"When you lose your vision you lose contact with things but when you lose your hearing, you lose contact with people" - Helen Keller
I have been working in the hearing industry for over 25 years, helping people with hearing loss to improve their ability to hear and communicate better with people around them, friends and family. I have been working 15+ years with leading manufacturers who design, develop and build hearing aids, and over the past 10 years + I have been using these progressive technologies to help individuals with hearing loss to get more out of their lives and achieve a better quality of life for themselves and others around them. It hasn't always been easy and I have had many challenges, and where others had given up, I carried on until a satisfactory outcome was achieved.
Hearing is one of our 5 senses and to my mind a very important one. It goes without saying that if one family member has a problem because of hearing loss, everyone else around them has a problem too. One has to remember that hearing loss is irreversible and permanent.
Hence I am an advocate and strong believer in the use of good quality hearing protection for situations were one is frequently exposed to high levels of loud sound and noise, regardless of the environment in.
My team at Acoustix Hearing Technologies has signed me up for the Silent Leadership Challenge to raise funds for the National Foundation for the Deaf.
I have already received some generous help towards my challenge which I am very appreciative of.
This Friday 7th of August, I will be wearing grade 5 noise cancelling headphones for some time of the day to simulate hearing loss and to provide better insight as to what it is like for someone to have and live with hearing loss. I will have four challenges to participate in, each taking 10minutes, while wearing a set of bright yellow noise cancelling headphones.
The four challenges are:
- One to one: I will wear my noise cancelling headphones and try to converse with one person
- Team meeting: I will wear my noise cancelling headphones and facilitate an active discussion with a group
- Being social: I will wear my noise cancelling headphones protectors at a café or function
- At home: I will wear my noise cancelling headphones while watching TV with others in the same room
As usual, I am setting the stakes high, so if you would like to help me by making a contribution, please go the link below to find out how:
https://silentleadershipchallenge2015.everydayhero.com/nz/thomas
I believe every little bit will help making a positive difference to those with hearing loss.
Thank you for reading this post.
Thomas Müller – Chief Hearing Technologist
Thomas' key area of expertise is in the technology of rehabilitative audiology and he has a long and substantial history of providing consulting advice to various audiologists and other hearing specialists on all aspects of this area.
