People who are hard of hearing and their friends and relatives now can learn all they need to know about hearing loss in this easy to read guide. Newly updated and revised, Living with Hearing Loss takes the reader from A to Z on the kinds and causes of hearing loss and its common early signs. Written by Marcia B. Dugan, past president of Self Help for Hard of Hearing People (SHHH), this straightforward book provides thorough information on seeking professional evaluations and complete descriptions of hearing aids and other assistive technologies. Enhanced sections on the potential of cochlear implants and dealing with tinnitus distinguishes this very useful handbook. Readers also can take advantage of updated information on relevant Internet sites and a new list of resources on dealing with hearing loss. Living with Hearing Loss also suggests strategies for everyday situations and times of emergency. Chapters on speechreading, oral interpreters, assertive communication, and other tips for improving communication can enable people with hearing loss to make changes at work, home, and while traveling to cope with most situations. It can raise significantly the quality of the lives of hard of hearing people while also helping them to avoid dependency upon others.

'Highly informative, told with warmth and humour' - Adam Kay, author of This is Going to Hurt 'Heartfelt and hilarious - deaf awareness beautifully told through Sam's unique voice' - Laura Whitmore 'This book is important' - Mark Atkinson, CEO of the Royal National Institute for Deaf People 'Samantha is a strong and powerful woman who talks so openly about her life and about being a part of the deaf community. To have someone who wants to help and wants to make a difference is so important and Sam is that person.' - Gaby Roslin ----------------- This is an all-you-need-to-know book about hearing loss and deafness, including facts, experiences and words of wisdom from experts at the RNID, audiologists, deaf activists and people who use and teach sign language. Having been on her own deaf journey, Samantha Baines has met wonderful, interesting, courageous people of all ages who also happen to be deaf. In this book, alongside the experts, she weaves together their insights and advice and, importantly, teaches those of us who aren't deaf, what it is like for those who are. Along the way, she looks at: * The first signs of hearing loss * What is tinnitus? * What to expect at a hearing test * Will I lose my job? * Am I disabled? * What are hearing aids and why do you need them? * Deaf dating * Lipreading * What is sign language? * What not to say to someone with hearing loss * And much more... 'This is the book I wish I could have bought when the audiologist told me I needed a hearing aid, and I hope it can help you understand this new world you are stepping into. Welcome to the deaf club.' Samantha Baines

Living with Hearing Difficulties is a source-book for professionals who encounter and support individuals with hearing difficulties. It will also be of interest to people with hearing difficulties themselves and those close to them. The book highlights the concept of audiological enablement as being an interactive process requiring the active involvement of both clinician and patient. The thirteen chapters encompass four sections which broadly follow the categories of the World Health Organization's ICF (2001): Section 1 addresses types of hearing disorders, the impairments they cause and also the process of help seeking. Section 2 deals with the effects of hearing impairment on communication and psychosocial functioning. Section 3 considers the individual in their environment; their family, work, and leisure. Section 4 elaborates on the process of enablement in a non-prescriptive manner. The authors approach the problems and needs from the standpoint of what the patient/client is seeking. Enablement is seen as a team effort between the professionals, the patient and their family in an ever-changing environment. This entails using any relevant techniques to ensure the well-being of the individual with hearing impairment; that end remains very much their goal. The book also has a companion website www.wiley.com/go/stephens which hosts additional downloadable documents as well as a demonstration of the concept of the signal-to-noise ratio.

More than 48 million Americans suffer from hearing loss, and audiologists agree this is a national epidemic. LIVING BETTER WITH HEARING LOSS is a practical guide to daily life with hearing loss, covering topics from hearing tests and buying (and paying for) hearing aids, to deciding whether to get a cochlear implant, to navigating airports, job interviews, and first dates when you suffer from hearing loss. Useful and readable for the newly hearing-impaired, those who have been struggling for years, and their families. Author Katherine Bouton has also written Shouting Won't Help, a memoir of her adult-onset hearing loss.

Although millions of people could use good advice about hearing loss, it turns out that asking is difficult, and accurate advice is hard to come by. This book directly addresses the problem: it provides useful, first-hand advice from people who have experienced hearing loss themselves, along with accurate treatment information from a highly experienced audiologist. Prompted to write this book by a patient who thought the reality of hearing loss and its associated problems could only be truly understood by someone with personal experience, audiologist John M. Burkey gathered information from his own patients and their spouses. The Hearing-Loss Guide presents their candid recommendations for anyone who suffers hearing loss, as well as families, friends, and co-workers. The author opens with chapters on the basics of hearing loss, hearing aids and other devices, and treatments. He then turns to his patients, who discuss coping with hearing loss, the real-life consequences of losing hearing, how to get help, adapting to a hearing aid, and other useful topics. Family members also offer valuable advice. A resource guide completes this indispensable volume.

Older adults can stay healthy longer by avoiding injury at home. As we age, our sense of balance and our vision, hearing, and cognition become less sharp. Aging-related changes greatly increase our risk of injury. In Living Safely, Aging Well, nationally recognized safety expert Dorothy A. Drago spells out how to prevent injury while cooking, gardening, sleeping, driving—and just walking around the house. In the first part of the book, Drago describes the causes of injuries by type—falls, burns, poisoning, and asphyxia—and explains how to decrease the risk of each. She then explores the home environment room by room, pointing out potential hazards and explaining how to avoid them, for example, by installing night lights, eliminating glass coffee tables, and using baby monitors. Lively line drawings make it easy for readers to visualize risks and implement prevention techniques. Living Safely, Aging Well pays special attention to hazards encountered by people with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. A chapter devoted to health literacy helps people and caregivers make the best use of the medical care system and a chapter on driving helps evaluate when it is no longer safe to be behind the wheel.

In the United States, chronic diseases currently account for 70 percent of all deaths, and close to 48 million Americans report a disability related to a chronic condition. Today, about one in four Americans have multiple diseases and the prevalence and burden of chronic disease in the elderly and racial/ethnic minorities are notably disproportionate. Chronic disease has now emerged as a major public health problem and it threatens not only population health, but our social and economic welfare. Living Well with Chronic Disease identifies the population-based public health actions that can help reduce disability and improve functioning and quality of life among individuals who are at risk of developing a chronic disease and those with one or more diseases. The book recommends that all major federally funded programmatic and research initiatives in health include an evaluation on health-related quality of life and functional status. Also, the book recommends increasing support for implementation research on how to disseminate effective longterm lifestyle interventions in community-based settings that improve living well with chronic disease. Living Well with Chronic Disease uses three frameworks and considers diseases such as heart disease and stroke, diabetes, depression, and respiratory problems. The book's recommendations will inform policy makers concerned with health reform in public- and private-sectors and also managers of communitybased and public-health intervention programs, private and public research funders, and patients living with one or more chronic conditions.

Heredity, either alone or in combination with environmental factors, is the most prominent underlying cause of hearing impairment. Thanks in large part to positional cloning techniques, scientists have identified nearly 100 gene loci implicated in hearing loss since 1995-an extraordinarily rapid rate of gene identification. Genetic Hearing Loss

A practical hands on 'in the trenches' guide to mixing and live sound from an author who has a lot of experience in the field.