Drop in to Blackwood
Something fishy about Can:Do Hearing
We are pleased to announce some changes to our Blackwood clinic. From the beginning of May, we will be ensuring we have additional staff onsite at our Blackwood clinic on Mondays and Wednesdays to assist with drop-in requests. If you would like to pick up some batteries or have your hearing aids checked, repaired or cleaned, please feel free to stop by on those days. The goal is to provide you with the best support and assist you quickly and efficiently so that you are up and running in no time.
My name’s Sonic – a Siamese fighting fish – and my role is the Can:Do Hearing Office Gossip Specialist. As my name suggests, I’ve got great hearing and I’m always listening out for the latest juicy news from the team. Let me tell you, there’s much to share: Firstly, Holly is back on-deck as Team Manager, Audiology. Both she and Lauren recently visited Melbourne for a business conference and came back with a wealth of knowledge. Our Senior Audiologist, Alli presented a talk on complex auditory problems in children at a recent Audiology Australia conference and, by all reports, was amazing. Lauren is back consulting for those who’d love to come and see her; and we have recently welcomed Scott to our team who has come on board as our Business Operations Manager. But, the biggest news of all, Anna is pregnant! She’s expecting her second child in October and we can’t wait to meet the little bundle of joy.
The clinic will remain open Monday-Friday 9am-4:30pm and staff will still be happy to help you at any time for urgent matters in-person or over the phone on (08) 8178 3900.
Important Dates Loud Shirt Day – Friday 21 October
We would love to hear from you. For further information about our services or to book an appointment please contact us on; Phone: (08) 8100 8209 Email: info@candohearing.com.au Web: candohearing.com.au Post: 59-61 Grange Road, Welland SA 5007
facebook.com/CanDoHearing twitter.com/CanDoHearing We hope you’ve enjoyed catching up with the latest Can:Do Hearing news.
The team at Can:Do Hearing
Getting to know your local hearing healthcare provider.
Anna Fallah A little bit about you: I am an avid foodie and coffee lover. When I have some quiet time, I love to pick up a book and sip on a cup of tea. How long have you been at Can:Do Hearing? What is your role? I am the Customer Service Officer Coordinator and I will have been working with Can:Do Hearing for 10 years in June 2022. How/why did you come to be in the Hearing industry? I was originally employed by Can:Do 4Kids to assist with coordinating the reporting of community and disability support services funding, then transitioned to Can:Do Hearing. What do you love the most about working for Can:Do Hearing? I love getting to know our clients and being a part of their hearing journey. What is your favourite sound, and why? My favourite sound is laughter, because it makes my heart smile.
Can:Do Hearing News AUTUMN 2022 Welcome to the 2022 autumn edition of the Can:Do Hearing newsletter. For over a decade, Can:Do Hearing has been providing hearing solutions to the South Australian community and our profits have gone directly to support the vital work of our charities Deaf Can:Do and Can:Do 4Kids. We would like to share an update regarding one of our charities, Deaf Can:Do, the Royal South Australian Deaf Society. After close consultation with the South Australian Deaf community, the decision has been made to transfer Deaf Can:Do services to a different organisation called Deaf Connect, and the Royal South Australian Deaf Society will close. What does this mean for Can:Do Hearing clients? It’s business as usual for all Can:Do Hearing clinics. We are committed to providing high-quality, independent, and not-for-profit audiological services to South Australian adults and children for years to come. From the end of April 2022 all profits will support Can:Do 4Kids to maximise their impact for local children who are deaf or blind. We look forward to seeing you at one of our clinics soon. For now, we hope that you enjoy the latest edition of the Can:Do Hearing newsletter.
In this edition Hearing Health Starts with Awareness Hearing Through Bone Conduction Drop in to Blackwood Staff News
Hearing Health Starts with Awareness Written by Erin Walsh, Senior Audiologist.
Did you know that one in six Australians are deaf or hearing impaired or have a chronic ear disorder? Hearing Awareness Week, which was held during the first week of March, provided an opportunity for the almost 3.5 million Australians who experience some form of hearing loss to share their experiences and to express their needs to the greater community. The stigma associated with seeking advice regarding a hearing loss and hearing solutions is diminishing. This is partially due to increased awareness of hearing loss and its prevalence. This positive change in public attitude may have been spurred along by the growing number of celebrities with hearing loss who wear their hearing aids proudly such as Osher Günsberg, Halle Berry and Whoopi Goldberg to name a few.
Early identification of a hearing loss is beneficial to live your best life. Identifying a hearing loss as early as possible means that you can access hearing solutions, and improve your communication abilities as soon as possible. Denying, hiding, or ignoring hearing loss or communication difficulties can be harmful. Part of our job here at Can:Do Hearing is to change this conversation by empowering our clients with the confidence to address these challenges and to take the first step to improving their quality of life. We know that individuals with untreated hearing loss are at a greater risk of depression and isolation. Arguably more concerning, they are at a greater risk of cognitive decline and dementia. The key mission of Hearing Awareness Week is to improve the inclusion of Australians affected by hearing loss into society. No two people share the same experience and we celebrate the diversity of people’s challenges and perspectives. Increased hearing awareness leads to increased sensitivity to the experiences, needs, and aspirations of people with hearing loss. The mission is to spread the knowledge of what the daily lives of the affected Australians are like to foster their inclusion into areas of society. Often that first point of call is reaching out for advice, but for those who have already made that step, Hearing Awareness Week also acts as a reminder to regularly manage your hearing health; and remember, we are always here when you need us.
Hearing Through Bone Conduction Written by Jane Campbell, Audiologist.
Normally we hear sounds when a sound wave travels through the ear canal, hitting the ear drum which wobbles when struck by a sound wave. This movement in turn causes the middle ear bones, called the ossicles, to vibrate. The last of these ossicles is attached to your cochlea which is full of fluid and tiny little hair cells. As the last ossicle vibrates against the cochlea it causes a wave in the fluid, and the hair cells that sit on the bottom of the cochlea – like seaweed on the bottom of the ocean – move in a wave-like motion. It is this movement that is picked up by your nerves and brain and heard as a sound. Bone conduction, however, is the method of hearing by transferring sound through the skull to your cochlea. We assess bone conduction thresholds when we do a standard hearing test. People who have chronic ear infections, disruption of the ossicular chain or malformations of the outer ear and ear canal may be able to hear better using bone conduction compared to when hearing sounds normally through their ears. For these people, using a bone conduction hearing aid or implant may enable them to have better hearing compared to using a standard hearing aid. Even people without hearing loss can benefit from bone conduction hearing, with many bone conduction headphones coming on the market.
Both bone conduction hearing aids and bone conduction headphones sit on the mastoid bone of your skull, behind your ear, rather than in your ear, and transfer sounds via vibrations to your cochlea. The benefit of a bone conduction hearing device is that it keeps your ears free, this can be beneficial to cyclists or runners who can use bone conduction headphones to listen to their music, while still being aware of the traffic around them. Similarly, a bone conduction hearing aid sits on the mastoid bone and not on the ear, helping to keep ears well aerated and free of infections. Humans aren’t the only species that can use bone conduction to hear, too. Animals such as dolphins use bone conduction through their jaw bones to hear!
