As of Monday, September 16th, until approximately mid-November 2019 the South Tower Elevator will be out of service for scheduled upgrade work to improve this service for future reliability.

Patrons with mobility issues and difficulty with stairs will be required to make use of an alternative route to access the South Tower 3rd floor. 

Accessibility Access to 3rd Level:

• Enter through Parkade Level P5 Rooftoop.

For Patron assistance, Oakridge staff will be positioned by the elevators to offer assistance and shuttle service via golf cart.

Continue reading “Oakridge Construction – Elevator Out of Service” →

We are proud to have recently participated in a Canadian evaluation of Widex’s UNIQUE line of hearing aids. Users with all types of hearing loss were surveyed in the Widex Patient Experience Program (PEP) study, to learn how UNIQUE compared to competitor’s hearing aids as well as other Widex lines.

Clients were given a survey to evaluate their satisfaction levels with their current hearing devices, then after a month-long trial with UNIQUE hearing aids, they were given the same survey to compare any differences.

Results were especially positive in six key areas:

It’s been a busy season here are Sound idEARS, with lots of changes and events these past few months. This is what we’ve been up to:

New website and Facebook launch:

We’ve overhauled and redesigned our website, to a clean and crisp style that is now also mobile-friendly, for easier navigation through all our resources even when you’re on the go. We’ve also joined the world of Facebook, where we post weekly articles, blogs and factoids from the web, regarding hearing loss, tinnitus, CAPD, and more! Visit our page and keep up to date with us.

Conferences, Community events, and Conventions, oh my!

Being a part of the community is an important part of what we do. We took part in the Richmond Chinese Community Society’s Senior Health Fair on July 23^rd, with a presentation and info booth on hearing loss and hearing aids, we spoke to hundreds of people about age-related hearing loss. We also participated in the New Westminster Senior Festival, on Saturday, October 1^st with a presentation on tinnitus.

As part of our commitment to our clients, we are constantly researching, learning, and staying up to date with the advancements in audiology, and particularly in the field of CAPD. We attended the World Conference of Audiology and American Speech-Language and Hearing Association convention, where audiologists from around the world gathered to share their knowledge with each other.

Change in office hours

With everything happening all at once, we’ve had to make a few concessions, and one of those was to close the office on Saturdays. It was a difficult decision, having established Saturdays as part of our schedule for over a decade. We’ve condensed clinic hours to Monday- Friday 9AM-5PM so that we are able to take the necessary time to lay the foundation for our plans in the future. We’ve come a long way in 20 years, and there’s still so much more to go.

Going forward

Coming up we’ll be having our bi-annual battery sale, from March 1st – 14^th, you can stock up on hearing aid batteries; buy 2 packs and get 1 pack free! We get our batteries direct from the manufacturer, so you don’t have to worry about batteries expiring before you use them up.

 

We are excited to be the host city for the 2016 World Congress of Audiology being held in Vancouver next week. Carol will be presenting a research poster on: Auditory Middle Latency Response (AMLR) Results Pre- and Post- CAPDOTS-Integrated (CI). The AMLR test is an objective test of CAPD and our findings suggest that there is an increased auditory response and improved inter-hemispheric and inter-aural balance after CI.

In the past, a windy day meant a day without hearing aids for many people. But thanks to new Widex technology, wind doesn’t have to be a big issue for hearing aid users. It’s all thanks to the Widex Wind Noise Manager. Here’s what you need to know.

Reducing Wind Noise: How we do it

A survey once listed wind noise as the “second worst listening situation” for hearing aid users. This is because wind noise can create turbulence as it moves past the hearing aid’s microphone, making it more difficult to hear the sound that you want to hear.

To solve this problem, Widex created a weather cover over the microphone of behind-the-ear hearing aids.

With UNIQUE, Widex’ newest hearing aids, wind protection is taken to the next level.  It’s all thanks to the Wind Noise Manager. With this system in place, hearing aids can automatically detect wind noise – and react immediately.

What does this mean for hearing aid users?

The new Wind Noise Manager gives hearing aid users:

• Improved speech understanding
• The ability to keep hearing aids on when it is windy outside
• Quick and automatic adaptation in all types of weather

So whether you’re caught out in a storm or simply enjoying the ocean’s breeze, the Widex Wind Noise Manager will allow you to keep hearing all the important sounds around you.

Listen to the Breeze

Ready to sail? Here’s one way the Wind Noise Manager can work for you:

Provided by: http://blog.widex.com/

Travelling is confusing even for those without hearing loss. Travelling with hearing loss is even more stressful. Here are some tips to help make your next trip as relaxing as possible.

At the airport

Travelling alone by plane can be daunting for people with hearing loss, especially where public announcements are missed and a lack of closed captioning on plane televisions and so …

• Explain your hearing loss to the ticket agent and ask for pre-boarding privileges to ensure you get on the right plane at the right time.
• Do not expect the gate agent to remind you when to board or if there is a change. Be assertive and ask, ask, ask.

At the hotel

• Hotels often have amplified or text phones, television with captioning and accessible emergency alerts available upon request. Hotel occupants, deaf to the world without hearing aids are at risk of being left behind in an emergency.
• Ensure that assistive devices are available by calling or emailing your hotel before your trip. Bring your own portable technology if your destination hotel doesn’t have any assistive equipment.

Out and about

• Certain cities have made excellent accommodations for those with hearing loss. For example, many New York cabs have induction loops that transmit sounds wirelessly to the t-coils of many hearing aids.
• Disney parks also provide captions and inductions loops on many rides and attractions. Guided tours are available for those with hearing loss and hand-held listening and captioning devices can be rented.
• Cruise ships tend to be more challenging. The public announcement system can be difficult to understand. Let your cabin steward and your cruise director know you are hearing-impaired.   Try to stand as close as possible to a PA speaker box in the event of an emergency.

Suggested packing list

• A “Shake Awake” Alarm Clock
• An Assistive Listening Device
• Extra Batteries
• Extra Hearing Aid Batteries
• A Flashlight for Emergencies
• A Smartphone to receive Emergency Text Alerts
• Adaptors to connect to Power Sources, if travelling abroad.

Expect the unexpected and prepare as much as possible prior to your trip.
Bon voyage!

Reproduced with permission from Listen, #7, 2013, pp. 44-47