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Better Hearing Consumer
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Note: If  you’re looking for tips on how to get oil stains out of your shirt, or how to remove old wallpaper, you’re in the wrong place. People with hearing loss deal with those issues in the same way as hearing people. This article is about dealing with noise, Enemy #1 of people with hearing loss.

Housework is noisy. Yesterday, as I moved through the house dragging the central vac hose behind me, I could focus only on the boredom—and the noise. My cats feel the same way, flying into a hiding place at the sight of the vacuum.

Noise is often defined as unwanted sound, so I guess that means that nobody likes noise. But what hearing people consider to be wanted sound is often just sheer noise for people with hearing loss (PWHL), especially those of us who  . . .

Read More  . . . Gael Hannan

 

 

News - Medical
March 29, 2016

Improving the health of the deaf and hard-of-hearing population through accessible patient-reported outcome measures is the goal of a $1.6 million National Institutes of Health-funded study, led by Rochester Institute of Technology.

Researchers and providers will, for the first time, have a tool for assessing their deaf and hard-of-hearing patients' health-related quality-of-life outcomes in American Sign Language. Resulting data will lend new insights in patient outcomes research and improve prevention and treatment models for the underserved deaf and hard-of-hearing population, said Poorna Kushalnagar, a health psychologist and research associate professor in RIT's Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science.

Patient assessments evaluate symptoms, well-being and life satisfaction, as well as physical, mental and social health. Surveys designed for English speakers present a language barrier for many users of American Sign Language and accessible services, Kushalnagar said.

Read more . . . NIH-funded

From Purple Heart Service Foundation 6/17/2011 The proposed rule clarifies that veterinary-care benefits are authorized and sets up a clear procedure for VA to award those benefits. A new rule from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) expands the benefits for service dogs employed by eligible veterans. It also explains the impairments for which service ...continue reading "VA Expanding Service Dog Benefits"
From Purple Heart Service Foundation 6/17/2011

The proposed rule clarifies that veterinary-care benefits are authorized and sets up a clear procedure for VA to award those benefits.

A new rule from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) expands the benefits for service dogs employed by eligible veterans. It also explains the impairments for which service dogs are approved by the department; VA asked for comments by Aug. 15.

VA will authorize benefits only if the veteran is diagnosed as having a visual, hearing, or substantial mobility impairment, and it will require "a clinical determination by a VA clinician, which would be based upon the clinician's medical judgment that 'it is optimal for the veteran to manage such impairment and live independently through the assistance of a trained service dog.' By this," according to the rule, "we intend to exclude situations in which a VA clinician's medical judgment indicates that there are means other than a dog, such as technological devices or rehabilitative techniques, which would enable and encourage the veteran to live independently."

It defines substantial mobility impairment as "a spinal cord injury or dysfunction or other chronic impairment that substantially limits mobility." The rule states that VA will interpret chronic impairment that substantially limits mobility "to include, but not be limited to, disabilities such as a traumatic brain injury that compromises the ability to make appropriate decisions based on environmental cues such as traffic lights or a seizure disorder that renders a veteran immobile during and after a seizure event."

In paragraph (d)(1) of the rule, VA will provide an insurance policy to every eligible veteran that will pay for veterinary care. VA would pay all premiums, copays, or deductibles associated with these policies.

"We believe that providing service dogs under the statute necessarily includes providing veterinary treatment and hardware, and repairs to such hardware, required by the dog to perform in service to the veteran. Consistent with this interpretation of our statutory authority, we propose to authorize payments for the care of service dogs that will help maintain the dogs' ability to perform as service dogs," the agency stated. "However, we would not provide assistance for additional expenses such as license tags, non-prescription food, grooming, insurance for personal injury, non-sedated dental cleanings, nail trimming, boarding, pet sitting or dog walking services, over-the-counter medications, or other goods and services not expressly prescribed by regulation."

Submit comments here; comments should indicate that they are submitted in response to "RIN 2900-AN51 -- Service Dogs."

Click here for more information about the Purple Hear Foundation.

 

Click here for more information about the Department of Veterans Affairs