What if a migraine could change your life forever? In today’s episode featuring Amber Darragh, an educational audiologist navigating life with Usher 2A syndrome, you’ll hear about Amber’s journey from discovering her diagnosis at a genetic hearing loss conference to the emotional impact it had on her family. She also shares the fears and challenges of facing potential vision loss while maintaining her resilience and determination.

You'll also hear a surprising tale about how accidentally microwaving a hearing aid expedited the path to cochlear implants. Amber discusses the importance of regular hearing tests and the unexpected twists that can lead to significant medical advancements. We explore the practical hurdles and triumphs of adapting to cochlear implants and offer valuable advice for new and prospective users.

Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

Resources:

Amber Darragh

In today’s episode, we are joined by Carrie Spangler, a dedicated professional in the field of education audiology with over 25 years of experience. She also has a passionate personal journey of living successfully with hearing loss. The episode serves as an insightful behind-the-scenes look at her EmpowEar Audiology podcast, highlighting its impact on listeners ranging from professionals and educators to parents and students.

Carrie discusses the planning that goes into crafting each episode, her approach to guest selection, and how the podcast bridges the gap between diverse auditory experiences. She also offers a glimpse into her engaging conversations with notable guests who share their powerful stories and expertise, contributing to the wealth of knowledge this podcast provides to its audience.

Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

Carrie’s background and how she got into audiology

What Carrie’s podcast is all about and the demographic of her listeners

What inspired Carrie’s podcast EmpowEAR

How often Carrie releases podcasts

Other audiology-focused podcasts

Carrie’s notable guests

Carrie’s research process

The biggest challenges during recordings

Whether Carrie listens to all her episodes

Trends and advice in podcasting

Whether anything from the podcast has changed Carrie’s perspective as a practicing audiologist

Resources:

Carrie Spangler, Au.D, CCC-A

EmpowEAR Audiology Podcast

Hearing Spanglish Blog

Partnership in Hearing | Oticon

Oticon PIH LinkedIn Group

What’s happening in the world of pediatric audiology research, and how is it changing as technology changes? You’ll learn more about the research progress being made and how that works while listening to today’s guest.

Today we chat with Ryan McCreery, the Vice President of Research at Boys Town National Research Hospital, about various aspects of his research in hearing loss, amplification, and outcomes for children who wear hearing aids. Listen to the episode to hear how things have changed with hearing aid technology changes, where the future of hearing aid research is going, and looking beyond the pure-tone audiogram.

Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

Resources:

Ryan McCreery

Boys Town National Research Lab on Instagram

What do you know about the vestibular system? It’s often overlooked, but disorders in the vestibular system are a frequent comorbidity with hearing loss. Today’s episode will focus on the vestibular system and how it presents in the pediatric population. 

Today’s conversation is with Erica Zaia, an audiologist in BC with over 25 years of experience in vestibular assessment and management and the owner of an audio-vestibular clinic in Vancouver. Listen to the episode to hear what Erica has to share about the relationship between the vestibular and hearing systems,  how vestibular loss might present differently in kids versus adults, and the negative impacts these disorders can have if left undiagnosed. 

Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

Resources:

Erica Zaia

What does an educational audiologist do?

We'll explore this topic in today's interview with Melanie Monaghan. Melanie is an educational audiologist from Edmonton, Alberta who has had hearing loss from a young age. She's worked extensively with adult and pediatric amplification and diagnostics and has research expertise in cochlear implants. She also promotes hearing health awareness and self-advocacy in school-aged Deaf and Hard of Hearing children. Listen to this episode of The Future is Sound to learn about Melanie's role as an Educational Audiologist and what that entails, Melanie's own experiences with hearing loss growing up, and the positive changes she has seen for kids with hearing loss in recent years.

Resources:

Melanie Monaghan

What skills does a person need to live successfully with hearing loss?

Today's guests are Shari Eberts and Gael Hannen. Shari is the founder of Living With Hearing Loss, a hearing loss blog, and an executive producer of the award-winning documentary, We Hear You, about the hearing loss experience. Gael Hannen is a hearing health advocate, writer, and speaker/performer who lives with profound hearing. She wrote a memoir called The Way I Hear It: A Life with Hearing Loss and is a regular contributor for the Hearing Health Matters blog. They join the podcast today to talk about Hear and Beyond: Live Skillfully with Hearing Loss, the book they recently co-authored.

Listen to the episode to learn more about what they have to say about looking at hearing loss from a new perspective.

Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

Resources:

LivingWithHearingLoss.com

HearingHealthMatters.org

hearandbeyond.com

The purpose of research and development in understanding hearing loss and creating hearing technology and strategies is to help people who are living with hearing loss. It’s important to hear from the people who ultimately benefit from hearing strategies. In today’s episode, you’ll hear a child's and parent's perspectives on hearing loss and hearing strategies. 

Today’s guests are Fern, who has hearing loss and wears hearing aids, and her mother Leah. During the episode, they’ll discuss what it was like to notice that Fern wasn’t hearing correctly, why tubes weren’t the ultimate solution for Fern, and what it was like for her to get hearing aids. This episode helps explain what hearing loss and hearing solutions are like from the perspective of a child with hearing loss and their parent. 

Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

Research into hearing technology is an important subject, and today’s guest has a wealth of knowledge on the subject. Rr. Dave Gordey AUD (C), Ph.D. is the Director of Research, Education, Audiology, Program Development, and Professional Relations at Oticon A/S.

In today’s podcast episode, we discuss different aspects of conducting research in the hearing aid industry, including its challenges, what Dr. Gordey enjoys about the process, and what’s coming in the future. Listen to what he has to say about his Ph.D. research and how it’s fueling his studies today, the steps involved in publishing a peer-reviewed paper, and the challenges of getting children participants. 

Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

Resources:

Dave Gordey

Register for the PIH Community page

Dive into the importance of public health awareness around hearing loss. Jessica Niemela is a pediatric Audiologist living in Vernon, BC. She is currently promoting an exhibit at the Okanagan Science Centre for Speech and Hearing Month. The event itself is very timely for several reasons, which we explore together in this episode. The event will run for the entire month of May and has been designed for all ages.

Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

Resources:

Jessica Niemela

Okanagan Science Centre 

Register for the PIH Community page

Olivia Meriano – or Liv – is a middle child.  Liv is dyslexic, one of her older sisters was born with Cerebral Palsy, and her two younger brothers have hearing loss. Olivia’s grandparents were born Deaf, so her mother grew up using American Sign Language as her first language, a skill that she brought into her own family as an adult. In today’s conversation, you’ll learn more about Olivia’s home and family life, her experience growing up in the Deaf community, and how this helped shaped her work as a speech pathologist.

Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

Resources:

Register for the Partnership in Hearing community page here

Olivia Meriano at the Down Syndrome Resource Foundation

The Down Syndrome Resource Foundation  

Five Moore Minutes with Shelley Moore 

Instagram accounts:  

@MsDeafQueen 

@Shayleemansfield 

@AdventuresInDeafEd 

@Fidgets.and.Fries 

@TheAutisticats 

@crutches\_and\_spice  

@AndrewGurza  

@Zach.Anner 

@disabilityreframed 

The views, information or opinions expressed in this Podcast are solely the views of those guests and not those of Oticon Canada. While guests are invited to listen, listeners acknowledge that they are not being provided professional advice from the podcast or the guests.