Listening is a vehicle for us to share information on cochlear implants and hearing loss with hearing healthcare providers, adult CI recipients (and those exploring CI), parents and family members interested in CI, educators who work with deaf and hard of hearing children, and anyone wanting to learn more about cochlear implants.
ACI Alliance is a not-for-profit organization created with the purpose of eliminating barriers to cochlear implantation by sponsoring research, driving heightened awareness and advocating for improved access to cochlear implants for people of all ages. There is a wealth of information on our website.
Our work at ACI Alliance follows our mission encompassing research, advocacy, and awareness. Accordingly, Listening covers all three.
We encourage you to share sign-up details for this free e-newsletter with patients, family members, colleagues or anyone who may be interested.
Ear and Hearing: Care For All
World Hearing Day 2023 highlights the importance of integrating ear and hearing care within primary care, as an essential component of universal health coverage.
Important new resources are available from the World Health Organization, including the “Primary ear and hearing care training manual”, resources on Hearing and Language Milestones in Children, and Hearing Loss in Adults: When to Suspect and What to do.
ACI Alliance has additional resources that support integrating hearing healthcare into primary care. Visit our website for shareable infographics and links to three papers published in Ear & Hearing that provide clarity on candidacy determination for adults and children.
Scholarships for full-time students, fellows and postdoctoral scholars who have a clinical or research interest in cochlear implants are awarded for each of our annual CI Symposium. ACI Alliance is pleased to announce that twenty-two CI2023 Student Scholarship applicants have been awarded scholarships.
We are pleased to announce new opportunities to become a board member for the ACI Alliance Board. This year we are seeking applications for four board positions. Nomination forms are due March 6, 2023.
We are excited to publish a listing of our major 2022 Organizational Accomplishments. Our membership, Board of Directors, and hard-working staff were critical to our work and our successes. We wish to thank and acknowledge support from our industry partners who have steadfastly backed our work to advance CI awareness, research, and advocacy. We are proud that you have chosen to be part of our organization.
Registration is open now for a 5-part webinar series by AudiologyOnline and ACI Alliance. This series is intended to stimulate collaborative approaches for hearing health professionals, regardless of what hearing technologies they typically provide. CEUs are available for those who are part of the AudiologyOnline program but anyone can attend for free.
CI2024: 17th International Conference on Cochlear Implants and Other Implantable Technologies
July 10-13, 2024 | Vancouver, BC
The conference will foster dissemination of multi-disciplinary scientific information applicable to audiologists, physicians, speech pathologists, psychologists, scientists, engineers, educators, students, advocates, and others involved in cochlear implantation. The conference will provide attendees with opportunities to explore current global topics for CI patients across the lifespan.
Amazon Fire TV Launches New Tech for Cochlear Implant Users
For the first time, people with hearing loss can stream sound from their Amazon smart TVs directly to their Cochlear hearing implants via the open-source Audio Streaming for Hearing Aids (ASHA) protocol. The new solution from Amazon and Cochlear allows Cochlear implant users to more comfortably enjoy movies and TV episodes available from Netflix, Prime Video, and other streaming services, as well as local TV networks.
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) affects approximately 1 per every 200 births in the United States and is the most common cause of non-hereditary hearing loss. Currently, there is no national legislation regarding education or screening for CMV; a growing number of states have CMV screening or educational laws. ACI Alliance State Champs and CI CAN advocates are working with partner organizations in a number of states to advance these critical bills.
ACI Alliance Supports Continued Access to Hearing Technology Batteries
ACI Alliance recently sent a letter to the U.S. Product Safety Commission regarding the implementation of Reese’s Law. We joined other organizations requesting that access to hearing technology batteries without interruption.
Authored by Joel S. Feier BA; Kenny Nguyen BS, MEd; Janet S. Choi MD
Twitter Perspectives on Cochlear Implantation: Sentiment and Thematic Analysis
While the majority of tweets on CI carried a positive tone, there are ongoing challenges with the stigma surrounding CI. Public perspectives of CI on social media may help clinicians counsel CI patients and elucidate issues that lead to newfound acceptance or ongoing stigma of CI in the general population.
Accessibility of Cochlear Implants for Older Adults
The latest article on the expanded Medicare coverage for cochlear implants highlights the important research work and advocacy that led to the change. Since the official change in September, ACI Alliance has partnered with others to expand knowledge about the expanded coverage for people with hearing loss and professionals who serve them.
Hearing Charities of America supports individuals and professionals who are deaf or hard of hearing through resources, awareness, and advocacy. Their primary service project is the Hearing Aid Project, which seeks to provide low-income individuals access to the needed hearing aids and related services that are otherwise not available due to cost. They corrects hearing aids that are no longer in use, refurbishes them, and makes them available to audiologists to fit their low-income patients.
Like what you’ve seen? There is no obligation to join to continue receiving Listening but if you wish to be more involved in ACI Alliance, explore the opportunities for membership.
The mission of the American Cochlear Implant (ACI) Alliance is to advance access to the gift of hearing provided by cochlear implantation through research, advocacy and awareness.
