Bethesda, MD- Get accurate information about hearing loss, its causes and what to do about it. The Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) contracted with Knowlera Media to produce a series of seven, four-minute, captioned videos on hearing loss. Information to adequately brief someone on hearing loss is all in one place in an easy-to-access format.
If you think you have a hearing loss or know someone who does, please point them to the videos where hearing health care professionals and people with hearing loss talk about what you can do about it.
The message throughout the videos is that just about everyone can be helped with their hearing loss. But the first step is to acknowledge it and get a proper diagnosis. John K. Niparko, M.D., otolaryngologist at the Listening Center, Johns Hopkins Hospital, says, "It is a mistake to ignore a hearing loss and simply live with it."
The Hearing Loss Association of America gathered a team of hearing health care professionals to cover the following topics:
- Hearing Loss Basic Facts
- Hearing Loss Symptoms
- Hearing Loss Diagnosis
- Hearing Loss Treatments
- Living with Hearing Loss
- Hearing Loss Causes and Prevention
- Hearing Aids, Cochlear Implants and Assistive Listening Devices
In addition to sound medical and audiological advice, two Hearing Loss Association of America members, Reed Doughty and Bonnie O'Leary, talk about their hearing loss.
Reed Doughty, Washington Redskins safety, first obtained hearing aids during his NFL career. He says, "When I first got with the Redskins, I was not wearing hearing aids. I finally got hearing aids and it really improved my ability to be able to pay attention, to interact in the locker room, and engage in conversations that previously would have been very difficult."
He goes on to say, "For me growing up there was a stigma and looking back I wished I would have gotten hearing aids earlier. Kids need to have self-esteem and put themselves in the best situation for school and for a fun and active lifestyle."
Bonnie O'Leary, late-deafened adult and now a certified hearing loss support specialist, said it was her children who first noticed her hearing loss. "They would talk to me from the back seat of the car and I didn't answer or they talked to me from another room and I heard them talking but I couldn't understand them. Finally, my son said, 'Mom, I don't think you are hearing quite the way you used to.'"
The last video includes suggestions for finding mutual support through HLAA Chapters and information about the Hearing Loss Association of America and the work it does on behalf of 36 million people with hearing loss in the United States.
The message throughout is that hearing loss is a major public health concern and you do not need to hide it. With the right help, hearing loss is a daily challenge you can overcome.
The open-captioned and non-captioned versions of the videos are on www.monkeysee.com, the website known for its "See how the experts do it" videos. The videos can be found under "Health and Fitness." Once you get to the videos, the caption versions appear when you click the tab "All Videos by This Expert." The videos also appear captioned on www.hearingloss.org and www.YouTube.com.
Knowlera Media also makes the videos available to their 300+ websites that license their video content. A shortened broadcast news version of the videos will be added to Knowlera Media's news library and made available to local television stations across the country that license their content. In the Washington, D.C., area, WRC-NBC Channel 4 uses their content on television.
About the Hearing Loss Association of America
The Hearing Loss Association of America® (HLAA), founded in 1979, opens the world of communication to people with hearing loss through information, education, advocacy and support. HLAA publishes the bimonthly Hearing Loss Magazine, holds annual conventions, Walk4Hearing™, and more. Information can be found at www.hearingloss.org/. The national headquarters is located at 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 1200, Bethesda, MD 20814. Phone: 301.657.2248. HLAA has chapters and state organizations across the country.