Teen angst may be a rite of passage for everyone, but for me it was amplified, if you’ll pardon the pun. Despite receiving a cochlear implant at age 22 months, and being mainstreamed into my local public school district from kindergarten, by late middle school into high school I had became bitter and resentful about my dependence on hearing technology. I saw it as a burden.

Many times people will tell me that I am always easy-going, filled with smiles, laughter, and many other positive aspects. People generally think that these things come easily to me, but the truth is, it’s not always easy to be that person all the time. The reason people say these things to me is because they look beyond the fact that I am deaf. Whenever I meet a person like that, I feel that my deafness is just a part of me rather than a definition of me, which makes me feel good. Unfortunately, growing up, I have been insecure about myself due to being around people that saw my deafness rather than myself for who I am as a person.

After discovering that some families, including her own family, struggle to afford hearing devices, 8-year-old Carly Waters wanted to change this reality.

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. 

When your hearing aid batteries die, where do you go?

I recently asked this apparently strange question on my blog because I wanted to find out if other people did what I used to do

Make your hearing aids an essential part of your Halloween costume or fall outfit.

Happy Halloween! Our Instagram community is celebrating Halloween by sporting their Phonak hearing aids with their fall outfits and Halloween costumes! 

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!

Have you ever felt different from the other kids at school? Auggie Pullman knows what that's like. Auggie is the protagonist in the best selling fiction book, Wonder, by R.J. Palacio.

Trying to find confidence in the things that make you stand out can be incredibly difficult but loving those oddities is so, so important. Here, I share my story on finding confidence in spite of, or perhaps because of, being deaf.

Holiday movie season is upon us, and there’s no reason to miss a minute of this year’s top blockbusters because you suffer from hearing loss. While enjoying movies may take slightly more effort, we found these tips from our Facebook community helpful for summer cinema trips.

Alex Lacamoire has hearing loss. But the Tony-winning music director of “Hamilton” wants you to know, he’s no Beethoven.

For the first time, deaf and hard-of-hearing people will be able to fully experience a summer music festival, through visual, tactile and auditory enrichments, in a special event created specifically for them.

3 Tips for Troubleshooting Feedback in your Hearing Aids

What is the loudest noise in your daily life? Could that noise cause you hearing loss? 

Today is International Noise Awareness Day, so along with thinking about these potential auditory dangers, we also want to explain how you can be aware how loud a noise is. 

When thinking about noise it is easy to recognize the loud sounds that may seem the most obvious to us. For example: music blaring through headphones, tools running at a construction site, or a honk from a car. But there are hundreds of daily activities that can create loud, and potentially dangerous noise that you may not think to be aware of.

With my hearing aids I can hear a lot of sounds, such as the referee whistle and the buzzing of the buzzer, but I had more difficulty hearing others talk on the court. I then became more curious about how other deaf and hard of hearing athletes communicate in the midst of playing a team sport such as basketball.  How do those deaf basketball players communicate on the court?

“…When I began to decorate them, my confidence gradually increased as I felt a sense of ownership and pride over my hearing aids.”

Cotton swabs may seem harmless enough, but they can be dangerous when used to clean your ears. Although some people swear by using cotton swabs (Q-Tips) to remove excess wax and debris from their ear canals, medical experts will warn you not to try it. They have seen many catastrophes resulting from using cotton swabs. From punctured eardrums to super impacted wax, there are many negative consequences associated with "do-it-yourself" ear cleaning.

A few summers ago, I had one of my worst nightmares come true.

My hearing aids got wet.

When it happened, it was like super slow motion, as gravity pulled me into the pool. I tried to find some way to keep my head above water.  I flailed my arms and kicked away I can only imagine my face being covered in sheer terror. 

I never thought they would survive.

Parties often mean loud music, background buzzing, and many people are speaking at once. When you have hearing loss, these distractions can get in the way of having fun. Advocate Shari Eberts shares her best advice on how to enjoy parties, even with impaired hearing.

The New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons will face-off in the NFL championship game on Sunday, in a stadium that has been called the “loudest in the NFL.”

While we’ll be cheering for our favorite team on game day, we’re also looking forward to a safe, inclusive and entertaining game – complete with subtitles, sign language and hearing protection. We’re taking on Sunday from a deafie’s perspective, including reminiscing about deaf NFL player’s who we’re still looking up to.

A deaf sailor was recently awarded for his bravery in saving the life of another crew member, despite having difficulty communicating on board.

“I know you hate it. Feeling left out, feeling embarrassed when you ask someone for the fifth time just what did they say. And the stares. As if the molds in your ears and the piece behind your ear are flashing signals, saying “Hey, look at me!”

Gabriella was born Deaf*, but that hasn’t stopped her from following her dreams of becoming a model. 

Violinist Sarah Langford said that suffering a progressive hearing loss doesn’t mean she has lost her love of music. 

I’m turning 20 next month, so with 7 years of experience, here’s the dl on what no one tells you about being a deaf teen!

The tentacles of starlet sea anemones, are covered in tiny, hairlike cells. These cells are responsible for detecting vibrations in the water made by nearby food or prey, much like the stereocilia of a mammal’s inner ear is responsible for detecting sound vibrations. Sea anemones can repair their tentacles and hair cells using a protein found in the mucus which coats their bodies. This is good news as it suggests it may be possible someday to use sea anemone proteins to fix broken or missing hairs in human cochleas and restore hearing loss!

You know about Guide Dogs for people with vision loss, but what about canine helpers for people with hearing loss? They exist and they’re called Hearing Dogs. Dogs obviously have a very keen sense of hearing and can be highly trained, so this makes them the perfect companion for people requiring hearing assistance.

It’s embarrassing to have to ask people to repeat themselves, not just once, but over time and for many years. But sometimes it’s necessary. Those of us with hearing loss can continue faking it to avoid that embarrassment but that only goes so far. We’re found out eventually. That said, it’s also true that it’s not always me and my hearing when something spoken to me is not clear. Many people mumble, drop their voices, turn away and do other things that can make interpersonal communication challenging.

So how can you continue to have good relationships, despite your hearing loss? 

According to new research, an alarming number of young people are experiencing tinnitus from being exposed to loud music.

t is said that time marches on and one thing is certain: hearing loss marches right along with it. The recorded history of hearing loss goes back hundreds of years, and attempts to correct hearing loss have been in existence since the very first person to cup their hand behind their ear.

The good news is hearing aids and other assistive listening devices have come a long way since the first rudimentary attempts at improving hearing. Yes, hearing aid technology is still evolving and is far from perfect, but looking back through the years of technological advances certainly allows us to put any complaints about modern hearing aid technology in clear perspective.

.Dear Anna: I wear hearing aids and are usually very careful with them, but I was on vacation with my family and I laid my hearing aids on my towel while swimming in the hotel pool. Well, while I was in the pool, my little brother grabbed my towel off the lounge chair and my hearing aids went flying into the water! What do I do now that my hearing aids wet? – Soaked in San Diego

1 in 5 teenagers have hearing loss, which experts believe is in part due to the use of earbuds. William H. Shapiro, an audiologist and a clinical associate professor from NYU Langone, tells us how earbuds are affecting our hearing.

Try these tips the next time you talk with a family member, coworker, or friend with hearing loss. By making a few simple adjustments, you’ll both get more out of the conversation

Derrick Coleman may be the most well-known deaf athlete in the NFL, but he definitely wasn’t the first.

Read about Granville Redmond, a man who  lost all of his hearing to scarlet fever and became  famous for his "Landscape", "California Poppy Field", and "Silver and Gold" paintings. His work has been sold for thousands of dollars at acution! He was also  known to be good friends with Charlie Chaplin and had minor roles in 8 of his films! 

Contributed by Debbie Clason, staff writer for Healthy Hearing | Monday, November 2nd, 2015

Like it or not, winter is coming. And according to forecasters and climatologists at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), this year’s El Niño will be one of the strongest on record, bringing wetter winter for the southern tier of states, drier than average conditions for northern states, and (hopefully) drought alleviation for portions of California. (Evidently, it’s all about the position of the Pacific jet stream.)Some will undoubtedly rejoice at the news, while others will begin making vacation plans to visit warmer climates. Yet no matter how you feel about the impending season, one thing is certain. If you wear hearing aids, winter means protecting them against cold temperatures and increased exposure to moisture.

According to my mom, as soon as I got home she took me onto our back porch, where a bird was singing. I had never heard that noise before, and the sound intrigued me. My mom says I sat on the porch for hours that day, taking in my new world. Little did I know that technology would change my life, with each new advancement.

Tremper graduate and UW-Whitewater cross country runner Katelyn Pena hasn\'t let a lifelong hearing impairment keep her from doing what she loves: running.

Zach Genc, a freshman at Grayslake Central High School, is paying it forward with the gift of hearing. Zach was the first recipient of a set of hearing aids through the "Help Them to Hear" fund established by David and Donna Raye in 2009. The fund was created to help raise the needed funds to ensure that every Lake County student who cannot afford hearing aids or other hearing assistive technology gets the financial and practical help they need.

Becca Meyers, a world-record-holding and multiple medal-winning paralympic swimmer from Baltimore, recently won the ESPY Award for Best Female Athlete with a Disability. Meyers was born with Usher Syndrome, which caused her deafness and will eventually make her go blind. She’s worn cochlear implants her entire life.

There are very real risks involved in listening to music with earphones. The consensus in the scientific community is that MP3 players can cause irreversible hearing loss, not surprising given that the devices can produce a maximum volume of 100 to 115 decibels – the equivalent of attending a rock concert. Some studies have even found that people in their 20s are developing hearing loss normally seen in 50 year olds, thanks to loud music from iPods, Walkmans and other similar devices. So how can you make sure you’re using your MP3 player in a safe and responsible manner?

Truth be told, much of your hearing is on autopilot. Our brain is processing the sounds our auditory system collects as automatically as we inhale and exhale. In fact, the way we hear is a fascinating and, sometimes mysterious, process. So, in honor of audiology awareness month, here are five things you may not know about how your hearing works.         

We live in a noisy world. There’s so much noise so much of the time that we become oblivious to it. We accept noise as the background to our lives. That is, until we find ourselves left out of conversations and turning up the volume on the television because we can’t hear.
 

Mason Gooch is an 18-year-old senior from Montgomery County High School. He's an outside linebacker for the football team, currently on pace for a school record for tackles for a loss

There’s one thing that often struck terror in my heart when I was a teenager: social gatherings. I was actually a very outgoing teen but, in group situations, I became a social hermit.

Did you know that incorrect usage of ear buds can lead to hearing loss even at an early age? While listening to music on iPods allows us to relax and reduce stress, it can also cause hearing damage unless used properly. 

Get the lowdown from a middle school principal about how to survive — even thrive — as a student with hearing loss

Read about Anne's story of growing up with the frustrations of hearing loss and wearing an FM in school!

Read about Kristin's story of growing up with several hearing loss challenges, and how she learned to explain her hearing loss and FM unit to other kids in class!

Watch this YouTube video about Derrick Coleman, a man with severe hearing loss, who continues to play as a starter for the Seattle Seahawks (#40) and has now enjoyed two trips to the SuperBowl!

Read about famous baseball players in history who plyaed in major league baseball and proved that hearing loss is only a challenge and not a barrier to achieving your dreams!

Read about the Hearing Restoration Project happening right now and learn how far researchers have come to discovering how to cure sensorineural hearing loss! 

Read about one person's powerful perspective on how challenging hearing loss can be for students listening and communicating everday in active noisy environments!

Read about tips from another person with hearing loss for how to survive the frustration that comes with hearing challenges

Read this article to review communication barriers and strategies you have learned in class to overcome challenging listening situations!

We're All Ears recently asked their Facebook community to answer this question. What is the number one thing you wish your family and friends understood about having hearing loss? Here are the top 18 responses!