Siemens Beethoven Discussions 2000 brochure
Hearing Training against Hearing Frustration –
When High-Tech alone is not enough
Beethoven Discussions 2000
Hearing Training against Hearing Frustration –
When High-Tech alone is not enough
Beethoven Discussions 2000
Bonn, 23rd March 2000
4
About the Beethoven Discussions 2000
Studies in Europe and the USA show that user satisfaction with hearing instru-
ments has increased significantly in the last years and that the quality of life
for these people has improved considerably. Despite this positive trend, there
remains a problem which needs to be addressed – too many hearing instru-
ments end up in a drawer instead of in the ears of their owners. A study which
was initiated by Siemens recently confirmed this problem.
What causes this contradiction?
It is apparent that high technology products alone are not enough to provide
complete satisfaction for many hard of hearing people. Experts know that a
hearing impaired person who waits too long to get a first hearing instrument
may have troubles adjusting to all the sounds which they have forgotten exist.
These people must relearn the skill of hearing and communicating in order
to fully benefit from their hearing aid.
As the worldwide leader in the area of hearing instrument technology, the
Siemens Audiology Group recognized the need to address this issue and thus
put together the program for the Beethoven Discussions 2000 with the help
of the German Association of the Hearing Impaired (DSB).The goal is to make
not only the hard of hearing and their friends and families aware of this
problem and possible solutions, but also to increase awareness among
professionals and healthcare policy makers in order to assure the best possible
help for the hard of hearing.
Beethoven Discussions 2000 5
The Beethoven Discussions were initiated by Siemens in 1997 to inform the
public about various aspects of hearing loss and to overcome prejudices
against the hearing impaired. Each
year the meeting brings leading
experts from the medical and
audiological community together
with representatives of the in-
dustry to exchange views and dis-
cuss these topics with the journa-
lists.
We would like to extend our speci-
al thanks to the experts who contributed their knowledge and experience to
this meeting. The fact that some of them are themselves hearing impaired also
added to the quality of the meeting as they were able to not only share their
expertise but also their personal experiences. Without their continued support
and commitment to this topic this conference booklet would not have been
possible.
Erlangen, July 2000
Maria-José García
Marketing Manager
Siemens Audiology Group
6 Beethoven Discussions 2000
Contents
The speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
n Part I
Harald Seidler, MD
Why do many Hearing Instruments end up in the Drawer?
1. Hearing Impairment in Germany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2. What can Modern Hearing Instruments do? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3. Auditory Functions – Hearing Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4. Therapy with Hearing Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
5. Where are the Difficulties? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
6. The “Drawer Hearing Aids” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
7. Possibilities of Rehabilitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
8. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
n Part II
Professor Gerlinde Renzelberg
Hearing Poorly for too Long
Means Forgetting how to Hear Correctly
1. Implications of Hearing Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2. Age and Fitting of Hearing Impaired People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3. Overload and Disappointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Contents n 7
4. Learning how to Hear and how to Ignore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
5. Success Factor Hearing Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
6. DSB- Pilot Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
n Part III
Petra Speth
Hearing Training in Practice
1. Hearing Training as Early as Possible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2. The Way to Understanding is through Interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3. How is a Hearing Training Conducted? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4. Reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
n Useful tips for the Hearing Impaired
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
8
The speakers
Harald Seidler, MD
Dr. Harald Seidler is specialized in ear, nose, and throat medici-
ne in Neunkirchen/ Saar, Germany. In 1996 he became
President of the German Association of the Hearing Impaired
(DSB), Berlin and has also been Chairman of the DSB regional
group in Saar since 1992. He is a member of the ADANO commission
“Audiometry and hearing prosthetics” and has been Vice President of the
German Association to Promote the Hearing Impaired since 1999. He is a
delegate of the State Medical Board of Registration of the Saarland. His lec-
tures and publications deal especially with hearing impairment, tinnitus, and
psychosomatic effects of hearing impairment as well as career and political
issues for the hearing impaired. Dr. Seidler has been severely hearing impai-
red since he was four years old, and has been wearing hearing instruments
for nearly 40 years.
P r ofessor Gerlinde Renzelberg
Professor Gerlinde Renzelberg is a specialist for peda-
gogical Audiology and hearing/speech promotion of the
University of Hamburg. Her work concentrates mostly on
hearing impairment pedagogic. She is a lecturer for communications training
Beethoven Discussions 2000 9
at the Academy for Hearing Instrument Specialists in Luebeck, Germany.
This pilot program was initiated by the German Association of the Hearing
Impaired (DSB) and is designed to continually educate hearing instrument
specialists, hearing trainers and teachers. Professor Renzelberg has many
years of experience in the area of pedagogic audiology. In 1980 she passed
the deaf-mute teacher’s exam and worked for many years in various depart-
ments of the Institute for Career Oriented Educational for the Hearing and
Speech Impaired (BBW) in Nuremberg.
Petra Speth
Petra Speth is a consultant for tinnitus, noise hypersensitivity, hea-
ring impairment and balance disorders in Aschaffenburg, Germany.
For many years, she has been dealing with the subject of hearing
training and cooperates with a hearing instrument specialists to
integrate hearing training into the basic care of the hearing instrument
wearers. After finishing her training as a registered nurse Ms. Speth worked
as a hearing therapist at the Tinnitus Clinic in Bad Arolsen where she was
involved in the development of a hearing training program as well as reha-
bilitation and retraining therapy. Petra Speth is also lecturer at the Siemens
Academy.
10 Beethoven Discussions 2000
Why do so many Hearing Instruments
end up in the Drawer?
Harald Seidler, MD
“In spite of the outstanding technology of
modern hearing instruments there is a
fundamental problem which no one seems
to talk about. Whereas most people who
get a new pair of glasses will immediately
experience perfect compensation of their
poor eyesight – most hearing impaired
people have to re-learn how to hear in order
to fully benefit from their hearing aid."
Part I n Harald Seidler, MD 11
1. Hearing Impairment in Germany
Approximately 15 Million hearing impaired people live in Germany. Not only
hearing instrument wearers are included in that number, but also everyone
with an acoustic communicational dysfunction. Some are impaired only in
certain situations, (e.g. loud background noise) while others suffer in many
situations, so communication becomes much more difficult for them. The
majority of the hard of hearing suffer from an inner ear hearing impairment.That
means that the part of the ear is damaged which is responsible for the
transmission of sound waves and the conversion of the mechanical waves into
electrical neural impulses. This type of hearing impairment can usually not be
treated with surgery or medicine. Hearing instruments are the only option.
According to the hearing instrument specialist guild, there are presently
2,7 million hearing instrument wearers in Germany. Increasingly affected are
older people. So, at least 40 percent of the population over 60 are medium to
severely hearing impaired in Germany.
12 Beethoven Discussions 2000
2. What can Modern Hearing
Instruments do?
The satisfaction rate is about 64 percent
with average hearing instrument tech-
nology (Kochkin 1997). Still, it must
be differentiated in which situations
hearing instruments reach satisfaction. One of the main areas is the improve-
ment of speech comprehension in a quiet environment or the listening to
music. State of the art hearing instruments also improve speech comprehen-
sion in situations with background noise. 74 percent of the hearing instrument
wearers would recommend a hearing instrument to others (Sohn 1999). This
situation was quite different only a few years ago.
3. Auditory Functions – Hearing Loss
It is important to note that the rehabilitation of the hearing impaired does
not mean to just turn up the volume of the radio so they can hear again. There
is a person between the ears, which means that the hearing impairment also
has psychosocial repercussions.
Experiencing new acoustic events n
The hearing impaired will notice a person who enters the room from behind
with delay, because they will not hear the opening of the door. They will
be startled when a hand touches their shoulder because they are not prepared
for it.
Teil I n Harald Seidler, MD 13
Inability to follow the conversation n
Many hearing impaired people do not understand all fragments of information.
Their difficult task is to put the acoustic puzzle pieces together into a mean-
ingful unity.This task often leads to being misinterpreted as being a slow. They
need milliseconds to put the heard fragments of information into a meaningful
context. This demands a great amount of concentration.
Limitation of self-determination n
A lack of important auditory functions often leads to feelings of insecurity.
The selfconfidence of many hearing impaired people diminishes when they
can not trust their ears.They are not sure if they will be reacting appropriately
to the given situation. In extreme cases they need a constant companion to
translate and explain everything that is being said.
R ole problems n
If one considers that a majority of hearing impairments start at an advanced
age, then it becomes clear that all areas of life are affected. When a manager
in a conference gradually notices that he or she does not understand every-
thing that is being said and increasingly gets lost in the discussion, he or she
is faced with new problems that have to be overcome. One can easily feel
unable to continue functioning in the same role.
14 Beethoven Discussions 2000
Withdrawal and depression n
Unfortunately, most hearing impaired do not get offensive, but rather withdraw.
That is why the German Association of the Hearing Impaired constantly recom-
mends people to show openly their hearing impairment. Withdrawal with the
excuse “I don’t have to go there anyway” is basically the beginning of a very
depressive attitude. Depression is very common, especially among the seve-
rely hearing impaired.
Controlling emotions and hearing stress n
Emotions are also affected. If one is not sure whether he or she understood
correctly, not even laughing helps. The hearing impaired person will be afraid
to laugh at the wrong moment or to give a wrong answer. In the course of
time this leads to tension which in turn will result in the loss of the normal
composure, increased nervousness, all the way to exhaustion. Hearing stress
develops because the hearing impaired always have to be on the ball, in order
to follow the conversation. A permanent, maximum concentration leads to
exhaustion symptoms, many times to burn-out-syndrome.
Articulation problems and missing speech melody n
The severely hearing impaired, in particular, will develop articulation problems
because they can no longer acoustically control their own voice. That means
many hearing impaired people not only have problems in understanding, but
often are not understood either.
Loading...