earbuds for auditory issues

For millions of people worldwide, auditory processing issues make everyday life challenging, especially in noisy environments. Trying to describe the sensation to those with normal hearing is difficult.

Author Karen Foli used an analogy for the experience of auditory processing disorder (APD) in the title of her novel, “Like Sound Through Water.”

Gemm Learning, a tutoring service for children with learning issues such as APD, describes the experience in the following way:

“Most people with APD have normal hearing, but their brains have trouble interpreting auditory signals and parsing speech. Sounds blend together and become muddy – or they go by without making any sense.”

What It’s Like Having Auditory Processing Disorder

New advances in hearing technology offer exciting promise according to a recent news story from Western Australia…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jreAVN6-i58

Many existing hearing products use noise masking techniques and pre-recorded sound. However the earbuds in the story above seem unique in their ability to selectively reduce or cancel out surrounding real-life noise.

Using a combination of active noise cancellation, directional microphones, and some sort of engineering wizardy, through a smartphones application, these earbuds can:

  • Turn down ambient background noise and enhance speech frequencies using “speech-in-noise control” setting
  • Turn on / off active noise cancelling (all surrounding noise) with a tap of the earbud
  • Toggle between pre-set environment settings tailored to various locations (“restaurant,” “driving,” “office,” “home”, etc)
  • Selectively turn up or down volume of surrounding physical world noise

Here’s another profile of these earbuds from the TikTok of a teacher with ADHD from Orlando, Florida:

@wouldyakindly

#ad Seriously Nuheara IQBuds² Max are ? #adhdinwomen #autism #nuheara #noisecancelling #adhd #mentalhealth #mentalhealthmatters

♬ original sound – Lo