The Future Is Sound Oticon Canada

In today’s episode, we are joined by Carrie Spangler, a dedicated professional in the field of education audiology with over 25 years of experience. She also has a passionate personal journey of living successfully with hearing loss. The episode serves as an insightful behind-the-scenes look at her EmpowEar Audiology podcast, highlighting its impact on listeners ranging from professionals and educators to parents and students.
Carrie discusses the planning that goes into crafting each episode, her approach to guest selection, and how the podcast bridges the gap between diverse auditory experiences. She also offers a glimpse into her engaging conversations with notable guests who share their powerful stories and expertise, contributing to the wealth of knowledge this podcast provides to its audience.
 
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
 
Carrie’s background and how she got into audiology
What Carrie’s podcast is all about and the demographic of her listeners
What inspired Carrie’s podcast EmpowEAR
How often Carrie releases podcasts
Other audiology-focused podcasts
Carrie’s notable guests
Carrie’s research process
The biggest challenges during recordings
Whether Carrie listens to all her episodes
Trends and advice in podcasting
Whether anything from the podcast has changed Carrie’s perspective as a practicing audiologist
 
Resources:
 
Carrie Spangler, Au.D, CCC-A
EmpowEAR Audiology Podcast
Hearing Spanglish Blog
Partnership in Hearing | Oticon
Oticon PIH LinkedIn Group
 

What’s happening in the world of pediatric audiology research, and how is it changing as technology changes? You’ll learn more about the research progress being made and how that works while listening to today’s guest.
Today we chat with Ryan McCreery, the Vice President of Research at Boys Town National Research Hospital, about various aspects of his research in hearing loss, amplification, and outcomes for children who wear hearing aids. Listen to the episode to hear how things have changed with hearing aid technology changes, where the future of hearing aid research is going, and looking beyond the pure-tone audiogram.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

Where Ryan started and how he ended up in audiology
How long Ryan has been working in research at Boys Town
Overlap between studies
Whether goals change as the technology changes
Whether test set-ups have changed
Study on the outcomes for children with hearing loss
Studies that branch off from the original study
Ryan’s involvement in early hearing aid programs and changes to protocols
The SII for mild hearing loss
Vestibular things happening with kids
Projects Ryan has coming up
Final thoughts

Resources:
Ryan McCreery
Boys Town National Research Lab on Instagram

What do you know about the vestibular system? It’s often overlooked, but disorders in the vestibular system are a frequent comorbidity with hearing loss. Today’s episode will focus on the vestibular system and how it presents in the pediatric population. 
 
Today’s conversation is with Erica Zaia, an audiologist in BC with over 25 years of experience in vestibular assessment and management and the owner of an audio-vestibular clinic in Vancouver. Listen to the episode to hear what Erica has to share about the relationship between the vestibular and hearing systems,  how vestibular loss might present differently in kids versus adults, and the negative impacts these disorders can have if left undiagnosed. 
 
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:
 

How long since Erica started her clinic in Vancouver
The relationship between the vestibular and hearing system
Vestibular loss in kids with CMV
Ways that vestibular loss presents
Things to screen for in a clinic
Where kids go when there’s a vestibular concern
The negative implications of going undiagnosed
Big facilities looking at vestibular in kids
The rehabilitation process
How to learn more about vestibular disorders 
Balance and vestibular
What’s next for Erica

Resources:
Erica Zaia

What does an educational audiologist do?
We'll explore this topic in today's interview with Melanie Monaghan. Melanie is an educational audiologist from Edmonton, Alberta who has had hearing loss from a young age. She's worked extensively with adult and pediatric amplification and diagnostics and has research expertise in cochlear implants. She also promotes hearing health awareness and self-advocacy in school-aged Deaf and Hard of Hearing children. Listen to this episode of The Future is Sound to learn about Melanie's role as an Educational Audiologist and what that entails, Melanie's own experiences with hearing loss growing up, and the positive changes she has seen for kids with hearing loss in recent years.

What educational audiology is and Melanie's role in the field
What Melanie's work looks like
New technology for the deaf in the classrooms
Melanie's experience with her own hearing loss growing up
The effects of social media on information and acceptance
What the industry can do to be better advocates and encourage people to advocate for themselves
The effects of COVID on the population of people with hearing loss
Positive changes for kids with hearing loss in recent times
Melanie's takeaways on being a good clinician
Melanie's hopes and dreams for educational audiology

Resources:
Melanie Monaghan
 

What skills does a person need to live successfully with hearing loss?Today's guests are Shari Eberts and Gael Hannen. Shari is the founder of Living With Hearing Loss, a hearing loss blog, and an executive producer of the award-winning documentary, We Hear You, about the hearing loss experience. Gael Hannen is a hearing health advocate, writer, and speaker/performer who lives with profound hearing. She wrote a memoir called The Way I Hear It: A Life with Hearing Loss and is a regular contributor for the Hearing Health Matters blog. They join the podcast today to talk about Hear and Beyond: Live Skillfully with Hearing Loss, the book they recently co-authored.Listen to the episode to learn more about what they have to say about looking at hearing loss from a new perspective.
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

Gael’s 2015 book
Looking at hearing loss from a new perspective
Where to practice advocating for yourself
The three-legged stool model
Vulnerability when writing a book
The stages of the hearing loss journey
What hearing care professionals can say and do to help with the journey
Hearing hacks from the book
How to promote hearing loss organizations
Final thoughts and where to hear more from Gael and Shari

Resources:
LivingWithHearingLoss.com
HearingHealthMatters.org
hearandbeyond.com
 

The purpose of research and development in understanding hearing loss and creating hearing technology and strategies is to help people who are living with hearing loss. It’s important to hear from the people who ultimately benefit from hearing strategies. In today’s episode, you’ll hear a child's and parent's perspectives on hearing loss and hearing strategies. 
Today’s guests are Fern, who has hearing loss and wears hearing aids, and her mother Leah. During the episode, they’ll discuss what it was like to notice that Fern wasn’t hearing correctly, why tubes weren’t the ultimate solution for Fern, and what it was like for her to get hearing aids. This episode helps explain what hearing loss and hearing solutions are like from the perspective of a child with hearing loss and their parent. 
Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

Introduction to Fern and Leah
When Leah started to notice that Fern had hearing loss
What in-person hearing testing was like
Why tubes weren’t the solution
Finding out that Fern was going to need hearing aids
How often Fern needs to get her hearing tested
What they called the hearing aids to get Fern excited about them
What Fern started to notice when she got her hearing aids
What Leah noticed about her speech after fern got hearing aids
How Fern overheard her teacher on speakerphone
How it feels when Fern takes the hearing aids out
Fern’s favorite sounds