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If your child has hearing loss, good grades do not always mean they have full access at school. In this episode, Dana Ann Hawkins, MS, CCC-SLP, shares her family’s real-life journey navigating a Section 504 plan for her daughter after getting hearing aids.

We break down what a 504 plan for hearing loss actually is, how it differs from an IEP, and why schools sometimes wrongly deny accommodations when a child appears to be doing “just fine” academically. Dana walks through the exact school accommodations that can make a difference for children with hearing loss, including preferential seating, teachers facing students when speaking, repeated directions, classroom audio support, and testing accommodations.

You’ll also hear what happened when Dana was initially told hearing loss was not a qualifying medical condition, how she advocated effectively through documentation and email, and why even approved 504 plans can still fail without proper follow-through.

This episode is essential for:

• parents of children with hearing loss
• parents navigating school accommodations
• educators and school administrators
• speech-language pathologists
• pediatric audiologists
• disability advocates

Topics covered:

• how to get a 504 plan for hearing loss
• school accommodations for kids with hearing aids
• hearing loss and classroom access
• Section 504 rights for students
• standardized testing accommodations
• Bluetooth streaming and classroom technology challenges

If you are trying to make sure your child has equal access in the classroom, this episode offers practical advice, advocacy tips, and real-world insight to help you navigate the process with confidence.

Subscribe to Hearing Matters for more conversations on pediatric hearing loss, hearing aids, advocacy, and hearing healthcare. If this episode helped you, please share it with another parent or educator and leave a review.

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Your child can “pass” a school hearing screening and still miss huge parts of daily life. That gap is where frustration, fatigue, and quiet slipping-behind can start, even when grades look fine on paper.

We’re joined by Dana Ann Hawkins, a speech-language pathologist and mom, who shares her daughter Emma’s journey with hearing loss, ear infections, and finally getting hearing aids. We talk honestly about the moment many families don’t expect: the hearing aids help, but they don’t magically solve noisy classrooms, fast directions, or social chaos in hallways and lunchrooms. Dana breaks down the difference between hearing in quiet and functional listening in real-world environments, plus what “total communication” really looks like at school and at home.

A major part of our conversation is advocacy. Dana walks through pushing for a 504 plan, getting denied because Emma was “doing well,” and what it took to reconvene with the right team and the right understanding of how accommodations work. We also get specific about assistive technology and modern school barriers, like locked Chromebooks that can block Bluetooth streaming to hearing aids during standardized testing. If you’ve ever felt like you’re explaining hearing loss from scratch to a school system, you’ll feel seen.

We also cover carryover strategies, listening fatigue, self-advocacy language kids can use, and why collaboration between hearing care professionals, audiologists, and speech-language pathologists can close the follow-up gap after a fitting. If you find this helpful, subscribe, share it with a parent or educator, and leave a review so more families can find practical support.

Visit our website and take our quick online hearing screener.

And if you're ready to take the next step, our online hearing care provider locator can help you find a trusted hearing care professional near you. Taking that first step can make a meaningful difference, helping you stay connecting to the people and moments that matter most.

Omega AI hearing aids don’t just keep up. They redefine what it means to be modern and discreet yet durable and comfortable for all-day wear.

They’re waterproof, everyday-proof, and designed to go the distance of your day and then some. All while tailored to your unique hearing needs.

Connect with the Hearing Matters Podcast Team

Email: hearingmatterspodcast@gmail.com

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Guessing is easy. Verifying is better, and in hearing aid fittings it can be the difference between “good enough” and genuinely clear speech. We sit down with Madison Levine, BC-HIS and Dr. Dave Fabry to unpack what real ear measurement actually looks like in a busy clinic, starting with a simple question: when should you run REM, at the first fitting or later?

We share a first-fit workflow that’s built for speed: prep the room, connect devices ahead of time, set expectations the moment the patient sits down, and run verification before anything else steals the clock. Then we zoom out to the bigger “why” behind probe microphone measures, including how REM helps confirm audibility at the eardrum regardless of prescriptive targets, proprietary algorithms, or fitting software defaults.

Dr. Fabry also lays out a practical verification protocol: multiple input levels, automated REM to match targets efficiently, and the often-missed safety-and-performance checks like MPO sweeps and LDL/UCL so comfort is protected without throwing away dynamic range. We end with the uncomfortable question: if the evidence is strong, why isn’t real ear measurement universal, and what can clinicians do to remove the time, cost, and confusion barriers?

If you care about hearing aid verification, audiology best practices, and better patient outcomes, hit play, then subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a review. What’s the biggest obstacle keeping REM consistent in your workflow?

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If you’ve ever wondered why two “good” hearing aid fittings can feel wildly different to a patient, the answer usually isn’t the device, it’s the process. I’m joined by Madison Levine, BC-HIS and owner of Levine Hearing in Charlotte, and Dr. Dave Fabry, Chief Hearing Health Officer at Starkey, for a practical conversation about best practices in hearing health care that actually improve patient outcomes.

We get specific about what belongs in a modern best-practice toolkit: strong case history and counseling, real ear measurement (REM) for verification, and speech-in-noise testing (like QuickSIN) that matches how people struggle in the real world. Dave explains his REM goals (smooth real ear aided response, three input levels, MPO sweeps, LDL/UCL) and why “hitting target” is a starting line, not the finish. Madison shares how her clinic bakes verification and outcome measures into the workflow without slowing the day down, and how data logging turns follow-ups into smarter, calmer conversations.

We also dig into innovation, including how immersive sound simulation with systems like Inventis Symphonia can help demonstrate noise features, personalize settings, and validate a patient’s experience. Along the way we touch on the ear-brain connection, motivation for first-time users, and what to implement tomorrow if you can only change one thing.

Subscribe for more conversations on hearing loss, hearing aids, audiology best practices, and better communication, then share this episode with a colleague and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.

Visit our website and take our quick online hearing screener.

And if you're ready to take the next step, our online hearing care provider locator can help you find a trusted hearing care professional near you. Taking that first step can make a meaningful difference, helping you stay connecting to the people and moments that matter most.

Omega AI hearing aids don’t just keep up. They redefine what it means to be modern and discreet yet durable and comfortable for all-day wear.

They’re waterproof, everyday-proof, and designed to go the distance of your day and then some. All while tailored to your unique hearing needs.

Connect with the Hearing Matters Podcast Team

Email: hearingmatterspodcast@gmail.com

Instagram: @hearing_matters_podcast

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Healthcare creates a paradox: we collect endless clinical data, publish important research, and still watch patients wait years for proven ideas to become routine care. We sit down with Donna Murray, PhD, to explain how Learning Health Networks (LHNs) are designed to fix that by connecting patients, families, clinicians, and researchers into a shared system that learns quickly and improves care faster.

We walk through what an LHN is, why the Institute of Medicine’s vision of a learning health system matters, and how networks scale the concept across multiple organizations. Donna breaks down the core problem LHNs tackle: silos. Clinicians are on the ground delivering care, researchers are producing findings, and the bridge between them is often weak. The result is slow translation, uneven implementation, and missed opportunities to focus on the barriers patients and families say are most urgent.

From there, we get practical. We talk about “data in once” and why returning insights back to providers in near real time changes clinical decision making. When outcomes can be aggregated across sites, the network can identify which interventions work best for specific subpopulations, learn from high-performing clinics, and spot patients who are not improving even when guidelines are followed. We also connect the dots to audiology and hearing care, where evidence-based practice has to compete with pseudoscience and rapid-fire health claims online.

If you care about real-world evidence, quality improvement, faster adoption of best practices, and patient-centered healthcare innovation, this conversation will give you a clear framework and a hopeful path forward. Subscribe for more, share this with a clinician or researcher who cares about closing the gap, and leave a review. What’s one healthcare change you wish could spread in months instead of years?

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Hearing aid returns aren’t just a number on a dashboard, they’re a clue about what your patients experienced from the first hello to the first follow-up. We talk through the real reasons people bring devices back and why “return for credit” (RFC) should push us toward better systems, not more self-blame.

We break down six practical ways to reduce hearing aid returns in a hearing clinic or audiology private practice. That starts with access through appropriate financing options, because many patients simply don’t have the savings to say yes with confidence. From there, we dig into motivational interviewing and the exact kinds of open-ended questions that reveal what the patient and their spouse actually want, how socially active they are today, and whether they’re truly ready to commit to hearing technology.

Next, we zoom in on onboarding and follow-up scheduling, the patient experience that turns a transaction into a program. We also explain how best practices like real ear measurement, speech-in-noise testing, and tools such as the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB) support better outcomes and fewer surprises. Finally, we cover setting realistic expectations, renaming the “trial period” into an “adjustment period,” and recommending the appropriate level of hearing aid technology based on test results, lifestyle, and communication goals.

If you want fewer returns, happier patients, and more word-of-mouth referrals, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a colleague, and leave a review so more hearing care providers can build clinics that patients trust.

Visit our website and take our quick online hearing screener.

And if you're ready to take the next step, our online hearing care provider locator can help you find a trusted hearing care professional near you. Taking that first step can make a meaningful difference, helping you stay connecting to the people and moments that matter most.

Connect with the Hearing Matters Podcast Team

Email: hearingmatterspodcast@gmail.com

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The fastest way to improve healthcare is to stop treating clinics like isolated islands. I’m joined by Donna Murray, PhD, speech-language pathologist and quality improvement leader, to unpack learning health networks and why they’re becoming a serious force in hearing healthcare, tinnitus care, and patient-centered outcomes.

We get practical about what a learning health network actually is: a connected community of clinics and organizations where patients, families, clinicians, and researchers co-design what gets measured, collect real-world clinical data once, and then use it to improve decisions at the point of care. Donna explains how this shared data feedback loop helps break the silos that slow evidence-based practice, and why it can shorten the long lag between research findings and what happens in exam rooms.

We also dig into the messy reality of variability and complexity in conditions like tinnitus and autism. One broad label can hide many subtypes, which is why “what works” can look inconsistent across patients and across locations. Donna makes the case for building a common language, standardizing assessment and severity tracking, and using network-scale cohorts to spot what works for whom, not just what works on average.

If you care about clinical outcomes, quality improvement, real-world evidence, and a more collaborative culture of care, this conversation will give you a clear framework for what comes next. Subscribe to Hearing Matters, share this with a colleague, and leave a review with the one change you think would most improve tinnitus care.

Visit our website and take our quick online hearing screener.

And if you're ready to take the next step, our online hearing care provider locator can help you find a trusted hearing care professional near you. Taking that first step can make a meaningful difference, helping you stay connecting to the people and moments that matter most.

Omega AI hearing aids don’t just keep up. They redefine what it means to be modern and discreet yet durable and comfortable for all-day wear.

They’re waterproof, everyday-proof, and designed to go the distance of your day and then some. All while tailored to your unique hearing needs.

Connect with the Hearing Matters Podcast Team

Email: hearingmatterspodcast@gmail.com

Instagram: @hearing_matters_podcast

Facebook: Hearing Matters Podcast

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A sleepless night turned into a blueprint for change. After catching a segment on Tiny House Nation, we asked a simple question with a complicated answer: could a true audiology clinic fit inside a tiny house and travel safely, complete with a legitimate sound booth and patient-ready workflow? What followed was a pursuit of access, a debt-free crowdfunding effort built on trust, and a design sprint that tested faith, engineering, and grit.

We open up about why Dr. Carla Smiley, audiologist, chose a tiny house over RVs, school buses, or trailers and how that choice raised the bar for acoustics, power management, and weight distribution. You’ll hear how she mapped airflow for a sealed booth, planned for vibration and road wear, and balanced patient comfort with strict clinical standards. When her first builder walked away, the project could have stalled. Instead, it forced better questions, a new builder in another state, and a commitment to quality that shaped every cut, cavity, and cable run.

Along the way, we share the crowdfunding approach that kept the project debt-free: a focused list, a clear value story drawn from successful dental models, and an invitation for the community to invest in mobile hearing care. Without a deep peer network in audiology at the time, we sought lessons from adjacent mobile clinics and let purpose do the heavy lifting during quiet months. The payoff arrived the day the clinic rolled into view and the mood boards became cabinetry, the plans became latches, and the dream became a place where people can hear their lives more clearly.

If you’re a clinician, founder, or maker weighing an idea no one’s tried yet, this story offers a practical path and a nudge to trust your why. Press play, subscribe for more conversations at the edge of care delivery, and leave a review with the bold problem you’re solving next.

Connect with the Hearing Matters Podcast Team

Email: hearingmatterspodcast@gmail.com

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