Short answer is no, you do not need to learn sign language if you are losing your hearing or living with someone who is but you might want to consider it. I was completely resistant to learning ASL when I started to lose my hearing. It wasn’t until about 2 years into the process that I finally...

There’s never been a better time to learn ASL in Santa Barbara! In Santa Barbara we are really lucky to have some very good options for learning ASL! First off, always check this site as we often are announcing sign language classes that we are teaching or know about. Good news is that we are...

How to Navigate Doctor’s Appointments I am working on being honest with my health care professionals when I go to a doctor’s appointment. This one is pretty challenging I must admit. For some reason I sometimes try to get through an appointment without fessing up that I need an accommodation,...

This is such a great question and the truth is that learning to advocate for yourself is a process. It is a process rooted in the belief that you have a right to engage in communication that works for you and that communication is not all on you, but is between you and another. It is not just...

Hear and Beyond by Gael Hannon and Shari Eberts   An excellent book on strategies for living well with hearing loss. When I read this I was well into my journey and had already figured out a lot of the strategies they talked about but what I really valued in this book was the author’s...

Even though it usually backfires, it’s common for us to try to hide our hearing loss. Growing up I was embarrassed about my single-sided deafness and tried to keep it hidden but now as I think back as an adult I’m still not sure why. For years, very few people knew I could only hear from my right...