Louisville School to Offer Program

Kentucky's Heuser Hearing Institute is opening its doors to hearing children with their new Louisville Language Academy. Louisville Language Academy, a preschool for 2-, 3- and 4-year-old hearing children, will help improve the communication skills of hearing impaired students, including those with cochlear implants, by providing side-by-side learning opportunities in music, arts and crafts.

Cochlear Implant Film Wins Award at Sundance

"Hear and Now" won the audience award for best documentary at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.

Al Mann Honored in Los Angeles

Al Mann, founder of Advanced Bionics, the only North America based cochlear implant maker, was honored at the Los Angeles Venture Association's 4th Annual LAVA Awards Dinner on Thursday, January 18, at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Bone-Anchored Hearing Aids

An article in the January 2007 issue of the Archives of Otolaryngology--Head & Neck Surgery reports that outcomes following surgically implanted hearing aids that are anchored to bone appear comparable for children younger than 5 years and those older than 5 years.

Cochlear Implant Documentary at Sundance Film Festival

Hear and Now, a documentary about a 65 year old couple who have cochlear implant surgery will be shown at this year's Sundance Film Festival:

First time American filmmaker Irene Taylor Brodsky will travel to Park City with her doc "Hear and Now," which Sundance calls "a magical and deeply moving story of two people who embark on an extraordinary journey from silence to sound." After 65 years of silence, Paul and Sally Taylor decide to get cochlear implant surgery and experience something that has been absent all their lives--the realm of sound. Brodsky captures her deaf parents' complex decision to undergo the risky and controversial procedure, which is the only one that actually restores a sense. "Hear and Now" will screen in the Independent Film Competition: Documentary section at the upcoming Sundance Film Festival.

Audiologist Develops a Wireless MP3 Player for Cochlear Implants

Sandy Mintz, an audiologist with medical device company Advanced Bionics, is working with Samsung to develop a wireless system that will link an MP3 player to a cochlear implant.

Medicaid Covers Bilateral Cochlear Implant

In what the article describes as a landmark case, an Oklahoma couple won an appeal for Medicaid coverage of a bilateral implant for their child.