11 July 2018 

Man on a mission
Murray Mandel has profound hearing loss and is almost 100 per
cent deaf in both ears, but it doesn’t stop him raising awareness
and funds for suicide prevention.

Benefit of seeing an audiologist

If you find yourself asking others to repeat what they have said,
or you’ve have started turning the TV or radio up to a higher
volume, its time to make an appointment.

Augmented hearing saves baby boomer

ears
If you’ve listened to too much high volume Black Sabbath, Deep
Purple or AC/DC during your lifetime, the science of augmented
hearing might come to your rescue.

Using both ears to hear increases speech

recognition and improves sound
localisation
It helps you to identify a friend's voice so you can follow her
amusing anecdote over the din of a party.

Jenny Macklin calls it a day

One of the architects of the NDIS (there were many) resigns
from politics. As Disability Reform Minister at the time, she
choked back tears when the NDIS legislation was approved by
the Parliament.

Deafness Forum acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land, sea and 
community.  We pay our respects to them and their cultures, and to elders both past and present.  We acknowledge the challenge for 
Indigenous leaders and families to overcome the unacceptably high levels of ear health issues among first Australians. 
Deaf guitarist on three-year busking tour
Rachael Houlihan for The Standard

Murray Mandel is a man on a mission. The retired microbiologist is on a three-year trip around
Australia, raising awareness and funds for suicide prevention organisation Lifeline. Mr Mandel sets
himself up in malls or shopping centres, with permission, and plays classical guitar concerts.

Passers by often stop for a chat, and leave a donation.

Mr Mandel has profound hearing loss and is almost 100 per cent deaf in both ears, but it doesn’t
stop him. So far he has raised more than $33,500.

“Warrnambool is my very first stop in Victoria,” he said. “I am making my way around Australia
anti-clockwise.”

Mr Mandel travels and lives in his campervan and said it had been a gruelling tour so far. “But,
it’s a real privilege to send the message to as many Australians as possible that Lifeline is there
24-hours-a-day, seven-day-a-week,” he said. “People say to me ‘thank you for doing it for us’.
That keeps me going.”

Mr Mandel worked as a microbiologist in Hobart for 36 years before he retired.

Mr Mandel said he was paying for the tour with money from his superannuation, and all cash
donated at his concerts went to Lifeline.
National Disability Insurance Scheme: the greatest nation
building project on Earth
From an article by the Council on the Economic Development of Australia

In the next seven years, the Government will spend around $4 billion to construct Snowy Hydro
2.0 to provide new, clean, affordable and reliable energy to our market.

In the next ten years, the Government is expected to invest over $75 billion on major
infrastructure projects that will keep Australia moving.

In the next ten years, the Government will complete a $90 billion naval ship building program that
will see a complete replacement of our submarine and surface capability.

These are nation-building projects that will deliver thousands of jobs and complete key pieces of
economic development for our nation.

However, all of them will pale in comparison to the NDIS – which will be nearly three times the
size of the ship building program, at an expected cost of about $252 billion over the next decade.
It is a project that will change the face of Australian society on a level never attempted before in
history – a true world first. It is a project that will require an investment of $22 billion at full
scheme in 2020-21, growing to $28.6 billion in 2025-26.

In this year’s Budget the Turnbull Government guaranteed funding for the NDIS. It will be
funded. Period. Full stop. End of story. This is a bipartisan commitment.

According to the Productivity Commission, it will create one in five of the new jobs created over
the next two to three years.

The NDIS is life changing for participants. It is a Scheme that was developed in part because of a
market failure in the delivery of support to Australians with disability.

Today, as the Scheme continues to roll out across the country, 160,000 Australians are receiving
support through the NDIS. For 45,000 of them, they are receiving support for the first time in
their lives.

When the Scheme is fully rolled out, 460,000 Australians will be receiving supports. To give you
an idea of scale, this would mean one in every 55 Australians will be part of the NDIS.

The NDIS is designed to cover all Australians who have an ongoing and significant disability. The
Scheme will fund reasonable and necessary supports for people to help them live an ordinary life.

Read the full article at https://ministers.dss.gov.au/speeches/3281

One of the key NDIS architects, Jenny Macklin resigns
The Shadow Minister for Families and Social Affairs and one of the key National Disability
Insurance Scheme architects, Jenny Macklin has announced her resignation from politics.

Since the Scheme's historic journey from community campaign to law of the nation, a number of
people have been credited as the prime instigator of the NDIS. When something so remarkable
and unlikely occurs, everyone is looking for its hero. But while many have claimed this title, few
could deny the pivotal role Jenny Macklin played in the Scheme's formation.

As Disability Reform Minister at the time, she choked back tears when the NDIS legislation was
approved by the Parliament. She has since then worked tirelessly to help resolve the
implementation problems which at times seem to plague the Scheme. Those who have worked
closely with her over the years credit the genuine dedication and empathy that she showed to
people living with disability in Australia.

Ms Macklin was a quiet worker. She did not seem to require the credit or the spotlight, instead
focusing on getting the work done. Perhaps that is why many forget her name when considering
the Founding Fathers (and Mothers) of the Scheme. Yet we believe that she is as worthy of this
title as anyone else. She has been a campaigner, an advocate and a legislator. We wish her the
best in what she does next.

From Disability Services Consulting

The benefit of seeing an audiologist
Despite regulation of noise pollution, many people are still exposed to large amounts of noise in
their environment each day.

Exposure to environmental noise, even when it does not seem significantly loud, can dramatically
increase the risk of hearing loss.

Because of this, the role of audiologists, who work with

hearing and balance related disorders, is increasingly
vital to people of all ages.

Although some cases of hearing loss are sudden and

abrupt, most cases develop gradually over a number of
years. This means that many people can remain
unaware of their hearing loss for a long period of time.

If hearing problems are not detected early on it can be too late to avoid the use of hearing aids.

Therefore, it is very important for individuals to visit an audiologist as soon as they notice any
hearing loss, regardless of how mild it may seem. In addition to hearing loss, other common
warning signs of an underlying hearing problem include continuous ringing in the ears or issues
with balance.

Since minor hearing loss can be easily overlooked or unnoticed, it is therefore just as important
for healthy individuals (i.e. those who are not aware of any changes to their hearing/balance) to
visit an audiologist every one or two years in order to aid early detection of emerging problems.

Referral from a doctor or other healthcare professional to an audiologist allows diagnostic hearing
and balance tests to be performed that are covered by Medicare. This means that individuals who
wish to have hearing checks on a more regular basis (i.e. without a referral) may benefit from
private health insurance.

Regular visits to an audiologist are important, and although primary health care professionals can
diagnose and treat some conditions relating to ear health, an audiologist is best able to determine
the underlying cause of hearing loss and advise on the most suitable treatment.

Individuals who notice themselves often asking others to repeat what they have said, or who have
started turning the TV or radio up to a higher volume than normal, should schedule an audiologist
appointment immediately.

https://www.news-medical.net/whitepaper/20180628/The-Benefit-of-Seeing-an-Audiologist.aspx
Partnership puts new focus on sensory disability
In a first for Macquarie University and Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children (RIDBC), a new
partnership has been established to foster research and professional studies in the field of
education for people with sensory disability.

The partnership will support the development of the professional expertise that is required to
deliver critical disability services to children and adults with vision or hearing loss across Australia,
and beyond.

The new Macquarie Master of Disability Studies program, delivered by expert staff from RIDBC
Renwick Centre, will offer three different specialisations ensuring that Australian teachers of the
deaf, teachers of students with vision impairment and orientation and mobility instructors, are
qualified at the highest level. The new program complements the Master of Special Education,
Master of Accessible Communication and Graduate Diploma of Auslan-English Interpreting
programs already offered by Macquarie.

In the coming years, RIDBC will establish an extensive presence on the campus, relocating its
offices, teaching spaces, demonstration schools and a range of services, in order to reach more
people than ever before and to demonstrate excellent practice in the field of sensory disability.
This will add to RIDBC’s existing presence at Macquarie’s Australian Hearing Hub, where it
provides life-changing cochlear implant services, early intervention and therapy programs for
children and adults with vision or hearing loss.

Director of RIDBC Renwick Centre and Conjoint Professor in Educational Studies at Macquarie
University, Greg Leigh, said co-locating with the university will open up new opportunities for
cooperation in research and teaching.

“RIDBC is Australia’s largest non-government provider of therapy, education and cochlear implant
services for people with vision or hearing loss. We are thrilled to be able to bring together leading
academics and researchers in sensory disability, to continue improving initial professional
education and the quality of service delivery in this field,” said Professor Leigh.

Professor Simon Handley, Executive Dean of the University’s Faculty of Human Sciences, said the
partnership is a chance to positively shape the future of inclusive and special education.

“Partnering with RIDBC will provide unique opportunities for students from across all areas of
human sciences to develop skills in the special education, accessible communication and hearing
sciences.

“It will also allow us to explore innovations and future directions in education for people with
different types of disability.”
Augmented hearing to save baby boomers’ ears

By Chris Griffith, writing for Technology Report, The Age

If you’ve listened to too much high volume Black Sabbath, Deep Purple or AC/DC during your
lifetime, the science of augmented hearing might come to your rescue.

Indeed, we baby boomers are likely paying for the excessively loud music we’ve endured during
our extended youths. We are still young at heart, but with battered ear drums and it’s self-
inflicted.

Our delicate ears are not built to withstand the humungous decibels blasted out at many live
concerts. When researching this review, I came across the Cavan Project, which surveyed the
loudest bands. Guinness used to, but dropped the practice, fearing it was promoting hearing loss.

Keep in mind that sounds above about 85 decibels can cause hearing loss, and at about 120
decibels you enter the pain threshold.

According to Cavan, Swedish rockers Sleazy Joe holds the record with 143.2dB in 2008, followed
by Manowar with 139dB the same year. Apparently, Leftfield’s 137dB in 1996 caused the plaster
to fall from the roof of the Brixton Academy in London.

By now you get my drift; we baby boomers have punished our ears and may face a quieter future
as we head towards dotage time — without scientific help. That’s where “hearables” come in.
They are a growing market where Australia is doing particularly well. Melbourne-based Nura and
Brisbane start-up Audeara are making headphones that compensate for lost hearing.

Perth’s Nuheara, however, has packaged all this clever tech into a pair of small wireless earbuds
that fits snugly into your ears, called IQBuds Boost. You get nine sets of various sized earbud
cushion covers, both oval and circular, so there’s a great chance you’ll get a tight fit. Each earbud
weighs eight grams and the pocket-sized case doubles as a charger. Nuheara claims five hours
audio streaming and eight hours of hearing processing per charge, and three earbud recharges
from the case before you recharge the case itself.

After fitting the covers, I downloaded and fired up the IQBuds app to personalise the earbuds.
They connect to a smartphone through Bluetooth.

The main personalisation task involves a 15-minute “Ear ID” hearing test where I listened for a
series of faint tones. I’d tap the screen each time I heard one. When I heard nothing for a while,
I assumed my hearing was lacking at that frequency.
My profile reflected what I know about my hearing; that my left ear hearing is fine but the right
doesn’t register some high frequencies.

From then onwards, the IQBuds Boost adjusts the volume of various frequencies to compensate
for that lack of hearing. The result is a more balanced sound and I enjoyed hearing instruments
and higher pitched sound in that right ear that I thought never existed on tracks I’ve been
listening to for years. Of course, if your hearing is badly impaired, even hearables may be of
limited help and you’ll need a professionally fitted hearing aid.

Nuheara says more than three million folk in Australia suffer some hearing impairment and it is
targeting the 70 per cent of people suffering mild to moderate hearing loss.

My only complaint is that I’d like an in-built equaliser so that I could turn up the bass for more
boom (my weakness) but that would probably undermine the rationale of frequency adjustment
from the test.

The IQBuds Boost has other strings to its bow. The app lets you adjust the volume of ambient
noise let in from the surroundings and you can use this whether you are listening to music or not.
Nuheara terms it “world volume”. Dial -10 and minimal noise gets through; 0 is neutral and +10
amplifies ambient noise. I found world volume impacted differently at different frequencies. If I
clap my hands, I can barely hear it at -10 but I hear it loudly at +10-. It’s very -effective. The
same applies to the clackety-clack of the noisy keyboard I use.

I live not terribly far from Mascot Airport at Sydney, and while I hear some of the rumble of
planes overhead, I no longer hear the whine of the engines.

There are seven variations of world noise. “Street” reduces the frequencies associated with street
and city sounds; “home” seeks to also boost conversations; “restaurant” amplifies speech and
reduces background noise; and “driving” seeks to block driving and tyre noise. There’s “office”,
“plane” and “workout” modes also. This can be set from the IQBuds app.

Finally, there’s the “tap touch” feature, which lets you configure a single tap, double tap and long
tap you can make on either earbud. You can assign “play/pause”, “Google Assistant”, World
On/Off”, “change locations” volume up and down and next and previous track to tap sequences.

The Android app had a glitch where, after some use, one screen of the app overwrote another. I
couldn't read text. This was resolved by restarting it.

At a recommended $649, the IQBuds Boost is cheaper than a decent hearing aid but expensive
for wireless earbuds. Apple AirPods are $229 and the BeoPlay E8 costs $449. IQBuds Boost are
available online at nuheara.com and from retailers focused on hearing health.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/augmented-hearing-to-save-baby-boomers-
ears/news-story/80a9eae5f9035deab87ac830d0ab86b9
Synchronising cochlear signals stimulates brain to 'hear' in stereo
Using both ears to hear increases speech recognition and improves sound localisation.

In essence, it helps you to identify a friend's voice so you can follow her amusing anecdote over
the din of a cocktail party. Ruth Litovsky, a researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison,
wants to bring this advantage to people who use cochlear implants.

"Twenty years ago, [the medical community] decided to give [deaf] people two implants, one in
each ear, to see if it would improve their ability to hear better in noisy environments, so that
children could integrate into classrooms and adults into the workplace more easily," Litovsky said.
"I believe bilateral implantation has had a significant, positive impact on their quality of life, but
they still struggle with noisy environments."

"The first time I present a [deaf] child or adult with sounds that are truly coordinated, their face
lights up as they experience that aha! moment where they truly hear stereo sound," Litovsky said.

"The goal is to make this method work outside the lab, but it remains a challenge from an
engineering point of view."

According to Litovsky, the brain acts like a little computer. It uses synchronised information to
calculate the difference as sound waves arrive at each ear from different locations. These mental
calculations help people locate sounds and separate speech from noise. Currently, individual
cochlear implants send information to the brain independently, but the brain does not integrate
the signals in an optimal way.

Cochlear implants do not restore the ear's ability to pick up sound waves. Rather, these surgically
implanted devices bypass the damaged inner ear and translate sound into electrical pulses that
stimulate the auditory nerve.

Litovsky is committed to synchronising auditory experiences especially for young children. The
brain loses plasticity during development, so it is harder to learn to synchronize sounds later in
life.

Now, the engineering setup for the technique is limited to the laboratory, but she hopes that
researchers can eventually partner with implant manufacturers to make synchronous hearing a
reality.

For Litovsky, being able to get to know deaf adults and children and seeing how their lives are
improved by the implants makes all of these challenges worth the struggle.

From ScienceDaily, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180508081502.htm

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