8 Ways to Optimize Your Audiology Appointment: A Guide to Coaching Support
While your audiologist can address all your hearing health matters, it's often difficult to remember to ask the questions you have during appointments. That's where I step in. I can help you express your needs effectively and get the most out of your appointment, ensuring you make informed decisions about your hearing health.
World Hearing Day: Changing Mindsets
When I was first learning to live with hearing loss I worried that my communication difficulties would make me look ignorant or unintelligent. I now realise that this is what the society I grew up in had always told me. So, with time, I decided not to listen (pun intended!)
Tinnitus Awareness Week, 2024
Tinnitus is defined as the perception of noise or ringing in the ears or head. The noise is not from an external source and can manifest itself in many forms. The varying sounds have been described as whistling, whirring, clicking, screeching, hissing, ringing, buzzing, pulsing, whooshing, or even musical. Tinnitus is a symptom of an underlying condition such as hearing loss, ear injury, or circulation problems. From the moment I lost the hearing in my left ear, I simultaneously gained these unwanted sounds. My life became noisier.
How to Enjoy the Holidays With Hearing Loss
The holiday season is in full swing. It is a time to be enjoyed, and to connect and socialize with friends, colleagues, and family. Yet, for those of us with hearing loss, we may be feeling less joy and more frustration.
If you find the holidays frustrating due to your hearing loss, here are 6 tips to help you get the most out of interactions with loved ones and get more enjoyment out of this busy time of year.
Sudden Hearing Loss Support: 4 Resources to Help You on Your Hearing Loss Journey
During my rehabilitation, I discovered how difficult It was to find helpful and reliable info online apart from the occasional article on hearing loss associations and charity websites. At the time of my loss, I struggled to find anything that encapsulated the whole sudden hearing loss experience - both the practical and emotional impact. There was also limited support in learning to live with a new hearing loss, and some of the forums I joined were so negative that I ended up leaving.
In connecting with others over the years, I identified a need for more support for people moving forward following a sudden hearing loss and began to create some resources to do just this.
Not Only Sudden Hearing Loss, but Also So Much More
If you have experienced a sudden hearing loss, you may find yourself dealing with much more than the hearing loss itself. Everyone experiences sudden hearing loss differently, and the emotional and practical impact can also vary.
For me, suddenly losing my hearing was not only sudden hearing loss but also so much more.
Balance Awareness Week 2023 - Triggering Environments
This Balance Awareness Week, I’m raising awareness of environments that people with vestibular (balance) disorders may find triggering. I hope that with more awareness, more people will have some understanding and empathy toward loved ones and colleagues who have a balance disorder.
Getting the Hearing Loss Balance Right: How to Enable Better Communication and Improved Interactions
Here is a short exercise to help you start to understand the balance that works best for you and take control of a repeating situation you would like to change.
First, we will establish the current pattern and response to the situation, and then we will determine a more effective pattern. You can then choose what changes you will make to help correct the balance.
Hearing Loss or Deaf Gain?
Deaf Gain is a concept that encourages us to reframe our thinking about hearing loss. Rather than focusing on the loss, Deaf Gain emphasises the unique perspectives and strengths that come with having hearing loss. Amongst other things, people with hearing loss tend to have enhanced visual and spatial awareness, a strong sense of community, and strong creative problem-solving skills.
“I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.”
Experiencing hearing loss can feel overwhelming and all-consuming. Perhaps you are struggling to envision a full life with hearing loss. You may need to grieve your lost sound, the previous ease of conversation, or the sound of silence in the case of tinnitus. Maybe you are asking yourself, "Why me?" These are normal feelings and your reactions and valid.
Coaching Explained: 4 Ways I can support you on your hearing loss journey
It is not always easy to know where or how to begin living successfully with hearing loss, particularly when hearing loss is sudden. You may feel shock and grief, and it can be challenging to deal with both the practical and emotional impact of your loss. It can take time and perseverance to understand how hearing loss impacts different aspects of your life and the accommodation you need. It can be difficult to know where to turn for support.
As a hearing loss coach, I support people with hearing health issues, helping them to improve their emotional well-being and move forward positively with their hearing loss.
Mental Health Awareness Week: Let’s Talk About Hearing Loss Grief
When I suddenly lost the hearing in my left ear, I was so focused on the practical impact of my hearing loss and learning to live with single-sided deafness that I barely stopped to acknowledge my feelings.
Several months after my sudden hearing loss, I was given some advice from a stranger, who I had briefly connected with online. They told me that, as with any other loss in life, I would need to grieve my lost sound with the attention it deserved. This advice proved crucial in helping me address the emotional aspects of my new situation and immediately made it feel acceptable for me to begin the grieving process.
Deaf Awareness Week 2023: 5 Surprising Facts About Life With Single-Sided Deafness
Deaf Awareness Week 2023
This week is Deaf Awareness Week!
The theme this year is Deaf Inclusion, which highlights how hearing loss impacts daily life and how others can help support deaf people.
This Deaf Awareness Week, I’m bringing attention to Single-Sided Deafness (SSD), a type of unilateral hearing loss, where a person has no or limited access to sound in one ear.
This subject is close to my heart as I have lived with SSD since my sudden hearing loss in 2016. Here I share some of the challenges that come with SSD, ways you can help support people with SSD, and how to advocate for yourself if you have SSD.
How to build self-confidence after hearing loss
Have you lost confidence since your hearing loss?
When I lost the hearing in my left ear in 2016, I lost a lot of confidence. At the time, I was focused on the practical aspects of coping with my hearing loss and learning to live life without full sound, to pay much attention to any struggles with self-confidence. My focus was on understanding the best place to sit in a restaurant to have the best possibility of hearing the conversation, trying hearing technology and figuring out how to tell people about my hearing loss. My lost confidence went undetected for some time.
The life-changing impact of hearing loss
Was your hearing loss life-changing? Mine certainly was, and it's not surprising really. Our hearing plays a big part in the way we interact with the world. Before my hearing loss, I relied on my hearing, without realising its value.
My crystal clear bilateral hearing enabled me to detect and locate the smallest of utterances in my classroom. Conversation came easily, without struggle or strain. Overlapping voices or background music didn’t bother me and didn't impact my ability to socialise.
Podcast: Sharing My Story of Sudden Hearing Loss and Tinnitus
Here I share my personal story of sudden hearing loss and tinnitus.
Is your hearing loss holding you back?
Do you ever feel like you miss out on new experiences or exciting opportunities because of your hearing loss? Perhaps, the new situation or opportunity comes with challenging communication environments, such as places with lots of background noise…
… Whatever the reason for believing your hearing loss is holding you back, below are some questions to help give you more clarity on the situation and figure out how you can begin to challenge this belief!
4 Steps to Becoming Your Own Advocate
When you become your own advocate, you empower yourself to have more control over your life and relationships, leading to a better sense of self, community and wellbeing.