Toolkit Idea Topic 15-Psychological Effects

Hi Everyone. This is the 15th of 27 Idea Topics
I listed on three sheets of paper called:
"A Toolkit of Ideas for people With A Hearing Loss"
Sheet 1 Introduction Ideas 4 topics
Sheet 2 Toolkit Ideas 18 topics
Sheet 3 Closing Ideas 5 topics

NOTE:This will be the last topic this year.
Nest topic 16 Lipreading/Speechreading will be
Monday Jan 7, 2008 because of the holidays.

15 PSYCHOSOCIAL EFFECTS OF HEARING LOSS:
Need to understand stages of grief & stress.
1 GRIEF:Applies to more than death including
hearing loss. Grief stages are:
a SHOCK:Condition of sudden drop in blood flow
through the body.
b DENIAL:"I can't be losing my hearing, not me"
c ANGER:"Why me! Emotional state from mild
irritation to intense rage"
d BARGAINING:"If I do so and so, can I put off
my hearing loss for a while"
e DEPRESSION;Sets in when bargaining does not work.
f ACCEPTANCE:I accept my loss of hearing and am
ready to live with it & help myself.

Note:Stages may not appear in this order. Person
may go back and forth among some or all of these
and other emotions.

2 Stress;is any physical, chemical or emotional
factor that causes bodily or mental unrest. Mild
stress is beneficial to do a good job, focus
better and work energetically. Elimination of
stress is unrealistic since stress is a part of
normal life. Symptoms include headache, sleep
disruption, anxiety, anger & depression.

3 Stress Test:How stressed are you?
Looks at 42 life events that you have experienced in
the last year or two. Then total the numbers beside
the events that you checked. Use the key below to
determine if you are mildly,moderately or severely
under stress. Also note the negative effects of high
stress on your body.
Key: 0-149 = mild life stress 30% chance of illness
150-299 = moderate life stress 50% chance of illness
300+ = Major life stress 80% chance of illness
Note:Go to website and type "life stress test", then
click on life stress test and print copy of the test.

4 Stress Management Ideas:
a Physical exercise like walking
b Relaxation & Meditation Techniques
c Imagery & Muscle Relaxation
d Time Management & Organizational Skills
e Support Systems:Loved ones, friends, Neighbors,
Pets, and self-help groups like HLAA, ALDA
& Say What Club.

5 Ways of Helping Yourself:
a Physical Activities
b Share your stress
c Know your limits
d Make time for fun
e Be Active
f Check off your tasks
g It's OK to cry (especially us guys)
h Avoid self medication
i Check with your doctor
j Consider counseling
k Spend time with your loved ones
l Take a course in relaxation or meditation

Let's share our experiences with stages of
grief and stress as it pertains to hearing loss
so others can benefit from our experiences

My best wishes to all of you for a Very Merry
Christmas & A Happy New Year.

Paul from NJ

Toolkit Idea Topic 14-Ototoxic Drugs

Hello everyone. This is the 14th of 27 Idea Topics
I listed on three sheets of paper called:
"A Toolkit Of Ideas for People With A Hearing Loss"
Sheet 1 Introduction Ideas 4 topics
Sheet 2 Toolkit Ideas 18 topics
Sheet 3 Closing Ideas 5 topics
Prior topics can be seen at google website:
hlt1-27.blogspot.com

14 OTOTOXIC DRUGS:Medications that may cause
damage to the inner ears resulting in temporary
or permanent hearing loss and tinnitus.

1 Common Symptoms:Some common symptoms are:
a Noise in the ears((tinnitus).
b Pressure in your ears.
c An awareness of & fluctuation or increase in
the degree of your hearing loss.
d Dizziness.
e Word discrimination problems.

2 Risk Factors:
a Taking drugs for a long time.
b Taking ototoxic drugs in large doses.
c Prior ear damage.
d Drugs not administered properly.
e Very young or older people.

3 Reducing Risk:
a Tell your doctor you are hard of hearing.
b Tell your doctor about ringing in your ears.
c Ask about side effects of drugs.
d Ask pharmacist aabout potential ototoxic
effects.
e Read labels for ototoxic side effects.

4 Common Ototoxic Medications:
a Salicylates:Aspirin & aspirin containing
products.
b Non Steriodal anti-inflammatory drugs.
c Antibiotics.
d Loop Diuretics.
e Chemotheraputic agents.
f Quinine.

5 More Information:There are many web sites
that provide information on this subject.
One good one is by Neil Bauman at
hearinglosshelp.com/articles.htm#ototoxic drugs

Let's share our experiences with ototoxic drugs
so others can benefit from our experiences.
Paul in NJ

Toolkit Idea Topic 13-Cochlear Implant

Hi Everyone. This is the 13th of 27 Idea Topics
I listed on three sheets of paper called:
"A Toolkit of Ideas For People With A Hearing Loss"
Sheet 1 Introduction Ideas 4 topics
Sheet 2 Toolkit Ideas 18 topics
Sheet 3 Closing Ideas 5 topics

13 COCHLEAR IMPLANT:Is a device that is partially
implanted into the bone behind the ear to stimulate
remaining nerve fibers within the inner ear. It is
not a cure nor does it restore hearing to normal.
It is advanced technology that taps the retained
potential of the hearing pathway by enabling it to
respond to sound by bypassing damaged hair cells
to directly activate the auditory nerve fibers.
Many say they function as well as people who have
been effectively fitted with hearing aids.

1Surgery:Performed under general anesthesia is
relatively pain free, takes 2-3 hours and
complications are rare. The surgeon makes an
incision behind the ear, raises the skin flap
to expose part of the mastoid bone.
Drills a small depression in the bone to hold
the receiver/coil in place. the cochlear implant
is placed under the skin with stimulating arrays
consisting od electrical contacts inserted into
the cochlea through a small opening near the
round window. The skin flat is sutured and healing
takes about four weeks.

2 Costs:Cochlear implants cost fron $20,000-30,000.
This includes evaluation, surgery, hospital costs,
fitting the device and communications training.
Many health insurance carriers, including Medicare
in some states, provide full or partial coverage
for cochlear implant devices. If you think you are
a candidate talk to an ENT doctor who may refer you
to a specialist in this field.

3 Internal & External Parts:
a Internal Parts:Internal coil and electrodes are
inserted into the cochlea during surgery.
b External Parts:Microphone, speech processor and
external antenna are hooked together and linked
via magnet to the internal parts, after the incision
is healed. At this time the audiologist assesses
patients ability to listen to sounds and adjusts
controls in the speech processor. The processor is
the size of a small calculator or large BTE(behind
the ear) hearing aid and drives the implant.
The assessment takes several visits. With expeience
many implant people notice enhanced sound quality.

4 Strategies For Wearing An Implant:
a Be patient
b Use ALD's
c Shop Carefully
d Clean carefully
e Be aware of climate control
f Carry an identification card

A discussion of cochlear implants by users and those
of us who may be future candidates, would allow us to
benefit by your experiences.
Best Regards Paul in NJ

Toolkit Idea Topic 12-Captioning

Hi everyone. This is the 12th of 27 Idea Topics
listed on three sheets of paper called:
"A Toolkit of Ideas for People With A Hearing Loss"
Sheet 1 Introduction Ideas 4 topics
Sheet 2 Toolkit Ideas 18 topics
Sheet 3 Closing Ideas 5 topics
Prior topics acan be seen at google website:


12 CAPTIONING;Displays text or spoken words to
allow viewer to follow the dialogue. Captioning
usually may be on or off at the will of the
person watching.

1 TV Captioning:Text display of spoken dialogue
and sounds that are visible on the screen. All
new TV sets larger than 13" come with a built-in
caption chip that can be activated to show captions
for hard of hearing & deaf people when desired.
Older sets can be connected to separate decoders
to present the same captioned messages.

2 Telephone Captioning(CapTel):Special telephone
that allows you to see what someone is saying as
well as hear the message. See topic 8 for more
information.

3 Captioned Movies:More and more theaters are
providing captioning of selected movies. Check
or call your local theaters for schedules.

4 CART(Computer Assisted Real-time Translation):
Captioned speech on a full or partial screen
that allows hard of hearing & other people to
read the words a speaker says almost as soon as
spoken. Used at most meetings held by such
groups as HLAA(Hearing Loss Assoc of America)
and ALDA(Assoc of Late Deafened Adults).

Let's chat about our use of these and other captioning
experiences you have had so we can learn how to use them.

Paul in NJ

Toolkit Idea Topic 11-Internet Communications

Hi Everyone &Happy Thanksgiving
This is the 11th of 27 Idea Topics listed
on three sheets of paper called:
"A Toolkit of Ideas for People With A Hearing Loss"
Page 1 Introduction Ideas 4 topics
Page 2 Toolkit Ideas 18 topics
Page 3 Closing Ideas 5 topics
Previous topics can be seen at google website:


11 INTERNET COMMUNICATIONS:Requires the use
of a personal computer and some basic knowledge
which can be learned in a short period of time.
Typing is usually done with two fingers and a
mouse is used to find locations on the screen.

1 E-mail(Electronic Mail):A way to communicate with
other people who have a personal computer with
Internet access. It has the advantage of a written
record although some people may not consider this
an advantage.

2 Hearing Loss Information:There are many web sites
available that allow hard of hearing people and others
to access information about hearing loss and other
topics. Type in the key words like "hearing Loss" to
find information about this topic. The Say What Club
uses a web site to allow us to exchange information about
hearing loss and other topics of interest to the group.

3 Games:Many people like to play games and the computer
and the internet allow you to play all kinds of games
on the computer like solitaire, poker, etc.

4 Blog Spots:The internet allows you to create blog spots
about any topic of interest to you. I use it to post one
of 27 topics each week so that new people who missed a
prior topic can view it.

Let's exchange informationabout these and other uses of
internet communications so we can benefit from your
experience.

Paul of NJ

Toolkit Idea Topic 10-ALD's

Hi everyone. This is the 10th of 27 Idea Topics I
listed on three sheets of paper called:
"A Toolkit of Ideas for People With A Hearing Loss"
Prior topics can be seen at google website:


10 ASSISTIVE LISTENING DEVICES(ALD"s: Improve hearing
in everyday conversation by reducing negative effects
of distance, background noise and reverberation. They
send sound from the source via a microphone to the
ears of the listener. There are four types of ALD"s.

1 Personal Amplifier/Pocket Talker: This acoustic
amplifier includes a plug-in microphone and an amplifier
that can accomodate most headsets. They are helpful in
small groups,in restaurants,and in the car. Average cost
is $100-200 depending on accessories ordered.

2 Audio Induction Loops:Consist of a coil of electric
wire placed around an selected area. The wire, which
creates a magnetic field that can transmit sound, is
connected to the amplifier and to the speaker's
microphone or sound source. The magnetic field around
the wire is picked up by individuals with a hearing aid
that has a t-coil. The signal can also be picked up
with a headset and receiver if the person is not wearing
a hearing aid.The hard of hearing person must sit inside
or along the loop to hear the sound without the effects
of background noise or echo's.

3 FM(Frequency Modulation)System:The FCC has assigned
certain frequencies for use by people with a hearing
loss. The speaker wears a microphone connected to a small
FM transmitter worn near the neck while the hard of hearing
person wears an FM receiver connected to his ear phones or personal hearing aid. The transmitter and receiver need to
be on the same frequency. Useful in noisy restaurants, small meetings and moving cars.

4 Infrared Systems:Use an invisible light beam to transmit
sound. The hard of hearing person wears a headset with a
receiver that is in direct line of sight with the infrared
light beam. Listeners who wear hearing aids with a t-switch
can wear a neck loop plugged into the receiver or silhouette
behind the ear. An infrared system can only be used indoors.

Let's share our experiences with these four assistive
listening devices.I have a Williams pocket talker. When I
attend large meetings without CART, I scotch tape the
microphone to the loudspeaker and use anextension wire to
connect to the pocket talker.With it I hear 95% of what
the speaker says. Without it I only hear about 50% of what
is said.

Paul in NJ

Toolkit Idea Topic 9-Signaling Devices

Hi everyone. This is the 9th of 27 Idea Topics
I listed on three sheets of paper called:
"A Toolkit of Ideas for People With A Hearing Loss"
Sheet 1 Introduction Ideas 4 topics
Sheet 2 Toolkit Ideas 17 topics
Sheet 3 Closing Ideas 5 topics
Prior topics can be seen on google website:


9 Signaling Devices:Help compensate for your hearing
loss to provide confidence & security at home & work.
1 Flashing Lights:Most common signaling device used
that provides light patterns for various sounds

2 Bells:Loud bells can be used to alert you to the
telephone & door bell in the home.

3Wake-up Systems;
a Digital & Standard Clocks
b Bed Vibrators: Portable ones helpful when traveling.
Place under pillow and it vibrates at time set. Helpful
if you carry extra batteries.

4 Hearing Dogs:Trained by professionals to alert owners
to various significant sounds. Dog attracts owner & leads
him/her to the sound.

5 Purchasing Signaling Devices:Number of signaling & alerting devices grows daily. Try the internet, demonstration centers,
and talk to other hard of hearing people that use them.

Let's share our use of signaling & alerting devices so
others can profit by our experiences. If anyone owns a
hearing dog, share your experiences too.

Paul in NJ