Here’s a recap of Hearing Life magazine from 2020. I design, edit, and provide photography for the magazine, which is published by the Hearing Loss Association of America.
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 ISSUE: This issue delves into the important role that the arts play in our lives. Find inspiration from a musician and sound engineer who persevered in the face of severe tinnitus and unexplained hearing loss. Reflect on how four contemporary films depict characters with hearing loss. Be amazed by how a young woman born with hearing loss has tapped into other senses to pursue her love of music as a violinist. Learn about recent advocacy for captioning in live theaters. And pick up some technology know-how to make your TV time a more enjoyable listening experience. You can read select PDFs from the issue here.
MARCH/APRIL 2020 ISSUE: In this health care-focused issue, meet an inspiring businessman and activist with purpose, who’s driven to end social isolation and loneliness. Read about Walk4Hearing, now celebrating its fifteenth year of connecting people to people and about three of our research-focused Walk sponsors. Learn how HLAA Chapters and people everywhere are working to educate health care providers about the needs of people with hearing loss in clinical settings. Be inspired by how one woman’s frightening experience in the OR sparked the idea for a business. You can read select PDFs from the issue here.
MAY/JUNE 2020 ISSUE: Read about HLAA’s partnership with American Girl in honor of the company’s 2020 Doll of the Year, Joss Kendrick, to increase awareness and educate people about hearing loss. The 15th Anniversary Walk4Hearing begins as usual, but this spring the Walk Day gatherings will be online celebrations—all with the same spirit of commitment and community. Learn how to ask for accommodations in the workplace, especially during this time of COVID-19. Be inspired by Camilla Gilbert, who overcame obstacles living with microtia and atresia, and how three women in New Jersey joined forces to create a new HLAA Chapter. And read the touching story from two HLAA members who honor their friend, Grace Waegell Tiessen, a pioneer of hearing loss causes and a long-time champion of HLAA. You can read select PDFs from the issue here.
JULY/AUGUST 2020 ISSUE: In this issue of Hearing Life, we focus on children and young adults with hearing loss. Featured on the cover is 14-year-old Katherine Pawlowski, who was the first Walk4Hearing ambassador when she was just eight years old. We catch up with Katherine and learn how she has continued her advocacy work. The Ida Institute’s Growing Up With Hearing Loss resource offers guidance and strategies for children with hearing loss. HLAA member David Seligman explains how simply checking a box about a healthy issue on a school application changed his life. Paige Stringer, founder of The Global Foundation for Children With Hearing Loss, shares her hope for global solutions to address hearing loss. The HLAA Austin Chapter offers tips on how they are attracting young adults and developing younger generation chapter leaders. You can read select PDFs from the issue here.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 ISSUE: In this issue of Hearing Life, you’ll meet our cover subject, Matt Hay, in “Nowhere Man.” The Beatles gave him “Help” when he needed it. Songs like “Nowhere Man,” “Yesterday,” and “Blackbird” had a way of summing up his feelings when his hearing started to go. He turned to their music when his auditory brain stem implant helped him restore some of his hearing. Audiologist Amy Bernstein takes us through the evolution of hearing aids in “From Cow to Now.” Golf pro Herb Rubenstein shows how improving your hearing can improve your golf game. Derek Berry recaps HLAA’s first-ever virtual Experience HLAA! Stephen Frazier shares how Richard Davila II, owner of Livingston Hearing, decided it was time for his company to “get in the hearing loop.” Psychologist Michael Harvey relays how sharing a diagnosis of hearing loss with others can result in shared experiences of transport, self-realization, self-reflection, and commitments to action. And finally, Gayle Raif offers sage advice and life strategies for those who are newly-diagnosed with hearing loss. The entire digital issue is available here.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 ISSUE: In this issue of Hearing Life, we honor five veterans—Don Doherty, Mark Brogan, Carol Halla, David Schible, and Shilo Harris—and learn about their advocacy, adventures, and lives since they last graced the pages of our magazine. The Ida Institute shares a resource on making communication clear when wearing face masks. Audiologist Amy Bernstein explains how Bluetooth technology can help people with hearing loss in her article, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Tooth, Bluetooth. In My Disappearing Hearing, Jane Biehl shows how self-advocacy, perseverance, and a strong support system helped her navigate through her health crises, disappearing hearing, and the COVID-19 pandemic. A week-long college reunion forces Sarah Maas to address trauma and to realize that hearing is vitally linked to self-expression, identity, connection, belonging and acceptance. And finally, clinical psychologist Michael Harvey shares how a patient’s connection to this grandfather through the song, Young at Heart, brought him some relief and coping skills with his tinnitus. Want more? Become a member of HLAA. We want to show you that you’re not alone. You can view select PDFs of this issue here.
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