Seniorsaint wrote on the forum:

I woke up on Thanksgiving Day with loss of all hearing in my left ear. No previous problems that i am aware of. I have had an MRI negative results. Audiologist says my ear is dead and they can't do anything about it. I have continuous "buzzing" in the ear. I am 85 years old and in general good health. What can I do to help the situation?

Is it true that nothing can be done? Could he benefit from a cochlear implant in that ear?

I love it when I get e-mails like this one I got today:

I'm an intern with AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring. I saw your about.com page and blog and I just wanted to pass along information about upcoming open caption screenings here. On Sunday, January 25th we'll be showing SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE at 7:30 p.m. and REVOLUTIONARY ROAD at 9:40 p.m. We're looking to expand the number of Open Caption screenings as well, can you suggest other deaf and hearing impaired organizations I should contact?

AFI Silver Theatre

This is a theater that wants to expand open captioned showings. I referred him to three local deaf and hard of hearing organizations, but I am putting the word out here on About.com too. This will be their FIRST time showing open captioned films, so it is important for the deaf community of metro Washington, DC to show their support strongly. Show them that there is an audience.

Sunday night at 7:30 pm is not too bad of a showing time. It is not "prime time" Friday or Saturday night, but it is still better than a midday showing while most people are at work or in school. Kudos to them for at least choosing a reasonable time and date for their launch of open captioned films.

This column from the Philadelphia Inquirer/Daily News made me laugh. In it, the author humorously describes her despair at trying to get her mother to buy a second hearing aid. (The other half of the column, which has nothing to do with hearing aids but can not be mentioned here, is also funny).

One advantage of my having grown up deaf - I'll never face this battle with my own parents. They won't be able to resist getting a hearing aid if they need one, because they have me as a living example that hearing aids/cochlear implants are no big deal.

Have you ever heard of the Video Relay Services Consumer Association (VRSCA)? I hadn't until I came across their information table at a recent asl expo. I thought this kind of association was a good idea because of all the issues involving video relay services. So I contacted them for an interview.