HQ Magazine

HQ Previously CICADA magazine

TECHNOLOGY What state of the art hearing aids can do

AUTUMN 2012

FREE please take

Television's

Pocket Rocket

has taken on a new project!

CAP THAT! Captioning for literacy

OTOSCLEROSIS can send pregnant women deaf YOUR SIXTH SENSE How your ears keep you balanced - or not!

RACE CAR DEAFNESS The Jack Brabham Story Headquarters for Australians new to hearing loss

in this issue...

p8 Photo of Asher Keane by Anthony Keane

Jack Brabham

FEATURES

8 POCKET ROCKET Sydney mum,

Yvonne Keane, has turned her incredible focus and ability to make things happen to helping hearing-impaired babies and children learn to speak.

11 CAP THAT For most Australians

subtitles are only encountered on SBS. They are, however, critical to literacy for hearingimpaired children in the classroom.

14 RACE CAR DEAFNESS

Sir Jack Brabham's journey from race car champion to cochlear impants.

16 IS YOUR SIXTH SENSE SHAKY?

There is a very complex and clever mechanism in our ears which keeps us balanced. Unless, that is, you've got Meniere's disease!

p14

22 OTOSCLEROSIS

An affliction suffered by the lead character in TV series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, this condition often presents itself when women are pregnant.

REGULARS 6 NEWSBITES The latest news and technology snippets.

18 ASK THE EXPERTS Readers medical and technical questions answered.

20 REAL PEOPLE REAL STORIES

24 ARTS Deaf film director, Ayako

Imamura, explores the power of non–verbal communication between a deaf surf shop owner and his hearing customers.

26 SPORT

REVIEWS 12 TECHNOLOGY Do you have the very latest in hearing aid technology?

25 BOOKS 'N BLOGS

Inspiring tales.

23 RAISE THE PROFILE NZ’s first

deaf MP put hearing-impaired issues on the international map

Cover photo of Asher, Yvonne and Saskia Keane by Natalie Roberts, Hills News

Cicada Autumn 2012

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ed's letter Last year we were asked if we could include pictures of children with aids to help other children feel good about their devices so we were delighted to be able to do so on the cover and in our cover story p8.

Following our story on Tinnitus last issue we felt Menieres disease was another important topic, which we've addressed in our story Is Your Sixth Sense Shaky p16. Most people with just hearing loss (and a solution) have a good quality of life, but some with Menieres and its associated vertigo and nausea can have prolonged periods with no quality of life. Although R&D is underway to adapt implantable devices for balance problems, as well as hearing loss, there is no short term solution in sight.

On a different note, I'd like to congratulate Linda Doull - Chief Audiologist at Royal Perth Hospital. Linda recently retired after 25 years of working at the hospital. She has made a tremendous contribution to the profession, helping to set up one of the first cochlear implant programs in the state and initiating the WA CICADA branch.

Roberta Marino, our WA contributor says: “Thank you Linda for all your efforts! You have helped improve the life of thousands of people. You will be missed but we know you will enjoy this next chapter of your life.”

Other items deserving mention are the 2012 Graeme Clark Scholarship (see http://www.cochlear.com/au/community/ graeme-clark-scholarship for application details). And the NSW Smoke Alarm Subsidy Scheme (SASS). SASS makes available visual and tactile smoke alarms normally costing $400-650 for $50. We plan to provide more information about the various state schemes in the next issue of the magazine.

NSW SASS is administered by the Deaf Society. Applications opened last December with the first shipments dispatched in February. NSW readers should contact Greg Mills, Project Coordinator on gmills@deafsociety.com An Australian software program fast becoming the new international standard for prescribing hearing aids, developed by the HEARing CRC and its Core Partner the National Acoustics Laboratories, will be covered along side an article on Teleaudiology (remote mapping and testing) in our next issue.

Finally, the Libby Harricks Memorial Oration for 2012 will be presented by Dr Anthony Hogan on Sunday 29 April at the 7th National Deafness Summit to be held in Melbourne.

Details at www.deafnessforum.org.au Happy reading!

CICADA Editor Neville Lockhart nevillelockhart@cicada.org.au CICADA VIC Contributor Daniela Andrews daniela_andrews@optusnet.com.au CICADA WA Contributor Roberta Marino roberta@specialisthearing.com.au Published by

Writing, Editing, Photo Research, Design, Production & Advertising management Ph: 02 8095 9264 lmitchell@tangello.com.au hlowy@tangello.com.au Printed by Offset Alpine State CICADA Associations See cicada.org.au for groups in ACT, Gosford, Illawarra, Newcastle, Orange, West Sydney.

New South Wales CICADA AUSTRALIA INC. Secretary: Judy Cassell PO Box 5028 South Turramurra NSW 2074 Email: jcassell6@bigpond.com Queensland CICADA QUEENSLAND Secretary: Shirley Edwards 85 Crotona Road Capalaba QLD 4157 Ph/Fax: (07) 3824 5003 Email: lee14@tpg.com.au South Australia CICADA SOUTH AUSTRALIA Secretary: Raelene Harding PO Box 415 Angaston SA 5353 Phone: 0427 504549 Email: rmitchell@internode.on.net Western Australia CICADA CLUB W.A. INC. Coordinator: Lynette Fleming 33 Framfield Way Balga WA 6061 Phone: (08) 9349 7712 Fax: (08) 9349 9763 © Copyright 2012. The views expressed are not necessarily those of CICADA Australia Inc, the Editor or its agents, nor do they take any responsibility for the contents, errors or omissions.

CICADA AUSTRALIA INC. ABN 6317 2671 561

AUSTRALIA INC.

Your say

EMAIL: nevillelockhart@cicada.org.au MAIL: PO Box 5028, South Turramurra NSW 2074

These CICADA readers deserve their own story...

I would like to congratulate you on the content of CICADA magazine. I always look forward to reading it in its entirety and all the cochlear implant recipients in the Qld Outreach Program also love to read your articles.

We have been associated with the Himalayan country of Nepal since 2006 when, through our membership of the Brisbane-based Nepal-Australia Friendship Association (NAFA), we contributed to the sponsorship of a cochlear implant for a 3-year old girl in Pokhara, Nepal. Since then the program has grown both out of our partnership with NAFA, as well as our affiliation with Kopan Monastery in Kathmandu (www.kopanmonastery.com) to provide primary ear care and hearing services to several regions in Nepal, most of them remote village areas where health care has been extremely limited.

Hearing aids, implants, spare parts and assistive devices are now being sourced through donations and the generosity of others for the HearingNEPAL Program.

Sue Tuck Whitsunday Hearing

We love to hear stories of selfless support of people less fortunate than ourselves. If you would like to donate hearing aids, please send them to HearingNEPAL Program c/- PO Box 599 Cannonvale QLD 4802. To make a tax deductible cash donation visit www.nafa.org.au. - Ed.

Quality!

Congratulations on another information packed CICADA magazine, I read it from cover to cover. I have been to see my ENT and then my audiologist recently and it was very comforting to be sitting in their waiting rooms and seeing the CICADA magazines there. You and your team are doing a terrific job of keeping us all informed. We really appreciate all the work you put in to produce such a quality magazine.

Sue Daw OAM Better Hearing Australia Canberra

Professional value My nephew is an audiometrist and this year is doing his Bachelor of Audiometry degree.

Owing to my praise of CICADA magazine, he has asked me to nominate him to receive further copies.

Elaine

Stories on cicada.org.au

Very Impressive

In a letter in this summer issue of CICADA, Shiela Caldwell said she liked the article (in a previous issue) about managing someone who still asks you to repeat yourself, even after getting a hearing aid. My mother does this & I'd like to read that article too.

I expected that your website would enable me to find it; even perhaps have a link to previous editions of CICADA. But no such luck.

Could you please a) send me that info, and b) arrange for this functionality/content to be added to your website.

Much appreciated, Nerida

While taking my father to Australian Hearing, I picked up your magazine. Very impressive. I am currently employed with TLC Aged Care and have discussed your magazine with our General Manager. We have 120 residents which includes 28 beds reserved for Southern Health Transition Care program.

We would appreciate receiving 50 copies of the magazine on a regular basis, if possible, and believe it will benefit our residents, staff and their families.

June, Melbourne June we'd be delighted to send you copies. In fact this issue will be your first shipment! - Ed.

Nerida I'm sorry we didn't have the story up on the site. As a charitable organisation our web support is provided by a volunteer who also has a very busy job. In fact she is looking to hand the job on as she is struggling to get to it. If anyone wishes to volunteer please email me. - Ed.

Please let us know what you think or would like us to write about, research you are interested in or anything else that will make CICADA even more useful for you! Don't forget to include your name, suburb and state. Letters may be edited for space - Ed.

Cicada Autumn 2012

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newsbites World's tiniest microphone Bahram Azizollah Ganji from Iran’s Babol Noshirvani University of Technology has built a 0.5 mm squared capacitor microphone which could claim the world record for tiniest microphone.

The device, which includes the same micro-electromechanical systems approach as the microphones currently used in portable devices, could be used to build almost invisible hearing aids.

While no specifications have yet been revealed, the tiny microphone is described as highly sensitive and low-cost with low power requirements.

Most of the microphones used in hearing aids and smartphones range from a few millimeters squared to the size of a watch battery. But, demand for even smaller microphones is taking off as new potential applications are uncovered including non-intrusive heart monitors.

First FDA-Approved Study of Stem Cells to Treat Hearing Loss

Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, Texas and the Cord Blood RegistryÂŽ are launching the first FDA-approved, Phase I safety study on the use of cord blood stem cells to treat children with sensorineural hearing loss.

The study, which will use patients' stem cells from their own stored umbilical cord blood, is the first of its kind and has the potential to restore hearing. This follows evidence from published laboratory studies that cord blood helps repair damaged organs in the inner ear.

The year-long study will follow 10 children, ages six weeks to 18 months, who have sustained post-birth hearing loss. Children who are deaf as a result of a genetic anomaly are not eligible.

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Cicada Autumn 2012

If you have experienced bothersome tinnitus for at least six months, have some hearing loss and are from Sydney then you may be the ideal candidate to participate in treatment and TINNITUS STUDY NEEDS testing sessions over a six month period at Macquarie University in North Ryde.

It is believed about 17% of the world's population experiences tinnitus (ringing or buzzing in the ears) with 4% suffering significantly.

When it comes to treatment of tinnitus, many medical professionals are at a loss.

The HEARing CRC and the Department of Linguistics at Macquarie University are conducting a study on objective measures of tinnitus and tinnitus remediation.

The project aims to assess whether magneto-encephalography (MEG) can be considered an objective measure of tinnitus and its usefulness in tracking changes in the brain over time as people are treated for their tinnitus. MEG, a passive and completely safe form of scanning, is a neural imaging technique coming to the fore of cognitive research. Unlike MRI, it does not provide an image of the structure of the brain, rather it provides researchers with an image of the actual neural activity of the brain as it undertakes a task, millisecond by millisecond. The aim of the study is to assess MEG's ability to reveal the ways tinnitussufferers and non-sufferers differ by what their brains do rather than how they look.

Participants will be randomly allocated to one of two treatments: 1) a tinnitus-specific psychology treatment, which uses negative thought reduction, attention modification and relaxation techniques to help sufferers cope and function better with their tinnitus; and 2) Neuromonics, which is a therapy combining both counselling and a customised music device, utilising both masking and habituation techniques to reduce the experience of tinnitus.

Both treatments are provided free. Participants will receive a $50 gift voucher per MEG session. To find out more go to www.hearingcrc.org/research/projects/r131 or contact Christopher Sewell: (02) 9850 4246 christopher.sewell@mq.edu.au.

Need help to wake up on time?

Oricom have announced the addition of an alarm clock to their range with a vibrating function that is sure to wake even the heaviest of sleepers and the profoundly deaf.

Available in May from www.oricom.com.au, you can pop the travelsized alarm clock under your pillow if you don't want to wake the whole neighbourhood or you can sit it on your bedside table so you can view the time or temperature display.

Select one or all of the alarm modes: audio, bright flasher and vibration modes and with an adjustable tone control (low/medium/high frequencies) you can set it for the frequency you hear best. And to top it off - it is also an LED torch!

ACE harnesses Twitter for emergency warnings

music training has biological impact on aging A new US study published online in the journal Neurobiology of Aging offers biological evidence that lifelong musical experience has a positive impact on the aging process.

Measuring the automatic brain responses of young and older musicians and non-musicians to speech sounds, researchers in the Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory at Northwestern University discovered that older musicians had a distinct neural timing advantage.

"The older musicians not only outperformed their older non-musician counterparts, they encoded the sound stimuli as quickly and accurately as the younger non-musicians," said Nina Kraus, Northwestern neuroscientist and co-author of the study Musical experience offsets age-related delays in neural timing. "This reinforces the idea that how we actively experience sound over the course of our lives has a profound effect on how our nervous system functions."

According to Kraus musical experience selectively affects the timing of sound elements that are important in distinguishing one consonant from another.

"These are very interesting and important findings," said Don Caspary, an expert on age-related hearing loss at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. "They support the idea that the brain can be trained to overcome, in part, some agerelated hearing loss."

Source: http://medicalxpress.com

Silent Tweets, a revolutionary and potentially life saving new technology, has won a prominent Telstra Innovation Challenge Award.

Australian Communication Exchange (ACE) developed Silent Tweets, a free smartphone application, as a visual alert system equivalent to audio broadcast. The textbased broadcasting system will be used to communicate emergency messages such as bushfire alerts, power outages, weather and traffic reports, gate or platform changes for airports or train stations and notifications at sport stadiums.

Users of the App can view and post messages that are geographically-targeted and time specific. The App is available on both iPhone and Android smartphones and ACE are looking at making it available for Blackberry and Windows Phone 7.

For more information go to www.silenttweets.com.au

New improved iScan

Siemens has launched a new improved version of its ear impression scanner, the iScan. The iScan digitizes ear impressions in 3D in just a few minutes. The resulting 3D model is displayed on the computer screen and is accurate to a tenth of a millimeter. Scans can then be sent online to hearing aid manufacturers to order devices completely customized to the patient’s ear canal.

The new version is faster than its predecessor, which was introduced back in 2005, and uses an open data format ensuring files can be used with all hearing aid manufacturers. Scanned ear impressions are archived on Siemens’ servers for 36 months for easy retrieval.

Cicada Autumn 2012

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Australia's Pocket Rocket is still as Keane as mustard but now her passion has a new focus, Helen Lowy discovered.

Better known to some as television’s ‘Pocket Rocket’, Sydney mother-of-two, Yvonne Keane has turned her incredible focus and ability to make things happen to helping hearing-impaired babies and children learn to speak.

In 2003, Australians watched in delight as Yvonne burst into their homes on DIY renovation program Hot Property and earned the moniker ‘Pocket Rocket’ for her diminutive size, larger-than-life energy and no-nonsense attitude to getting things done. Not only did this young and singularly self-assured woman with no previous building experience want to build a massive 800 square metre mansion, she had appointed herself owner/builder and site manager after talking to

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Cicada Autumn 2012

builders, doing the sums and deciding she could do it much cheaper (while hubby Anthony worked full-time and studied part-time). Having just sold her successful teenage cosmetic business SugarBaby, she was ready for a new challenge. As she took on burly subcontractors, dug ditches, moved bricks, got dirty with waterproofing adhesive and helped lay 7.1 kilometres of floorboards, the show’s ratings soared.

The project was completed within the program’s 16-week schedule and within the $300,000 budget. She so impressed the TV execs that they asked her to cohost the next series!

After more TV work and stints writing home renovation magazine columns, fast forward through to 2008

when Yvonne and Anthony found out they were expecting their first child.

At 39, Yvonne was looking forward to the baby’s arrival. Towards the end of her pregnancy, when Anthony would arrive home from work, he’d sing out “Daddy’s home” and the baby would start kicking madly, which she assumed meant he was reacting to sounds outside the womb.

So imagine her reaction after giving birth in March 2009 when Asher failed his infant screening test for hearing.

Yvonne recalls “This was a terrifying time. The six week wait for his second test was agonising. I felt as if I needed a case worker to help me understand the quagmire of tests Asher had to undergo.

It was all so confusing and scary.”

Photo of Yvonne Keane by Peter Collie

When baby Asher failed his second test, helping her son became the biggest project of her life.

She immediately enrolled him at the early intervention centre Hear the Children that had been running for 36 years within the St Gabriel’s School for Hearing Impairment in Castle Hill, close to their home in Sydney’s northwest. He was nine weeks old.

Yvonne is passionate about Hear the Children. “It’s a free-of-charge program that gives deaf children from birth to six years the gift of clear speech through a specialised type of therapy called Auditory-Verbal Therapy. Ninety per cent of kids who receive this therapy in their formative years will learn to speak clearly and naturally and develop language just the same as any other child their age. The results are so amazing you often can’t tell they have a hearing impairment!”

According to Sydney-based world authority on hearing loss, Professor Bill Gibson, “Research has shown that the Auditory-Verbal approach has led to better spoken language outcomes for children with hearing loss than other approaches.” With babies now tested at birth for hearing loss, early diagnosis means this critical and lifechanging therapy can begin from just six weeks old.

Because it emphasises hearing rather than vision, with the use of powerful hearing aids or cochlear implants, Auditory-Verbal Therapy teaches children how to maximise their listening skills in order to develop age-appropriate spoken language, without sign language or lip reading.

This prepares pre-schoolers to attend mainstream school and to integrate and participate in the hearing and speaking world, enabling them to live enriched lives. Because parents and family members are the primary models for listening and spoken language development, the therapy also teaches them how to be the child’s primary language teachers.

“Auditory-Verbal Therapy is nothing short of miraculous. I’ve seen kids whose parents have been told they will never speak, happily talking, singing

and laughing with the other kids at playgroup, as well as any child. Some children show progress against all odds, like the three-year old completely non-verbal little girl who after only six months of therapy ran up to me at playgroup exclaiming “Look Mummy, a baby”. That brought tears to my eyes as she was talking about my new baby girl.

“Despite how frightening it can be to discover or suspect your child has a disability, research shows that early detection and diagnosis within the first

play and other everyday situations. For example, I always sit next to my son, not in front of him, so when I speak to him he has to listen rather than look at my lips. It excites me that he’s learning now how to enjoy in the future things like talk back radio or the dialogue in a movie, even if he can’t see the character’s face.”

Several months into Asher’s therapy, Yvonne burst into tears after receiving a letter stating Hear the Children would close the following month due to lack of funding. “I hadn’t realised how important the service had become in such a short period. I immediately called our local MP and the other parents.

Within a few short weeks we had formed an incorporated entity, secured some financial support and the new Hear the Children was born. It just made sense that we would take on this wonderful service and continue it as a community run business model.”

Without Yvonne’s dedication to marketing and fundraising the service could not have survived. “The project has taken me hostage in the very best

six months of life can provide a child with the opportunity to meet normal developmental milestones.

Children most naturally acquire language between zero and four, which is why early intervention is so critical, because poor language skills lead to bigger handicaps later in life like behavioural, social and learning difficulties.”

“And, as a parent there is so much to learn, like techniques on how to integrate therapy into Asher at playgroup (top) and with his dad, Anthony.

way. I’ve fallen in love with it, despite the difficulty of juggling being a full-time mum with what feels like a double-time job. I see the proof of the difference we make every day, with each conversation I have with my son.”

As a full-time volunteer for Hear the Children, a typical day for Yvonne includes meetings and appointments, all with baby-in-tow, using her marketing skills to fundraise and launch new and exciting projects all focussed on making a difference. Her tireless work and getup-and-go attitude has been publicly rewarded, but what is most poignant for her is the fact her three-year old son Asher, who was born with moderate bilateral hearing loss, is able to speak like any other little boy his age.

The driving force behind the remarkable results the children achieve is Head of Clinical Services and muchloved therapist Charmaine MercerMoseley. Charmaine provides weekly one-on-one therapy sessions at the centre or at home if required and runs a fortnightly playgroup. In a leap of faith, without knowing whether they would be able to pay her, she decided to follow her heart and take the risk to stay with Hear the Children because Yvonne and the other mothers were “so passionate about keeping the service going, so determined and so united”.

Running since 1974, Hear the Children pioneered Auditory-Verbal Therapy in Australia. It earned an international reputation for its work in early intervention for children with hearing loss and subsequently developed a specialised teaching curriculum known

Asher at one year old

as the St Gabriel's Curriculum, used by early intervention centres worldwide. A software diagnostic tool, the curriculum follows normal developmental milestones and tracks the particular needs of young children with hearing impairment so that any area of weakness can be identified and given extra attention. An individualised education plan is prepared for each child with specific long term goals determined by the therapist together with the parents.

Renowned for its empathetic and nurturing culture, Hear the Children constantly operates at capacity, but Yvonne is determined to find a place at the centre for every child that needs one.

They currently have eighteen children and are hoping to take on a part-time therapist to support Charmaine as the community need increases. The centre

Auditory-Verbal Therapy Services The aim of Auditory-Verbal Therapy (AVT) is to develop a child’s spoken language through listening using parents as the child’s main educator and role model. Children learn to use their hearing aids or their cochlear implant to listen to their own voices, the voices of others and the sounds of their environment. AVT also follows natural language and speech development.

Through one-on-one time with your child on a daily basis you will help them integrate hearing, language and speech into their communications and environment in day-to-day life.

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Cicada Autumn 2012

NSW/ACT: Hear the Children Rouse Hill www.hearthechildren.org.au Catherine Sullivan Centre Strathfield www.catherinesullivancentre.org.au The Shepherd Centre Sydney, Wollongong, Canberra www.shepherdcentre.org.au SCIC MREIC Bronte www.scic.org.au RIDBC North Rocks www.ridbc.org.au VIC: Taralye Blackburn www.taralye.vic.edu.au

also provides pastoral-style support services including liaison with other agencies involved in the care of the child. The Hills District where Hear the Children is located has the largest percentage of children aged zero to six years in Australia and with deafness the most common disability in newborns, she anticipates an increasing need for the service in her community.

Laughingly Yvonne says “I’m still not sure what I want to do when I grow up.

But I do know everything I have learned so far will help me continue to effect change in the world. After all the children of today are the leaders of tomorrow!”

The Australian government provides young people with funding for hearing aid upgrades, replacements and maintenance or the replacement of damaged or obsolete cochlear implant speech processors and implants until their 26th birthday. Yvonne’s long term goal is to lobby for lifetime assistance for those with hearing loss, regardless of when they acquire the impairment. As she says, “What happens when a hearing aid needs to be replaced or updated or a condition becomes suitable for a cochlear implant? Without funding this can cost tens of thousands of dollars, out of reach for most people.”

Yvonne has been recognised for her extraordinary services to the community with the Hills Shire Council’s 2012 Australia Day ‘Citizen of the Year’ Award, as well as the 2011 National Volunteer Award (Education) to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the United Nations International Year of the Volunteer.

QLD: The Hear and Say Centre Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba, Cairns www.hearandsaycentre.com.au WA: Telethon Speech and Hearing Wembley www.tsh.org.au SA: Cora Barclay Centre North Adelaide www.corabarclay.com.au Can:Do 4Kids Hove www.cando4kids.com.au New Zealand: The Hearing House Auckland www.hearinghouse.co.nz

Captioning

helping teachers boost literacy and inclusion

Cap that!

For most Australians subtitles are only encountered on SBS. But for the 12,000 hearing-impaired children (83 per cent of whom attend mainstream school), captioned audiovisual resources in the classroom are vital for literacy.

According to Alex Varley, the Chief Executive of Media Access Australia

(MAA), many teachers don’t realise captions are there, or how extensive the resources are, while research amongst school children with hearing loss shows that most won’t ask for captioning to be turned on for fear of being singled out.

To raise awareness of this issue, last year MAA and the Australian Communication Exchange (ACE) launched the capthat! campaign asking teachers Australia-wide to turn on captions in the classroom to boost literacy and inclusion for students.

Website – capthat.com.au – offers downloadable teaching resources such as lesson plans and activity sheets that incorporate captions and information for educators about how to find captioned resources and how to turn on captions on TV, DVDs and online videos.

Varley said “What can really become just a simple habit for a teacher could mean the difference between inclusion and exclusion for some students.

“Captions help all students link

together spoken and written language and improve their comprehension and vocabulary. Australian teachers have a great opportunity to make a very real difference for their students.”

By simply turning captions on, teachers can help bridge the gap for deaf and hearing-impaired students while benefiting the whole class. Captions help students, for whom listening, even with hearing aids, implants or other devices can still be difficult, tiring and stressful, particularly over long periods and where background noise and conversations reduce the effectiveness of their devices.

Debbie Ashpole, principal of Penshurst Public School in southern Sydney, which has eight hearing-impaired students, says she is encouraging her staff to use captions for the benefit of all students including the 80% per cent that come from non-English speaking backgrounds.

“It’s not something we’ve actually thought about...and I thought that’s so sensible, why aren’t we doing this?”

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technology

Claims once Who could have imagined even 20 years ago the incredible advances and innovations in hearing aid technology? Today there is something for every type of hearing loss, age, lifestyle, budget and personality from virtually invisible, wireless and self adjusting devices to waterproof, shock-resistant solutions and everything in between. While we haven't tried them, unlike Wilson's Common Sense Ear Drums from 1899, we are more inclined to believe the claims made by today's manufacturers!

Sucker for Sport?

In June last year Siemens released the Aquaris™ in the UK - a completely waterproof, shock and dust resistant hearing aid. When connected with a Siemens miniTek™ it wirelessly syncs all your high tech gadgets like TV, mobile phone and MP3 player. Available from Australian Hearing, Bay Audio and National Hearing Care, this new technology is ideal for water–obsessed Australians.

The Miracle-Ear ® Aquaví™ is another recent release, although currently only available in the US. Designed with sealed housing that makes it waterproof, dustproof and virtually shockproof, like the Siemens Aquaris, it can be submerged in up to a metre of water for up to 30 minutes.

The Aquaví also integrates technology that is claimed to virtually eliminate embarrassing whistling feedback, boosts sound quality in sound-rich environments like concerts and automatically detects and reduces sudden loud sounds to a comfortable level.

In 2011, US company SeboTek introduced a Moisture Protection System as a standard feature of their top-of-theline Sebo HD hearing aids. Using nanotechnology, a superthin polymer coating that repels moisture is sprayed onto the device via vacuum deposition, unlike traditional waterproof coatings that muffle the microphone and speakers. As a result, the entire device is waterproofed without affecting reception or sound quality. The company call it a 'bulletproof' hearing aid.

It's not conceit it's discreet!

With Sonic Innovations' Ion family of hearing aids (left) people will notice that you’re hearing better, not that you’re wearing a hearing aid. Available from Hearing Life, the Ion range of receiver– in–canal hearing aids are tiny, lightweight open ear hearing aids, which allows both natural and amplified sound to enter your ear canal. Ion amplifies the high pitch sounds you are missing without overwhelming you with the sounds that you are not. Since your ear canal remains open, you won’t experience a

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Cicada Winter 2011

QUACKERY

1899 black and white print ad from Kentucky USA

'plugged' feeling and your voice won’t sound unnaturally loud. Ion also includes special feedback management technology that prevents the whistle or squeal that can occur with other hearing aids.

Another in the class of 'world's smallest hearing aids', Oticon Intiga released in late 2011 was designed to motivate people reluctant to wear hearing aids. This fully wireless and binaural hearing solution is suitable for people with mild to moderate hearing loss who are new to hearing amplification.

Its ultra-small, organic shape hides well behind the ear and the almost invisible receiver wire and ergonomically shaped speaker ensure fitting comfort and retention throughout the day. Its surface is smooth and unbroken with invisible microphone openings and no buttons to attract attention.

Then there is the SoundLens by Starkey Laboratories Inc. that they describe as a 100% invisible, depending on your ear's anatomy, and fully programmable hearing aid. The custom digital aid also features a noise reduction and speech

preservation system designed to filter out background noise.

The AMP™ (right) from Starkey Laboratories Inc. is another new, award-winning device in a class of its own as it is not actually a hearing aid - rather a personal audio amplifier. It is an invisible and affordable solution for first timers who want to hear better but aren’t sure they are ready for a hearing aid. Suitable for various levels of hearing loss, the AMP™ fits snugly into the bend of your ear canal where no one can see it and acts like a hearing amplifier. Comfortable and removable, its programming method means theoretically you could walk out of your ihear clinic wearing the device in a single visit. Check www.starkey.com.au for independent clinics.

Big not always better for severe hearing loss Until recently, discreet hearing instruments were only available for mild to moderately severe hearing loss. Now those with severe hearing loss have a practically invisible option. The discreet, ultra small, yet powerful Siemens Pure Carat™ receiver-in-canal hearing aid specifically designed for people with very high demands in speech understanding. In addition to its state of the art hearing technology, it has an inbuilt telephone coil that streams sound from induction loop systems often found in theatres and places of worship directly into the instrument. Its rechargeable battery charges overnight without being removed from the case and an optional remote control can wirelessly connect to nearly every modern electrical device from mobile phones to MP3 players and TVs.

Panasonic - a new player The newest entrant in the digital hearing instrument market is Panasonic, a brand best known for its audiovisual equipment. Their R1-W Series of hearing products, designed to appeal to a broad user base with mild to severe hearing loss, features a battery that can last up to 300 hours.

The Hearing Hub, an optional accessory, allows users to wirelessly connect to Bluetooth-compatible mobile phones and has a voice memo option for recording reminders. Also available is an audio transmitter, which plugs directly into a television's audio-output port to transmit sound wirelessly through the Hearing Hub.

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Cicada Autumn 2012

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medel.com

Surfers Paradise 1966: The photographer seems to have caught Brabham adjusting a loose ear plug during preparation for an international event in his Repco Brabham car!

As part of research for a book about Professor Bill Gibson and his cochlear implant patients, Tina Allen recently met Sir Jack Brabham, one of the world’s most competitive and colourful motor racing legends.

The first driver in history to be knighted for his services to motorsport, I was Sir Jack’s fourth appointment for the day at his home on the Gold Coast. A reflection of his era, he is the quintessential gentleman. He is happy to sit with me in his lounge room surrounded by a lifetime of racing memorabilia and share his journey which led to what he calls his 'race car deafness' and receiving his cochlear implant.

At 86, the three times world champion remains one of racing’s most popular personalities and is even more revered overseas than he is at home. Although retired from racing for more than four decades, and despite other health issues, he still travels the world as an ambassador for motorsports and fan of historic races and race meetings.

Sir Jack has battled with deafness since his mid-forties, around the time he retired from motor racing in 1970.

It was then that he realised it had been gradually going and started wearing hearing aids (the old bulky types that

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Cicada Autumn 2012

helped but didn’t mask out background noise). He thinks the trouble began in his early years of racing – industrial deafness caused by sitting inches from unbridled racing engines - but didn’t affect him until later on.

Over the years he tried different hearing aids, but “unfortunately they amplify everything that you don’t want to hear”. Now, thanks to a cochlear implant in 2006, he is enjoying a greatly improved quality of hearing.

Usually the decision to get a cochlear implant is not taken lightly and it can take some time to retrain one’s brain to hear electronically. Not a man to let things stand in his way, and even though already in his 80’s, within weeks of his first appointment with Professor Gibson and being assessed as suitable for an implant, he was in surgery.

His first encounter with motor racing began in 1946 with ‘oval’ or speedway racing, the notoriously dangerous but highly entertaining dirt track racing of miniature home-built open-wheeled midget cars. Popular in Australia at the

RACE CAR DEAFNESS THE JACK BRABHAM STORY time, these races attracted crowds of up to 40,000.

Keen on engines from an early age, young Jack, the only child of a greengrocer, drove his father’s trucks around the yard becoming acquainted with their workings. At 15 he left school to work in a garage and studied mechanical engineering at night school.

At 18 he joined the Royal Australian Air Force wanting to learn to fly, but was instead trained to fill a wartime shortage of flight mechanics. “I was three months off going to fight when the war ended, but I enjoyed it. People went to be taught discipline and respect, which is lost today. I also made close friends.”

In 1946 after two years as ground crew, he thought he might be able to use his mechanical experience from the Air Force to earn a living and formed a one-man motor engineering business performing service and repair work on neighbours' cars. That same year his American friend and midget racer, John Schonberg introduced him to speedway racing. Sir Jack explained: “Johnny started racing in Australia after the war and he got me interested in it as a mechanic. We built our own race car, but he had a couple of accidents and his wife stopped him from

Photo of Sir Jack and Olivia Newton-John by Jason McCormack

racing. He left me with the car, so I had a go myself.”

On his third night on the track he won and was hooked. He raced on tracks in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane, and won the NSW, South Australian and Australian Championships in 1948-49.

In these early days of racing, Sir Jack recalls, “My ears used to ring for days afterwards. In those days we didn’t know about hearing loss.” He told various doctors about the ringing and they suggested ear plugs, but these weren’t much good. “Today’s ear plugs are compressed so they fill the spaces in your ears. In those days we wore wax and cotton wool ear plugs – if you yawned or moved your head around, the ear plugs collapsed.”

By the early 1950s, he was looking elsewhere for racing opportunities and ventured into hill climbing and road racing. It was also when he formed a friendship with Ron Tauranac with whom he would establish Motor Racing Developments in 1961, the company that produced Brabham race cars.

As his driving style matured and he gained success with road racing, he decided in 1955 to sell up his mechanics business and move to England with his wife and son Geoffrey to try his luck as “that’s where all the serious motor racing was happening”. He went with the intention of staying a year, but it took him 17 years to return home!

Sir Jack’s career spans the Golden Age of post-war motorsports. His accomplishments put him among the best drivers and team owners in the history of the sport. In addition to his three Formula One titles (1959, 1960, 1966), he also won the Formula One Constructors’ Championship in 1966 –

with the Brabham BT19 built with his partner Ron Tauranac - and 1967, when he and New Zealander Denny Hulme dominated the series with their three-litre Repco-Brabhams against Lotus, Ferrari and Maserati. His triumph in 1966 also makes him the only driver in history to have won a World Championship in a car of his own construction.

National Living Treasures: Sir Jack and Olivia Newton-John

In an interview in 2002 Sir Jack was quoted: "The highlight of my career was racing my own Formula One cars. In 1967 Denny Hulme won the Formula One championship as our second team driver, and I was second, which gave us the constructors’ championship for a second time. All this was achieved with an Australian-built engine made by Repco in Melbourne. This, of course was a great Australian achievement, and I do not think it will be done again.”

Sir Jack's considerable achievements have been recognised with many honours and awards including Australian of the Year (1966), an Order of the British Empire (1967), Knighthood (1979) and Order of Australia (2008) for his services

to motor sports. He is a member of the Australian Hall of Fame, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame and the International Sports Hall of Fame. He has also been honoured by the Boy Scouts, Australia Post and, in March this year, by the National Trust in their Woman’s Day readers’ choice awards of ‘National Living Treasures’. He has been featured in the ABC documentary The Wide Open Road and the TV series Australian Story.

In addition to his numerous successes in Australia and New Zealand, his three World Championship and two Constructors’ titles, he can also lay claim to the 1965 British Saloon Car Championship, the 1966 Formula Two Championship and four European Formula Two titles.

His three sons, Geoffrey, Gary, and David, have all been involved in motor racing. “All three of them made it their career for a while. My oldest son Geoff, who is now 53, raced for 22 years in the same environment [as me], but it was different [because his ears were protected]. David has been involved for 25 years with a racing career in the UK and America.” A third generation Brabham is now winning on the race track with Geoff’s 18-year old son Matthew making a name for himself as a Kart racer.

As Sir Jack shows me his family photographs, he is clearly proud of the achievements of all his grandchildren.

However, he is concerned about the younger generation and the effects of loud noise from rock bands etc.

"My hearing went down very slowly and I didn’t realise that the loud noises were affecting my hearing. My problem was purely through noise. My advice to young people is to look after their ears and hearing."

In February 2006 at the Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsports, Sir Jack was walking around the pits and garage areas talking to drivers and mechanics. He stopped to admire a 1925 Chrysler ‘Bluebird’ replica belonging to Ray Jones, who was there with his brother Alan (president of CICADA Australia Inc. at the time). Even though Sir Jack was wearing two hearing aids, he was clearly having difficulty hearing and required his companion to convey messages. At a function that evening Alan decided to seek out Sir Jack to talk to him about his hearing loss. He told him about his cochlear implant and his surgeon Professor Bill Gibson, offering to send him information. By April 2006 Sir Jack was undergoing surgery in Sydney and was switched on that same month. The procedure went smoothly and after nine months of practice he was enjoying the benefits. He regularly visits the Sydney Cochlear Implant Centre for testing and reviews with Professor Gibson and the audiologists.

Cicada Autumn 2012

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IS

YOUR

Work/Life balance.

It is a modern catch–cry we are all familiar with. Physical balance, however, is something most of us take for granted and rarely hits our radar despite being considered the sixth sense after hearing, sight, smell, taste and touch .

We rarely consider the important part hearing and sight play in helping humans stand upright and navigate their spatial world. When our ears don’t function properly, our balance can often be compromised and when our vision cannot compensate, our world may not only become shaky but can spin out of control.

Our inner ear has two functions – the first is hearing (cochlea) and the second balance (labyrinth).

Balance is a delicately choreographed arrangement that takes sensory information from a variety of organs and integrates it to tell our body where it is in relation to gravity and the earth.

The inner ear’s labyrinth is our vestibular (sense of balance) organ and controls how our head is orientated and how our body moves in space. The semicircular canals are three tiny circular tubes at right angles to each other that contain fluid and sense changes of movement in the body. When we move our head, the rolling fluid inside these canals tells the brain exactly how far, how fast and in what direction the head is moving. Changes in movement create waves within the canals. These waves create electrical impulses that are picked up by tiny hair cells at the base of the canals and sent to the brain via the vestibular nerve.

Our eyes respond to signals from the vestibular nerve, moving in the opposite direction of our heads to keep our view steady.

If our brain knows the position of our head, it can work out the position of the rest of our body. But if our vestibular system is disrupted all hell can break loose!

“Being deaf I still consider I have 100 per cent quality of life. But, with

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Cicada Autumn 2012

Meniere’s, when it is active, I consider my quality of life as being as good as zero,” says Norm Showell, a member of the recently– established Sydney Meniere’s Support Group.

It was created to help sufferers of the condition manage and minimise their symptoms and the secondary effects through shared experiences.

In 1861 French physician Prosper Meniere described a condition where a person experiences distressing episodes of vertigo (dizziness), tinnitus (abnormal noise in the ear), a feeling of fullness or pressure in the ear and fluctuating, progressive low-frequency hearing

loss.

Thus, Meniere's Disease (MD) describes a disorder of the inner ear where messages to the brain from both the vestibular and auditory nerves are interrupted, causing loss of balance and hearing.

Research has linked the symptoms of MD to transient increased internal fluid pressure in the labyrinth and cochlea.

The inner ear contains two types of fluid – endolymph and

SIXTH perilymph – separated by mucosal membranes. In MD there is too much endolymph fluid, so the condition is referred to as endolymphatic hydrops. In addition to the impact this has on our vestibular system, this build up of fluid also disturbs the auditory nerve endings causing hearing fluctuations and eventually permanent damage.

The exact cause of MD is not known. However, many factors appear to cause excess fluid in the inner ear. The most common are auto-immune reactions and allergic responses, imbalances in our involuntary (autonomic) nervous system, blockages and/ or damage to the endolymphatic structures, dietary deficiencies, viral infections and circulation irregularities.

MD may develop slowly over time with a gradual loss of hearing or suddenly with a vertigo attack (a form of dizziness where your surroundings appear to spin) severe enough to cause nausea and vomiting, accompanied by a hissing or roaring sound and one or both ears feeling full to bursting point. Attacks can come without warning and be minutes, hours or days long, leaving the person exhausted and with mild deafness and unsure footing. As the disease progresses, the episodes of vertigo can become less frequent and the deafness more severe.

According to Meniere’s Australia, MD affects one in every 600 Australians and is generally diagnosed around the late thirties to early fifties, a time of life when people are busy with family and careers. Estimates vary, but around 90 per cent present with the condition in one ear when first diagnosed, with

SENSE A BIT SHAKY? around 50 per cent going on to develop it in both ears.

Currently there is no known medical cure for MD. For most people the condition can be managed to some degree through medication, hearing aids, diet, stress reduction, exercise programs, natural therapies and as a last resort surgery. Studies are under way in the US on implantable devices which act to replace the function of the semicircular canals thus restoring balance, but these are years away from being clinically proven and commercially available.

Seeking medical advice and getting an early diagnosis is important so you can begin treatments that may help reduce the long term effects of the disease.

Diagnosis also often comes with a sense of relief that you can now label your condition and that the sounds in your ears are not crazy delusions and you are not alone in your fear of a vertigo attack outside of the relative safety of your home.

The Meniere’s Australia website (www.menieres.org.au) is a wonderful resource for anyone that suspects they have MD or have already been diagnosed. It has a useful self-diagnosis checklist if you suspect you have symptoms of MD and outlines the three stages of the condition. In the initial stage, because of the intermittent nature of the attacks and because they can disappear for weeks, months or years, it is often difficult to diagnosis. At the point where you realise these attacks are not a passing thing and something more serious, often by the time you recover enough to present for the diagnostic tests, the ear has returned to normal. By the time you reach the second or ‘classic’ stage most doctors are able to diagnose MD without any special tests, although these are recommended to confirm the diagnosis,

exclude other conditions with similar symptoms and to assess the severity of your condition. These may include blood tests, a CAT or MRI scan, new tests of vestibular function recently developed at the University of Sydney, as well as physical examination of the ears, head, neck and nervous system.

Managing and coping with MD is easier the more you understand the condition and the options available for treatment. Family and friends can also play a constructive support role if they understand how the condition affects you and the lifestyle adjustments you need to make to manage the symptoms.

Again the Meniere’s Australia website has a number of personal accounts from members of their experiences

and solutions that have worked for them. Symptoms at different stages can impact negatively on many facets of your life from work to family and social relationships. But by learning as much as you can about the disease and talking to health professionals about management strategies and medication options, you can regain enjoyment in life.

Your most critical self–help tools are modifying your diet and managing your stress levels. In addition to medication, sound therapy and balance therapy, which retrains the body to balance using

alternatives to visual cues, can also be helpful.

Eating too much salt (sodium) increases fluid retention in the body, so cutting back salt in your diet may work for you. In Australia, the recommended daily intake of sodium is 0.9–2.3 grams per day, yet on average we consume 4–8 grams per day. A 5-gram teaspoon of salt (sodium chloride) contains 2 grams of sodium, so you can see we don’t need much. But, as 75% of our salt intake is hidden in processed foods including things you wouldn’t imagine contain a lot of salt like bread, cheese, sweet biscuits and even chocolate, reduction requires some significant changes in eating habits.

Other things which can exacerbate symptoms and can trigger tinnitus or vertigo attacks include alcohol and caffeine (found in tea, coffee, chocolate, cola and energy drinks) and smoking because they can constrict blood vessels and affect the fluid balance in the body. Emotional and physical stress can also result in fluid retention.

The Meniere’s Australia website provides more detailed information on medications and treatments including surgical procedures for cases where symptoms cannot be managed by a combination of lifestyle changes and medication. It also has many free downloadable resources and information on reduced–salt products and recipes.

A ‘must see’ Australian-produced DVD for anyone with MD and their family is called Dizzy Terror ― Meniere’s Disease Awareness (available through most MD support groups). Also highly recommended is Lynn Polson’s book, Understanding Meniere’s Disease.

Sources: www.menieres.org.au, Gray's Anatomy: The Anatomical Basis of Clinical Practice.

Meniere's Australia International Symposium: Featuring Natasha Harrington from Meniere's UK and Prof. Bill Gibson.

When: 2−4.30pm Thursday May 10. Place: Chatswood RSL Club, 446 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood NSW. Cost: MA Members $15, Non−MA Members $25, Professionals $50.

Cicada Autumn 2012

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ask the experts Q A

With today’s vast range of options, how does one decide what is the best hearing aid?

Emma Scanlan: The first step is a comprehensive assessment of your hearing loss and communication needs and then a full discussion with a skilled professional of the goals you want to achieve. The range of suitable devices will be narrowed by the type and degree of hearing loss. For example, severe and profound losses require more powerful devices which will usually be larger.

Your lifestyle and the specific situations in which you would like assistance from the hearing aid will further identify options for consideration. If you lead a very busy life and find yourself in many challenging listening environments with lots of noise and people, then your needs will likely be quite different from someone who likes to live the quiet life, listen to the radio and garden. Sometimes ear health, comfort and personal preference will help determine the style of the hearing aid (eg, behind the ear, in the ear, in the canal, open fitting). Then budget and management of the aid need to be considered: do you want a remote control or would you like the hearing aid to do most of the work? Do you want to be able to connect the hearing aid to the TV, mobile phone or laptop via Blue Tooth or a streamer? Your audiologist will make a recommendation based on all these factors, so try to think about what your needs are before your appointment and have a list of questions ready to make sure you come out with the device that is right for you.

Q

I am hoping to travel overseas in the next few months. Are there special precautions that I should take, particularly when going through airport security systems with my cochlear implant?

Roberta Marino: A little preparation will take the worry out of travelling with a cochlear implant.

Before you go it is worthwhile arranging specific insurance for your device. Make sure you have a sufficient battery supply,

A

power adaptors for different countries, a de-humidifier (for countries with high humidity), a storage facility for your device and a spare processor with your latest program/map.

Research and carry with you a list of overseas or interstate contacts for manufacturers and implant clinics, just in case. Make sure you have a Medic Alert Bracelet or Necklace in addition to a Patient Identification Card (detailing your clinic, surgeon and emergency contact details). If you can, arrange to have this in the languages of countries to which you will be travelling.

While travelling carry your spare processor with you or in hand luggage.

At the security gates take off your device and place it in a tray with your keys and mobile. You may hear a buzzing noise as you move through the gates – this will not damage the implant. Let the flight staff know you have a cochlear implant and make sure you turn it off during take off and landing. If you want to enjoy the in-flight entertainment, try getting an adaptor for headphones so you can plug your device directly into the in-flight sound system. Carefully assess whether it is safe to wear your device during physical activities such as rock climbing, skiing or watersports. Bon Voyage!

Q

I have new hearing aids and I am bothered by the sounds of my own chewing. If I am with someone else, I have to stop chewing to hear them talk. Is this normal?

Emma Scanlan: A common issue that people report with new hearing aids is that internal noises such as chewing are uncomfortably loud.

Sometimes if the problem is minor, it can just be a case of getting used to the new sound and feeling. However, if the problem persists and is interfering with the benefit you obtain from the aid, it is more likely to be due to the way the hearing aid or earmould is sitting in the ear canal. Most hearing aids or earmoulds will have an air vent built into them to try to alleviate a blocked feeling, to let

A

Are you an expert who'd like to join the panel? Email the editor

Emma Scanlan Principal Audiologist Australian Hearing

some natural sound in and reduce the 'occlusion effect’ of having your ear canal blocked that can also result in your own voice sounding much louder. If you explain your experience to your hearing aid provider, they can adjust the aid shell or earmould to improve your comfort and hearing aid benefit.

Q

Is it true zinc supplements enhance the recovery of patients who develop sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL)?

Melville da Cruz: Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) is a term to describe a dramatic decline in hearing over a period of hours or days. The usual outcome is little or no recovery or further decline in hearing.

Some presentations are due to an acoustic neuroma, trauma, infection, autoimmune disease affecting the inner ear or circulatory disorders resulting in an inner ear stroke, but in most cases no specific underlying cause can be found.

Several treatments have been proposed such as steroids, infusions of dextran and heparin, carbogen inhalations, histamines, calcium channel blockers and several antiviral agents have all been tried, but no treatment has resulted in a consistent recovery of the lost hearing.

In a Taiwan study of 66 patients, researchers found a somewhat greater chance of recovery in the zinc supplemented patients. However, the sample size is too small to make firm recommendations about general treatment of SSNHL patients. Further investigation with a larger trial will need to be conducted. This may involve several centres simultaneously gathering a more substantial volume of data.

In Australia, the current recommendation for SSNHL is to regard it as a medical emergency and seek urgent medical attention. The initial

A

Assoc. Prof.

Melville da Cruz Cochlear Implant Surgeon

treatment would be a course of high dose oral steroid for a period of 10 days. If there is no recovery, as is often the case, a dose of steroid injected into the middle ear through the ear drum should be considered. Further investigation in the form of a blood test, thyroid and immune function test and a MRI of the inner ear should be carried out in time. Long term follow up will be required to manage the residual hearing loss with a hearing aid or in the case of bilateral SSNHL, a cochlear implant.

Q

There are US reports that newborn screening fails to detect up to a third of babies that have hearing loss. Is this the same in Australia?

Melville da Cruz: Universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) is very successful in detecting sensory neural hearing loss at birth. However, some hearing losses can develop in the first few months or years of life. The success of 'pass' screening at birth can lead to a false sense of security with parents and professionals alike – it is important for parents to be vigilant and if they suspect their infant has developed hearing loss they should investigate with a professional.

A

Q A

What are the differences between Dry Brik and Metal Can for storing hearing aids and implants?

David Herridge (HABEX): Dry Brik is a very efficient desiccant that removes organic odours as well as moisture however when spent it cannot be regenerated by heating in an oven.

The metal can desiccant is less aggressive and does not remove organics; when the crystals change colour they can be reactivated by heating in the oven at 105–150 oC for 2 hours.

Heat and moving air within a sealed compartment make the drying process

Roberta Marino Senior Audiologist Specialist Hearing Services

more effective and quicker. Dry & Store also has a UV lamp killing 99% of common bacteria found in the external ear canal, scalp and hair.

Most electronic devices benefit from Dry & Store treatment – some users put their mobile phones in as well as hearing devices.

Q A

Does artificial grass affect hearing aids or cochlear implants due to static buildup?

Cochlear Ltd: Static electricity is present in many everyday situations such as putting on or removing clothes over the head and getting out of a vehicle. While electrostatic charge has the potential to damage electronic circuits, Cochlear implants and speech processors have had many improvements in recent generations of technology to protect against such an event. As a precaution, you should touch something conductive like a metal door handle before the CI system contacts any object or person.

Prior to engaging in activities that create extreme electrostatic charge (eg, children playing on plastic slides), the sound processor and headset should be removed. Rubber material such as a gymnastic mat is more conductive, especially if enriched with carbon material, so there is less potential for electrostatic discharge (ESD). It is important to remember that implants incorporate ESD protective circuitry and provide a high degree of protection against damage. Seek advice about your generation of technology from your clinician if you are concerned, however there is no specific risk with artificial turf.

SEND YOUR QUESTIONS TO OUR EXPERTS:

PO Box 5028, South Turramurra NSW 2074 or email neville.lockhart@cicada.org.au

Cicada Autumn 2012

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REAL

people stories

There is nothing like reading real life stories to help you feel you're not alone.

Dream comes true for 91-year old David Archer of Camden in NSW is proof that you’re never too old to realise a lifelong ambition. Two and half years ago he received his first cochlear implant followed by a second six months later.

His immediate reaction to having his hearing restored was that at last he could reignite his dream of becoming a pilot!

His love of flying dates back more than 70 years when he joined the air force at the start of World War II. “All I wanted was to be a pilot and I passed all my tests until it came to the hearing tests,” he said. “When they knocked me back [as a pilot] I just exploded. I was absolutely mad.” Fitted with hearing aids he contented himself with the “next best thing”, becoming a flight instrument specialist.

David Archer, featured on the ABC's 7.30 Report, building the Archer Diamond at his Camden Nursing Home

When his wife died suddenly six years ago, friends gave him a small aircraft to build to keep him busy which someone

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Cicada Autumn 2012

came along and bought. So he decided to start from scratch and has built a singleseater CASA registered plane he calls the Archer Diamond.

After his test flights are complete and he clocks up 24 flight hours, Mr Archer plans to use the plane to deliver medical supplies to people in remote parts of the state. “What a wonderful feeling it would be to be able to help people in need.”

Most people don’t notice she’s deaf Like Mojo Mathers, who became New Zealand’s first deaf Member of Parliament in November 2011, 27-year old New Zealander Angela Rickson is another person who has not let being deaf prevent her from doing her job!

After a year at a vet clinic spent training for her national certificate in veterinary nursing, she joined a Wellington veterinary hospital where she has worked for the past four years as a senior nurse. Next year she is hoping to start a diploma in veterinary nursing.

Her boss describes her as “inspirational”. He and the team have never seen her deafness as a handicap.

They’ve had to find other ways to train her, concentrating on internet training, but otherwise they’ve found no difficulty at all working with her. “She’s conscientious, determined and has an evil sense of humour. The staff really like her,” he said. Another colleague adds, “I totally admire her for what she does.

Most people don’t actually notice that she’s deaf.”

Angela, who went to a normal hearing school and grew up with a hearing family, initially had hearing aids in both ears, but at 14 and with deteriorating hearing she received a cochlear implant.

She was one of the first people in Christchurch to get a newer version of the implant. “They used to be great big, ugly things and I refused to get one until they told me this was coming out,” she said. “I was one of the guinea pigs” and after her implant went well more people started getting them.

With the implants she says she can pretty much hear everything, but being born deaf, cannot say whether it was the same as what “hearing people” hear. “I don’t do well in crowds, but if it’s oneon-one and I know the person it’s not too bad. I can lip read as well.” At work she said sometimes hearing phone messages was difficult but nothing really prevents her from doing her job well.

“The thing with me is I’ve never really wanted to be deaf. I didn’t want to do anything related to being deaf. I was determined to be as normal as I could be.”

Source: The Wellingtonian Dancing will never be the same The UK's So You Think You Can Dance finalist Kirsty Swain, 30, has been partially deaf since birth however was only diagnosed when she was 12 years old. As a child she felt excluded and embarrassed to wear her hearing aids. As an adult hearing aids continued to prove a problem for Kirsty’s active lifestyle as

a dancer, teacher and performer. Until recently Kirsty has danced without sound because she couldn't find a hearing aid that could withstand the sweat or had the shock resistance necessary for rigorous dancing. As a result her dancing career has been shaped by her struggle to hear rhythm, learning to dance by music vibrations and copying others.

Kirsty was one of the first in the UK to receive an Aquaris hearing aid which is completely waterproof and shock resistant. “I can run along hearing everything, without the slightest problem. I’ve been swimming with it and couldn’t believe how amazing it was. I could hear people chatting beside the pool as I swam underwater.

I can also run and jump in the shower without thinking.” Kirsty also has Bluetooth® technology which wirelessly communicates sound between her hearing aid and television, and MP3 player. “It also syncs with my mobile phone – the other day I was running along, and was able to answer a call at the same time, something I’ve never been able to do before.”

Kirsty is determined to be a positive role model, demonstrating hearing loss should never stop you from fulfilling your dreams.

Giving birth results in deafness Imagine waking up in the hospital after giving birth and not being able to hear anyone around you. For Heather Simonsen in the US, this became reality after delivering her third child.

Heather realised her hearing was fading with her first two pregnancies.

With her third child, she went suddenly deaf overnight after delivering the baby.

The first sounds of life are miraculous for almost every parent, and Heather was excited to experience all of the first noises with her children, but with each new delivery, her hearing disappeared a little more. "It's very disconcerting," she said.

"I didn't know what was wrong."

With each pregnancy, her ears felt clogged and sounds would come and go. She went to see an ear, nose and throat specialist, who told her she was beginning to lose hearing in her left ear and would soon need hearing aids. "I could tell when I was losing hearing. Gradually I would have these symptoms, like ringing in my ear."

Heather accepted it and figured it was something she would have to live with.

She was thrilled to learn she was expecting her third child, but hours after delivering in the hospital, Simonsen's doctors came in to speak with her and she couldn't hear what they were saying.

"I could tell they were talking to me, but I could not hear them at all," she said. "I could tell that they were speaking more loudly, but I could not understand what they were saying."

Her doctor recommended she see a

surgeon at the University of Utah, who diagnosed her with a condition called Otosclerosis; a genetic hearing condition that affects the third hearing bone. The bone becomes fixed to the surrounding bone so that it cannot vibrate and transmit sound.

Something with Heather's pregnancy and delivery made the condition dramatically worse. "We don't know why it happens more with pregnancy, but we have found a relation with, for whatever reason, in patients who already have the problem of hearing loss, it seems to be accelerated during pregnancy," said Dr. Kevin Wilson, and Otolaryngologist with the University of Utah.

In Heather's case, she did not know she had otosclerosis until she became pregnant, but the condition is more common than one would expect.

As much as 10 percent of the population may have it but have not exhibited severe enough symptoms to warrant a diagnosis.

In addition, the condition is more common in young women. However, hearing can be improved with hearing aids or surgery.

"We lift up the ear drum and actually remove the third hearing bone, then drill a small hole in the inner ear and replace it with a prosthetic bone; a titanium piston prosthesis going from the second hearing bone to the inner ear and bypassing the problem," Dr. Wilson said.

There are risks with the surgery; however, it has a 90 percent success rate. Heather opted for the operation, which allowed her to once again hear the sounds her children make. "I can hear better than I've been able to hear in probably a decade," she described.

"Hearing my baby cry is wonderful because I know I can respond."

Source: Article by Jennifer Stagg ksl.com on 17 November 2011

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Otosclerosis During the first three seasons of the TV series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, the character Gil Grissom suffered from otosclerosis, which he inherited from his mother. At the end of the show's third season, Grissom underwent a stapedectomy to correct it!

Professor Michael J. McKenna, of the Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, describes otosclerosis as the process of bone remodelling in the otic capsule (the skeletal element enclosing the inner ear mechanism).

While bone remodelling, a skeletal process removing old bone and replacing it with new bone, is normal and necessary in the rest of the body it is abnormal and undesirable in the otic capsule. This bone remodelling often causes the auditory ossicles - the three small bones in the middle ear known as the malleus (hammer), incus (anvil) and the stapes (stirrup) - to become locked in position and less able to pass on sound vibrations to the inner ear.

Most cases of otosclerosis involve only the stapes (pronounced "staypeas") resulting in moderate to severe conductive (mechanical) hearing loss.

If the otosclerosis spreads to the other

middle ear bones and/or the inner ear, nerve damage may result in profound to permanent sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). Mixed impairment (abnormality in the middle and inner ear) is common.

Even though there are about 1 in 200 people with the condition, Associate Professor Melville da Cruz of Sydney University advises most have unaffected hearing because the stapes footplate, and/ or cochlea have not been modified.

A variety of factors can cause otosclerosis, including genetic mutations, infection with the measles virus, stress fractures in the otic capsule and autoimmune disorders. There is also a hereditary aspect in about 70 percent of cases. The condition usually presents around age 20, but may occur as early as 15. It is rarely seen in children.

Women are twice as likely as men to be affected and it is often first noticed or may worsen during pregnancy. The condition usually occurs in both ears and is most common in Caucasians.

There is a possible link between otosclerosis and low calcium levels in the body, because the condition can develop or worsen during pregnancy. There may also be a link between the condition and oral contraceptives, as some women find their condition deteriorates when these are prescribed.

An early and common symptom is ringing or rushing sounds (tinnitus) reported in up to 75 percent of cases. The most noticeable symptom is progressive loss of hearing. In some cases an early period of rapid and continuous deterioration in hearing is followed by a long period of stability. In others, there may be steady decline in hearing with additional, occasional rapid losses such as can occur with pregnancy. A feature of the hearing loss in about 80 percent of cases is the ability to hear speech better in noisy surroundings. And around 25 to 30 percent of cases experience balance problems or dizziness, particularly when bending down.

What can be done about Otosclerosis?

Conductive hearing loss produced by stapedial otosclerosis can be helped by the use of hearing aids in one or both ears or with stapdectomy surgery which Assoc. Professor da Cruz says often can improve hearing to normal levels.

Stapes surgery (stapedectomy) was developed in the late 1950’s and is now practiced widely throughout the world. This delicate microsurgery performed under local anaesthetic can restore hearing by freeing the stapes and replacing it with an artificial stapes. A successful stapedectomy can restore hearing for many years, although it is not uncommon for the artificial stapes to become dislodged or for further development of the otosclerotic bony growth to continue and re-affect the hearing.

The cochlear hearing loss produced by otosclerosis, however, is more resistant to treatment. And while it is rare for otosclerosis to produce severe hearing loss Assoc. Professor da

Cruz explained "in these cases a cochlear implant is very likely to restore the hearing thresholds greatly."

According to Professor McKenna developments in bone physiology and pharmacology now make prevention of SNHL from otosclerosis a realistic goal.

While sodium fluoride has been prescribed for decades in the treatment of SNHL caused by otosclerosis, Professor McKenna warns the only published double-blind placebo study revealed limited effectiveness in a minority of subjects.

However, he says a number of compounds have been developed recently to inhibit bone remodeling and are used clinically for a variety of bone diseases.

Zoledronic acid, which has particularly potent effects, Professor McKenna believes is a very promising candidate for therapy of otosclerosis.

Sources: www.vicdeaf.com.au, www.ent.com.au, Hearing Health, a US Deafness Research Foundation publication

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raise the profile First Deaf MP On 26 November 2011, Mojo Mathers' became New Zealand’s first deaf MP, not just a success for the Green Party, but a cause for celebration for the country’s 400,000 who battle with some form of hearing impairment.

Profoundly deaf since birth, 45-year old Mathers, a mother of three, said she hopes her new role would double as an inspiration for others with disabilities.

Co-leader of the Greens, Russell Norman said of Mathers’ election, ''It is a great day for democracy. It means our democratic system will be required to reach further than it has. Because Mojo is in there and some changes will have to be made, [New Zealanders] will get access to Parliament in a way they haven't up to now.”

What ''changes'' are required to aid her arrival into Parliament are still being worked out, but she is looking forward to the challenges that await her. ''There are many barriers to democratic participation for disabled people,'' she said. ''I hope my presence in Parliament will result in improved accessibility and access to political information for everyone, including those with a hearing impairment.''

She added she was committed to being a strong advocate for those with disabilities, citing a recent Human Rights Commission review that identifies disabled people as the most disadvantaged minority in New Zealand. ''As a deaf person who lives and breathes green issues, I am a strong advocate for inclusion for everyone.''

Campaign Tackles Chronic Ear Disease in Aboriginal Kids Otitis Media (also known as middle ear infection or glue ear) is a fairly common disease in children generally.

But according to the Department of Health and Ageing, the prevalence, recurrence and degree of infection in Aboriginal people is significantly higher than in the general population. In remote Aboriginal communities the condition affects 20 per cent of children compared to less than one per cent of children in urban areas.

If left untreated, ear infections can lead to hearing loss which may limit a child’s capacity to develop socially and emotionally. Ear infections can also adversely affect educational outcomes and are the cause of the bulk of hearing problems faced by Aboriginal people, even into adulthood.

On 1 February, Minister for Indigenous Health, Warren Snowdon announced the Australian Government would be investing nearly $10 million in funding to support the Care

for Kids’ Ears campaign, the first national campaign to target Indigenous ear disease.

The objective of the campaign is to teach Aboriginal families about how to correctly care for kids' ears and the importance of hearing in enabling kids to get a strong start in life. The campaign booklet 'Strong Hearing, Strong Start' and website www.careforkidsears.health.gov.au provide parents with simple instructions on how to identify ear infection, seek effective treatment and importantly, how to prevent the disease.

Health workers have been armed with new resource kits that deliver clear messages and images to help explain to carers and parents about the signs and symptoms of ear disease. In most cases, early detection is critical to the successful tackling of early developmental issues.

Updated guidelines for dealing with chronic ear disease among Aboriginal children in remote areas have been developed by the Menzies School of Health Research.

Associate Professor Amanda Leach says the disease has severe effects on sufferers, "It is a bit like putting both your fingers in your ears, and that's sort of the minimal amount of hearing loss these kids have. Trying to learn another language or hear people speaking to you in a background of noise is very tough for these children."

US non-profit community organisation Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services has found a unique, effective way to teach children about the dangers of noise-induced hearing loss and responsible use of MP3 players.

Part of their Dangerous Decibels Program, they visit local schools with a retrofitted mannequin with prosthetic ears and a sound meter named TODD. Short for Turn Off Dangerous Decibels, TODD “listens” to children’s MP3 players and tells them how loud they are. An August 2010 study published by the American Medical Association indicates one teenager in every five shows signs of hearing loss. MP3s can easily generate sounds that reach 100dB and can cause permanent damage after just 15 minutes.

Unfortunately, in many cases, this damage may not become apparent for years. So the importance of educating children on the potentially devastating effects of noise is critical.

TODD is Teaching Teens

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arts Coffee and Pencil It Doesn’t Matter How People Communicate

For deaf film director, Ayako Imamura, it doesn’t matter how people communicate. “We don’t have to stick to vocal communication or sign language.

It is wonderful that we are eager to tell someone about ourselves and that we have someone to talk to.”

Tatsuro Ota, the subject of her latest documentary Coffee and Pencil, is the deaf owner of a surf and Hawaiian goods shop in Japan. The unusual way he communicates with his hearing customers through the use of gestures and by writing on paper inspired her to make a movie about the power of non-verbal communication. “It is just like the communication that occurs between Japanese who cannot speak English and Americans who do not know Japanese. They talked equally!”

From the time he was seventeen Ota wanted to own a surf shop. A keen surfer, he tried to get a job shaping boards but no one would take him on because of his deafness. At 41 he found someone who would and after several years and a stint studying in Hawaii, in 2007 he opened Surf House Ota. For the first couple of years business was slow and he struggled with getting hearing customers until he came up with a unique idea. When a customer enters his shop, he pours coffee, offers it with a gesture and shows the memo, “This is Hawaiian coffee. Please have some.” And then he tells them with a written sign, “I am deaf. Please write down when you need me.”

That’s how he and those surfers started a conversation through writing. Today his shop is crowded.

As a school girl, 32-year old Imamura was inspired to become a film director by E.T., the first movie she ever saw. In those days there was no captioned TV so her father decided to rent her a foreign sub-titled movie and the story of friendship between an alien and a boy deeply touched her. When she was 19 she studied film making in the US and when she is not teaching sign language she makes documentary movies about deaf people. “I would like to tell their dreams and wishes to as many people as I can. And, I would like to help build a society where everyone lives together however he or she is.”

Lately, she has been doing research in areas hit by the recent devastating earthquake. "[In the disaster] many people were anxious as they were unable to obtain information because of their hearing problems. I'd like to convey their situation [in my films]," she said.

How hearing loss changed Beethoven’s music Ludwig van Beethoven had a very common form of hearing loss that today would be easily corrected with digital hearing aids.

However, according to new research published in the British Medical Journal, his hearing loss may have profoundly influenced the style of his music throughout his life.

Analysis of selected compositions shows a distinct evolution in his music from his early life through the 25-year period of his gradual hearing loss until he went completely deaf.

The study examined the German composer’s use of high notes throughout his career, paying attention to the fact that when he first lost hearing for high frequency notes his compositions began to rely on middle and low frequency notes. Yet after he went completely deaf he wrote the late string quartets Opus 127 to 135, which use high notes liberally. The interesting find was that after he completely lost his hearing he started to compose internally in his head and the high notes returned into his works.

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books 'n blogs The Book Depository As they say practice makes perfect or at least close

to it! For those who don’t have the opportunity to regularly practice listening with family/friends or simply prefer to practice to their own timetable, audio books are an ideal solution. Plus they also help hearing aid and implant users get more comfortable with electronic speech sounds like those experienced when using the phone, mobile or listening to radio.

One of the best sources of audio books, and at competitive prices, is international online bookseller The Book Depository (www.bookdepository. co.uk). Based out of the UK, they provide free shipping worldwide and have one of the world’s largest selections of audio books (in the vicinity of half a million titles for adults and children including fiction, non-fiction, as well as popular television series).

Free Downloadable Tinnitus eGuide

For those that suffer from tinnitus, it can be a source of endless torment and a continual drain on quality-of-life. Yet many sufferers don’t seek help. A new, free, easy-to-download eGuide is now available, providing accurate, authoritative information that will help you better understand and cope with the condition.

Your Guide to Tinnitus is the latest of seven eGuides on hearing-related topics, published

by Better Hearing Institute, a US non-profit organisation that conducts research and provides hearing health education to help people with hearing loss benefit from proper treatment.

Written by Dr. Richard Tyler of the University of Iowa, an authority on tinnitus, Your Guide to Tinnitus helps readers

understand what tinnitus is; what causes it; different types of tinnitus; the impact tinnitus has on sufferers’ lives; the connection between tinnitus and hearing loss; current treatment options that make tinnitus more manageable; and actions people with tinnitus can take to help themselves.

“Although there is currently no cure to eliminate tinnitus altogether, there are things that sufferers can do about it,” says Dr Tyler. This eGuide provides information on tried and proven therapies that have helped innumerable individuals reduce the impact that tinnitus has on their lives.

To download your copy, visit www.betterhearing.org (under Tinnitus).

Dr Norman P. Erber is a researcher and academic with 40 years experience in the education and rehabilitation of children and adults with impaired hearing.

He has developed many auditory assessment and therapy procedures, as well as training methods for parents and teachers, and is the creator of the Helos hearingloss simulator. Released in November 2011, his latest publication focuses on the development of listening skills for hearing-impaired children, which are the basis for successful spoken language, communication and conversation.

Covering a wide range of practical listening activities that can be applied during everyday interaction with a deaf child, it is written for teachers, parents and health professionals.

Recurrent themes include adult-child interaction, careful observation of communication behaviour, adaptation to the child's abilities, introduction of complex listening tasks to challenge the child and application of effective communication strategies. The book contains not only basic activities for listening practice, but also proposes methods for adaptive auditory assessment, conversationbased therapy, telephone-communication training, self-help communication strategies for children and use of a hearing-loss simulator to develop speech and language clarity in communication partners. It shows how adults can become better communicators and how they can help hearing-impaired children maximize their listening skills. Many of the teaching/therapeutic methods are based on evidence obtained from research studies. Other methods are based on practical experience obtained in pre-schools, classrooms, clinics and parent-advisory centres. References to supporting literature are provided throughout the text.

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sport XVI Australian Deaf Games – Geelong 2012

The official placings for the Cup were: 1. Victoria 2. New South Wales 3. Queensland 4. South Australia 5. West Australia 6. ACT Victorian Sports Minister Hugh Delahunty presented the Athlete of the Games Trophy to Jack Besley who dominated the Golf event with an eight under par tournament which featured a sizzling 66 on the final day at the tough Thirteenth Beach Golf Links. Geelong Mayor John Mitchell presented the NSW Men’s Golf team with the Team of the Games trophy in recognition of their outstanding performance.

Deaf Sports Australia President, Brent Phillips presented the 2011 DSA Sports Awards to: • Brian Lockyer - 2011 DSA Male Athlete of the Year • Jamie-Lee Lewis - 2011 DSA Female Athlete of the Year • Network Ten - 2011 DSA Media Award • Swimming Australia - 2011 DSA Organisation of the Year • Anne Jeavons - 2011 DSA Volunteer of the Year Eight days of fantastic competition were brought to a close with the announcement that South Australia and the city of Adelaide will host the 2016 Australian Deaf Games.

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Photographer: Edan Chapman

The pinnacle of deaf sporting and cultural events in Australia, for the first time in almost 30 years the Australian Deaf Games (ADG) were hosted by Victoria. Held from 14-21 January, the Games attracted over 1,000 participants and visitors. Sixteen sports were represented including four new demonstration sports – Futsal, Mixed Netball, Rugby 7s and Touch Football.

The coveted John M Lovett Cup (formerly the ADSF Cup) was won by host State Victoria with DSRV president Grant Roberts accepting the trophy from Jill Lovett to the applause and cheering from Victorians in the crowd.

In navy shirts from VIC L to R: Stephen Swann, Brian Adam, Ayden Graham, Egon Lucic, Denis Rousch, Glen Flindell. In white from NSW: Joshua Sealy, John Lui. In maroon shirt from QLD: Jamie Zafir. For more ADG pictures go to: http://edan-chapman.artistwebsites.com/

Deaf Tennis Australia at the ADG

Tennis at the 2012 Australian Deaf Games involved three intense days on the Geelong Tennis Club blue Plexicushion courts. All competitors displayed admirable fortitude and competitive spirit, battling the 30+ degree weather, high winds and each other. With the new competition format every match counted towards both individual and team standings, which made for some close battles for players of all standards.

The Edith Bryan Cup (Women’s team event) was a closely fought event, dominated by Ayami Sato (NSW) who won individual Gold in both the singles and doubles (partnered with Maria Jordan also from NSW). Despite Maria claiming the consolation singles event for NSW, the New South Wales team was unable to match the depth of the winning Victorian team, who finished with three players (Fiona Goldab, Kathy Sakellarios and Penny Gillett) ranked in the top four in the singles.

In the Cohen Cup (Men’s team event), honours were shared between players from Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales and New Zealand.

Glen Flindell (VIC) captured the individual Gold in both the singles and doubles, but overall it was team depth that again won the day for Victoria. Congratulations to Leniker Thomas (NZ) for winning the A-grade consolation singles and to the youngest player in the event Oliver Dunn (VIC) for winning the B-Grade consolation singles.

In the Mixed doubles, Ayami continued her dominance pairing with Leniker Thomas to outclass NSW young guns Heather Bowie and Albert Nguyen. Congratulations to Heather on being awarded the Allen Mann encouragement award.

CAN YOU HELP??

John Lui (NSW) and Glen Flindell (Victoria) are representing Australia in tennis at the Asia Pacific Deaf Games. Currently ranked No. 9 and No. 22 internationally in singles and No. 20 and No. 6 in doubles respectively they have a good chance of winning a medal in either singles or doubles but need some financial assistance to get there! If you can help please go to www.cicada.org.au for information on how to donate.

We'll keep you updated with how the team go!

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