Latest news with #hearingdevice
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
My wife accused me of ‘selective hearing' – turns out I really was deaf
Michael, 85, and Hilary Whitehall, 64, were used to bickering after four decades of marriage but noticed that it was increasingly being caused by Michael's misunderstandings. A quick test revealed that mild hearing loss was to blame. Here the pair share the signs of hearing loss and game-changing role of a hearing device. — Michael It's not particularly new for a husband who's been married to his wife for nearly 40 years to not listen to a word she says. When I thought that Hilary was mumbling more, that's all I thought it was – I was just not listening when she started talking. I also thought that actors had started mumbling. I've been an agent for 40, 50 years and my big thing was always to tell my clients to speak clearly. I thought there was no enunciation any more – you can't hear what they're saying on television, at the cinema or at the theatre. Then, Hilary announced that she thought there might be a problem with my hearing and I told her to f--- off, which is my catch phrase. But I relented that she may have a point. When we would go to parties where there was a lot of music being played, I couldn't hear a thing. I'd leave early because I couldn't hear anyone. I'd get in a cab and go home. Recently, we were guests at a party. It was absolutely ram-packed and friends were coming over to me and I was standing there, not catching a word, and I could see they were thinking 'god, he's aged'. They ended up putting me in a booth so I could chat to people, who were having to queue to speak to me, as if I was royalty. When we went to the theatre, I'd ask Hilary to book the middle or front stalls to make sure I could hear everybody. I gave in around a month ago and went and saw these lovely people at Specsavers. Hilary had her test as well. I did the hearing check and the lady was absolutely charming. It was all very easy and took around 10 minutes. She presented Hilary's results first and said to her: 'Your hearing is perfect in all registers, absolutely 100 per cent so you have nothing to worry about'. Then she turned to me and her voice lowered and she said: 'On the other hand, Mr Whitehall, for a man of your age you have amazing hearing but there was hearing loss for the upper frequencies.' She presented me with the hearing devices and I selected the silver over-the-ear option and we've had some good success with it. I wore them at Wimbledon this week and I could hear what everyone was saying, not just when talking to me but conversations around me too. When watching the tennis, I could pick up the calls which I wouldn't have been able to before and I could hear the running commentary my son [the comedian Jack Whitehall] was whispering to me. Most of it was amusing remarks about players or somebody in the crowd, which is always good to listen to. I'm on the cusp of wearing it all the time but at the moment I just wear it if I'm going out. They are tiny little things and you don't even know they're in there. It's a far cry from the device my grandfather had, which were big black things like earphones that had a cable coming down to his chest where he had strapped on a speaker that used to crackle all the time and he used to hit it to get it to operate properly. We're happy to get our eyes checked and teeth checked but there seems to be a stigma about getting your ears checked. I think we need to try and debunk that. My audiologist says it would be helpful for people to get their hearing checked from the age of 50. — Hilary I first suspected that Michael had some hearing loss when I noticed we were bickering a lot as a result of misunderstandings or mishearings. Michael would say 'oh, it's beginning to rain' when I'd just said that two minutes ago, or he'd be standing there with a vacuum cleaner because he thought I said to clean the car rather than move the car. Michael kept telling me that it was because I was mumbling. Forget The Wittering Whitehalls, our podcast which we're going on tour with from October, we were the Bickering Whitehalls. We bicker quite a lot anyway because we're big characters but it was definitely becoming more prevalent in our relationship. Hearing loss is a very difficult thing to pin down. It's not linear, necessarily, as you might have a bit of hearing loss then it gets worse, or it can stabilise. There were other little tiny things as well. I have an Apple Watch and I noticed my step count had changed and I wasn't aware of doing more exercise or walking. I worked out that it was because I was having to go up and down the stairs much more than I had been because I'd usually shout up to Michael but all of a sudden he was saying 'what?' and 'I beg your pardon' so I had to keep going up there. Another thing I noticed was that every time Michael walked into the room, he would turn the volume up on the TV and every time I walked into the room, I would turn the volume down. I did think that could be a bit of a sign of hearing loss. We got to the point where Michael would say there's no point going to an event because he won't hear anything, so it was isolating. There were also occasions where we would go to an event and after about 20 minutes, Michael would say he was going home. I also thought it could be a bit of selective hearing, that my voice had simply become a bit of a noise to my husband. I became somebody I didn't particularly like because there was a lot of shouting and a lot of me snapping at him because dealing with mishearing several times a day gets very annoying. Michael wearing a hearing device has been a game changer. At our favourite restaurant the other night, which has amazing food but not great acoustics, he heard everything. My mood has certainly lightened because I'm not having to repeat myself all of the time and shout. Once you become aware of hearing devices, you start to notice how many people are wearing them. I went for a walk with a great friend the other day and was talking about it and it turns out that she's been wearing them for about six years and I had no idea. My mother used to have hearing devices but she never used to put the batteries in because she was very resistant to it. She did become quite isolated because she was literally zoning out because she couldn't hear things. The sooner you can intervene and get the hearing device you need, the better you can address it. He had them on in the house the other day and walked across our wooden floor and said, instantly, I think we need to get the floor fixed because it's started to creak. I explained that it has been creaking for the last eight years. Hearing loss affects 18 million adults in the UK, often unknowingly. Age-related hearing loss is the most common type and it is caused by gradual wear and tear to the tiny sensory cells in the inner ear. It tends to affect both ears and there's currently no way to restore this form of hearing loss. Mishearing is the main symptom but needing to ask people to repeat themselves, having music or television volume higher than other people need and feeling tired or stressed from having to concentrate while listening to others are also signs. It can also lead to relationship difficulties, with more than a third of couples arguing weekly because of mishearing, according to research from Specsavers. As well as these effects on daily life, hearing loss, when left untreated, doubles the risk of developing dementia when it is mild, while severe hearing loss that is not treated raises the risk five-fold. This link isn't fully understood but it is thought that people with hearing loss may become isolated, which is a dementia risk factor. 'Many don't realise that they are missing parts of the conversation,' says Sonam Sehemby, a hearing expert at Specsavers. 'Since it develops gradually, people often wait up to 10 years before seeking help.' However, hearing loss is easily diagnosed with a simple hearing check, which is available on the NHS and free at some pharmacies and opticians. Following a diagnosis, hearing aids are recommended to combat hearing loss by making sounds louder and clearer. 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Telegraph
12-07-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
My wife accused me of ‘selective hearing' – turns out I really was deaf
We got to the point where Michael would say there's no point going to an event because he won't hear anything, so it was isolating. There were also occasions where we would go to an event and after about 20 minutes, Michael would say he was going home. I also thought it could be a bit of selective hearing, that my voice had simply become a bit of a noise to my husband. I became somebody I didn't particularly like because there was a lot of shouting and a lot of me snapping at him because dealing with mishearing several times a day gets very annoying. Michael wearing a hearing device has been a game changer. At our favourite restaurant the other night, which has amazing food but not great acoustics, he heard everything. My mood has certainly lightened because I'm not having to repeat myself all of the time and shout. Once you become aware of hearing devices, you start to notice how many people are wearing them. I went for a walk with a great friend the other day and was talking about it and it turns out that she's been wearing them for about six years and I had no idea. My mother used to have hearing devices but she never used to put the batteries in because she was very resistant to it. She did become quite isolated because she was literally zoning out because she couldn't hear things. The sooner you can intervene and get the hearing device you need, the better you can address it. He had them on in the house the other day and walked across our wooden floor and said, instantly, I think we need to get the floor fixed because it's started to creak. I explained that it has been creaking for the last eight years. How to spot the signs of hearing loss and when to act Hearing loss affects 18 million adults in the UK, often unknowingly. Age-related hearing loss is the most common type and it is caused by gradual wear and tear to the tiny sensory cells in the inner ear. It tends to affect both ears and there's currently no way to restore this form of hearing loss. Mishearing is the main symptom but needing to ask people to repeat themselves, having music or television volume higher than other people need and feeling tired or stressed from having to concentrate while listening to others are also signs. It can also lead to relationship difficulties, with more than a third of couples arguing weekly because of mishearing, according to research from Specsavers. As well as these effects on daily life, hearing loss, when left untreated, doubles the risk of developing dementia when it is mild, while severe hearing loss that is not treated raises the risk five-fold. This link isn't fully understood but it is thought that people with hearing loss may become isolated, which is a dementia risk factor. 'Many don't realise that they are missing parts of the conversation,' says Sonam Sehemby, a hearing expert at Specsavers. 'Since it develops gradually, people often wait up to 10 years before seeking help.' However, hearing loss is easily diagnosed with a simple hearing check, which is available on the NHS and free at some pharmacies and opticians. Following a diagnosis, hearing aids are recommended to combat hearing loss by making sounds louder and clearer.
The Verge
25-06-2025
- Business
- The Verge
Sam Altman takes his ‘io' trademark battle public
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has put a spotlight on private conversations leading up to a rival company suing OpenAI over its upcoming device, io. On Tuesday, Altman posted screenshots of emails on X showing messages between him and Jason Rugolo, the founder of the Iyo hearing device startup that's suing OpenAI. The emails show a mostly friendly exchange where Rugolo asks Altman for his support as Altman discloses a competing device. 'I'd love the opportunity to pitch you to invest $10MM in my AI-meets-audio hardware company, iyO,' Rugolo wrote in a March 4th message. 'We're launching the best possible hardware interface to interact with AI-agents, after having obsessively focused on this problem since 2018.' Altman declined the offer because he was 'working on something competitive.' Then, Rugolo followed up by asking whether OpenAI would like to work with him, to which Altman replied he'd have to ask former Apple designer Jony Ive, who he said was 'driving' the launch. OpenAI purchased Ive's AI hardware company for almost $6.5 billion last month. The next emails occurred in May, with Rugolo highlighting some of the fixes Iyo made for some of the 'fails' that occurred during a demo shown to the OpenAI team. On May 23rd, days after OpenAI announced its purchase of io — a name similar to Rugolo's startup — Rugolo sent Altman another email. 'I'm getting blown up on the names situation,' Rugolo said. 'I wanted to level with you here, I'm feeling a little vulnerable and exposed, david and goliath style. i just wanted to hear from you directly, are you serious and optimistic about potentially bringing us in?' In a May 23rd email, Peter Welinder, OpenAI's VP of product, told Altman that he doesn't 'think there's a fit,' adding that 'Their device [Iyo's] is very orthogonal to ours and doesn't really work yet.' On June 22nd, OpenAI suddenly scrubbed the 'io' branding from its website, later revealing that it was forced to make the change due to a temporary restraining order granted as part of Iyo's trademark lawsuit, which was filed on June 9th. OpenAI's hardware team testified that the io's hardware isn't 'an in-ear device, nor a wearable.' In the lawsuit, Iyo alleges OpenAI knew about the startup and its technology before launching io, citing meetings with Altman's investment firm and Ive's LoveFrom design company in 2022. Iyo also claims it shared information about its upcoming device when trying to recruit former Apple designer Evans Hankey, who went on to co-found io. 'Jason rugolo had been hoping we would invest in or acquire his company iyo and was quite persistent in his efforts,' Altman wrote in his post on X. 'We passed and were clear along the way. now he is suing openai over the name. this is silly, disappointing and wrong.' Altman's strategy of litigating in the court of public opinion echoes OpenAI's approach to a lawsuit with Elon Musk, which the company has fought partly by dropping email exchanges supporting its side of the story. Musk has made similar moves in court documents. Rugolo responded to Altman's post on X, saying that he didn't want to 'fight' in public. 'Honestly just think it's super bad form for someone like you to be coming after me like this,' Rugolo posted. 'I'm looking forward to competing with you fairly on product; you just can't use our name. In another reply, Rugolo expanded on his relationship with Altman prior to the 2025 emails. 'When an investor you pitched everything to, especially such a powerful one, tells you they are now doing something competitive... it's just a terrible feeling,' Rugolo wrote. 'the moment he said he had decided to do something competitive, i should have immediately gotten wise… i got played pretty hard, gave them everything.' Though OpenAI currently can't show off the 'io' branding, the company has said that its deal with Ive is still happening. OpenAI has asked the court to dismiss the case, calling Iyo's argument 'unfounded' and 'premature.'
