HLAA Convention 2011 Special: Exhibits #2

[Guest guest]

NVRC News - June 21, 2011

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Exhibits #2 - Phonak, National Board for Certification in Hearing Instrument

Sciences, land Relay

By Bonnie O'Leary, 6/21/11

Phonak

I spent some extra time talking to Representative Joanna Hershner, since my

own audiologist has recommended that I consider a Phonak for my

severe-profound hearing loss. Joanna emphasized the benefits of their

SoundRecover technology which has been available across the Phonak line for

the past two years.

This technology compresses and shifts high frequency sounds into adjacent

areas of audible listening. This in turn allows improved perception of

consonant information (those high frequency sounds we have so much trouble

with!) without distorting the low sounds. It's like changing key in music.

What's interesting about the studies that have been done on SoundRecover is

that 71% of users reported a significant improvement in understanding speech

in noise.

Phonak's new " Spice Generation " line of hearing aids offers Premium,

Advanced and Economy models. Each category offers some form of zoom control

and stereo zoom. The Naida S IX, a Premium model, also offers a " Duophone "

feature which lets the user hear a voice on the phone in both ears. It can

also be paired with the Phonak TVLink, one of several wireless products in

the Phonak line, bringing the TV sound directly to the hearing aid. To

learn more about what Phonak has to offer, visit their website at

www.phonak.com.

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National Board for Certification in Hearing Instrument Sciences (NBC HIS)

NBC-HIS is an " independent, non-profit, credentialing organization

established to promote continuing competency assurance of hearing health

professionals and to provide a standard of excellence in hearing health care

for the consumer. " NBC-HIS certifies audiologists and hearing instrument

specialists around the world.

I spoke with Vice-Chairperson Deborah Twisdale, who told me their head

office is in Michigan, but that they also have offices in Canada, Japan,

Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Mexico, and India. Over 3,000

professionals currently hold NBC-HIS certification.

In the past, NBC-HIS has been a certification body for hearing instrument

specialists, but they are now reaching out to audiologists as well, with the

encouragement of the American Academy of Audiology. To apply for

certification, a professional must have practiced dispensing hearing aids

for a minimum of two years, and have a state/provincial license where

required. Competence is tested in the following areas: patient assessment;

patient hearing; hearing instrument

prescription/fitting/adjustment/programming; counseling and rehabilitation;

and office practices.

You can contact for more information,

mwilliams@..., or visit the website at www.nbc-his.com.

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land Relay

Many of us are familiar with Virginia Relay, and our neighbors over the

border in land also offer a relay service to anyone who is deaf, hard of

hearing, speech disabled, or deafblind, and who uses specialized telephone

equipment.

land Relay is available for calls using TTY, VCO (Voice Carry-Over),

HCO (Hearing Carry-Over), STS (Speech-to-Speech), and the state also offers

Spanish Relay for their Spanish speakers. Callers can request

Spanish-to-English or English-to-Spanish translation.

land Relay provides free assistive telephone equipment to land

residents who meet financial guidelines through its MAT, land Accessible

Telecommunications. This service is much like our Technology Assistance

Program (TAP) program here in Virginia.

Under the land program, devices available include amplified or captioned

telephones, Braille and standard TTYs, hands-free phones or memory dialers.

To learn more about the relay system in land, you can contact the lovely

Outreach Specialist I spoke to, Sudan Khan, at sudan@.... Or you

can visit the website at www.mdrelay.org.

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C Copyright 2011 by Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of

Hearing Persons (NVRC), 3951 Pender Drive, Suite 130, Fairfax, VA 22030;

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