Category: News

The hunt for Europe’s top audiologist has begun as online entries open for this year’s ‘European Audiologist of the Year’ competition.

Now in its thirteenth year, the competition offers the opportunity for audiologists from across Europe to compete for the title of country winner as well as for the coveted top spot, Europe’s Audiologist of the Year 2020. The award is organised by RAYOVAC®, a world-leading hearing aid battery manufacturer*, together with sponsors Audio Infos, a leading publication for the audiology industry, the European Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association (EHIMA), which represents the major European hearing instrument manufacturers, offering smart hearing aid and implant solutions for people hard of hearing, and the European Federation of Hard of Hearing People (EFHOH).

Paula Brinson-Pyke, Marketing Director at RAYOVAC® said: “This annual event celebrating excellence in the hearing care profession has become one of the highlights in the industry calendar. The competition continues to grow, providing outstanding audiologists from across Europe with the recognition they deserve. “The competition continues to grow and this year we have made it even easier for audiologists and their nominating patients to enter, by bringing the application process online. This is being supported by a step-by-step entry guide which interested audiologists and their patients can review for advice on crafting a winning entry. We are looking forward to another bumper year of applications for 2020.” 
Europe’s top audiologist will receive not only the recognition from their peers in the Industry, as the award is presented at an Evening of Excellence at EUHA, later in the year but also a cash prize , a PR package to help them promote their practice or department, as well as a year’s subscription to Audio Infos magazine. The patient who submits the winning entry will also receive a cash prize. 
Winner of the European Audiologist of the Year title in 2019, Paula Cook of Aston Hearing in Amersham, went into audiology following her own experiences as a parent of two children with hearing loss. She impressed the judges by going above and beyond in her dedication to patient care, travelling to Turkey and giving up her holiday time to fit a former patient and her neighbour with hearing aids.   Describing her feelings on winning the award she said: “I am really honoured to have been crowned European Audiologist of the Year 2019. Who would have thought that my journey, starting with my children being born with a hearing loss, would bring me here? It’s amazing.”

General Secretary of EHIMA, Dr Stefan Zimmer, said: “We are delighted to support the Audiologist of the Year 2020 competition and showcase the outcomes of exceptional patient care. Audiologists across Europe are having a profound impact on their patients’ lives, affecting them at a deep and emotional level. “This impact is what the judges are looking for in a winning entry. What audiologists are doing through outstanding patient care and through the sharing and application of new technologies can be life-changing for patients. This award is about so much more than hearing.”  Entries for the Audiologist of the Year competition for 2020 will close on Friday 26th June. Nominations are invited from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, The Netherlands and the Republic of Ireland. For more information and to download the step-by-step guide or make a nomination please visit: www.audiologistoftheyear.eu
Like the Audiologist of the Year on Facebook on www.facebook.com/AudiologistoftheYear or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AOTY_EU.

*Based on internal company estimates of worldwide market share.

James Galt, 19, was recently awarded the title of National Volunteer of the Year by the Football Association and McDonalds. James, from Lancashire, was born profoundly deaf, but has turned his passion and enthusiasm for sport into a career. Alongside his job at an activity centre, James volunteers as a football coach at his old primary school and supports the North West Disability Futsal Hub. James’ coaching skills and empathy for the students were noticed by parents on the sidelines, who nominated him for the prestigious FA and McDonald’s grassroots football award. He was thrilled to find out that he had won the national title. 

We caught up with James to find out more about his incredible achievement.

1.       Congratulations on winning the award! How does it feel to be honoured for your work as a deaf football coach?

It feels amazing to have won the award! I found out from my mum as she took the call from the FA in London to say that not only had I won the local award, but also the national award as well. I was up against 43 other nominees and I was the overall winner. Mum explained that the panel of judges included the likes of Sir Geoff Hurst and Stephanie Moore. It was a real honour to be selected and exciting, if a little nerve-wracking, heading to London for the award ceremony. 

2.       Tell us how/why you got into deaf football coaching?

I’d always enjoyed sport, but I didn’t start playing football until I was 12 as some coaches struggled to communicate with me. My mum ran a deaf family group, which involved playing football, and I loved it. I attended some disability football sessions ran by the FA, and I started playing futsal – a five-a-side version of football which is played with a heavier ball – which I thoroughly enjoyed. At futsal, BSL support was provided and I made new friends. It showed me how great deaf coaching could be. When I was 16, although I was too old to play at the FA disability hub, the coaches let me come back to help them – and this was my first venture into coaching.

I enjoyed coaching so much that after my GCSEs, I started studying a diploma in football studies at Myerscough College and obtained coaching qualifications as part of that. I approached my old primary school to run some sessions and the coaching went from there. I also support the coaches at a local deaf school. I am now working at an activity centre which I love, but my ultimate aim is to become a full-time coach.

3.       Are there any barriers you had to overcome in your coaching career?

I find it can be more difficult communicating with a player I haven’t worked with before. Coaching players you have developed a rapport with is easier, as you understand each other. You know how to get the best out of them, and you know their personalities too. I initially found communicating a challenge when I began to coach at my old primary school. When I met new players, it was difficult to communicate to understand their footballing knowledge and skill.

I also find coaching in the rain a challenge. I’m lucky as nearly all my sessions are indoors, but when I was at college most of the sessions were outside. The rain makes it more difficult as I have to remove my hearing aid device, cover my implant or rely solely on the BSL support. I have found the best solution for coaching in the rain is an ‘aqua pack’, which covers my implant in the rain and means I can hear the players and other coaches.

4.       Do you believe your hearing loss has given you any advantages in progressing in coaching?

I don’t believe my deafness has given me any particular advantages in coaching, as communicating has been difficult at times. However, I would say that having a disability can enable you to access opportunities in the sports you are interested in pursuing. There are specialist football and futsal teams for all different disabilities and great opportunities for people to access national pathways for sport.

5.       Do you find BSL an advantage in football and sports in general?

Using BSL in football means the coaches do not have to shout across the pitch at you. Even hearing players may not always hear instructions so signing can help to communicate things. However, working at the disability hub, some players suffer from visual impairments, which means that they also require speech as well as signs. 

As a coach, you learn that visual coaching works well with deaf players, so you ensure that there is a visual demonstration alongside verbal communications (and/or BSL), so everyone understands what has been said.

6.       How has becoming involved in coaching benefited you as a person? Has it increased your confidence?

Coaching has enabled me to continue to play football, which I love. I have also gained more confidence outside of the sport. As a coach, I build relationships with the new people I meet, all the time. Gaining the confidence to build a rapport with new people, means I can communicate better with them, since I struggle to talk with people I don’t know well. Having the confidence to speak to new people has helped me both with coaching and life in general.

7.       Tell us more about your experiences with the volunteer deaf community – how supportive have they been?

I have made great friendships through my role as a volunteer. At the futsal hub for example, I offer BSL support and I worked with a goalkeeper who uses BSL. As I was able to communicate what the coaches wanted to him, we got on well and socialised between training.

As well as my voluntary work as a football coach, I have also helped other coaches in the community. For example, I went along with a coach to help him communicate with the students at a deaf school. I gave him pointers on using bibs and the floor as a vibration to alert so the players can feel it or hear a low frequency noise, rather than blowing a whistle.

My confidence has improved dramatically over the years. I’ve been helping with the ear foundation in Nottingham during their residential weeks, and it’s great to meet people from different ages and countries across Europe. Everyone gets to know each other and just has fun.

8.       What advice would you give to someone with a hearing loss who is interested volunteering opportunities?

Give yourself time. I think it helps to start small, doing something you enjoy or know well, with people you know, so that you can build up your confidence from there. That’s what I did, and it’s still the approach I take now.

Check out our blog written by England Deaf Rugby Union player Beth Weller.

World-leading hearing aid battery manufacturer*, RAYOVAC®, is pleased to launch its new range of product upgrades into the European market and announce Europe’s top audiologist at EUHA 2019. 

The company, which earlier this year became part of the world’s largest battery business – Energizer Holdings Inc. – is welcoming delegates to its newly designed stand on the first day of this year’s event in Nuremberg, Germany.

Visitors are able to experience Active Core Plus™, RAYOVAC®’s next generation battery technology, showcased for the first time at this year’s EUHA.  

Building on the strong foundation of Active Core™ Technology, Active Core Plus™ is designed with more sophisticated functionality to meet the demands of modern-day devices. It consistently delivers excellent performance, quality and reliability – giving users an even better experience and peace of mind.

Paula Brinson-Pyke, Director of Marketing at RAYOVAC©, said: “At RAYOVAC©, we are constantly investing in and pushing the boundaries of hearing aid battery technology. We are delighted to introduce our longest lasting battery yet, Active Core Plus™, to the European market at this year’s EUHA Congress.

“We are looking forward to welcoming delegates to our stand over the coming days and explaining more about the improved battery life delivered by Active Core Plus™ and what this means for our professional customers and their business.

“We’ve worked with both hearing aid users and hearing professionals to develop a product that provides even longer lasting power in today’s most demanding devices and ultimately giving them the power to hear more.”

The new Active Core Plus™ is available to RAYOVAC© ProLine™ and Extra customers across Europe, enhancing the brand’s current offer for hearing professionals. It comes complete with a range of ProLine™ support tools including point of sale displays, bespoke pack branding, printed marketing materials and digital assets. 

EUHA attendees can also find out about the benefits of becoming a member of the ProLine™ Excellence Club, which supports audiology business growth and provides members with the tools they need to stand out in a competitive market place, including loyalty schemes and marketing programmes to encourage repeat visits and extra sales revenue.

According to a customer satisfaction survey conducted by RAYOVAC© in August 2019, 100% of ProLine™ customers are satisfied with the customised service and products they receive. RAYOVAC© ProLine™ was described by one survey respondent as: “consistently excellent and reliable.”

Paula continued: “In addition to benefiting from our product upgrades, all of our Proline™ Excellence Club members are able to profit from the wide ranging support tools, marketing and loyalty programmes we offer to help audiology businesses make the most of batteries as a revenue driver.” 

After the doors close at 5pm on the evening of the first day, delegates to the 64^th annual EUHA Congress are invited to an Evening of Excellence and networking event on the RAYOVAC® stand, where they will be the first to hear the results of the prestigious 12^th annual European Audiologist of the Year competition as the winner is announced. The occasion has become an annual highlight in the hearing industry calendar.

Active Core Plus

*Based on internal company estimates of worldwide market share

**Based on ANSI/IEC tests for sizes 312 and 13

April 2019 marked 8 years since Founder of #HearingLossHour, Angie Aspinall developed a profound sudden hearing loss in her ‘good’ ear. The word ‘anniversary’ usually conjures up thoughts of a celebration, but how do you mark the anniversary of discovering you have hearing loss?

While she won’t be celebrating this particular anniversary, she feels she can’t ignore it. So, Angie decided to look back and reflect on the past 8 years and share of her experiences, tips and what she’s learnt:

You’re not alone

When I experienced Sudden Onset Hearing Loss (as the doctors call it), I’d never heard of the condition before and I mistook what was happening for a brain haemorrhage. I lost my hearing over a three-hour period and my head felt like it was going to explode. It was painful and terrifying. I was sent home from the emergency department with a diagnosis of having an ear infection. I thought I must be the only person in the world that this had happened to.

But sudden deafness is not as rare as you’d think. Since my experience, I’ve come into contact with many other people who have had the same type of sudden, dramatic hearing loss. Some have had successful treatment and regained some of their hearing, and others (like me), were not offered any treatment and have had to come to terms with the loss. (There is a small window of opportunity for steroid treatment following sudden hearing loss, so it is essential to seek treatment immediately.)

One thing’s for sure, having hearing loss can make you feel lonely, but there’s no need to feel alone; there are lots of online groups full of people willing to give support and friendship. There are groups for people with single-sided deafness, profound deafness, cochlear implant users, young people… the list goes on. Why not get online and give them a try?

You find out who your real friends are

When something serious happens to you, you really find out who your friends are. Whether it’s losing your hearing, your sight, or your mobility, some friends just can’t deal with you being different and not being able to do what you used to do. This is not your fault!

While it’s heart-breaking and hurtful at the time, hopefully, you will have other people around you who will come into their own and surprise you. The people who stick with you through the toughest times: they are your true friends. And, the new people you meet can also turn out to be real gems. Treasure them.

You don’t need to suffer in silence

Easier said than done, I know – especially if you are having to come to terms with a hidden disability pretty much overnight. But when you start to come to terms with your hearing loss, you’ll find that the easiest way to get people to help you is to ask them for help.

If you can learn how to talk about your hearing loss without feeling embarrassed, it will help you to be able to reach out to others and get more support.

Joining a lipreading class helped me to learn how to feel comfortable telling others about my hearing loss and how to articulate how they could help meet my communication needs. In the UK, you can find a lipreading class near you on the ATLA website.   

You might need to find new hobbies

In the same way that old friends may fall by the wayside, you might find that some of the activities you used to enjoy just aren’t as much fun with hearing loss.

You may need to grieve and mourn this loss. (Again, this is where the online groups can provide so much support as people who have no experience of hearing loss might not be able to understand.) In time, you may find that new hobbies and pastimes start to give you as much enjoyment as your previous ones.

I used to enjoy going to live music gigs , but now (with or without my hearing aids) the noise is anathema to me. Now, I get pleasure from watching the birds in my garden. It’s a totally different pastime, but the enjoyment is not reliant on the ability to hear and I enjoy the peacefulness which accompanies it. Or maybe I’m just getting old!

Planning ahead

Another aspect of your life which changes when you get hearing aids is the need to plan ahead. You can’t just dash out on a whim; trips take a little bit of forward-planning. Yep! I’m talking about hearing aid batteries – and the need to carry spares.

The first person with hearing loss I became friends with told me that she had a pack of batteries in every one of her handbags. At the time, I thought she was being a bit paranoid, but it only takes your batteries  dying in the middle of an important meeting once to ensure that never forget your spares again.

Thankfully, I now have a RAYOVAC® battery caddy on my keyring so I can’t go anywhere without my spares. It gives me one less thing to worry about – and that can only be a good thing, right?

How about you?

There are so many other things I’ve learnt about living with hearing loss over the past 8 years, but what about you? What has your hearing loss taught you? Tweet us @HearWithRayovac.

Rayovac^®, a world-leading hearing aid battery manufacturer^* and division of Energizer Holdings, Inc. is helping to raise awareness of hearing loss by releasing a video of a fun, educational hearing protection workshop, held with children, this World Hearing Day.

By teaching children about noise-induced hearing loss in an easy to understand and entertaining way, Rayovac® aims to ensure they can hear more, for longer, by being aware of preventable causes of hearing loss.

The video was produced at a Rayovac^® manufacturing facility in Washington, UK, where a lesson on hearing loss awareness and prevention was carried out with a group of local children, led by Harrogate based audiologist Emily Balmer.

Paula Brinson-Pyke, Marketing Director at Rayovac^® said: “World Hearing Day is held on the 3rd March each year. It is an opportunity to raise awareness of how to prevent hearing loss and deafness around the world. This year’s theme focuses on early identification and intervention for hearing loss.

“There are some simple things we can all do to help stop loud noises from permanently damaging our hearing, no matter our age. This is the message we would like people take away with them this World Hearing Day.”

A group of children donned high-visibility jackets for a tour of a Rayovac^® manufacturing facility before taking part in a variety of hands-on, hearing protection-themed activities. Using coloured pipe cleaners to represent the fragile hair cells in the ear undergoing damage from loud noise and playing a verbal ‘pass the message’ game while wearing ear defenders, not only raised smiles and laughter but provided the children with a range of information about noise-induced hearing loss, its impact and how to prevent it.

The children were also given some deaf awareness training and learning techniques to help them communicate better with people with a hearing disorder, such as speaking clearly and looking directly at someone when talking.

Emily Balmer is an audiologist from The Hearing Suite. Speaking about why loud sounds are harmful to our hearing, she said: “As audiologists we see cases of preventable hearing loss on a regular basis. With more and more children using headphones and earbuds for extended periods of gaming, listening to music and watching videos online, we need to teach our children about the risks around noise-induced hearing loss and how to prevent it.”

“The children left Rayovac^® with a better understanding of where and why hearing damage from loud noises can occur, and knowing how to protect their hearing in these situations.”

As part of the commitment to teaching people and in particular children to protect their hearing from damage caused by loud noise, staff at the Rayovac® Washington plant will be raising money for the Global Foundation for Children with Hearing Loss. The company will match funds raised in a plant-wide cake sale and other activities throughout the year to go towards the charity’s work ensuring that thousands of children who are deaf or have hearing loss can access the early identification, hearing technology, and locally-based expertise they would otherwise not have, in order for them to reach their full potential.

To view the video of the lesson, find out more about how to protect your hearing, and how to get involved in World Hearing Day, visit protect.rayovac.eu, like Rayovac^® on Facebook at www.facebook.com/HearwithRayovac or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/HearwithRayovac.

_{*Based on internal company estimates of worldwide market share.}