Deidre Downs

Deidre Downs - Miss America 2005

Deidre Downs, Miss America 2005, serves as national spokesperson for the Better Hearing Institute on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of hearing loss, especially in children.

Her mission is to educate the 31 million Americans suffering from hearing loss on the need for early diagnosis and treatment with today’s modern technology solutions. As a pediatrician-to-be, she is focused on the one million children with hearing loss. She identifies with them because she has had a hearing loss since childhood.

Deidre’s hearing loss is genetic. Both her father and brother suffer from hearing loss so she was tested before starting school and diagnosed early in life. She began wearing hearing aids at age five and recalls feeling conflicted with everyday social situations.

“Hearing loss affected me dramatically as a child. I began wearing hearing aids in kindergarten, but I didn’t like looking different from other kids, so I was very self-conscious about them. Yet when I didn’t wear them, I felt a different type of social isolation because I had trouble following conversations.”

A native of Alabama, Deidre has been successful despite her hearing loss, but does not want other children to face what she had to.

“For years I chose not to wear hearing aids—even while participating in pageants and the Miss America competition. I simply learned how to get by without them. In school I sat in the front of the classroom. In social situations I made a point to always look at people while they were speaking.”

Deidre was valedictorian of her high school and a Rhodes Scholar finalist. She earned a volleyball scholarship to the University of Virginia, where she was an Echols Scholar. After transferring to Samford University, she graduated magna cum laude in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in history. After college, she was chosen Miss Alabama and later Miss America 2005.

Deidre currently travels the nation educating the public and serving as an enthusiastic advocate on the issue. As a medical student, public speaker and former athlete, Deidre knows well the onset of challenges hearing loss sufferers face and wishes to educate the public on the condition’s sharp increase and the life-changing technology available for its treatment.

“It wasn’t until I started medical school that I realized I couldn’t get by without hearing aids any longer. It was very hard to follow lectures in large auditoriums, interact with fellow students and professors (especially if they wore surgical masks), and interact with patients. I realized that I finally needed to face my hearing problem and find a solution that would help me to be the best doctor I can be for my patients."

“Wearing hearing aids again gave me the ability to better participate in life—school, family, and friends. Hearing aids have diminished the impact hearing loss has on my life. I finally feel like I can hear as well as a normal hearing person. My friends, family, and classmates no longer have to constantly repeat themselves. I don’t have to use closed captioning on TV anymore and I rarely miss pieces of conversations—even in noisy restaurants. It’s been an unbelievable life change for me, my family, and my friends.”

Deidre strongly encourages parents to have their children’s hearing professionally tested, and to assure that children with hearing loss obtain proper treatment.

”I didn’t wear my aids for years and now that I do my friends and family are happier – and I can participate in my life more than ever before. If you have untreated hearing loss, don’t wait another day. See your hearing health professional, ask for the right solution and be an active participant in your life again.”






Information obtained from the Better Hearing Insitute: www.betterhearing.org

Alzheimer’s and Hearing Loss: Early Detection Can Alleviate Symptoms

According to a study attributed to the Alzheimer’s Association (AA), in conjunction with the Better Hearing Institute (BHI), there is strong evidence to suggest that hearing impairment contributes to the progression of mental impairment in older adults.

Hearing Devices and Alzheimer’s

The BHI’s research has uncovered that people with Alzheimer’s who regularly wear hearing devices in combination with a consistently practiced aural retraining therapy program – which includes, but is not limited to: hearing device retraining, speech reading, and various listening strategies – are able to diminish the wide range of Alzheimer’s symptoms.

If you are concerned you or a loved one might be experiencing the early warning signs of Alzheimer’s, it is recommended that you maintain your regular hearing tests.

Changing Playtime for Children with Hearing Loss!

American Girl dolls are now available with a hearing aid! This is adorable, and imagine how proud a little girl with hearing loss might be that her doll is just like her!

From the American Girl Website: 

There's now one more way to personalize your 18" My American Girl® doll: hearing aids. When you admit your doll to the Doll Hospital, our experts will perform a permanent piercing behind her ear to ensure the hearing aid is expertly fitted—in one or both ears. For more details or to order a My American Girl doll with a hearing aid, call 800-845-0005. 

The hearing aids, which are removable, cost $14 and are also available for My American Girl® dolls at time of purchase and at retail locations.

Arnold Palmer

Arnold Palmer - Legendary Golfer

Associated Press named him Athlete of the Decade in the 1960s. He has won 92 professional golf championships in his career including won the Masters Tournament four times, 1958, 1960, 1962 and 1964, the U.S. Open in 1960 and the British Open in 1961 and 1962. He is an esteemed golf course designer, holds six honorary doctorates and is the founder of the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children & Women. Having defeated hearing loss with hearing aids he devotes substantial time promoting the value of treating hearing loss. In a recent interview he stated the following:"I've noticed the sound of the golf ball being hit by the golf club is different and much more realistic with the hearing aids." The sound with the hearing aids makes sense and better represents what I know is happening to the golf ball. So you could say that the hearing aids help give me confidence regarding my golf game. "I've been wearing hearing aids for a long time," he says. "The technology available now is simply unbelievable. When I compare the new digital products to what we had 30 years ago, it's an amazing difference. The products have improved dramatically, and fortunately, they'll just continue to get better."

Information obtained from the Better Hearing Insitute: www.betterhearing.org

Leslie Nielsen

I'd like to share some information on celebrities or well known people who have dealt with hearing loss and/or tinnitus.  It is estimated that at least 20% of Americans experience hearing loss, so chances are you know someone who does! 

Leslie Nielsen - Actor

He was a good, solid actor who spent 30+ years in movies and on TV playing good, meaty roles before achieving significant success in slapstick comedy. The Canadian born actor, a nephew of character actor Jean Hersholt, was a radio announcer and disk jockey before turning to acting. He played an impassive spaceship commander in Forbidden Planet, Debbie Reynolds' love interest in Tammy and the Bachelor , a Howard Hughes prototype in Harlow , the ill-fated captain in The Poseidon Adventure, and more cops, doctors and attorneys than you can count. Prior to 1980 history would view him as a dramatist. That all changed in 1980, when he was one of several solid actors (along with Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges and Peter Graves---also a spokesperson for better hearing) hired for the hit spoof Airplane! He enjoyed it so much that he signed on to play bumbling cop Frank Drebin in the cult TV series Police Squad! and in the ever popular The Naked Gun series of films. Nielsen, who overcame his sensorineural hearing loss with hearing aids stated to the Better Hearing Institute (BHI), "I have no goals or ambitions. I do, however wish to work enough to maintain whatever celebrity status I have so that they will continue to invite me to golf tournaments". Among his many media appearances on behalf of BHI to educate the public on hearing loss and its treatment, Mr. Nielsen was one of many celebrities to participate in BHI's "Help America Hear" golf tournament.

Information obtained from the Better Hearing Insitute: www.betterhearing.org

more from Joyce in Africa

Joyce's Africa Journal:

(MAY 25) Another amazing day in Africa. How priviledged we are to see all of this. Today an early morning game drive let us see zebras and giraffes in their natural habitats. Then a camel ride where I got to kiss Sammie my camel, and where I screamed a couple of times getting up and getting down. A late afternoon game drive seeing rhinos, giraffes, zebras gazelles, hyeneas, african wild dogs. Actually saw the wild dogs hunt a heyena and we were terrified that they were going to kill it within 5 feet of our van. Luckily he got away but our guide was sure that he would be killed later tonight.

(MAY 28) We are continuing our African journey. We spent 2 nights in tents with giraffes, zebras elephants, gazelles, and all sorts of birds. The tent thing was fun but nice to go on to Lake Nakura and a real room.. There we saw elephant herds, and amazing giraffes. It is sad when seeing all of the above is an everyday experience. We saw our first lions at the Lake and they were so amazing--none of the animals are afraid of us and we get within 4 or 5 feet at times. Today we are at Masa Mara and we came across a 12 lion pride that woke up and started their hunt while we watched--again no more than 10 feet.

Joyce is in Africa!

Joyce and her husband Jerry are in Africa right now - along with their son, niece and a few friends.  She's been sending a few pictures here and there to let us know what she's up to.

FUN.  She's having fun.

They spent a couple days visiting different villages and passing out articles of clothing and school supplies to hundreds of orphaned children.  She described it as "sobering."

She has let a giraffe eat food right out of her mouth.

And she's been playing with baby elephants - also orphans, who's mothers' have been poached.

Enjoy some pictures:

Be sure to ask Joyce about her trip next time you're in, I'm sure she'll have a plethora of stories to share!

The Quest for the Coolest Set of Hearing Aids

by Ross Cushing, Au.D., director of A&A Hearing Group in Maryland.
Published in Hearing Health Magazine, winter 2011


Does anyone remember the days of "traditional hearing aids," when hearing devices were fit to simply and appropriately amplify a hearing loss? Well, those simpler times are over. The days of Bluetooth connectivity, wireless interfacing, talking hearing aids, and hi-fi invisible devices are here.

No longer are hearing professional merely experts in prescribing and fitting hearing aids and performing hearing rehabilitation. Today, they also have to feel comfortable as lifestyle consultants for the hearing impaired. our patients expect us to be able to advise them not just on appropriate amplification, but also on the coolest new technology available and how they can integrate that technology into their lives - be it cell phone, TV, or music player.

This brings us hearing aid providers to a new level of nerdiness, while also demanding an entirely new technological skill set. Plus, the hearing aids themselves must be as invisible, versatile, and maintenance-free as possible.

New technology is making hearing aids smarter.  Deep canal hearing aids are a good example.  DCHAs cover a wide range of hearing loss, from mild to sever, using unusually small-and often invisible-devices. Placement deep in the ear canal, in the bony portion, minimizes the occlusion effect (the blocked feeling in the ear canal); uses the natural resonance of the pinna (part of the outer ear) and ear canal to create a more natural sound; reduces feedback; and increases the ability to hear high frequencies.

Bluetooth connectivity and wireless capability lets our patients hear anything streamed from a Bluetooth device including music, radio, and podcasts. They can also listen to cell phone conversations in stereo with the target amplification of the instruments exactly matched to their audiograms. A hearing aid in the right ear can communicate with the hearing aid in the left ear to achieve better focus on speech in noise. And when it's time to schedule a visit with the hearing aid provide, a pleasant voice generated by the hearing aid can remind the patient to make an appointment.

Many hearing aids can be paired with a small handheld remote or wristwatch control This lets the patient adjust the hearing instruments' microphone strategy, speech enhancement, noise reduction, and overall volume comfortably and discreetly. The changes made with the remote can "teach" the hearing aid the patient's preferences so the hearing aid amplifies according to prior settings for certain sound environments.

No matter what your priorities are for hearing aid - technology, abundant convenience, or simply a small size - these days you can have it all. And with superior sound quality to boot.

What kind of headphones (or ear buds) should I be using?

Weigh the pros and cons when choosing headphones that go over the ear versus ear buds that fit inside the ear (also know as ear phones). The standard open-type ear buds may results in a need to increase the volume to hear music over background noise at a gym, for instance.  Headphones with some type of noise canceling or sound isolation work well to allow enjoyment of music at safe, lower levels, without interference from background noise.

One compromise: ear buds with soft tips that are sound isolating, so you can enjoy full ousnd at lower, safer levels. They can also be inexpensive. But keep in mind that using any kind of headphone or ear bud can be risky during situations where hearing is necessary for safety, such as when running or biking.

HEADPHONES
Brands: Shure, Sony, Extreme Isolation. These are great for stage, studio recording, or listening to music.

HEADPHONES THAT BLOCK OUT SOUND
Brands: Peltor, especially Peltor Kid Ear Muffs for teens at concerts. Also Aearo/EAR offers at good, sound-dampening headphone.

NOISE CANCELLING HEADPHONES
Brands: Bose, Sony, Logitech, JVC, Able Planet. Volume levels can be kept lower since ambient noise, such as from an airplane engine, is reduced. The cost is a bit more than standard headphones. They aren't recommended for professional musicians because they alter sound signals.

EAR BUDS
Brands: Future Sonics, Shure, Westone, Ultimate Ears, Monster, Etymotic Research, JH Audio, Sensaphonics, Senniheiser. The universal fit models offered by these companies offer good quality at less expense than models fro the pros, which are used by U2, Eric Clapton, Beyonce, Alicia Keyes, and others
-Be cautious of cheaper generic earphones. The sound quality is not very good and they must be turned up loudly to hear any bass, which can cause more hearing damage.

Musical Training Improves Memory?

New data indicates that musical training pays off later in life.  In comparison to their non-musical coevals, musicians aged 45-65 exhibit excellent auditory memory and greater ability to discern speech in noise, according to a Northwestern University study.  Eighteen musicians and 19 non-musicians were tested for speech in noise, auditory working memory, visual working memory, and auditory temporal processing.  The musicians, each of who had received musical training since age 9, outperformed the non-musicians on all tests except visual working memory (in which the groups' performances were equal).

The results suggest that practice in distinguishing complex structures of sound helps the brain fend off age-related changes in auditory function.


Published in ASHA Leader Magazine, July 2011