World Hearing Day is observed annually on March 3. This year’s theme is “From Communities to Classrooms: Hearing Care for Every Child.” According to the World Health Organization, around 90 million children ages 5-19 years live with hearing loss. Sixty percent of childhood hearing loss is preventable through early identification, preventative care, and cost-effective health … Continue reading
Have you ever wondered what lip reading really is? In today’s episode of the Deafinitely Talking podcast, I talk with Chelle Wyatt. Chelle is the founder of Hearing Loss LIVE, an educational platform focused on communication access and hearing loss awareness. She specializes in lip reading instruction and practical strategies for navigating hearing loss in … Continue reading
Learning to play piano has been a dream of mine ever since I was a little girl growing up in a little church out in the country. The church pianist would play every Sunday morning and I would watch her intently. I never had access to a piano other than in that little church. When … Continue reading
Shanna Groves with Deafinitely Talking and LipreadingMom.com talks with Emily Ogle, PMP, CPACC, DHS Trusted Tester, an accessibility professional who wants to improve the world bit by bit. She lives and breathes advocacy and is a stalwart ally for those with disabilities. The topic is Becoming an Accessibility Advocate. In this podcast, Shanna and Emily … Continue reading
December 1990. At a mall theater in central Oklahoma, my 13-year-old sister Monica and I sat and watched the movie Home Alone. It was a tough winter. Our older sister was about to be deployed with her Army unit to assist with Operation Desert Storm. Her newborn son was less than a month old and … Continue reading
I hope you all are doing well with the cold winter weather. A lot of us will be impacted in the Midwest United States. Thinking about the snowstorm that we will be receiving makes me think about 15 years ago, when I was sitting in a living room with my then four year old youngest … Continue reading
Shanna Groves with Deafinitely Talking and LipreadingMom.com talks with author, speaker, and life coach Karen Putz. Karen is the founder of AgelessPassions.com and the author of Success Wisdom, Unwrapping Your Passion, and more than 20 additional books, all available on Amazon and Karen’s website. Shanna Groves and Karen Putz discuss: – Finding your identity when living … Continue reading
It has been three months with my cochlear implant. The CI was activated at the end of July. Pre-activation, my hearing accuracy without the implant was at seven percent proficiency. A month after my the activation, I tested at 94 percent accuracy using the same hearing test as before. This week, three months after activation … Continue reading
I’m excited to announce that the very first Deafinitely Talking podcast has posted. In episode one, I talk with Dr. Anne McIntosh, founder of Safe’N’Clear. Anne is a Communication Professor at the University of Maryland Global Campus and member of the deaf community. In 2012, Anne founded Safe’N’Clear, Inc., the only FDA-approved clear face mask … Continue reading
Let’s erase the stigma of hearing loss. In 2012, I launched a campaign called “Show Me Your Ears”. I have written extensively about my progressive hearing loss on this site. For a few years after the hearing loss diagnosis, I had initial reluctance to wear hearing aids or show them off to anyone, particularly in work … Continue reading
Lipreading Mom 