It’s official. Noise is unwanted and/or harmful sound. I hope that awareness of the facts that wanted noise can cause auditory damage and that unwanted noise is stressful will help us achieve a quieter world.
6 Ways to Soundproof a Space
Improving the acoustic quality of a space is essential for creating a comfortable and pleasant environment. Various solutions—such as carpet flooring, ceiling tiles, freestanding room dividers, and sound-absorbing canvas—can be combined to achieve optimal acoustic control.
Silence Is Bliss With a Few Home Adjustments
For hyperacusis patients, or people who have a sensitivity to everyday sounds, common household sounds can be a significant challenge, whether it’s a door closing or cooking a meal.
Hear Well Over the Holidays
I remind myself to not freak out because I’m afraid I’m missing out on conversations—just relax and enjoy the food and good cheer. Nobody at the Thanksgiving table can follow every conversation anyway!
How to Hear Better in the Classroom
As classrooms are nearly always inherently noisy, it’s a challenge for children with hearing loss as well as typical hearing children to always be able to fully hear and understand what’s being said in the classroom.
In Memoriam: Bryan Pollard of Hyperacusis Research
Bryan Pollard single-handedly created an entirely new diagnosis in the field of otology—pain hyperacusis—and worked tirelessly on behalf of those who suffered from it. He would become the most prominent patient-activist and the driving force for promoting research nationally focused on this condition.
Pinpointing How Older Adults Can Better Hear Speech in Noise
In real-world listening situations, we always listen to speech in the presence of other sources of masking, or competing sounds. One of the major sources of masking in such situations is the speech signal that the listener is not paying attention to. The process of understanding the target speech in the presence of a masking speech involves separating the acoustic information of the target speech and tuning out masker speech.
Why Children With Autism May Experience Auditory Sensory Overload
The successful navigation of complex everyday environments with multiple sensory inputs—such as restaurants, busy streets, and other social settings—relies on the brain’s ability to organize the barrage of information into discrete perceptual objects on which cognitive processes, such as selective attention, can act.
Silent Owls Inspire Quiet Design
Night owls produce about 18 decibels lower sound than other birds at the same speeds. This, the scientists explain, is largely due to their “unique wing formation.”
Let’s Remember No One Hears Perfectly
Why can’t all of us with hearing loss accept our hearing challenges without judgment? It’s a physical disability that we have no control over. If we can’t hear, it has nothing to do with our intelligence or any of the negative stereotypes of hearing loss. It’s just hearing loss—a physical condition.