Abstract
On Monday, March 10, 2008, I was fortunate enough to observe a respected audiologist named Shlomit Wolff at the Hazan Center for the Hearing Impaired. During my visit, Dr. Wolff carried out a hearing test on a 3-year old girl named Rachel Dyn, a little girl who, according to her mother, appears to have a great deal of difficulty hearing. I learned a great deal from this experience that I would like to share.

From the Paper
Audiology Field Experience On Monday, March 10, 2008, I was fortunate enough to observe a respected audiologist named Shlomit Wolff at the Hazan Center for the Hearing Impaired. During my visit, Dr. Wolff carried out a hearing test on a 3-year old girl named Rachel Dyn, a little girl who, according to her mother, appears to have a great deal of difficulty hearing. Because a good audiologist will learn as much as possible about any patient before proceeding with his or her work, Dr. Wolff asked Rachel's mother several questions pertaining to her history as well as to the family's history as it pertained to the matter of hearing. For instance, I

Tags:audiology, field, experience

Abstract
The paper examines the book "A Journey into the Deaf-World" by Harlan Lane, Robert Hoffmeister and Ben Bahan. It discusses how the book covers many technical issues in detail, but the underpinning for all of it is that the Deaf-World is its own unique culture with its own unique language and is every bit as much of a subculture as it is to be African-American or some branch of Hispanic. It looks at how the beliefs of people in the Deaf-World about their culture and language are challenged by people charged with helping them: educators, psychologists, audiologists, social workers and others all tend to think of hearing loss as a disability. It provides a detailed history of sign language and the use of ASL (American Sign Language).

From the Paper
"Many people in the Deaf-World object to this view. They know the richness of their language and understand its cultural significance, which the authors broke out into several sections. They note that ASL is a symbol of identity for people in the Deaf-World. In addition, it is the only language they can use to communicate with each other. It binds them together. One fear the Deaf-World has is that forced oral communication will undermine their culture, because it will force deaf people with no sign language skills to talk only with non-deaf people."

Tags:ASL, educators, psychologists, audiologists, social, workers

Abstract
This paper explains the multiple problems of preventing hearing loss in the army: (1) while the command structure demands the use of hearing protective equipment, the exigencies of military maneuvers might make it difficult for soldiers to comply readily and still carry out their major missions; (2) the loss of army audiologists; and (3) military equipment is even noisier, so that the need for protection is greater than ever before. The author states that, in order to determine what strategies the U.S. Army can take to improve HPD use and concomitantly decrease hearing loss, current instructions and sanctions regarding that issue need to be determined. The paper relates that the research methodology will examine, in one command only, the protocols for issuing HPDs and for ensuring their use, the sanctions imposed for noncompliance, and their auditory history as compared to the Army in general.

Table of Contents
Introduction and Statement of the Problem
Cost of Hearing Loss
Literature Review and Research Questions
Behavioral Issues
Technical Investigations
Methodology
Appendix A: New Generation Earcups and ANR
Appendix B: Tables of Hearing-Related Issues, U.S. Armed Forces

From the Paper
"If it were not true that the armed forces experiences many departures from perfect adherence to use of protective equipment, then the vast numbers of military audiologists deployed to increase the armed forces' capability for monitoring audiometry would not have been needed. For a long time, "the Army had more than three times as many military audiologists than the Navy and twice as many as the Air Force. In addition, the Army has had a mainframe database of audiometric records for the last 16 years". However, Ohlin noted that there had been a loss of more than 50 Army military audiologists in the decade before he wrote his report, effectively removing "the message bearer for hearing conservation and the functional linchpin that in large programs is required to coordinate the implementation of all hearing conservation program elements." "

Tags:equipment, complience, audiologist, hdp, protocols

Abstract
This paper explains that research concludes that the louder an album is, the more it will initially appeal to the casual listener because louder music grabs people's attention and stands out among its quieter counterparts. The Loudness War, to capture the music purchaser, has been waged since the early 80s when the accessibility of music began to give listener's more choice than just listening to the radio or buying very expensive sound equipment. The author describes the process of creating sound for the recordings. The paper also relates the concerns of audiologists about the imminent generational hearing loss phenomenon related to iPods and their cohorts, earbuds. Color graphs are included with the paper.

From the Paper
"Since the induction of the CD on the common market in 1982 and 1983, audiophiles have both scoffed at its distance from vinyl and come to appreciate that distance. With vinyl, there are physical limitations that dictate that there must be a compromise between volume, playing time, and surface noise. In order to increase the volume, deeper grooves must be cut, which leads to a danger of skipping and reduced space for more music. With a brand new, masterfully cut vinyl, you could get about 60 dBs (decibels), and once played a few times through, it would settle at about 50 dBs."

Tags:technology, volume, earbuds, decibels, aging

Abstract
The paper states that cleft lips and cleft palates are among the most common of birth defects and if left untreated can lead to serious medical and concurrent speech and language problems. The paper comments that, while the consequences of cleft lips and palates can be severe and long-lasting, these can be averted by medical intervention, especially if it is done as early as possible. This paper explores the various options for surgical, medical, dental, and speech and audiological management of cleft of the secondary palates in children with Apert's syndrome and the ways in which these interventions can help children with these particular birth defects.

Outline:
Role of the Geneticist
Role of the Speech Language Pathologist
Role of the Audiologist
Role of the Plastic Surgeon
Role of the Dentist
Role of the Orthodontist
Conclusion

From the Paper
"The second process involves orthodontic treatment of the deciduous dentition stage, which the researchers state has a direct correlation with the patency of circummaxillary sutures. This occurs in the latter period of 5;0 to 7;0 years. It is significant to reiterate the research of Kaloust, Ishii, and Vargervik (1997), bearing in mind once again that there is a 0.96 year delay in dentition of Apert's vs. normal children's dentition. Treatments are needed for the lack of deciduous dentition in the area of the alveolar cleft, and these treatments may include a face mask to protract growth. Treatment to manage crossbite includes equilibration for occlusal interference."

Tags:maxillofacial, craniofacial, team, bicoronal, synostosis

Abstract
The paper explains that a cochlear implant can help to provide a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard-of-hearing, although it is very different from a traditional hearing aid. The paper outlines the procedure for receiving these implants and the therapy involved. The paper also looks at the benefits that are seen from an implant and discusses how they depend on the type of communication training that a person used before the implant and received afterwards.

From the Paper
"In about 4-6 weeks after the surgery, the patient returns to the center to be fitted with the microphone and speech processor and to activate and program the implant. The initial fitting takes several days and may include additional visits over many months. The reason for this is that as each electrode in the cochlea is turned on, it must be adjusted and programmed into the speech processor. As a person begins using the implant, further adjustments and reprogramming are often required. Once the most favorable program is obtained, fewer visits are necessary. Usually there are annual follow up visits to the center for checkups (Cochlear Implants, n.d.).
"The clinic will usually give the patient the external components of the implant about a month after the surgery during the first programming session. This waiting period gives the patient time for the operative incision to heal completely. After about 3 to 6 weeks the swelling is gone, so the clinician can do the first fitting and programming. An audiologist will adjust the sound processor to fit the implanted patient, test the patient to ensure that the adjustments are correct, determines what sounds the patient can hear, and gives information on the proper care and use of the device (Cochlear Implants, 2009)."

Tags:deafness, ears, therapy, sound, processor, audiologist

Abstract
The paper defines the neurological disorder apraxia of speech as the difficulty of a child to form sounds into words. This paper introduces and discusses apraxia of speech in children, some of its characteristics (delay in speech, feeding problems), diagnosis, treatment (repetitive speech exercises), and the future of children affected with the disease.

From the Paper
"Apraxia of speech has certain telltale characteristics. Before a child is diagnosed with apraxia, and audiologist should be consulted to make sure the speech problem is not associated with a hearing problem. There are many signs in young and older children that they might have apraxia. They usually do not coo and babble when they are babies. They delay saying their first words, and when they do, they are missing sounds. They also only can say a few different consonants, and have a hard time combining sounds. The simplify words, and replace hard sounds with easier sounds. They may have feeding problems, too."

Tags:audiologist, commitment, speech, mechanism

Abstract
In this article, the writer describes the key elements of a hearing loss prevention program for the forklift operators in a warehouse. The writer discusses eliminating the noise hazard to prevent damage to the inner ear or having employees wear hearing protection devices.

From the Paper
"According to an essay published online by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, when noise control measures in the workplace are infeasible hearing protection devices are the only way to prevent hazardous levels of noise from damaging the inner ear. Making sure that these devices are worn effectively requires continuous attention on the part of supervisors as well as noise-exposed employees. Studies have shown that people exposed to noise levels of decibels and above over eight hours or longer will gradually lose their hearing ... "

Tags:hearing loss prevention programs, decibels, forklift, employees, audiologist, occupational safety, inner ear, NOISH