March 28, 2019
flowers

When I’ve Used My Hearing Loss to My Advantage

  I’ve written before on the advantages of being a hard of hearing traveler and the positives of my hearing loss as told by the people of my childhood. I […]
February 27, 2019

Is hearing loss a disability or challenge?

  Is hearing loss a disability or challenge? Depends on who you ask. Hearing loss can be abstract to anyone with perfect hearing. This is understandable, because it’s one of those […]
July 13, 2018
world cup 2018

A deafie takes on the World Cup 2018

  I recently had an opportunity to attend the World Cup and as a deafie I am happy to report that  FIFA and Russia did an incredible job to make […]
October 28, 2016
dont be awkward around people with disabilities

Don’t be Awkward Around People with Disabilities… H.I.D.E.!

Sometimes people feel awkward around people with disabilities like hearing loss. Here's what you can do.
January 19, 2016

The best way to talk about your hearing loss

People with hearing loss often talk about it in three ways: basic disclosure, nondisclosure and multipurpose disclosure.
November 30, 2015

The Minefield of Hearing-Related Terminology

“Deaf,” “deaf,” “hard of hearing,” “hearing impaired”… There are many words that describe someone with hearing loss. Some of them are used to describe how much you can hear, others […]
November 6, 2015

19 Percent

19.1 percent. That’s the number of people with disabilities working in the US, compared to 68.2 percent without disabilities, according to United States Department of Labor’s September 2015 Disability Employment […]
October 16, 2015

Hear Haiti: Similarities hundreds of miles from home

Open Ears is following a group of Sonova team members as they head to Haiti with the Hear The World Foundation. Laurie Daley is the territory manager for northern New […]
September 15, 2015

Listening to Josef: A hearing aid wearer we can all relate with

As a social media community manager, I get to talk to a lot of people about their hearing loss. It’s been amazing to hear people’s stories – whether it’s a […]
September 13, 2015

Teen aims to make Californian city more hearing loss-friendly

Imagine a world where every newly constructed building would include accommodations for those with hearing loss, including acoustically-friendly designs, captioning and the latest hearing assistive technology. While it seems like […]
September 8, 2015
aid the silent

#ShowYourAids: Texan Beauty Queen Shows Us How to Live Proudly with Hearing Loss

If you’re active on social media, you probably have a list of hashtags you use when sharing photos about hearing loss. #HearingLoss, of course, #LifeIsOn – the official Phonak hashtag […]
April 9, 2015

The Name I Call Myself

Picking a term to describe our hearing is fraught with implications. The idea behind “hearing impaired” is that we are lesser human beings and must be fixed to function. Those […]
October 17, 2014

Parker: The Boy Who Taught Me About Shame

There are very few things about which I feel shame. Shame: “a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong and foolish behavior”. Note this: the […]
August 29, 2014

“But I Don’t See You As Disabled!” The Flip Side of “But You Look so Normal!”

If someone finds out I’m hard of hearing, one common response is, “But you look so normal!” Since I first confronted that statement as a junior in college, I now […]