Make your own Cochlear Implant for a doll!

A few weeks ago, Alison was talking to a woman who had brought her parents in for their appointments.  She was telling Alison about her 6 year old granddaughter who uses a cochlear implant.

Alison remembered seeing something on the internet about a woman having a hard time finding a doll with a hearing aid or cochlear implant for her daughter, so she decided to make one herself.  (Since then, the American Girl company has come out with hearing aids for their dolls, see our past post HERE.)

But, what this woman did for her little girl is adorable!  And easy!  She used puffy paint to draw a cochlear implant on her daughter's doll.

Here is a link to her blog: Pattyanny: Made

To Kill a Hearing Aid

Just when we thought we had heard it all, we were told of a new way to kill a hearing aid.

See the bite marks? This aid has been chewed up by the
owner's dog.  The earmold? Completely eaten.

Over the years we have seen hearing aids that have been "fried" in a skillet, nuked in a microwave, washed in a washer and dried in a dryer, melted in a oven, drowned in a cereal bowl, flushed down a toilet, eaten by a dog, buried in the garden and "harvested" in the spring.

BUT....

Eaten by an owner?!?

Yes, just a few years ago we saw not just one, but TWO hearing aids eaten alive by their owner. From the looks of the aids, the deaths were not pleasant and the owner stated the experience was less than pleasant for him also. Not to mention costly! So please, Don't eat your hearing aid...


...or fry it, or melt it, or nuke it, or feed it to your dog.

From Oregon, with love.

We received the follow letter from Dr. Jennifer Gray, an audiologist in Oregon, in regards to a young man who we have worked with since he was a little boy.  When he moved he was very frustrated trying to find an audiologist to go to.  We assisted him in finding one and then we received this letter from her:

Dear Mrs. Johnson,

I just wanted to forward a hello and thanks from Robert H.  He spoke of you fondly and with great respect.  If he could have figured out a way to commute to Ohio, you would still be seeing him.  I am honored to be his replacement audiologist, and according to Robert's reports, I have some pretty big shoes to fill.  I will work at living up to it.  I am enjoying working with him and I am sure he will do well with the new hearing aids.

                                                                                      -Dr. Jennifer Gray

Quick Thinking!

I have a patient who is a bus aid for a local school district.  She helps kids with behavioral, medical and other handicaps while they are riding the bus.

This year, she has a male teenager with a severe behavior disorder.  According her her, this young man can be very unruly and she has to constantly remind him what the rules of the bus are.

One morning, he was particularly wound up, and my patient sternly reminded him to behave.

The young man retorted:  "My grandma has those."
Patient:  "Those, what?"
Teenager:  "Those hearing things in your ears."
Patient:  "No, I don't think your grandma has what I have."
Teenager:  "Yeah, she has trouble hearing, so she has those hearing things in her ears to help her hear."
Patient:  "Well, these aren't hearing aids, these are my transmitters."
Teenager:  "Transmitters?"
Patient:  "Yes.  This one [pointing to left hearing aid] goes to the police station, and this one [pointing to right hearing aid] goes to the bus garage.  Whenever someone is misbehaving, all I have to do is push the button on my transmitters and they can hear EVERYTHING that is going on on this bus."

Silence.  And a well-behaved 14 year old.

Genious!

~Sarah