Page 25VOICESSeptember 18, 2019

Audiologist Ronni Mathews, M.S., CCC-A, and Patient Care Coordi-nator Lori Pokladowski welcome those who want to find solutions to hearing loss at Hearing, Balance and Speech Center. They work in the 2661 Dixwell Ave., Hamden, and 171 Grandview Ave., Waterbury, sites of the business.

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following back and headaches.“As we grow older, the mech-

anism responsible for balance degenerates, just like other parts of our body, as does our ability of our brains to monitor sensations from our feet. Here, we evalu-ate and help people to avoid falls because prevention is import-ant.”

Another specialty is treatment for tinnitus, commonly referred to ringing in the ears.

“For most people, it’s not both-ersome but 10 to 15 percent of the population suffers on a level that ruins lives. We’re one of the few places in the country that provide treatment.”

Hearing, Balance and Speech

Center services include treat-ment of sound severity disor-ders, such as hyperacusis or the perception of sounds as too loud, phonophobia or fear of sound, and misophonia or a heightened sensitivity to specific sounds such as chewing or lip smacking.

“People come from all over the country and even from outside the United States because we are one of the few centers to address these disorders and others. We offer counseling because there is often brain retraining that must take place.”

Dr. Bauman has developed several programs that he shares during seminars with other pro-fessionals and he is credited with

inventing the style of hearing aid used by 80 percent of people with hearing loss worldwide.

“I took the speaker from behind the ear and moved it into the ear canal, changing out sound is propagated.” He said that, when asked how he feels about this accomplishment, he is happy and that the idea is, “Pretty groovy.”

More information about Hear-ing, Balance and Speech Center is available at www.hearingbal-ance.com and Facebook.

Appointments may be made by calling 203-287-9915 for offic-es located in Branford, Bristol, Hamden, Norwalk, Wallingford and Waterbury.

by Linda ZukauskasWATERBURY — Natan Bau-

man, Ed.D., M.S., Eng., FAAA, an audiologist, inventor, and founder of Hearing, Balance and Speech Center, 171 Grandview Ave., was inspired by the words of Helen Keller, who once said she would choose to have her hearing if she could regain one of the two senses she was denied in life.

He told Voices, “I was surprised to read that because I think we intuitively value vision as our most important sense. She clar-ified that not being able to see deprived her of a relationship with objects but not being able to hear deprived her of relation-ships with people.”

At that time, Dr. Bauman was an electronics engineer; he decid-ed to change his career because of Ms. Keller’s message. “It made me think of the power of hearing and what it means to be able to hear and process information.”

He added, “Hearing is the pri-mary sense that helps us survive and it’s a sense that helps us to become a community and have relationships on many different levels.”

After more than four decades of dedicating his life to auditory study and practice, he is excited to continue his mission of help-ing others.

“This work is the driving engine of my life,” he said. “I’m past retirement age, but I don’t want to give up this work because I want to continue to create opportunities for people to maximize and optimize their hearing.”

Dr. Bauman noted that every-one working at Hearing, Balance and Speech Center has the same attitude and passion as he does, which is just one reason why the business model is unique.

“We use many different means

to restore hearing, for exam-ple through different devices, to address the degree of hear-ing loss but we also look at the patient’s subjective living needs.”

Treatment is individualized to allow patients to function in the way they want to function and therefore enjoy a better life.

“One patient may want to hear grandchildren speak and another might want to hear a concert or still another might want to enjoy a game of bingo.”

Explaining that hearing in each instance requires a differ-ent set of processing, Dr. Bau-man focused on the example of a music lover.

“People want to appreciate the dynamic range of sounds, from pianissimo to forte, because that range represents the emotions embedded in the composition of a piece. To hear speech, patient want to hear at the level they perceive to be optimal. We make adjustments with our devices so soft sounds become comfortable and sounds that are too loud are diminished.”

According to Dr. Bauman, it’s important to recognize the differ-ences in pitch because a child’s voice is higher pitched and it is necessary to adjust for that instance.

In a bingo hall, it’s neces-sary for players to hear distant sounds yet a hearing device should not make nearby sounds too loud.

“It’s important to understand the physics of sound propagation and how electronic devices mag-nify specific sounds to accom-modate individual needs. We do more than test hearing and dis-pense hearing aids.”

Hearing, Balance and Speech Center also provides balance ser-vices, which are the third most common complaint among the growing population of seniors,

Hearing, Balance,Speech Center Aids‘the Primary Sense’

WOODBURY —  Kristi Drangi-nisa will lead a two-hour interac-tive course and bird walk on Sat-urday morning, September 21, at Flanders  Nature Center and Land Trust.

Those attending will become familiar with the “Seven Ques-tions of Bird Identification,” then head out for a walk around the nature center property to put their new skills to practice.

Ms.  Dranginisa is a contribu-tor to the new “Peterson’s Field Guide to Bird Nests” and found-er of BirdMentor.com, a hub for resources and online courses that help people worldwide build con-fidence in learning about birds

and the natural world.Through her courses, students

are immersed in the principles of deep nature connection, bird lan-guage and advanced bird iden-tification skills, including the “seven questions” of bird identi-fication.

The program will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the Flanders’ Stu-dio, located at the intersection of Flanders and Church Hill Road.

The cost is $10 for members, $15 for non-members and free for children younger than 12.

Those interested may register online at www.flandersnature-center.org or call 203-263-3711, ext. 12, for more information.

Bird Program at Flanders

LITCHFIELD — The Wisdom House Retreat and Conference Center will host a discussion on “The Divine Milieu” by  Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Septem-ber 21 at 229 East Litchfield Rd. 

Sally Campbell Woodhall, for-mer director of the  Guild for Spiritual Guidance, will present the book.

Ms. Woodhall has edited the French translation of “Teilhard de Chardin and the Mystery of Christ” by Christopher Mooney. She is also the author of “Teil-

hard de Chardin: Pilgrim, Proph-et, Mystic,” and the founding head of the Woodhall School in Bethlehem. 

Participants will explore Teil-hard’s book and review how he sought to help humanity see, feel and know God’s presence in all creation.

The cost of the program is $60 and includes lunch.

Those seeking addit ional information may  call 860-567-3163,  visit www.wisdomhouse.org or email programs@wisdom-house.org.

‘Divine Milieu’ Talk Set