What Did You Say? with Monique Hammond
Our Program on August 21st was a presentation by Monique Hammond. Monique lost her hearing in four hours, and she came to talk with us about preventing hearing loss. She started her presentation with the fact (according to Johns Hopkins research) that one in five Americans over the age of 12 has a hearing disability. Most of the issues stem from excessive continuous noise.
There are two kinds of hearing loss, conductive (involving the middle ear and the external arts of the ear) and sensorineural (involving the inner ear and nerves). The conductive can be handled with hearing aids, but the sensorineural is harder to handle. It is caused by excessive noise and aging, and results in loss of hearing and in early cases poor word recognition. When we are born, we get hearing cells covering the full range of sound, but the hearing cells do not regenerate when damaged or killed. Hence, as we age, our hearing range diminishes.
Her message, that people should avoid exposure to loud sounds to avoid hearing loss is one she wants us to pass on to others. Workers should wear the protective earplugs provided by their employers, or devise their own. Exposure to loud music is the same hazard as being near power tools with unprotected ears.
Monique was born in Luxembourg, and gradated fro the U of Minnesota with degrees in pharmacy. When she suffered the sudden loss of hearing in her left ear, it severely impaired her ability to work and she resigned rather than risk making a mistake in her work. She is a good spokesperson for those with hearing loss.
Her book, “What Did You Say?”, is available at Amazon.com, and at book stores, and her website, www.what-did-you-say.net, is very informative.