Just thinking… | Carolyn M. Sommerich

Get vaccinated!
And, wear a mask when in public indoors!

10 July 2021 – Lower cost hearing aids – a good idea, but…

President Biden’s new executive order will allow hearing aids to be sold over the counter, meaning no medical provider is needed. From the briefing statement “A major driver of the expense is that consumers must get them from a doctor or a specialist, even though experts agree that medical evaluation is not necessary. Rather, this requirement serves only as red tape and a barrier to more companies selling hearing aids.”

I think it is a great idea to make hearing aids available at prices that everyone who needs them can afford. No doubt about that.

However, I disagree about the notion that “medical evaluation is not necessary…serves only as red tape”; my disagreement with this is personal and professional.

Professionally, I am always pushing my students to determine the root causes of a problem, rather than jump right in with a fix that may only address the symptoms. If the problem continues to exist, that fix may not be the best solution…

Personally, several members of my family have experienced problems with hearing and they have all been due to different causes. Young children should be diagnosed for hearing impairment because it will affect they way they learn to speak. It is important for them to gain the benefit of working with a Speech-Language Therapist, to help them develop their language skills. Further, it is important to understand why the child’s hearing is impaired; there are many causes and some are repairable.

My mother began to have problems with her hearing in her 50’s. Had we thought that it was just presbycusis (age-related hearing loss) and had she not been seen by an audiologist, the root cause of the problem, an acoustic neuroma, would not have been discovered. This is a type of non-cancerous tumor that grows on the hearing nerve. These tumors can grow large enough to press on the brain stem and affect more than just a person’s hearing. Her tumor needed to be surgically removed.

And then there is my own experience. One day, in my 30’s, I woke up and noticed I could not hear low pitch sounds. I knew that was not a symptom of presbycusis. I went to three doctors over a period of about three years before I was finally correctly diagnosed as having otosclerosis. While a hearing aid was helpful at first, over those three years, my hearing deteriorated so much that the hearing aid was no longer effective. Surgery was, and I regained almost all of my hearing.

My family members are fortunate to have good health insurance and means for seeing doctors when we need care for our health. Many Americans are not in this position. Addressing the root cause of this problem is what is really needed to help people afford medical care, rather than just making it a bit easier for them to treat themselves for symptoms they are experiencing.

One further note…if a person’s hearing loss is being caused by exposure to loud noise or ototoxic chemicals at work, that is a work-related illness and medical care should be sought; the employer is also required to reduce the exposure of their workers to whatever hazards are causing the hearing loss.

Juneteenth 2021

Recommended viewing: The 2019 Henry and Bryna David lecture given by Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt, entitled “Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice that Shapes what We See, Think, and Do”. It is science-based, eye-opening, and thought-provoking. View

17 June 2021

2021 is a year of celebration!

To learn more about each of these, visit this part of the ABA website.

18 Dec. 2020

2021 is the Year of the Ox. This is how Ox are described:

“Oxen are the hard workers in the background, intelligent and reliable, but never demanding praise.

In Chinese culture, the Ox is a valued animal. Because of its role in agriculture, positive characteristics, such as being hardworking and honest, are attributed to it.

Oxen are honest and earnest. They are low key and never look for praise or to be the center of attention. This often hides their talent, but they’ll gain recognition through their hard work.

They believe that everyone should do what’s asked for them and stay within their bounds. Though they are kind, it’s difficult for them to understand persuasion using pathos. Rarely losing your temper, they think logically and make great leaders.”

source: https://chinesenewyear.net/zodiac/ox/

We need more Oxen!

How refreshing 2021 will be, for so many reasons!

17 Dec. 2020 / 4 Jan. 2021

Say their names: Casey Goodson, Jr., Andre’ Hill

Make choices and take action to make these the last names on that list. And yes, better training is needed; maybe medical, but de-escalation, implicit bias, and empathy training even more so.

20 Aug. 2020

Vote responsibly in the upcoming election. Your mother is depending on you.

Read about just one example why your vote matters.

20 Aug. 2020

Visible expression of commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. I am grateful for the strength, thoughtfulness, and determination of my colleagues on the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Together with the HFES Executive Council, this summer we developed a statement and plan of action for improving and expanding what DEI is/means/does in the Society. At its heart, Human Factors is about making systems and products work better for all the people who use them. If this appeals to you, check out HFES, my professional home.

p.s. HFES is getting a new website very soon!

14 June 2020

White privilege. Lori Lakin Hutcherson explains, using examples from her life.

7 June 2020

Please watch, listen, and hear Amber Ruffin on Late Night

6 June 2020

Black Lives Matter.

This sign (below) and the article in Good Housekeeping in which it appears helps to explain the need for this explicit declaration.

OSU College of Public Health

A time for action. Read Dean Amy Fairchild’s message.

University of Michigan – home page

Seven Last Words of the Unarmed – performance

Seven Last Words of the Unarmed.org

2 June 2020

Having lived through another very troubled time in our nation’s history (late 1960’s – early 1970’s), what is occurring now, the pain that people are experiencing from not being heard, not being respected, not being acknowledged as individuals with rights, hopes, goals, and worth, is so painful to witness. I don’t have words to make things right. But I can seek wisdom from others and I can share that wisdom….

on community, society, and science…

Please read Dr. Sudip Parikh’s letter to the membership of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

From Martin Luther King (from NAACP website):

on patience…

“We have no alternative but to protest. For many years we have shown an amazing patience… But we come here tonight to be saved from that patience that makes us patient with anything less than freedom and justice.”

– Montgomery, Alabama, December 5, 1955

on injustice and our mutual connected-ness…

“I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

– Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963

on the constitution, aspiration, and the role of universities…

Please read President Michael Crow’s letter to the ASU community.

22 April 2020

Yes, I want (need) my hair cut, but…

As a person with hair that is getting longer by the hour and a person who enjoys the company of her hair stylist, I am anxious to get back to a regular schedule of visits and haircuts and reverse highlighting.

As an ergonomist, however, I want to offer advice to clients and to stylists and barbers: Please start back slowly. While many people are in need of a haircut, hair cutting and styling puts a very intense workload on the muscles of the hands and shoulders, as well as legs and back from standing all day. After not performing this type of work for several weeks, to start back up at a full clip or even a higher pace to make up for lost income and to satisfy a barrage of clients’ requests, will, I fear, put many stylists and barbers at risk for developing musculoskeletal pain and potential injury.

When people are new to physical labor of any kind, a work hardening period (build-up period) is recommended. This allows the human body to get used to the workload over time. A typical starting workload may be 20 or 25% the first week, which is then increased each week, as your body signals that it is ready. In 4-5 weeks, you will be working at a full workload. This is the same schedule I would recommend for stylists and barbers as they resume working once stay-at-home restrictions ease. Whether you worked full time or part time prior to the shutdown, please ease back into the workload that was normal for you.

It is much, much better to prevent musculoskeletal injuries in the first place, than to try to recover from them.

Because of that, if you want to continue your long-standing relationship with your stylist or barber, keep this in mind when your state allows these shops to reopen for business. (And if you have the means to do so, pay for one or more of the haircuts that you missed during the shutdown; in doing so, your stylist or barber won’t be pressured to try to make up lost income too quickly.)