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Facing The Challenge of Hearing Loss is available here.

PictureWe are listening . . .
Thanks for coming by to visit. We're so pleased you did. Our desire is to help you and your family deal with your hearing loss by providing usable information and links to other web sites or resources for in-depth help.

We know how traumatic hearing loss is. It impacts not only the person with the loss but also their family, friends, and co-workers. As the familiar sounds of life around us begin to fade, we often feel "uncoupled" from our environment and very much alone. It's not uncommon to feel that "no one understands".

We Understand. We are in this struggle with you....learning to cope, to grow, to change our thinking about our loss and to appreciate our abilities. But we know this - we are valuable people, with valid feelings and needs that must be met. We have a contribution to make that no one else can, in changing attitudes and promoting opportunities for other hard of hearing people.

Now that we're acquainted, grab a cup of tea or a favorite beverage, and let's get to know one another. If you have a hearing loss or care about someone who has a hearing loss, you have come to the right place. Whether the hearing loss is minor, moderate, severe, or profound, this web site and Hearing Lose Association of America-Oregon (HLAA-OR) are FOR YOU!

Confronting Your Hearing Loss

Make no mistake, ignoring your or a loved one's hearing loss will negatively impact their and your quality of life.

Critical Steps

  1. Start Now! Delays are costly! Waiting can make it difficult to regain some of the speech discrimination you have lost as your hearing ability has declined. Waiting poses a threat to your job security, and makes communication and relationships much more difficult.
     
  2. See Your Primary Care Physician for an initial exam and a referral to an ENT (ear, nose and throat physician) if your insurance requires it. Your primary care physician can also give you a basic exam to determine if there are any conditions causing your hearing loss which can be readily treated such as wax in the ear canals or fluid in the middle ear. If you were told by anyone that you have “nerve deafness,” and there is nothing that can be done for you, seek another opinion—preferably from a physician who has expertise testing people with hearing loss.

  3. Then See an Ear Specialist such as an ENT (ear, nose and throat physician or Otolaryngologist) or an Otologist who can check to see if your hearing loss is caused by a condition that can be treated by medical or surgical means.
     
  4. Consult an Audiologist/Hearing Care Specialist for an Audiogram. Through a series of hearing tests, they will establish an audiogram for you that shows in visual form, a number of dimensions of your hearing loss.  Audiologists are highly educated and trained to determine the type and degree of your hearing loss, and whether you can be helped by a hearing aid (or aids), and what type of aid(s) would be best for you or your child. Check to see if the audiologist’s title includes the letters CCC-A (Certified Clinical Competence—Audiology) which indicates certification from the American Academy of Audiology. They also should be licensed in the state.

    Once you have an evaluation, you can then work with the audiologist who evaluated you or with a hearing care specialist. Hearing care specialists don’t generally have post-graduate degrees in audiology and therefore cannot do diagnostic audiological services. However they do have practical experience in the fitting and selection of hearing aids. They must also be licensed by the state and may be certified by the National Board for Certification in Hearing Instrument Sciences (BC-HIS). Contact the State of Oregon Health Licensing Office.

  5. Get your Hearing Aids. Your next destination is the office of an audiologist or hearing care provider who will work with you to select, fit and modify the appropriate hearing aids to accommodate the special characteristics of your hearing loss. They’ll also introduce you to the use of hearing aids and instruct you in their care and maintenance.
     
  6. Consider a Cochlear Implant if you can no longer benefit from hearing aids.  
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