Reflection. . .
The end of our calendar year often brings a time of reflection and celebration. As you look back on this last year, can you list 3 things for which you are thankful? Maybe it was a shared meal with family; listening to a grandchild’s excitement over a new accomplishment; having a fond memory recalled by a friend or learning that a health crisis is over…
Our team at Elkhart Audiology Rehab takes time to both reflect on the ups and downs of the last year as well as to plan for our future growth. Our top 3 blessings include despite the Covid Virus challenges, we are still open to support your hearing needs! We sincerely appreciate your patience with extended wait times from staffing shortages and supply chain delays. Next, we are very pleased to announce Jill Terry has joined our team and is quickly learning more about supporting those with hearing loss and our scheduling protocols. Having four dedicated team members allows us more appointment options for you and reduces the rushed feeling you may perceive when we were trying to cover phone calls and provide thorough patient care. Finally, we want to say thank you for trusting us with your family and friend referrals. They mean more to us than any award! Yet you have blessed us for the 9th year in a row by either voting us Best or Favorite hearing care provider in Elkhart County. It is truly an honor!
Introducing Jill:
Jill is dedicated to providing a top-notch customer experience when you visit Elkhart Audiology Rehab. She brings a commitment to teamwork, her problem-solving skills, and a sincere appreciation for others when she tackles her tasks at hand. We will be working with her closely as she learns the terminology and processes necessary to get you scheduled properly and efficiently. When you visit, you might learn a bit about her husband, two children, two grandchildren and affinity for penguins!
CDC Guidelines for Healthcare
The CDC still recommends wearing masks when healthcare providers are less than 6 feet apart. Therefore, we will still require you to wear a mask in our office during all hearing procedures even if you are fully vaccinated. We have mask “extenders” in our office to help take the pressure from your ears and decrease the likelihood of losing a hearing aid by adjusting or removing your mask. See the picture on the right below. If you prefer not to wear a mask, we can offer you curbside hearing aid services.
Seasonal Wish List:
We are once again collecting non-perishable items for donation to the Elkhart County Council on Aging. Please drop off items by December 16th. Items most needed include: cleaning supplies, dish soap, spray deodorizer, toilet paper, paper towels, coffee, crackers, rice, peanut butter, jelly, boxed potatoes, condiments, low sodium canned soups, vegetables.
Dangerous Toys?
Every year the Sight and Hearing Association releases a Noisy Toys list. I’ve listed several offenders below because they exceed a safe listening level when next to the ear or within 10 inches. You can find out more at [email protected] or 1-800-992-0424 x 11.
- Disney Moana Squeeze and Scream HeiHei – 109.7dB
- Outdoor Discovery Hoot n’ Holler Animal Caller – 104.5dB
- Baby Einstein Neptune’s Friends Play-a-sound-book – 102.6 dB
- Light and Sound Garbage Truck; Dickie Toys 99.5dB
- Peppa pig Learn and discover book – 98.4 dB
- Paw Patrol Rescue Mission Dashboard – 91.1 dB
End of Year Giving… The Hearing Smile!
Reminder, we have now partnered with Entheos Audiology Cooperative to further our commitment to serving and reconnecting people with limited financial resources to their hearing, dignity, and self-worth. Each of your hearing aid purchases helps to change destinies both globally and locally. Thank you for purchasing your hearing devices through us so we may continue to give the gift of hearing and see the hearing smile from those who have not heard for a very long time or never before… you can find out more and make your own end of year monetary gift at www.hearingthecall.org/michiana
Why Choose Elkhart Audiology in the New Year?
- Hearing evaluations in person rather than over the internet or on your smart phone mean you won’t miss a medical issue like ear wax in the ear canal, an issue with an ear drum or an acoustic neuroma.
- We offer a test battery approach not offered by other providers in this area. The tests take extra time, education, and equipment so there is a charge for the procedures. The procedures however are not covered by most insurance or Medicare supplements as insurance tends to focus on health concerns rather than on hearing aid performance outcomes.
- Cognitive screenings, speech in noise testing, uncomfortable loudness levels and real ear measures will provide you with better hearing aid adjustments and communication outcomes. Better hearing is linked to better health so the investment in our services will have valuable results.
- You will experience excellent advice, technical assistance, and product support from local caring and trained providers. We are your “Hearing Geek Squad”! And just plain EAR-resistible.
Artificial Intelligence and Deep Neural Networks
For those wanting the latest in hearing aid technology, new terms are getting press and making it a little more difficult to compare “apples to apples” between brands of hearing devices. The features aren’t as easy to compare as how many channels, streaming or recharge capabilities as they are directly tied to how the hearing device makes decisions that result in better speech clarity, ease of use or both! I have been through training and product evaluations and can truly attest to benefits noted by our patients after my direction, precise adjustments with the up-dated devices in the last year. Their improvements are demonstrated by lower hearing handicap scores even when audibility measures are similar. Why? The deep neural networks from one manufacture uses AI to identify more than 12 million sounds and scans your environment something like 500 times per second to make better decisions about what to process as being relevant to your understanding your surroundings and enhancing speech. If you are ready to maximize your hearing performance, give us a call and start your new year out with better hearing and better living as only available through your dedicated team at Elkhart Audiology
