responsible for sending sound signals to the brain are progressively affected.  When the hairs or nerve cells become damaged or missing, the electrical brain signals are not transmitted effectively and sounds are not processed as well. At this point, it may be difficult to recognise words in the presence of background noise and higher pitched tones often become muffled.

Despite similarities in the effects of age- and noise-related hearing loss, however, a new study from theSociety for Neuroscience has found that these two conditions impact sound processing in the brain on different timescales. The research suggests that each type of hearing loss should have its own unique treatment.

A research team led by Michael Heinz and Kenneth Henry set out to observe how the auditory nerve encodes sounds. The experts used a chinchilla model of age-related hearing loss, which is the traditional animal model for most types of research related to the ear. This is due to the fact that chinchillas have inner ear anatomy that is very similar to humans. Next, the researchers compared their results to data from a chinchilla model of noise-induced hearing damage. They found that the same level of sound sensitivity loss caused more severe processing changes in the auditory nerve of chinchillas with noise-induced hearing loss compared to those with age-related hearing loss. 

The study revealed that mild noise-induced hearing loss caused the same amount of processing impairment as moderate to severe age-related hearing loss. The findings emphasise the need for hearing-safety awareness, as well as for more customised treatments of hearing loss.

Hearing Loss and Hearing Solutions - A Guide

Here at last is our 2018 revision of the "Hearing Loss and Hearing Solutions - A Guide" that we have published in PDF format for the enjoyment of users. Our original version was reviewed very favourably and attracted a lot of viewers.

You can view/download it from this link:  Hearing Loss and Hearing Resources - A Guide (91 pages, 2.4 MB size). 

We welcome edits, corrections, updates, suggestions etc. Contact the authors via email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Here are some of the professional comments about our new 2018 version.

Overall Reactions to Second Edition:
Monica Bray (Cochlear): I’ve just discovered the wonderful Hearing Guide. It's an awesome resource.
Jade Parr (Advanced Bionics): What a great resource.
Roberta Marino (Fiona Stanley Hospital) with permission:
I really enjoyed reading the guide!  It's brilliant. So comprehensive, easy to read and relatable. I'm really impressed with the level of detail and can only imagine the hours you've spent researching new updates. The guide will positively impact so many people including professionals.  I can see it being so useful for instance, at our hospital when new medicos have a rotation in the Ear, Nose and Throat Department or when we have new Audiology students in our Department who are new to implant devices. Again - well done!  It's fantastic there's people like you who are so pro-active and care enough to put in the hundreds of hours required to develop such a useful and thorough guide.

Overall Reactions to First Edition:
Margaret Anderson: It's going to be a great resource for consumers and all sorts of people. Well done for tackling it!
Marie-Louise Hekel: Congratulations on this most thorough publication. You have done a splendid job. It would be a very valuable resource, not only for hearing impaired people, but professional audiologists in particular.
Roberta Marino: I think you’ve done a brilliant job. You really have a great understanding of how the different devices can be applied. If you don’t mind, when the product is finished, I’d like to pass it on to training ENT’s at the major teaching hospitals here in Perth and also the upcoming Audiology students.
Sarah McCullough (Advanced Bionics): Well done on all your hard work
Linda Ballam-Davies (Cochlear): It looks great and you've done a top job.