Osher Günsberg, the 43-year-old host of Austrailia’s The Bachelor, has been opening up about the communication challenges he has with his hearing loss, revealing more about his hearing loss journey. 

“This Close,” the first Hollywood TV series to have deaf writers, producers,and creators, is setting a bar for future shows to reach in terms of representation.

The show, which debuted on Sundance Now last week, is breaking the mold for mainstream TV, by having deaf actors, but not focusing on that part of their identity. While showing a wholesome perspective on the life of a deaf or hard of hearing the person, it expands a commonly narrow perspective by allowing the actors to have complex identities.  

That in itself a huge step in spreading deaf and hard of hearing awareness. After each episode of This Close, there is an additional discussion episode called, “Now The Discussion: This Close“. The participants in these discussion episodes are actors, Josh Castille, Michael Litchfield, and Karma McCain. These discussion episodes are meant for debriefing and talking about the important parts of the show. 

Nine-year-old Rayna is living out her passion for riding while enjoying her new world of sound after receiving her first hearing aid.

Rayna has both hearing loss and Tourette’s syndrome but doesn’t let her disabilities hold her back. She thrives on her abilities and is embracing her new hearing technology.

The show “This Close” is premiering February 14 and will be the first Hollywood TV series to have deaf writers, producers, and creators.

This is huge progress and we hope that this sets the standard for TV series and movies to come. The show is written, produced and created by Shoshannah Stern and Josh Feldman. Stern and Feldman are also starring as the main characters in the show. Other #deaftalent in the show includes Marlee Matlin and Nyle DiMarco.

After Emily found out she was pregnant, like most moms, she began to build her baby registry. As she looked for baby monitors, she noticed that they all relied on hearing. Where were the resources for deaf and hard of hearing parents? This was the start of The Deaf Mama blog.

“Much to my surprise there was almost nothing at all,” she says. “I wanted video, audio, and vibration options for sleeping at night. My search led to underwhelming results and I was frustrated with the search,” she says. 

Inspired by her search, Emily decided to create her own list of baby monitors for deaf and hard of hearing parents, which led to her to create her blog. 

What does it mean to be Deaf, deaf or hard of hearing?

Whether you are heavily involved in the Deaf/deaf/hard of hearing community, just learning about it, or somewhere in between, we would like to celebrate the diversity of deafness with you. We hope that this will clear up some confusion and inspire you to work with us on a goal of breaking down stigmas and spreading deaf awareness.

Thirteen-year-old actress Millie Bobby Brown has gained international attention for her role as Eleven in the hit science fiction-horror Netflix series, but recently she been in the news for another topic: her hearing loss.

In a recent interview with Variety magazine, Millie describes how she is deaf in one ear, joining a list of celebrities who are talking openly about their hearing loss. 

“Brown is deaf in one ear — she was born with partial loss of hearing, and then her hearing faded away after years of tubes,” according to the Variety article. “So she can’t fully hear herself perform, but no matter.”

It’s time we talk about something important. We need to change the narrative about hearing aids.

It’s time people start complimenting how awesome hearing aids are, not commenting under their breath about their discreetness. We want people to stop thinking that hearing aids are uncool. Because they aren’t. Hearing aids are cool!

Today, hearing aids come in all kinds of different colors and sizes. Long gone are the big, beige, squealing banana-sized device that your great-grandma wore. Hearing aid technology is more advanced than ever. They enable people to hear things they’ve never heard before, and allow others to rediscover sounds they thought they’ve lost forever. 

On HearingLikeMe.com we have been working to end these stigmas, through campaigns like #coolhearingaids, the Here to Hear Comedy Tour and just general awesome stories from real hearing aid users that we share on a regular basis. So when we saw a New York Times article about how hearing aids aren’t cool. We just had to remind you. They are. And if you need a reminder, here’s why…

Recently, I was lucky enough to join the Here to Hear Tour for a few days. During my time there I met up with fellow “Phonak hEARos.” Spending time with these inspirational individuals reminded me why having a community, is so important to the deaf and hard of hearing community. 

On the road, we met up with the Munoz and Putz families, who are both part of the “Phonak hEARo” program. The program is open to anyone, and gives people with hearing loss a platform to share their stories. 

Phonak hEARo Julian is 7 years old and his mom, Jen, shares his story through her photography on Instagram. Karen is a deaf mom, author and barefoot water skier who write blogs for HearingLikeMe.com, and is sponsored by Phonak in her water skiing competitions. Phonak hEARos embody the spirit and purpose of HearingLikeMe.com as an online community for people with hearing loss in their own, unique ways.