Currently viewing Vol. 3 • Issue 4 • 2016

A Counterpoint to the PCAST Recommendations

The recent PCAST recommendations contain important errors that decision-makers should recognize before moving forward with regulatory changes in hearing healthcare

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Features

A Counterpoint to the PCAST Recommendations

The author believes that OTC/DTC hearing aids have their place. However, for the majority of adults with mild-to-moderate age-related hearing losses, a guided process including fitting verification and auditory rehabilitation is needed to achieve maximum benefit with amplification. In this paper, the author gives a point-by-point argument against the PCAST’s recent conclusions and recommendations.

Hearing Aid Delay and Current Drain in Modern Digital Devices

Key considerations when hearing aid engineers design new features are processing time (delay) and battery consumption (current drain). There are not many studies that have investigated delay and current drain in modern digital hearing aids. Therefore, the purpose of this report is to provide benchmark and comparative data on these variables as acquired in the context of a yearly AuD student assignment.

NORMAL CENTRAL AUDITORY PROCESSING WITH ABNORMAL P300 RESULTS

Robert Ivey has been evaluating the P300 response since the 1980s at the University of Western Ontario. As an audiologist he was interested in the aspect of attention acquisition via subtle auditory cues (i.e. auditory cueing) in children having difficulty in school and its connection with auditory processing difficulties.

Innovative Sound Therapy Strategies for Tinnitus

Michael Piskosz writes that wireless streaming of sounds has revolutionized sound therapy for tinnitus patients by enabling them to select the sounds they prefer based on any number of factors at the press of a button. This article discusses innovative ways of using sound therapy with modern technologies.

A New Wireless CROS and BiCROS Solution

The folks at Siemens and Signia tell us about a new wireless CROS and BiCROS solution for those with unilateral hearing loss.

Columns

Other People's Ideas

What impact will PSAP/hearable devices have on the practice of audiology? Through some timely blogs from our friends at HearingHealthMatters.org Calvin Staples is hoping to start a conversation among the readers of Canadian Audiologist as to what will come of the recent PCAST report.

Striking the Right Balance

Lisa Koch, AuD,  discusses what she feels is the general scope of practice audiologists should consider when including vestibular rehabilitation in their practice.

The Way I Hear It

Gael Hannan points out that consumer advocates want to work with the hearing health industry to bring about change but Canadians with hearing loss are waiting. Please, don’t make them beg.

Science Matters

Given a lack of government mandates for attention to declining hearing, Barbara Weinstein explains that the audiology community needs to raise physicians’ awareness of what happens when it is ignored.

Stories from Our Past

In this installment of “Stories from Our Past,” Robert Traynor looks a the development of the TTY.

Noisy Notes

Alberto Behar writes that there is nothing new regarding hearing loss from long duration exposure to loud noise. The question has always been on how loud is loud and how long a duration should be to be considered as “long.”

Back to Basics

In this issue’s Back to Basics column, Marshall Chasin looks at “PCAST and the Confusion Over the Word ‘Basic’”

From the Centre Out

In this issue, guest writer Jeanane M. Ferre, takes a look at “Treating Central Auditory Processing Disorders (CAPDs) among Children and Adults”

The Wired Audiologist

A colleague recently expressed the opinion ‎that very few of her clients are candidates for additional wireless microphone systems and the number of candidates in her opinion was likely less than 1%.‎ Peter Stelmacovich argues that the reality is the number of potential candidates for adaptive wireless‎ microphones could be as high as 40% and explains why.
Editorial Committee