Michelle Lalonde
“It wasn’t until I was fitted with my hearing aids that I realised just how much I had been missing out on”, said Michelle. “I think I had become so used to not hearing certain things that I wasn’t aware I was missing out. It’s pretty easy to develop bad habits. “I knew I was having some problems but I felt they weren’t bad enough to do anything about, until I got really embarrassed one day at work when I totally misinterpreted a conversation with a client. I knew I wasn’t being as effective in my job as I should have been. So I bit the bullet and had my hearing tested. I was told I had a moderate hearing loss and that I would benefit greatly from hearing aids. “Being only in my early forties I thought I was much too young to have to wear hearing aids but the audiologist impressed upon me the importance of correcting my loss sooner rather than later, otherwise I could lose some ability to process speech due to my ears and brain not being properly stimulated. I must confess I was relieved when he showed me just how small the hearing aids were. They looked so cute, and when I tried them on they were so comfortable. “I’m so appreciative of the advice AudioActive gave me. I can hear clearly on the phone now. I don’t have to ask people to repeat themselves and I don’t get names and numbers mixed up. “What I wasn’t expecting though were all the other areas I benefited in. I could understand the check out girl at Wooolworths even though there was a lot of noise. I could still hear the noise in the shop, but I was able to understand the girl through the noise. It was quite amazing. “Little things like hearing my own voice better has even helped with my singing. When I was late getting to church the other Sunday I was able to slip in at the back row and hear clearly, and at home my husband can enjoy a movie without me interrupting to find out what was said. “Looking back there were so many things I wasn’t hearing properly. I wouldn’t be without my aids now. As soon as I take them out I notice the huge difference my hearing aids have been making, yet while I’m wearing them I just hear better and don’t even know they’re there. “I’d encourage anyone who’s having difficulty hearing to have their hearing assessed, and don’t be frightened to try a hearing aid. AudioActive offered me a 30 day money back guarantee if I wasn’t totally satisfied, so there’s no risk. But there’s no way I’d ever give mine back.” Joe Angelina Joe Angelina is an active 59 year old personal trainer. Over the last 10 years, Joe noticed a gradual decline in his ability to hear conversations in noisy environments. He was missing some spoken words when listening to the TV. He also wasn’t hearing everything his three year old granddaughter or his clients at the gym said.
Joe was fitted with Element™ 16 Moxi hearing instruments with four listening programs designed for quiet, noise, telephone, and cinema environments. Since wearing his Moxi hearing devices, he realizes he was missing many everyday sounds that he can now hear, such as the refrigerator running and the turn signal in his car. “I can hear conversations so much better now too,” Joe explains, “especially in noisy environments and higher-pitched sounds like my granddaughter’s voice. It’s really quite remarkable the improvement.” Joe can also hear conversations on the telephone more easily with Element 16 Moxi’s program optimised for telephone use. “I can just pick up the phone and begin talking when my hearing aids are in phone mode. I have never experienced feedback when listening or talking on the telephone which is also very nice.”
“In fact, if I didn’t tell people that I am wearing hearing aids, no one would even know.” Joe wears his Moxi hearing devices in many different listening situations. He wears them in noisy restaurants, at the gym and to movie theatres. He appreciates how his Element Moxi devices help “block outside noise” so he can focus on the conversation. His family has also noticed that he is not asking them to repeat themselves as much. The television volume has also been reduced from 30 to 14 and his car radio from 16 to 8. Joe recommends Element Moxi hearing devices. “They are really fantastic. The difference they have made in my ability to hear is phenomenal. They have opened up a whole new world for me.” Nathalie Herron Nathalie Herron, 39, was born with a high-frequency hearing loss bilaterally. She wore Behind-The-Ear (BTE) hearing instruments when she was young, but stopped wearing them around the age of 13. She became frustrated with her hearing aids that made everything either too soft or amplified everything. She would get headaches, which was attributed to her sensitivity to loud noises. She gave up on hearing aids altogether believing that her type of hearing loss could not be helped by wearing hearing aids.
Listening to confirmation numbers on the telephone, when ordering items or doing banking, posed additional challenges. She also knew that she was misunderstanding conversations. She would miss hearing words spoken by her four year old daughter, and she could not hear her husband when he spoke to her from a distance or from another room. Then Nathalie tried Element™ 4 Moxi hearing instruments. Nathalie adapted to her Element 4 Moxi hearing aids very quickly. Instead of amplifying both high and low tones, she was immediately impressed that the low tones sounded the same as she was used to hearing, while the high tones sounded much clearer. Nathalie also noticed how much easier it was to listen while in a car. She could understand the lyrics to songs and decrease the volume on her car radio: “It is like hearing an improved version of the song. The first time I listened to the radio with my hearing aids in, I had tears in my eyes. I could understand why people cry sometimes when they hear music. The background voices were so nice and beautiful, and all of the digital sounds that I was missing before came through as full, rich tones. I could hear instruments I had never heard before. Now instead of reading the lyrics, I can hear the lyrics. It is really wonderful.” “Now instead of reading the lyrics, I can hear the lyrics. It is really wonderful.”
In addition, while recently attending her daughter’s swimming lesson, Nathalie discovered that she was able to hear the swimming teacher’s instructions to the class, something she was never able to do before wearing her hearing aids. Nathalie was particularly surprised by how clear the sound was, considering the pool area is typically very busy and full of echoes and sound reverberations. Nathalie liked her Element Moxi’s onBoard™ control. She found it convenient to switch between programs. Nathalie also no longer avoids using the telephone. She switches to her easy-t program so she can hear conversations clearly and easily. “These [Element 4 Moxi] hearing aids are not at all like the ones when I was a kid,” Nathalie explains. “Both my brother and mother have hearing losses. I am going to recommend these hearing aids to them because they have helped me immensely. The overall clarity is excellent, and I rarely have to adjust the volume. Most of the time, I forget that I am wearing them.” Mary Kretz Mary Kretz noticed that over the last four or five years, she was having difficulty hearing one-on-one conversations, and that spoken words on the telephone or television were “marbled together”. She would ask others to repeat what they said frequently, and she felt embarrassed by this. She also noticed that she was resorting to reading other’s lips, especially when listening in group situations.
“I can hear everybody and everything is clear. It doesn’t matter if they are looking at me or not, I can hear them,” she says. Mary found the Indigo Moxi hearing instruments very comfortable to wear and easy to put on and take off. “I have to check every once in awhile to make sure they are still there,” she says. “I don’t notice them half the time.”
Mary now enjoys listening to music more. She can hear the lyrics and realizes she used to hear different words since she could not discriminate consonants as well. Now she can hear the background music and the full sound of the different instruments, making for a more enjoyable listening experience. “The [Indigo Moxi] hearing aids really have helped my self confidence. I don’t have to ask others to repeat themselves, and I am hearing things the first time. The television is also lower; my friend complains that she cannot hear the television now!” Janice Parsons As an active person, Janice Parsons desired hearing aids that could keep up with her busy life. Her previous hearing instruments seemed to amplify everything, even sounds that she did not want to hear. When attending social gatherings, the background noise was louder than the conversation. Loud noises were often too loud, and her ear canals became sore after wearing her hearing aids for a while.
“In a group situation, they drastically improve my ability to interact. When in restaurants, I can hear the conversation at our table without interference of the table behind,” Janice explains. Janice appreciates how Element’s antiShock™ technology works to minimize irritatingly loud noises so listening is more enjoyable. When she was at a fundraiser meeting, a large wood door slammed shut. She was certain that if she was wearing her other hearing aids, the noise would have been overpowering. With her Element hearing aids, she felt she was hearing it the way a person with normal hearing would. Similarly, the sound of an ice cube tray emptying used to sound uncomfortably loud. Now irritating noises, such as these, are lessened so that she can still hear them, but they are tolerable. Janice enjoys the freedom and flexibility that the Element 4 hearing instruments give her. She used to worry about certain situations, anticipating she might have challenges hearing others. After wearing the Element 4 hearing aids for a couple of weeks, her anxiety lessened. She knew that she would be able to catch more of the conversation, including in noisy environments. She was amazed that she was even able to understand whispered conversations on a couple of occasions. Janice finds traveling more enjoyable. She and her husband used to limit the number of hours they traveled because hearing conversations in the car was particularly frustrating. With her Element hearing aids, she can hear him more easily so he does not have to continuously repeat what he says. She was pleasantly surprised that she could also hear her cell phone ringing from inside her purse in the backseat as well as the radio more clearly.
Other sounds she can now hear are crickets at night, and many of the electronic beeps that are a part of daily life, such as microwave timers and alarm clocks. On a recent trip to the grocery store, she was able to hear 100% of what the cashier said. “I thought, wow, this is great. I felt so in tune with what was going on around me,” Janice explains. Janice recommends Element 4 open fit hearing aids to someone else with a hearing loss: “They are very comfortable to wear and far superior to my In-The-Ear aids. I like how you can’t really see them. I am also very impressed with the clarity of sounds, and how much easier it is to hear and participate in conversations, especially in groups. Sounds that I can hear in the normal range aren’t magnified making for a far more enjoyable listening experience throughout the day. They have really made a difference in my life.” Dr. Frank Cashman Listening to others is what Dr. Cashman does best. As a Psychiatrist Dr. Frank Cashman depends on being able to hear his patients. That is why he was particularly concerned when he lost the hearing in this left ear about ten months ago. Initially he found that he could adapt to his hearing loss, relying on his good right ear, but he also began to experience some challenges. He could not hear people when they were seated on his left side. Knowing from which direction sounds were coming from posed another set of challenges, as did soft voices.
“I need to be able to hear people,” Dr. Cashman explains. “My profession is based on being able to hear conversations.” Then Dr. Cashman tried Unitron Hearing’s WiFi Mic system. When he wears WiFi Mic, he rarely has to move closer to his patients, adjust his position in meetings, or turn his head to hear. He enjoys conversations more because he can hear and participate more actively. He even enjoys listening to music with his portable radio, slipping it into his ear next to his earmold. “I am keen to wear it everyday because it helps me to hear,” he says. “I want to have it on all of the time.” Dr. Cashman finds WiFi Mic comfortable and easy to use. He can put it on and take it off easily, and he likes that it is more discreet than a wired system. “I find it very comfortable and it doesn’t bother me at all. I don’t even know that it is there,” he explains. “I find it very comfortable and it doesn’t bother me at all. I don’t even know that it is there.” Because of WiFi Mic, Dr. Cashman now enjoys being a passenger in a car. Before he would miss parts of the conversation since his left ear was always positioned closest to the driver. Now he can hear what his wife has to say. His wife also notices that she can walk on his left or right side and he can hear the conversation. “We can almost forget about the fact that he has a hearing loss with the exception of listening in very noisy places,” she explains. “WiFi Mic has helped me out professionally speaking,” Dr. Cashman says. “I highly recommend it and encourage others to at least try it out. For someone with a unique hearing loss like mine, I definitely recommend it.” Ted Johnson
With many of his previous hearing instruments, Ted had difficulty hearing individuals while driving in the car or in a noisy restaurant. However, Ted has noticed a difference with his Yuu BTE Power hearing devices. Not only can Ted understand conversations much more easily, but he can also fine tune his listening experience to what he likes. “The sound clarity is excellent. I can hear my friends and family more easily when I am in the car or in a noisy restaurant. If I do have trouble hearing a conversation, I simply use the Comfort-Clarity Balance, as I need it, to help me understand different voices.” This ability to fine tune his settings is useful for Ted when he attends various concerts and stage productions, a favourite pastime. He can adjust his hearing instruments to better hear the stage actors and to minimize the level of uncomfortable background noise, depending on his listening situation:
Ted says, “I prefer using the Smart Control to adjust my hearing aids because of the big, easy-to-see buttons which light up when I press them.” To make these adjustments to his hearing instruments, Ted uses Smart Control, a remote device. Not having to put his hand up to his ear to adjust his settings, he finds using the Smart Control is less distracting, important for Ted when he’s sitting in a quiet theatre: “I like the Smart Control very much. I prefer using the Smart Control to adjust my hearing aids because of the big, easy-to-see buttons which light up when I press them – a useful feature in a darkened theatre,” Ted says. “I especially like the ability Smart Control has to change the settings for both hearing aids at the same time or individually.” |
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A prime example of the new generation embracing today’s hearing technology is Michelle
Lalonde, a working mum with five children living on the Gold Coast, who was recently fitted by AudioActive with two
microSavia hearing aids. Michelle has been delighted with the positive changes in her life, many of which were quite
unexpected.
Joe decided to have his hearing tested to confirm he had a hearing loss. He learned about a
new hearing device called Moxi™ that uses canal receiver technology (CRT). With Moxi, the speaker sits in the ear canal and
is attached to a thin, discreet tube. The Behind-The-Ear device fits snugly behind the ear, while the speaker in the ear
increases the amplification of speech, while reducing annoying background noise.
Joe is happy with how comfortable and discreet the Moxi hearing devices are: “They really feel good; I don’t even know I
have them on. I was amazed at how small hearing devices have become. I was thinking I would try the small
Completely-In-the-Canal (CIC) hearing aids, but after I tried these and realised how comfortable and discreet they were, I
really liked them.”
Without hearing aids, the simplest tasks became frustrating ones. As a French teacher, she had
difficulty discriminating among consonant sounds and telling whether students repeated words correctly or not.
Nathalie is also grateful that she can hear her daughter more easily. Since her daughter has a
slight speech delay, hearing is critical to helping her improve her language skills. Nathalie is beginning to notice that
her daughter is articulating her words more clearly and not yelling at her. Before, when her daughter became frustrated
that Nathalie was not hearing her, she would resort to yelling. Now this happens much less frequently.
Mary tried Indigo Moxi™ hearing aids in the hope that they would improve her ability to hear
conversations with friends and her son. After wearing them for only two weeks, she felt that her self confidence had
returned.
She is also amazed by how many sounds that she was missing. Now she hears her alarm clock,
stove timer, and dryer buzzer. She wears her Indigo Moxi hearing instruments approximately 14 hours a day, and she has worn
them in all types of environments from restaurants to gatherings with friends.
Janice decided to try two Element 4™ open fit hearing instruments. She immediately noticed how
comfortable they felt in her ears compared to her previous hearing instruments. Sounds were comfortable including the sound
of her voice. She could also hear conversations more easily.
“I could hear instruments I am sure I could never hear before,” she says.
He sometimes found it difficult to hear his patients, and he would move closer to them,
ensuring his right ear was turned towards them. The sound of the ventilation system in his office would obscure details of
the conversation and he found he was straining to hear what was said.
For the past 30 years, Ted has worn various styles of hearing instruments. He started with
In-the-Ear (ITE) hearing aids and over time has switched to Behind-the-Ear (BTE).
“When I’m watching a play, I switch my hearing aids to the automatic program and use the Comfort-Clarity Balance to
better hear what the actors are saying. My previous hearing aids had difficulty picking up these different voices. During
intermission, when the lobby is filled with people and is very noisy, the Comfort-Clarity Balance is very useful for
lowering the level of noise, so that I am comfortable and not overwhelmed with noise.”