Audiology's Threatened Autonomy May Be Self-Inflicted: Opinion Editorial
In March of this year, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law a consumer protection bill for people with hearing loss ensuring that those who purchase hearing aids in her state will be counseled on the benefits and availability of telecoil technology. A handful of other states have done the same with legislation in more states pending. Audiologists frequently have been among the opponents to these legislative initiatives.
As audiologists are well aware, even the highest levels of hearing aid technology fit to best practice standards (Academy, 2006; ASHA, 2006) fail to meet the daily listening demands of many patients with hearing loss (Lesner, 2003; Laplante-Levesque et al, 2013). Indeed, as Table 1 reveals, the degree of hearing deficit remaining post-hearing aid fitting can be substantial.
