HOH-LD-News
Vol. 39, Issue 13
June 27, 2009

Copyright (C) 2009 Hearing Loss Web, LLC. All rights reserved.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Table of Contents
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

- Article 1: HLAA Convention: Induction Loops: Completing the Hearing Aid

- Article 2: SoundCure to Market Tinnitus Therapy Developed at UC Irvine

- Article 3: Captioning the HLAA Convention

- Article 4: Short Takes

Our advertisers make it possible for us to provide HOH-LD-News
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- Advertisers in this Issue
First Premium Placement:
YOUR AD HERE
Second Premium Placement:
Cellphone Accessories on Sale at Harris Communications
Third Premium Placement:
Hearing Aid Repairs from Hearing Haven
Classified Section:
One Online Store, one Hearing Aid Liner, and three
Employment Opportunities


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Contact information and disclaimers are at the end of this newsletter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Article 1: HLAA Convention: Induction Loops: Completing the Hearing Aid
by Cheryl Heppner
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Editor: Induction loops are wonderful devices that must seem
like magic to those who don't know about the technology. They
allow a person with a hearing aid to activate the telecoils and
have a personalized public address system broadcasting directly
to their hearing aids!

This workshop was presented by Scott Peyton and Terry Simon from
Wireless Hearing Solutions (http://www.wirelesshs.com)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Induction loops have been used everywhere in Europe for 40-50
years, but much of the U.S. has gone in a different direction
with FM and infrared listening systems. In Terry Simon's Spring
Lake, Michigan induction loops are used everywhere. A big part
of the reason is that his wife, Peg is an audiologist there.

Dr. David Myers was a big influence on the Simons. He gave
persuasive presentations about the advantages of the induction
loop and shared his experiences in Europe, where as a hard of
hearing guy he discovered that the widespread use of induction
loops with his hearing aids helped him function better than
people who could hear. Dr. Myers has since looped the entire
city of Holland, Michigan through the use of grant money and
volunteers.

Terry Simon was also influenced by an audiologist in California
by the name of Bill Dials, who started giving induction loops to
all his patients. The results were startling. Dials found that
of 71 patients to whom he gave those loop systems, their
satisfaction with the hearing aid rose dramatically. Originally
they said their new hearing aid was okay, but as soon as they
started to use it with the induction loop, they reported that
they really loved the hearing aid.

Terry Simon and his wife started to copy what Dials was doing.
Terry used his background in industrial design and product
development to become involved with installing induction loops
and now it's what he does. He has a hearing loss he attributes
to "noise trauma from working in factories."

Why an Induction Loop?

Hearing aids and cochlear implants can do a lot for hearing, but
when there is a room with a lot going on - several
conversations, noise from a heating or cooling system for
example - their limitations become apparent.

Terry Simon played short sound tracks to illustrate what a
person with a hearing aid hears in the noise of a cocktail
setting, then in an acoustically prepared classroom, and then
through use of a telecoil. The demonstration showed the
advantage that any type of assistive listening system can
provide by eliminating background noise and delivering audio
directly to a person's ear.

Infrared listening systems have low consumption and don't burn a
lot of batteries, but with both infrared and FM systems you must
use a headset to hear instead of the hearing aid you've had
fitted to be optimal with your unique hearing loss. [It was
later noted that sometimes you can use a silhouette to avoid
this problem].

If using a headset without silhouette with infrared and FM
systems, you may be unable to hear well enough to talk with
anyone else in the room. In addition FM systems can cause
spillover of sound if they are installed in two adjoining rooms
unless they are using different channels.

Bluetooth solutions don't work well because they are too large
to go on the hearing aid and pull too much energy (translation:
a big drain on battery life). The band used by Bluetooth is
regulated by the government to a limited number of frequencies.

More About Induction Loops

Induction loops allow you to take advantage of a hearing aid
that has been adjusted to your hearing loss. Since they are
magnetic loops that transmit the same signal anywhere in the
world, they can come in handy in all sorts of places. Inside the
Grand Rapids airport in Michigan, for example, you can walk
through the terminals and pick up announcements as you go by
using the induction loop system. Induction loops can also be
installed at drive-through windows, in train stations, and all
kinds of other locations. There is an induction loop on the
floor of U.S. House of Representatives.

The challenge is that people who install audio systems are used
to FM and infrared and often unfamiliar with induction loops.

Induction loops systems can be engineered so there is no
spillover. Where there is "loop bleed" it may be possible to
create sound canceling.

Terry Simon worked with an architect who was so thrilled with
the result of the induction loop installation that the architect
now intends to make induction loops standard in his plans.

Telecoils

Originally called a "telephone coil," the term has been
shortened over time to telecoil or t-coil.

The telecoil in your hearing aid is small and can cost about
$25. If not installed in the hearing aid, a telecoil can be
added for $50-70.

A loop allows you to be inconspicuous when using the technology
since there is no need for you to wear anything in addition to
your hearing aid. You can choose to have a direct feed from the
induction loop to the telecoil or to mix it between the telecoil
and microphone.

Telecoils don't use any electricity and they don't affect the
battery life of a hearing aid. Because they are in the super
low frequency range, telecoils do not create interference.

About 67% of new hearing aids have a telecoil. Arizona and some
other states are now requiring that hearing aid dispensers
inform patients about telecoils.

Using Induction Loops

You can sit on an induction loop instead of wiring a room
because it creates a small personal magnetic field.

People who got personal induction loop systems for use with
television programs liked them so much they started asking their
churches and public places to install them so they can have that
same experience elsewhere.

A loop system and FM system can be used side by side and
complement each other.

Critical Factors

It is critical that your hearing aid's telecoil be adjusted by
someone who uses a loop system. In Europe where induction loops
are common this is not a problem, but here in the U.S. some
audiologists don't know how to do it. Peg Sass-Simon, M.A., CCC
is available to call audiologists who need technical support to
adjust hearing aids to work with induction loops.

The level of the telecoil (decibel output) can be adjusted in
most hearing aids.

It is also critical that installations include an education
program with a qualified audiologist. Fluorescent lights may
cause a hum, and a good audiologist may be able to adjust the
telecoil to reduce that hum.

Adding a sound field system to the induction loop system can
increase buy-in of hearing people who otherwise are unaware that
the induction loop is working to provide improved audio.

Installation of an Induction Loop

The company's ballpark cost for an induction loop system for a
church with 300-500 people is under $4,000. For a school the
cost can be $2,400; less than the cost of one child's FM system.

~~~~~

(c)2009 by Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard
of Hearing Persons (NVRC), 3951 Pender Drive, Suite 130,
Fairfax, VA 22030; www.nvrc.org. 703-352-9055 V, 703-352-9056
TTY, 703-352-9058 Fax. You do not need permission to share this
information, but please be sure to credit NVRC.


----------------------------------------------------------
Cellphone Accessories on Sale at Harris Communications
----------------------------------------------------------
Keep connected this summer with a cellphone headset or neckloop.
Harris Communications has many options for hearing aid wearers
with t-coils. Products such as the Blue Freedom Bluetooth
Headset with DAI (HC-BLUEFREEDOM), the Clarity CE30 Neckloop
Telephone Amplifier (CL-CE30) and the Geemarc CL BlueHook
Bluetooth Neckloop (HC-BLUEHOOK) are all on sale with 15%
discounts.*

Check our website to see the large selection of cellphone
headsets and neckloops on sale. Hurry, these savings won't last
long.

*Sale prices available July 1 - July 9, 2009.

For more information, go to:
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or contact us at: mailto:info@... .
----------------------------------------------------------


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Article 2: SoundCure to Market Tinnitus Therapy Developed at UC Irvine
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Editor: Have you noticed that there are suddenly LOTS of
tinnitus treatments available? I guess that's a sign that the
professionals are starting to take tinnitus seriously!
Personally, I'm a bit skeptical about some of these treatments,
but I think time will sort out those that really work from those
that aren't so hot.

Here's a press release about a new company that will market the
treatment developed by Dr. Zeng and others at UC Irvine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Allied Minds has established SoundCure, Inc. to improve the
lives of people suffering from tinnitus (ringing in the ear).
Allied Minds, a seed investment corporation specializing in
early stage university business ventures, will provide the
initial funding and has partnered with the University of
California at Irvine to establish SoundCure, LLC to
commercialize a novel acoustic therapy for the treatment and
suppression of tinnitus originally developed at UC Irvine.

Tinnitus is a debilitating disease characterized by a ringing in
the ear in the absence of any external sound. It is believed
that over 17% of the general population suffers from tinnitus
and based on a recent report from the Department of Veterans
Affairs, tinnitus is now the #1 disability affecting returning
troops. While tinnitus can affect anyone, it is more common with
increasing age and occurs at higher rates with individuals who
work in noisy environments or listen to loud music for prolonged
periods of time.

SoundCure is actively developing technology that was first
pioneered at the University of California at Irvine by Dr.
Fan-Gang Zeng and Dr. Qing Tang as a treatment to quiet the
ringing in their patient's ears. Of the many available
treatments for tinnitus few can provide any relief beyond simple
masking (providing a sound louder than the tinnitus) while
others require the use of long retraining regimes or the use of
powerful drugs with similarly dangerous side effects. The
SoundCure technology does not require sounds louder than the
tinnitus being treated and uses customized sound frequencies and
pulsed tones to counter the effects of tinnitus. The technology
has shown to provide long-term suppression of tinnitus through
treatment.

"We are very excited about the contribution that SoundCure will
make to stem the terribly debilitating affects tinnitus has on
its patients. SoundCure will also pioneer a transformational way
technology can be applied to treat disease and provide patient
care only dreamt of in the past," said Allied Minds COO, Marc
Eichenberger. To learn more about SoundCure please visit
www.soundcure.com.

About Allied Minds, Inc.

Allied Minds is a seed investment company creating partnerships
with select universities to fund corporate spin-offs resulting
from successful early stage technology research. By providing
corporate development support as well as funding, Allied Minds
aims to guide early stage companies to commercial success,
thereby generating value for all stakeholders. For more
information, logon to www.alliedminds.com.

About the UC Irvine, Office of Technology Alliances

The UCI Office of Technology Alliances (OTA) exists to foster
faculty/industry alliances and commercialization of UC Irvine
technology for the broad public benefit. OTA emphasizes
accessibility, timeliness, and flexibility in its operations and
negotiations to ensure that the federal, state and private
investment in UCI research has the greatest possible positive
impact on people and the economy.


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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Article 3: Captioning the HLAA Convention
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Editor: One of the really wonderful things about the hearing
loss conventions is the accessibility provided for virtually all
activities. For most people with hearing loss, real time
captioning (CART) is the accommodation of choice, and it's
ubiquitous at the conventions.

One of the evening activities this year is a performance of the
Grand Old Opry, and even that will be captioned (for the first
time ever!)

Here's a press release from the National Court Reporters
Association about captioning at the convention.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Specially trained court reporters using realtime translation
will share their skills for events at the Hearing Loss
Association of America convention June 18-21 at the Gaylord
Opryland Resort and Convention Center. Among the events to be
captioned is a performance at the Grand Old Opry, the first time
open captions will be used there.

Virtually everyone attending the convention has some degree of
hearing loss. The court reporters will use computer assisted
realtime technology (CART) and captioning to capture all of the
presentations and seminars and project the words onto screens as
readable text as they are spoken. CART and realtime captioning
instantly translates a court reporter's stenographic notes into
English and transmits them onto screens. The same skills are
used to create captions of live television programming and to
provide instant access to transcripts of court proceedings.

About 350 convention participants will attend Saturday's
performance at the Grand Old Opry, where open captions will be
used for the first time to make the performance more accessible
to people with hearing impairments. Karyn Menck, of Tennessee
Captioning in Nashville, will provide the captioning.

The HLAA convention in Nashville is expected to draw about 1000
people from across the country and internationally. The keynote
speaker will be computer scientist Vint Cerf, recognized as the
'father of the Internet' and now a vice president of Google.

HLAA is a nonprofit, educational organization dedicated to the
well-being of people of all ages and communication styles who do
not hear well. As many as 36 million adults in the U.S. have
some degree of hearing loss, making CART and realtime captioning
important communications tools for many Americans.

"Realtime has been used throughout the United States to help
hard-of-hearing and deaf people participate in college and even
high school classes, conventions, meetings, gubernatorial and
presidential addresses, congressional hearings, and other public
and private events," says Deanna Baker, of Flagstaff, Ariz., a
court reporter who has coordinated realtime services for the
HLAA convention for more than 15 years. Baker and a team of CART
providers and captioners will cover events at the HLAA
conference.

HLAA: www.hearingloss.org

Communication Access Realtime Translation: www.cartinfo.org


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Article 4: Short Takes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Editor: Here are our picks of some additional stories that you
may find interesting. For more, please point your browser to:
http://www.hearinglossweb.com/news/curr.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Regrowing Hair Cells in the Human Cochlea

More than 20 years ago, Douglas Cotanche, PhD, then at the
Medical University of South Carolina and now affiliated with
Children's Hospital Boston, discovered that the hair cells
within the chick cochlea were capable of a "significant amount
of recovery and regeneration" following acoustic trauma. His
unexpected discovery began a cascade of research on the question
of whether hair cells within the human cochlea could someday
achieve the same regenerative results. If and when this happens,
many of the causes of hearing loss in humans, from noise to
aging, can finally be resolved without the need for hearing aids
or cochlear implants. Although steady progress has been made in
understanding the mechanisms underlying hair cell regeneration,
human subjects have yet to participate in clinical trials
concerned with regrowing hair cells. Such trials may still be
years away. Let's look at a sampling of the research in 2008,
which moves us ever closer to the goal of restoring hearing in
this most natural way.

http://tinyurl.com/lc4vv3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Music and Cochlear Implants: Not in Perfect Harmony

Jana has been fitting Barry Jameson's hearing aids since he was
identified with a mild hearing loss at age 5. Over time, Barry's
hearing loss has become more severe. At 16, he scores poorly on
speech perception tests and he is getting less benefit from his
hearing aids. Barry's parents are considering a cochlear implant
(CI). They've heard very positive reports about how CIs enhance
speech perception, but Barry's parents also heard that they
aren't so great for music, which Barry loves. He has been
actively involved in music at school and listening to music
always has been a favorite pastime. Mrs. Jameson would like
Jana's input regarding CI use when listening to speech and
music. In discussing the pros and cons of cochlear implantation,
audiologists can draw on considerable research evidence
regarding the benefits for speech perception. With current
technology, adult CI recipients can achieve excellent word
recognition in a quiet listening environment following three to
six months of implant use (Wilson, 2000). The precise temporal
and coarse spectral cues that characterize signal processing
effectively transmit the most salient features of speech.
Unfortunately, coarse spectral cues are less effective in
transmitting several key aspects of musical sounds (Kong,
Stickney, & Zeng, 2004).

http://tinyurl.com/mdykek

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Why Netflix Doesn't Offer Subtitles or Closed Captions

Netflix's chief product officer, Neil Hunt, wrote an interesting
blog post today about why his company doesn't offer subtitles or
closed captions on its streaming content. Evidently, adding
subtitles and closed captions is harder than it looks. English
subtitles don't need to be added to most English movies (they
are "burned in" to the stream for foreign language movies), so
the company needs to figure out a way to let individuals turn
the words on or off.

http://tinyurl.com/ksned4


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Classifieds
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One Online Store, one Hearing Aid Liner, and three Employment
Opportunities (Ads appear after this brief table of contents.)

WCI. Your Single Source for Assistive Technology
10% OFF ALL WILLIAMS SOUND PRODUCTS!
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New Weber Hearing Aid Liner
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Employment Opportunity 1
Exciting Career Opportunities at GLAD
Various Southern California Locations

Employment Opportunity 2
Various Employment Opportunities
Georgia School for the Deaf
Cave Spring, GA

Employment Opportunity 3
Total Communication/Auditory Oral Early Childhood Instructor of
the Deaf and Hearing Impaired
Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind
Nampa, Idaho


-------------------
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-------------------
Employment Opportunity 1
Exciting Career Opportunities at GLAD
Various Southern California Locations
-------------------

Exciting Career Opportunities at GLAD

GLAD is an Affirmative Action Employer with equal opportunity
for men, women and people with disabilities. For more
information on the following positions, please go to:
www.gladinc.org. The status of all positions is: Regular,
Full-time, Non-Exempt, Full Fringe Benefits unless otherwise
noted. All positions are open until filled.

* Job Developer/Interpreter - Anaheim, Pacoima, Santa Ana, CA
* Community Interpreter (Two positions open) - Los Angeles, CA

If interested for any of these positions then please submit
resume and application to:

Jeff Fetterman
Human Resources Specialist
Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness, Inc.
2222 Laverna Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90041
V/TDD: (323) 550-4207
Fax #: (323)550-4204
E-mail: jfetterman@...


-------------------
Employment Opportunity 2
Various Employment Opportunities
Georgia School for the Deaf
Cave Spring, GA
-------------------

Currently accepting applications for the following positions:

Assistant Director for Residential Services - see
http://www.hearinglossweb.com/res/emp/gsd2.htm

Assistant Director of Instruction (12 mth. position)
Teacher - Graduation Coach (10 mth. position)
Teacher - High School Math (10 mth. position)*
Teacher - Middle School Language Arts (10 mth. position)*
Teacher - Middle School Science (10 mth. position)*
Teacher - Reading Content Specialist - Pre K-12 (10 mth. position)*
Accountant Paraprofessional (12 mth. position)
Housekeeper (12 mth. position)
Job Coach (hourly paid)
Instructor - Residential Services (12 mth. position)
Residential Advisor (10 mth. position)*
Secretary I (12 mth. position)
Speech Language Pathologist (10 mth. position)*
Substitute Teachers (hourly paid, based on credentials)
Systems Support Tech (IT Assistant) (12 mth. position)*

* 10 month employees work 200 days (10 months) but receive
payroll checks during each of the 12 months of the year.

For more information about these positions, visit the Georgia
Department of Education web site at
http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/pea_hr_jobsearch.aspx

Download Job Applications at:
http://www.spa.ga.gov/word/jobinfo/stateapp-emp.doc

Completed applications may be mailed, e-mailed, or faxed to:

Denise Clark, Personnel Office
Georgia School for the Deaf
232 Perry Farm Rd. SW
Cave Spring, Georgia 30124
denise.clark@...
Fax: (706) 777-2240


-------------------
Employment Opportunity 3
Total Communication/Auditory Oral Early Childhood Instructor of
the Deaf and Hearing Impaired
Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind
Nampa, Idaho
-------------------

Begin Date: August 2009

Nature of Work: Develop and implement a continuum of educational
activities for D/HH preschool age children; develop IEP goals
and attend other meetings required for the delivery of
educational services; teach one session of total communication
and one session of auditory oral preschool; other duties as
assigned.

Minimum Qualifications: Idaho Standard Exceptional Child
Certification with a Hearing Impaired Endorsement; Early
Childhood Endorsement preferred; Experience teaching deaf
children in Total Communication/Auditory Oral Settings;
Bachelor's degree required, Master's degree preferred.

Salary: Commensurate with education and experience.

Benefits: Comprehensive fringe benefit package included.

To Apply: Interested persons are to submit a letter of
application, resume, official transcripts, copies of
certification and three letters of recommendations to:

Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind
ATTN: Human Resources
1450 Main St
Gooding, ID 83330

Location: Parkview Early Learning Center, Nampa, Idaho

Closing Date: Open until filled.

Successful candidate will be required to furnish a background
check within three months of employment per Idaho Code 33-130.

Hiring is done without regard to race, color, religion, national
origin, gender, age or disability. In addition, preference may
be given to veterans who qualify under state and federal laws
and regulation. If you need special accommodation to satisfy
testing requirements, please contact the Human Resources
Department.

Department of Human Resources, 1450 Main St, Gooding, ID 83330
208.934.4457


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Contact Information and Disclaimers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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