Recently a family brought in an elderly gentleman with moderate Alzheimer’s. He had been fit with hearing aids from another provider and the family was not satisfied with the service he received. The family had also been to a different provider who said they could not help him. I was able to do a minor repair and make his old aids function again. When wearing his old hearing aids he had a stooped posture and sad eyes. He made minimal eye contact, and communicated poorly. I encouraged them to bring him back for an evaluation.
Over the next month or so I was able to fit him with a new set of hearing aids that I tuned via Speech Mapping. At his first follow up I saw a different man walk into the office, a man with erect posture and smiling eyes. His ability to communicate was much improved and his family reported the same; they were delighted. Now the improved mien may have been a matter of good days vs. bad days, but his improved communication ability was not. I can’t promise the same results with every Alzheimer’s patient, but I’ll do my best.