Local Deaf Musician Luke Criner Stars in Documentary

Luke Criner was born with limited hearing, lost more hearing over time, and eventually received cochlear implants. He identifies as Deaf. Now, he’s a musician who stars in the documentary Sound Again.

Watch this King5 Evening news story about Luke’s hearing loss journey and his joy in making others dance.

Luke lives in Poulsbo, Washington.

Poor Caption Quality?
Here’s How to File a Complaint.

Poor captions on our television sets can be beyond frustrating. The FCC requires captions to be accurate and correctly timed (synchronous), but too often, they’re not.

When you see a “craption” — a poor quality caption — you can take action by filing a complaint with the FCC.

In this article, HLAA explains what to do. It’s easy!

You can also learn about caption quality from the Global Alliance of Speech-to-Text Captioning, a group dedicated to improving transcription and captioning.

Creating Your New Normal When You Have a Hearing Loss

Sometimes the way we’ve always done things just doesn’t work for us any longer when we have a hearing loss.

Sitting still, not drawing attention to ourselves, not interrupting — these “polite” behaviors might not serve us when we need to ask for hearing accommodations or request that people repeat themselves.

In this fantastic blog post on Hearing Loss Live, Chelle Wyatt talks about how we can create our new normal, which might involve breaking a few old rules and even doing the opposite of what we used to do.

Singer Geoff Castellucci Shares His
Sudden Hearing Loss Story

Bass singer Geoff Castelluci recently had a sudden loss of hearing and tinnitus. He went to several doctors — learning much about self-advocacy and speaking up for himself along the way — before he was eventually diagnosed with sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

Steroids and hyperbaric oxygen therapy helped Castellucdi restore some hearing. Find out how he’s doing in his recovery now on this YouTube video.

Sudden hearing loss is a medical emergency, and we encourage you to seek medical care immediately. For more information, visit HLAA’s webpage, Sudden Deafness.

WEBINAR
Beyond Performance: Building a Personal Brand with Hearing Loss

October 21, 2026 | 11:00 am Pacific

Having a hearing loss at work sometimes means you fall into a visibility gap. You may have less access to informal conversations or experience challenges in group settings, and this can impact your visibility–and ultimately your career.

What can you do?

Get recognized for your stronger performances and value by building your personal brand. Learn to make your value visible in this free, captioned HLAA webinar.

Hearing Aids Should Provide Worldwide Access

Our friends at the Center for Hearing Access (CHA) encourage people to “future-proof” their hearing aids by choosing both telecoils and, where possible, Auracast capability.

The CHA folks call this “worldwide access” because hearing aids with both telecoils and Auracast capability allow you to connect wirelessly to all kinds of venues all over the world.

In this CHA handout, read more and find out which hearing aids CHA considers to have worldwide access.

Auracast Is Coming to Faith Communities

Churches can be tough places to hear. High ceilings, hard floors, poor acoustics, and background noise can make it hard to follow sermons and programs.

Auri, an assistive listening system that uses Auracast technology, is being marketed for use in churches and other houses of worship. Already, Auri is helping listeners hear in several churches, including a beautiful Catholic church in Switzerland.

Do you need help hearing in your church? Contact us: webmaster@hearingloss-wa.org.

Hearing Through Your Glasses?

Nuance Audio is offering a pair of glasses with hearing aids built into the frames. You can also answer phone calls via these glasses without ever touching your phone.

Have you tried these glasses?