October is Audiology Awareness Month - “Hearing is only one part of you.”

Watch and listen to Kathleen's converstion with Audiologist, Angie Lederman, MS, CCC-A of Hear Now Audiology & Tinnitus Center to learn about why hearing our best is important, the causes of hearing loss, how we can protect our hearing, and more!

“Hearing is only one part of you.” Our sense of hearing keeps us connected to the world and is an important component of overall health. Watch the interview with Angie of Hear Now Audiology & Tinnitus Center to learn about why hearing our best is important, the causes of hearing loss, how we can protect our hearing, the Rayovac connection, giving back and more!

Angie graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree (Magna Cum Laude) in Communication Disorders and Sciences from Detroit's Wayne State University, where she obtained a Master of Science degree in Audiology. She has been the proud owner of Hear Now Audiology & Tinnitus Center since 2020.

She has worked with ENT centers, private practices, and hospitals. Her awards are numerous and include ACE (Award for Continuing Education). The Hearing Review awarded her, Best Of Hearing Healthcare Professionals. In 2011, she was voted the regional winner in Rayovac’s Hearing Professional of the Year (HPOY). Then, in 2012, she was honored with the National HearingProfessional of the Year Award! Royovac partners with the Starkey Foundation.

Angie believes in helping all people to hear better. She gave the gift of hearing to those in need, empowering them to achieve their potential with her financial award to the Starkey Hearing Foundation. Annually, HearNow Audiology and Tinnitus Center hosts “Hear for the Holidays,” fitting a special someone with hearing aids at no charge.

The field of audiology requires CEs, and Angie stays on top of hearing aid technology, aural rehabilitation, and tinnitus management. She is attending regional and national training to ensure that she is up-to-date on the most current trends in the hearing healthcare field.

Angie is a gem of a healthcare professional who spends extra time with patients getting to know their lifestyles and needs and providing tools and tips for a well-lived journey. She builds relationships graced with the rewards of helping clients hear better. Angie considers her career a privilege and a joy, not a job. Annually, Hear Now Audiology and Tinnitus Center hosts “Hear for the Holidays,” fitting a special someone with hearing aids.

I am excited to share our conversation, enjoy. We want to hear from you! let us know your favorite quote, Angie gave so great ones.

Thank you for watching I hope you found value in our conversation. We'd love to hear from you.

Visit Angie and her growing team at Hear Now Audiology & Tinnitus Center. They have so much to offer their patients.

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Video Transcript:

Why Audiology?

Kathleen: The first thing that I want to know, and most people want to know, is what was it that drew you into audiology.

Angie: So I always wanted to be in the medical field, and I wanted to be a radiologist my entire life, like my uncle. When I got to college, I knew I wanted a family. I got to college, and I started thinking being a doctor that’s probably going to take up a lot of my life. And I love the flexibility of not being on call. And so my mother worked for a neurootologist, and I followed him around for the summer. He had me meet a couple of audiologists, and I just fell in love. It has been my calling, and I really love what I do.

Kathleen: So what was… There had to be something that among that that happens that’s like that trips that.

Angie: I will tell you one of the first things was that all the audiologists I saw worked part-time. And what that meant was work-life balance. So the whole time my kids were in school, I had two days a week where I volunteered at their school and worked three days. So I loved that part of it. I fell in love with working with seniors. As an audiologist, you can specialize in a lot of different things. And I found working with older folks, especially the counseling aspect, and just helping them to communicate better.

Kathleen: That’s good. I find it always fascinating how people find a niche in life. So, that’s amazing. So your mom kind of opened the door for you.

Angie: Yes. I am very thankful to that physician, and I always will be. Yeah.

Hear Now History

Kathleen: So your business here is Hear Now. And you’ve been here for how long?

Angie: So we started in this location in January 2020. For the two years prior, it was just me, and I worked in an ENT office. I rented space from him, and then as that started to develop, I knew I needed my own place, and we found this location in January 2020.

Kathleen: January 2020. And you’re still here, so that’s amazing.

Angie: Yes, we are. We just rented the space next door. We’re expanding. Our business is growing quicker than we know what to do with it.

Hearing Loss Happens

Angie: Yes.

Kathleen: I’m very interested in the deaf community and the hard of hearing. My interest goes more toward children. But I’m also working on a project. We’re doing books for seniors. So yeah, that’s exciting.

So talk to us about, you know, there’s different ways you can develop hearing loss, or you’re born with it.

Angie: Number one is probably aging. And we call that “presbycusis” - that is hearing loss simply by getting older. It’s not inevitable that you’ll have hearing loss when you age, but it’s very likely. And so that’s the big one. Also, noise exposure is a big concern amongst our veterans. Especially here in Metro Detroit, we’ve got the auto workers, think construction, think hunters. Lots of noise here. Genetics is a big one. So you can be born with hearing loss. And so we see that more often in children.

Kathleen: Yeah. That’s a statistic that fascinates me, and I just can’t quite wrap my head around the phenomenon of that yet. And it was shocking the first time I heard it, and I’m still surprised each time I read it. That 90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents. Can you shed any light on how that happens?

Angie: That’s probably more of a genetics question than me. But just like any other disease process, disorder, or abnormality, it can happen. There can be a family history. So we quite frequently see families that pass on their hearing loss. So, for instance, I have a father. He is in his early forties. He was born with hearing loss. Four of his five children have hearing loss, and if I put their audiograms next to each other, they’re virtually identical. So we’ve got that huge family tie. But then we can also say, you know, how did that child be born diabetic when there’s no history of diabetes?

Kathleen: Right.

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