<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr">Happy new year, Tweeters.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">To add to the current discussion,</div><div dir="ltr">here is an additional option: Apple AirPods.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">These may help some birders in quieter environments. The link provided a useful review and comparisons to other types of aides.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Some people with significant or substantial hearing loss have told me that they don’t want to wear hearing aids because they associate them with aging or that others will be judgmental of them <span style="font-size: 1.313rem; color: rgb(0, 44, 119); font-family: "Noto Sans", sans-serif;">“Wearing hearing aids means I’m old, and I’m not ready for that”.</span></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">The AirPods don’t have this association, are used by many younger people and people recognize them and know what they were designed for: music, podcasts, and telephone calls with noise reduction.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Also, it is important consider that significant, chronic hearing loss without compensation with hearing aides may, with time, result in problems with balance, social isolation, brain aging and increased risk of dementia.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">And, losing the ability to hear one of the beautiful wonders of life- birdsong.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Thank you,</div><div dir="ltr">Dan Reiff, PhD</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><br>https://www.ncoa.org/adviser/hearing-aids/airpods-hearing-aids/</div><br id="lineBreakAtBeginningOfSignature"><div dir="ltr">Sent from my iPhone</div>
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