I have to say my Greatest Challenge is DEAFAWARENESS. This really is an issue for people

with hearing loss and it seems to be one that is NOTUNDERSTOOD even, surprisingly, amongst peoplewith some form of hearing loss themselves.

According to ‘Action on Hearing Loss’ (the newname for the Royal National Institute for the Deaf), thenumber of people in the UK with some form of hear-ing loss has increased from one-in-seven to one-in-six, largely due, I am told, to people living longer.

This would indicate that the number of people withhearing difficulties is increasing and therefore theproblem is greater than ever.

Many disabilities are visible. With sensory impair-ment, the most common disability is blindness andusually recognisable, if not visually, by the blind person carrying a white cane.

There is nothing to indicate a person has hearingdifficulties unless you happen to notice a hearing aid,and in many cases now, it is not easily apparent ashearing aids become more unobtrusive.

Furthermore, a hearing aid is what it says - an aid. It does not replace hearing loss.A hearing aid can be helpful in some forms of hearingloss as it amplifies sound. However, it does little toclarify sound which is the main problem for peoplewith hearing disabilities.

My challenge is the same old challenge I have beentrying to get through for many years.Making more people aware of the problems encoun-tered by people with hearing difficulties and givingsupport to people with all forms of hearing loss andassistance to people with Speech impairment.

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HEARTHISL IONS CLUBS DISTR ICT 105M ‘HEARING FOR ALL CAMPAIGN’

EDITOR: L ION ROGER M. HANDCOCK. DISTRICT 105M SPEECH & HEARING OFFICER 2006/2013. ISSUE No: 10

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MY GREATEST CHALLENGEI recently attended a Training Seminar, at MDHQ, for Incoming

District Officers. At the end of the seminar, we were asked to write

down what we considered to be our ‘greatest challenge’ in the year

ahead and to be prepared to share our challenge with our peers.

I would like to share my aspirations with you.

”

“

Do you want to know more about speech & hearing issues?I hope you have had an enjoyable and successful first months of our Lions year. If you, or any members inyour club, would like any information about speech & hearing issues, please do not hesitate to contact me.According to the latest figures, issued by ACTION ON HEARING LOSS, 1 in 6 people in the UK now havesome form of hearing disability, that is around 10 million people. During the coming year, I will be publishingtwo further issues of HEARTHIS which should contain up-to-date information on speech & hearing matters.

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HEARTHISL IONS ‘HEARING FOR ALL CAMPAIGN’

PAGE 2

Posted on ACTION FOR HEARING LOSS SITE: 30/10/2012

Elderly people in England looking to secure a care or nursing home residency should check what proceduresare in place to fully support residents with hearing loss.

We're making the call following the publication of our newreport ‘A World of Silence’ which presents the impact offailing to support care home residents with hearing loss –estimated to total 250,000 throughout England. We'readvising people to check whether homes they are consid-ering have clear procedures in place to assess, record andmanage residents’ hearing loss and ensure their communi-cation needs are included in personal care plans.

Proposed standards for care homes

Care workers should be trained in deaf awareness andknow how to communicate in a way that meets the indi-vidual needs of people with hearing loss. Staff should alsobe able to help residents adjust, maintain and use theirhearing aids and operate everyday assistive equipmentsuch as TV listeners and hearing loops. Limiting back-ground noise and ensuring seating arrangements helppeople lipread their fellow residents are other measureswhich can significantly reduce social isolation.

Chief Executive of Action on Hearing Loss, Paul Breckell,said: “When people with hearing loss in England areselecting a care home, it’s important to make an informedchoice by checking exactly what processes and support isavailable to meet the individual needs of residents who aredeaf or hard of hearing. Care and nursing home managersshould take simple steps to transform the experience ofresidents with hearing loss and ensure that they are fullyincluded in everyday conversations and social activities.”

We're campaigning for the Care Quality Commission(CQC) to introduce a communication standard to trans-form the quality of care for residents across England whoare deaf or hard of hearing.

Download the report

For more information about questions to ask care homemanagers before securing a residency and to downloadthe ‘A World of Silence’ report (PDF, 859kb), read our pro-posed standards for care homes.

Go to: www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk

MORE SUPPORT NEEDED FOR CARE AND NURSING HOME RESIDENTS WITH HEARING LOSS

KEEPING YOU UP-TO-DATEWITH PROGRESS, ‘HUMAN STEMCELLS RESTORE HEARING’Posted on ACTION FOR HEARING LOSS SITE:12/09/2012

A cure for deafness is a step closer after University ofSheffield scientists used human embryonic stem cells torestore hearing in a common form of deafness.

In research funded by Action on Hearing Loss and theMedical Research Council, researchers from the universitydeveloped a method to turn human embryonic stem cellsinto ear cells needed for hearing - 'hair cells' that detectsound and 'auditory neurons' that carry information aboutsound from the ear to the brain. Hearing loss can becaused by damage to either or both type of cell.

Transplantation of the auditory neurons into deaf gerbils,improved their hearing by 46% on average. Improvementswere first seen about four weeks after treatment.

As well as proving that stem cells can be used to repairdamaged hearing, it is hoped the breakthrough – publishedin the journal Nature – will lead to new cell-based thera-pies in the future for some forms of deafness.

Important step forward

Dr Marcelo Rivolta, who led the project, said: “Webelieve this is an important step forward. We now have amethod to produce human cochlear sensory cells that wecould use to develop new drugs and treatments, and tostudy the function of genes. And more importantly, wehave the proof-of-concept that human stem cells could beused to repair the damaged ear.

“More research is needed. For instance, we want tounderstand the long term implications of this treatmentand its safety.”

Dr Ralph Holme, Head of Biomedical Research for Actionon Hearing Loss, said: “The research we have funded atthe University of Sheffield is tremendously encouragingand gives us real hope that it will be possible to fix theactual cause of some types of hearing loss in the future.For the millions of people for whom hearing loss is erod-ing their quality of life, this can’t come soon enough.

“Today's cochlear implants provide a sensation of hear-ing, but they need a healthy auditory nerve to stimulate.By combining these devices with a therapy that repairs theauditory nerve many more people might be able to benefitfrom cochlear implant technology in the future.”

PAGE 3 HEARTHISL IONS ‘HEARING FOR ALL CAMPAIGN’

Many times I have been asked how I manage with listeningto television, radio and my HiFi system. Well, I use a cord-less stereo headphone system using infrared transmission.

The beauty of this system is that you can listen to a programme free from the restriction of the headphone cordby simply connecting the transmitter to a television, oraudio components equipped with a suitable headphonejack or a line output jack. The model I use, and have doneso for many years, is a Sony MDR-IF140K Cordless StereoHeadphone System. Being cordless it means I am able toget up and move around, even from room to room, withouthaving to worry about a cord trailing from my headphones.

It has an infrared reception range of up to 7m (23ft)which is certainly plenty for most home rooms. I also find

that the infraredheadphone systemis resistent to exter-nal noise and thesingle volumecontrol adjusts bothright and left volumeof the headphones,operated with theuse of an AAA bat-tery. A down side isthat a battery doesnot seem to last toolong but that could

well be because I often have the volume on the head-phones turned up on high and I use them quite frequently.

Another good point about this system is that I am able to listen to television, or other components, without the volume interfering with anyone else in the room. The television volume can be set to a level my wife findscomfortable or even the volume turned to the off position,but I can still listen through my headphones which I canadjust on the headphones and only I can hear.

I purchased mine from a local specialist retailer but theycan be purchased online from Sony, currently at £35.00.They are also available from Amazon. However, before you purchase your headphone system, domake sure they are compatible with the equipment youwant to use them with and that the equipment has the correct jack outlet to enable you to enjoy indepenant volume control.

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CORDLESS HEADPHONE SYSTEM NEW RESEARCH AT HEARTLANDSA pilot project in Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, whichwill transform national nursing practice for older patientswith hearing loss, has been launched by Action on HearingLoss in partnership with the Heart of England NHSFoundation Trust.

"Analysing how staff at Heartlands Hospital deal with theadmission and care"

The pilot, which is being funded by the Department ofHealth’s Innovation, Excellence and Strategic Development(IESD) fund and will be completed in March 2014, hastasked project manager, Emma Kiteley, with analysing howstaff at Heartlands Hospital deal with the admission andcare of patients with hearing loss.

Currently there are no formal mechanisms in hospitalsfor identifying hearing loss as part of the admissionsprocess and this could lead to unnecessary communica-tion problems between staff and patients with hearingloss, mislaid or unused hearing aids, and potentially evenmisdiagnosis in extreme cases.

The project’s research and analysis in the Birminghamhospital will be used to influence the design of nationalguidance to improve the quality of nursing care for peoplewith hearing loss.

"Ground-breaking project"

Project Manager, Emma Kiteley from Action on HearingLoss, says: "Our ground-breaking project in Birminghamwill identify key points in a patient’s hospital experiencewhen it is essential that information about their hearingloss is recorded and, crucially, acted upon to ensure thatthey are able to communicate most effectively and receivethe best possible care. Our learning from this pilot will beused to produce national guidance and a toolkit sharedwith the Department of Health and all NHS Trusts to trans-form nursing care for people with hearing loss across thecountry."

Mary Bruce, clinical nurse educator, elderly care at Heartof England NHS Foundation Trust said: "Working withAction on Hearing Loss will give us the opportunity toinfluence the care that we give to our patients with hearingdifficulties. This is a very exciting project whereby wehope to not only influence care but also to acknowledgethe far reaching impact that hearing loss has on so manyof our patients."

Article extracted from Action on Hearing Loss website.

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PAGE 4 HEARTHISL IONS ‘HEARING FOR ALL CAMPAIGN’

PERHAPS THE FOLLOWING WILL HELPI recently heard of an elderly lady who had been complain-ing for several months about her neighbour’s ‘loud musicplaying’ during the night and early hours of the morning.

After becoming increasingly distraught, she complainedto her local council environment department asking thatsomething be done about the ‘unreasonable and excessivenoise’ she was having to put up with as it was causing herconsiderable upset and anxiety.

She said she could even hear music playing when herneighbour was not at home!

After a visit to investigate the situation, it turned out thatshe was ‘hearing music’ that was not playing and did notexist other than the sounds that she has in her head andthat it was a problem with her hearing. She has had tinnitus for many years but with the addition of this problem, it sometimes drives her to tears.

The lady has now visited her doctor who has made anappointment for her to see a hearing specialist.

TINNITUS

MUSICAL HALLUCINATIONS AND PULSATILE TINNITUS

HOW CAN ANYONE POSSIBLYUNDERSTAND WHAT IT CAN BELIKE TO SUFFER FROM ANYFORM OF TINNITUS?

Tinnitus is experienced as noise in the ears or head. The sound produced by tinnitus is normally described as ringing, whistling or buzzing.

Do you have noises in your ears or in your head? Maybethe sound is a ringing, or perhaps a whistling, a hissing ora roaring? The medical word for this is tinnitus. It comesfrom the Latin word 'tinnire', which means 'to ring'.

You might only notice these sounds when it is very quiet,such as at night. Or they might be so loud that theyintrude on your everyday life. Either way, tinnitus can bedistressing and worrying – but you are not alone.

An estimated seven million people in the UK have experi-enced tinnitus at one time or another - it can happen atany age. Three million have visited their GP about it, andthere are many more who have tinnitus but do not knowwhat it is or how to manage it. For at least half a million,the effect on their lives is severe.

Tinnitus does not have to have a negative impact on yourlife. It's a common myth that you cannot do anythingabout tinnitus. You can look it up on the ‘Action on HearingLoss’ website - www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk - andread their myths and truths page, their tinnitus forum ortinnitus factsheet section to find out more about how youcan take action.

What are musical hallucinations?Tinnitus sounds will usually fall within the categories of ringing, buzzing, whistling, hissing, whooshing or pulsing beats.However, some people hear their tinnitus as music or songs instead. These are called ‘musical hallucinations’ or‘auditory imagery’. They are less common than the usual tinnitus sounds. If you have musical hallucinations, you mayfind that the music or sound is often familiar. It can range from simple tones to songs or even orchestral music.

Who experiences musical hallucinations?Musical hallucinations may be experienced by people who have had hearing loss and tinnitus for some time. People withnormal hearing and people who have hyperacusis (increased sensitivity to sound) can also have musical hallucinations.

What is pulsatile tinnitus?Pulsatile tinnitus is a type of tinnitus where you hear rhythmical noises that beat at the same rate as your heart. If youcheck your pulse while listening to the pulsatile tinnitus, you will notice that they beat at the same rate.

How can I deal with musical hallucinations?If you start to experience musical hallucinations, or are at all concerned about the noises in your head or ears, youshould see your GP. Ask them to refer you to an ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist. An ENT specialist will be able tocheck your ears to make sure there are no underlying medical problems with your ears. They will also be able to explainthe condition, which you may find reassuring. The ENT specialist may refer you to an audiology department for special-ist tinnitus advice with a hearing therapist or specialised audiologist.

JACK ASHLEY - A TIRELESS CAMPAIGNER FOR ALL DISABLEDPEOPLE AND AN INSPIRATION TO ANYONE WITH HEARING LOSS

PAGE 5 HEARTHISL IONS ‘HEARING FOR ALL CAMPAIGN’

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Jack Ashley, Baron Ashley of Stoke, was a Member ofParliament in the House of Commons for Stoke-on-TrentSouth for 26 years, from 1966 to 1992, and subsequentlysat in the House of Lords. He was a long-time campaignerfor disabled people.

Ashley was born in Widnes and educated at WarringtonRoad School. He left school at 14 to work in the chemicalprocess industry. He became a crane driver and was ashop steward in the Chemical Workers' Union, a union ofwhich he was the youngest executive member aged 22.He served in the Army in the Second World War, and thenwon a scholarship to study at Ruskin College, where hereceived a Diploma in Economics and Political Science in1948. He continued his studies at Gonville and CaiusCollege, Cambridge, where he was President of theCambridge Union Society in 1951. He worked as aresearch worker for the National Union of General andMunicipal Workers and then worked as a radio producerfor the North American Service and BBC Home Service. In1956 he joined the BBC television service and worked asa producer on Panorama and Monitor.

MEMBER OF PARLIAMENTAshley served on Widnes Borough Council as a councillorfrom 1946. At the 1951 general election, he contestedFinchley without success. He was elected as Member ofParliament (MP) for Stoke on Trent South in 1966.

In December 1967, at the age of 45, as a result of com-plications of a routine ear operation to correct a mild hear-ing loss caused by a perforated eardrum early in his work-ing career, he became profoundly deaf. He described theevent as "rather like being struck by lightning". He pre-pared to resign his seat, but was persuaded instead totake a crash-course in lip-reading. Several weeks later hereturned to the House, the United Kingdom's first totallydeaf MP and said to be the only totally deaf member ofparliament in the world.

DISABILITY CAMPAIGNERJack Ashley became a tireless campaigner for the disabled,especially the deaf and blind, and won broad cross-party

THE LATE JACK ASHLEY was a man who I came to respect and admire for his dedication tocampaigning for people with disabilities. Apart from his early career as a trade unionist andlater as a politician, putting that aside, he was also well known for his devotion to helping otherpeople with disabilities. However, he also was disabled with profound deafness.

“

”sympathy, support and respect in parliament for hisapproach. In 1972, he sponsored the pivotal motion in theHouse of Commons making a distinction between legaland moral obligation. The success of this enabled TheSunday Times to continue its moral campaign forimproved compensation for children disabled by thalido-mide even while the parents' legal case was still technicallyin the courts. His parliamentary colleague Alf Morris (laterLord Morris of Manchester) was also a supporter. The editor of The Sunday Times, Harold Evans, later wrote inGood Times, Bad Times how Ashley selflessly gave upwriting his autobiography so as to concentrate on thethalidomide campaign. He also campaigned for compen-sation for vaccine damage and for damage caused by thearthritis drug Opren. He became a Companion of Honourin 1975, and joined the Privy Council in 1979.

He also received a Doctor of Humane Letters from theGallaudet University, the world's only university for the deaf, in 1975 for his efforts on behalf of deaf andhard-of-hearing persons.

Ashley's ability to follow the proceedings of the House ofCommons helped inspire the development of live caption-ing on television to benefit the deaf and hard-of-hearing.He had the ability to read the output from the stenogra-phers who were reporting the debates. When Ashley visit-ed the BBC's Ceefax department around 1975, this abilitygave one of the staff the idea of commissioning aSouthampton University doctoral student to develop acomputer programme that would convert stenographicoutput to normal printed text as subtitles to television pro-grammes. Later, Ashley also used the technique to followparliamentary debates on a small monitor.

In 1986, Ashley and his wife founded the charityDefeating Deafness, now known as Deafness ResearchUK. He retired from the House of Commons at the 1992general election and was made a life peer as Baron Ashleyof Stoke, of Widnes in the County of Cheshire, in the sameyear. He received a cochlear implant in 1993 whichrestored much of his hearing.

L IONS ‘HEARING FOR ALL CAMPAIGN’

HEARTHISPAGE 6

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SNIPPETS.SNIPPETS.SNIPPETS.SNIPPETS.SNIPPETS

The following is a letter published in a recent issue of TV Times - would you believe?

TURN THAT MUSIC OFF !Lorraine’s Fast, Fresh and Easy Foodshow on BBC2 is once again beingspoiled by background music. I don’thave a problem with my hearing, but I still find it difficult (and extremelyannoying) to follow what she’s say-ing. But obviously the producers thinkthey know best and don’t take anynotice of what their viewers want.Well, they don’t know best !

Name and address supplied.

� Well, that is from someone who

does NOT have a hearing problem! So what chance have people withhearing difficulties got? Editor.

� How about a letter from you!

If you have any hearing impair-ment issues that you would like toshare with other Lion members,why not drop me a line by email at: speechhearing@lions105m.org.uk

MAILBOX

DIAMOND JUBILEE BAFTA !Sir - Maybe Andrew Marr is right instating that he doubts that the BBCwill be nominated for a Bafta follow-ing their coverage of the DiamondJubilee! (Telegraph 9 June 2012).However, I thought it was great. No background music or syntheticnoises drowning out the presenters’and commentators’ dialogue -absolutely wonderful. On behalf of all those with hearingdifficulties, thank you. What a pitythey hadn’t something better to say!

Name and address supplied.

. . . AND FOR FUN� A MAN WAS telling his neighbour, “I’ve just bought a new hearing aid. Itcost me over a thousand pounds, butit's state of the art - It's fantastic.”

“Really” answered the neighbour.“What kind is it?”

“Twelve thirty” . . .

� MORRIS, AN 82 year-old man,went to the doctor to get a check-up. A few days later, the doctor sawMorris walking down the street with agorgeous young woman on his arm.

A couple of days later, when he sawMorris, the doctor said, “You appearto be doing well. Do you feel OK?”

Morris replied, “I feel fine. Just doingwhat you said, Doc: Get a hotmamma and be cheerful.''

The doctor said, “I didn't say that. I said, You've got a heart murmur; be careful.”

HELP WITH HEARING AIDSACTION ON HEARING LOSS producea number of leaflets providing usefulinformation for people with hearingdifficulties. One leaflet ‘I hear you’ isa good place to start if you are think-ing about getting hearing aids for thefirst time. ‘Life with hearing aids’ tellsyou how to look after and make themost out of your hearing aids. Thereis also a leaflet ‘Hearing Aid Care’.

They also produce a number offactsheets which go into more detailabout different types of hearing aids.‘Everything you need to know aboutgetting hearing aids’ covers goingthrough the NHS and buying themprivately.

You can order these, and other, freefactsheets and leaflets from theAction on Hearing Loss free helpline:0808 808 0123.Alternatively, they are available as a

PDF document online. Go to:www.actiononhearingloss and follow the links.

DEAF AWARENESSTHERE ARE 330,000 people livingin care homes in England and threequarters of them are estimated tohave hearing loss.

‘Action on Hearing Loss’ is thecharity working for a world wherehearing loss doesn't limit or labelpeople, where tinnitus is silenced –and where people value and lookafter their hearing.

What can Lions do to help?Perhaps the one thing Lions can dois make more people aware of theproblems encountered by peoplewith hearing loss - MANY of whomare elderly. DEAF AWARENESS issomething we may be able to helppromote.Deaf Awareness training is carriedout as a Lions Project. If you wantto know more, just contact me.

speechandhearing@lions105m.org.uk

SEASON’S GREETINGS WELL - it’s that time of the year again- I can hardly believe that Christmasis again just a few weeks awayshortly followed by the start of yetanother calendar New Year - 2013.

I know this is a busy period formany Lions Clubs fundraising andcollecting food for parcels to distrib-ute amongst the needy people in yourarea, plus all the other festive and funactivities Lions are noted for.

I am also aware that there are manyLions who have supported me in myspeech & hearing activities during theyear and I would just like you toknow how much I appreciate it.

I hope you all have a restful andpeaceful Christmas and I wish you allyou wish yourselves in the New Year.