In the lounge of the Dogwood Retirement Housing complex in Milledgeville, Theresa Brumfield is sitting behind a console pressing buttons and making adjustments to a series of electronic tones.
Seated next to her, an elderly woman is wearing earphones and reacting to the tones Brumfield is sending from the console. Each time she hears the tone she squeezes a hand controller, letting Brumfield know she’s heard the sound.
Together with Gregory Waller, Brumfield is traveling to retirement homes in three counties giving free hearing screenings.
“A lot of people don’t have easy access [to hearing testing],” Brumfield said. “It’s as easy for us to come to them as anything else.”
Waller, a hearing instrument specialist with Oconee Ear, Nose and Throat, has been working with Dr. Brad Mathias to provide the Lake Region with professional hearing healthcare.
“We started [the Oconee Hearing Center] about five years ago in the doctors offices at Oconee ENT,” Waller said. “When we started we didn’t think it would become as popular as it did. It has expanded quickly.”
Many people don’t realize their hearing is getting worse or they ignore the situation until it is a serious problem.
“To the person going through hearing loss, it’s no big deal, but everyone around them knows how bad it is,” Waller said.
Hearing loss can be misdiagnosed, especially in elders and young children. These misdiagnoses can hide a problem that grows continually, isolating the person from loved ones.
“The longer you wait [to receive treatment], the more damage can be done to the brain,” Waller said. “We hear with our brain not our ears; ears transmit information for the brain to interpret.”
Through his work, Waller hopes to inform others about how important it is to receive annual hearing screenings regardless of their age. Waller said his clients range in age from a couple of years old to 97.
Vanity is the obstacle keeping most people from receiving the treatment they require for healthy hearing. But once people receive treatment for their hearing, the vanity disappears, Waller said.
Waller has trained extensively with Starkey Laboratories, the United States’ largest manufacturer of hearing aids. Part of Starkey’s commitment to healthy hearing involves traveling to under-privileged parts of the world and providing hearing screening and free hearing aid devices.
It was on one of these philanthropic trips in Guatemala that Waller decided to bring this service to people in the Lake Region.
“There’s no reason today why someone should leave a hearing professional’s office without a hearing aid if they need them,” Waller said. “We have the technology today where we can outfit any hearing loss.”
Waller decided to bring his services to the retired and elderly by working with retirement homes to perform free hearing screenings for all those who are interested. Together with Brumfield, Waller is visiting retirement communities in Baldwin, Jones, Putnam and Washington counties to provide seniors with some incentive to check their hearing.
“We had a good response,” Linda Head, Dogwood Retirement Housing manager, said. “Most of our residents came by to have their hearing checked.”
Waller would like to expand his free hearing screening services to include children and schools.
“A lot of children are accused of having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder,” Waller said. “We could be looking at the wrong symptoms.”
But for now, Waller is content to provide his services to those who need it most: The older generation.
When talking about the importance of healthy hearing, Waller cites what Helen Keller said when asked what sense she would like most to have.
“She said the ability to hear, more than anything else,” Waller said. “Blindness separates you from things, deafness separates you from people.”
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