Mobile Audiology of North Texas

09/24/2026

Day six of communication tips from Dr. Salazar: good lighting can be important.

A person with hearing loss may watch your face to assist in understanding so lighting on it is important. When in a restaurant or other social gathering, sit where there is good lighting so that your face can be more easily seen. Poor lighting may cause shadows on the face of the talker. Conversely avoid sitting with strong lighting coming from behind such as through a window as that will cause difficulty for the listener looking into the bright light.

09/24/2026

Dr. Salazar studied American Sign Language in high school. She learned an appreciation for Deaf culture and about the profession of audiology. 🤟

09/23/2026

Day five of communication tips from Dr. Salazar: speak clearly, slightly slowly and louder than normal if needed.

Speak distinctly to someone with hearing loss but without exaggeration. You do not need to shout. Shouting actually distorts the sounds. Try not to mumble as this is very hard to understand, even for people with normal hearing. Slow your speech slightly. Use pauses to give the person time to process speech. Give clues when changing subjects or say “new topic."

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09/22/2026

Day four of a week of communication tips from Dr. Salazar: turn down the noise around you when possible.

Try to reduce background noise when talking with someone with hearing loss. Turn off the television and audio devices. Move to a quiet space away from the noise source. When going to a restaurant or making dinner reservations, ask for a table away from the kitchen, server stations or large parties. High-backed booths tend to be a little quieter than tables with chairs in the middle of a large dining room.

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09/21/2026

Day three of a week of better communication tips from Dr. Salazar: repeat once then rephrase if needed.

If a listener has difficulty understanding something you said, repeat it once. If they are still having difficulty, find a different way of saying it. Use different words with the same meaning. For example: “I am going to the grocery store." Repeat once and then rephrase. “I am going to the supermarket." Another option is to ask what the person did not understand and just repeat that phrase or word. For example, "grocery store" is what was not understood, so just repeat those words.

Most people with hearing loss prefer this approach and do not want someone to say "never mind" then stop trying to communicate.

09/18/2026

Day two of a week of better communication tips from Dr. Salazar: maintain appropriate eye contact while talking.

Face the person you're talking with especially if they have hearing loss. Make eye contact. Your facial expressions and body language add vital information to the message being conveyed. For example, you can "see" a person's excitement, joy, confusion or frustration by watching the facial expressions or body language.

09/17/2026

Day one of a week of better communication tips from Dr. Salazar:
get the listener's attention before you begin talking.

Say her or his name or make a movement to signal them like a hand wave and wait a moment for their eye contact or response. Also consider touching the listener's hand, arm or shoulder lightly to gain attention. If a person with hearing loss hears better from one ear, move to that side of the person. These simple gestures will prepare the individual with hearing loss to listen and not miss the first part of the conversation.

These tips will likely seem like common sense but are often not used with the people we talk with the most.

09/04/2026

The World Health Organization has included treatment for hearing loss as one way to reduce the risk of cognitive decline and/or dementia.

This executive summary presents the key recommendations from the second edition of the WHO guidelines on risk reduction of cognitive decline and dementia, updating the 2019 edition to reflect the latest evidence and advances in dementia risk reduction.

08/14/2026

Taking care of your heart health may help maintain your hearing!

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9886989/
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-27832-x
https://www.heart.org/en/news/2024/10/22/hearing-and-vision-loss-may-increase-risk-of-heart-disease-and-stroke

Hearing loss has been associated with individual cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and, to a lesser extent, CVD risk metrics. However, these relationships are understudied in clinical populations. We conducted a retrospective study of ...

07/23/2026