Blog Archives
The Living Sounds Blog
Hearing With the Times
My name is Adele Collingwood. Iâm a registered Hearing Aid Practitioner, Board Certified in Hearing Instrument Sciences. The designation provides me the privilege and responsibility to perform hearing tests and select and dispense hearing aids. Iâve been attending to hearing and hearing healthcare needs for more than a dozen years.
The science of fitting hearing aids has certainly changed over the years. When I began, hearing aids were analog and could often only be adjusted by rotating a few dials on the faceplate of a hearing aid with a tiny screwdriver. For some models there was only one dial for low frequency and another for high frequency.
âAll I want is to be able to hear people speak clearly!!!â
Itâs an almost desperate request and Iâve heard it many times in the years that I have been dispensing hearing aids.
To be able to hear speech clearly in the presence of noise seems like such a simple request. Yet not one taken lightly by myself, the company I work for, or the manufacturers I represent.
Consider the size of a hearing aid microphone. It can be smaller than a kernel of corn, and still we expect it to pick up the sound of speech clearly and deliver it to the listenerâs hearing impaired ear, at a distance of sometimes over twenty feet or more, and still not pick up unwanted sound or noise in the process. It can be a challenge.
We like challenges. The good news is that technology is only getting better and faster. Like all things electronic, the evolution of change is fast paced and innovation abounds.
The future is now!! From analog hearing aids with tiny dials, the next big step was in the mid â90s when digital sound processing was introduced. This allowed us to more accurately manipulate sound and shape frequencies for better understanding of speech.
Today new features include lightning fast Voice IQ technology, a leading noise reduction and speech preservation system that gives users the best opportunity to hear clearly. Today hearing aids are self-learning; gradually adjusting to a clientâs volume control preferences. Hearing aids can even be adjusted via a touch-tone phone to enhance client convenience and can be made so small as to be completely invisible and beyond detection in the ear canal.
Today a powerful hearing aid doesnât have to mean having a large, brown device attached to you. Power and accuracy can be packed into very compact and ergonomic shapes that disappear behind the ear.
As a hearing aid practitioner, I canât bring back hearing that has been permanently diminished by time and noise exposure, but I can provide discreet, accurate and comfortable options to enhance the sounds of life and get you back into the world of great conversations. It all starts with a phone call. To have your hearing tested, please call or email us or click here to book an appointment.
Adele Collingwood BC-HIS
Posted in Hearing Information |
Leave a comment
An Incredible Hearing Aid Experience
I had an incredible experience with a client that I just have to share.
I first met Gisela for a hearing aid cleaning. She had gotten a behind-the-ear hearing aid about 2 years before from another supplier. Sheâs 80 years old and only has hearing on her right side.
For the last 2 years Gisela has only understood about 10% of whatâs been said to her. Her family was losing hope and getting frustrated â they felt they were being abusive to her because they had to yell at her all the time. They couldnât even go shopping with Gisela without getting nasty looks from people because they couldnât communicate without raising their voices!
We decided to do a hearing test to see where she was at so we could make some adjustments to her current hearing aid. I did everything I could to try and help Gisela hear better and understand me. We spent a lot of time trying to fine-tune her hearing aid.
Finally, we decided to try a demo hearing aid. I put one in and asked Gisela a question â to her daughterâs amazement and Giselaâs shock, she was able to answer it right away! I was surprised, Giselaâs daughter was almost in tears and Gisela was just amazed. With such remarkable results with just a demo, we ordered Gisela a new hearing aid.
We custom fit the new hearing aid to Gisela when it came in and the success is incredible. I canât believe the results weâve had! For 2 years Gisela has been lost and alone. Her family has been frustrated and exhausted, and now, just like that, Gisela is back living and loving life with her family!
Itâs days like this that make all the imperfect ones just disappear. Itâs days like this that make me thankful I get to do what I do!
Posted in Hearing Aid Stories |
Leave a comment
Hearing aids and 30 years
After nearly 30 years in the Hearing Aid Industry and as a second generation Hearing Aid Practitioner, I am continually amazed how technology and the profession have evolved.
My late father, Louis Nedelec, was one of the first Hearing Aid Audiologists in Edmonton and opened his first office in the downtown Hudson Bay store on Jasper and 101 Street. It was a small shared space with optometrist Dr. Donald Hamm.
We were the âHudson Bay Hearing Centerâ and dadâs office was no larger than 12 feet by 12 feet with a shared receptionist and waiting room. Everything was in that small office, his audiometer, filing cabinet and desk. All faculties of the business were done in that room from consultations to fitting hearing aids to paying his invoices to manufactures for product and there were not many at that time. We dealt with Audiotone, Siemens, Phillips and Starkey.
Hearing aids were also not a thing of beauty. They were large ugly devices that either were hung behind your ear or worn in the temple of your eyeglasses (a nice supplement to Dr. Hammâs business) and the big olâ body worn device.
I often wonder what my father would think of todayâs technology from invisible devices that hide deep in your ear canal to software in these devices that is faster than most computers.
Yes, the times they have been changing and I think my late father would be beside himself wondering how to fine tune one of these state of the art hearing aids without a screwdriver.
Posted in Hearing Aid History |
Leave a comment
Hearing With the Times
My name is Adele Collingwood. Iâm a registered Hearing Aid Practitioner, Board Certified in Hearing Instrument Sciences. The designation provides me the privilege and responsibility to perform hearing tests and select and dispense hearing aids. Iâve been attending to hearing and hearing healthcare needs for more than a dozen years.
The science of fitting hearing aids has certainly changed over the years. When I began, hearing aids were analog and could often only be adjusted by rotating a few dials on the faceplate of a hearing aid with a tiny screwdriver. For some models there was only one dial for low frequency and another for high frequency.
âAll I want is to be able to hear people speak clearly!!!â
Itâs an almost desperate request and Iâve heard it many times in the years that I have been dispensing hearing aids.
To be able to hear speech clearly in the presence of noise seems like such a simple request. Yet not one taken lightly by myself, the company I work for, or the manufacturers I represent.
Consider the size of a hearing aid microphone. It can be smaller than a kernel of corn, and still we expect it to pick up the sound of speech clearly and deliver it to the listenerâs hearing impaired ear, at a distance of sometimes over twenty feet or more, and still not pick up unwanted sound or noise in the process. It can be a challenge.
We like challenges. The good news is that technology is only getting better and faster. Like all things electronic, the evolution of change is fast paced and innovation abounds.
The future is now!! From analog hearing aids with tiny dials, the next big step was in the mid â90s when digital sound processing was introduced. This allowed us to more accurately manipulate sound and shape frequencies for better understanding of speech.
Today new features include lightning fast Voice IQ technology, a leading noise reduction and speech preservation system that gives users the best opportunity to hear clearly. Today hearing aids are self-learning; gradually adjusting to a clientâs volume control preferences. Hearing aids can even be adjusted via a touch-tone phone to enhance client convenience and can be made so small as to be completely invisible and beyond detection in the ear canal.
Today a powerful hearing aid doesnât have to mean having a large, brown device attached to you. Power and accuracy can be packed into very compact and ergonomic shapes that disappear behind the ear.
As a hearing aid practitioner, I canât bring back hearing that has been permanently diminished by time and noise exposure, but I can provide discreet, accurate and comfortable options to enhance the sounds of life and get you back into the world of great conversations. It all starts with a phone call. To have your hearing tested, please call or email us or click here to book an appointment.
Adele Collingwood BC-HIS
An Incredible Hearing Aid Experience
I had an incredible experience with a client that I just have to share.
I first met Gisela for a hearing aid cleaning. She had gotten a behind-the-ear hearing aid about 2 years before from another supplier. Sheâs 80 years old and only has hearing on her right side.
For the last 2 years Gisela has only understood about 10% of whatâs been said to her. Her family was losing hope and getting frustrated â they felt they were being abusive to her because they had to yell at her all the time. They couldnât even go shopping with Gisela without getting nasty looks from people because they couldnât communicate without raising their voices!
We decided to do a hearing test to see where she was at so we could make some adjustments to her current hearing aid. I did everything I could to try and help Gisela hear better and understand me. We spent a lot of time trying to fine-tune her hearing aid.
Finally, we decided to try a demo hearing aid. I put one in and asked Gisela a question â to her daughterâs amazement and Giselaâs shock, she was able to answer it right away! I was surprised, Giselaâs daughter was almost in tears and Gisela was just amazed. With such remarkable results with just a demo, we ordered Gisela a new hearing aid.
We custom fit the new hearing aid to Gisela when it came in and the success is incredible. I canât believe the results weâve had! For 2 years Gisela has been lost and alone. Her family has been frustrated and exhausted, and now, just like that, Gisela is back living and loving life with her family!
Itâs days like this that make all the imperfect ones just disappear. Itâs days like this that make me thankful I get to do what I do!
Hearing aids and 30 years
After nearly 30 years in the Hearing Aid Industry and as a second generation Hearing Aid Practitioner, I am continually amazed how technology and the profession have evolved.
My late father, Louis Nedelec, was one of the first Hearing Aid Audiologists in Edmonton and opened his first office in the downtown Hudson Bay store on Jasper and 101 Street. It was a small shared space with optometrist Dr. Donald Hamm.
We were the âHudson Bay Hearing Centerâ and dadâs office was no larger than 12 feet by 12 feet with a shared receptionist and waiting room. Everything was in that small office, his audiometer, filing cabinet and desk. All faculties of the business were done in that room from consultations to fitting hearing aids to paying his invoices to manufactures for product and there were not many at that time. We dealt with Audiotone, Siemens, Phillips and Starkey.
Hearing aids were also not a thing of beauty. They were large ugly devices that either were hung behind your ear or worn in the temple of your eyeglasses (a nice supplement to Dr. Hammâs business) and the big olâ body worn device.
I often wonder what my father would think of todayâs technology from invisible devices that hide deep in your ear canal to software in these devices that is faster than most computers.
Yes, the times they have been changing and I think my late father would be beside himself wondering how to fine tune one of these state of the art hearing aids without a screwdriver.