Actual unsolicited user comments

Names hidden for privacy

• "This (LACE) is an exemplary program. I am a speech pathologist and was particularly eager to take this program to have a better understanding of the tasks and goals. I have recommended it to a friend who works with seniors, many of whom have hearing loss. It's a good training program with many excellent suggestions interspersed with the tasks. Since I have worn hearing aids for over 40 years and since I taught aural rehab (several years ago), I am well aware of the program suggestions and have put into practice your suggestions. I have recommended this program to several friends who either deny a hearing loss or are not adjusting to their hearing aids and would benefit from the program. In summary, it's an excellent program and should be a "must" wherever possible with first-time hearing aid users."

• "I found the LACE training extremely beneficial. I admit that I became frustrated at times (like real life!), but continued to work through that frustration to complete the tasks. Perseverance is the key! I also enjoyed reading the bits of helpful information inter spaced throughout the lessons. I found the topics interesting and appropriate. In addition, utilizing different speakers, (male, female, child) made me aware of my strengths and deficits. The LACE training helped me realize that while watching closed captioning on TV, my brain was not focusing on the speech. I am now trying to change that "passive" listening and concentrate more acutely on the sound while using the CC as backup. Again, thank you for creating a program that is so very helpful. It is quite an adjustment to get used to new hearing aids and having the auditory training to assist me with that process was greatly appreciated."

• "I enjoyed doing the Lace program. I found that the hints and information for persons with hearing problems very useful. I become very unhappy in situations where I find it hard to hear what is going on. I really feel that the persons who come in contact with someone with hearing aids should be more educated in how it feels not to be able to understand sometime what is being said. Thank you for this program."
  

• "I really felt it helped me. I learned to tune into every word of a sentence for more understanding. It affirmed I have more problems understanding children than adults. I know I need to work on auditory memory. It taught me how much more acute my listening skills were in the morning than in the late afternoon. That was fun!"

• "Have been wearing hearing aids 30 years. For many of those years I would tone out people. Its hard to pay attention which LACE is teaching us to do."

• "The training did help mostly by paying more attention to the speaker, the subject and the body language. I did tend to get irritated when the speaker spoke so rapidly no one would understand what they were saying. Of course, that made me lose concentration and miss the next sentence! I realized the best thing to do is relax and LISTEN."

• "LACE is terrific. I have been looking for something exactly like LACE since getting my current aids. It has improved my confidence as well as my listening abilities. Its also very elegantly written!"

• "I learned much from this training program. Having been more deaf than I imagined for quite some time, I was unaware that I had been missing so much in conversation. This program alerted me to that and I began listening more attentively in these sessions. I enjoyed the tips too as well as learning more about the subjects of conversation."

The LACE Effect

"I began using LACE in the summer of 2006. Since that time, I've noticed a very pleasant change in my practice. Now, during initial follow-up appointments, my patients do not necessarily want to discuss the problems associated with their hearing aids—that has become secondary. The first words out of their mouths during their follow-up appointments are usually, "Tell me how I did with my hearing therapy exercises."

The LACE AR program has allowed my patients to take charge of their hearing and their listening. They no longer have to fully rely on their hearing aids in order to effectively communicate. Think about it, as we age we are constantly losing control of skills we mastered in our youth. LACE empowers us to get some of that control back, namely our confidence in our ability to listen and to communicate.

Now I know I said I wasn't a researcher, but please forgive me for throwing out one statistic. In the six months or so I have been offering this program, not one LACE patient has returned hearing aids. Not one. And remember, this is coming from a clinician who admittedly has always claimed a dismally unsatisfactory return rate."

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Martin Audiology In-House Study

"... patients with the least quantifiable improvement were very enthusiastic about the LACE program and its benefit. On a subjective questionnaire we used to seek input from the patient on their experience with the LACE program.

For the question: "I feel more satisfied with my hearing aids after completing the LACE program," all but two subjects reported increased satisfaction post LACE. On the rating scale of 1-5 with 1 as definitely, 3 as somewhat, and 5 as not at all, the average rating on this question was 3.14.

For the second question, "I feel more satisfied with the hearing help I received at Martin Audiology after completing the LACE program," all of the subjects reported increased satisfaction and the average rating on this question on the 5 point scale was 1.71."

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Oticon, Inc. Helps Hearing Care Professionals Increase User Satisfaction with LACE

"We began using LACE several months ago to provide benefit to our patients that goes beyond hearing instrument technology. Our protocol is to provide the LACE disk at the time of the initial consultation. In doing so, we hope to desensitize patients to the increased ambient noise levels that they will be experiencing with amplification as well as help with their comprehension of speech in noise. From those patients who have completed the LACE program, we have had nothing but positive responses about improvements in functional communication and improved confidence with communication ability."

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Clinical Trial Locations

• Audiological Consultants of Atlanta
• Audiology Specialists, Laconia, NH
• Pacific Hearing Service, Los Altos and Atherton, CA
• Rehder Hearing Clinic, Billings, MT
• San Francisco Hearing and Speech Center, San Francisco
• University of California, San Francisco, CA
• University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
• University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
• University of Louisville, Louisville, KY

LACE Training Task Improvements

Difference between the first and last week average training scores

Task	Training Task Scores
Speech in Noise	3 dB Improvement
Time Compressed Speech	6% Improvement
Auditory Memory	1 difficulty level Improvement
Competing Speakers	4 dB Improvement

Comparable Independent Outcome Measures

Difference between pre-training and post-training scores

Task	Outcome Measure Score
QuickSin Test	2.2 dB Improvement
Listening Span Test (Measure of auditory working memory)	6% Improvement
Percent change in HHIE	17% Improvement
Stroop Color Word Test (Measure of speed of processing and interference)	3 second Improvement

All changes are statistically significant at P=<.05.
No changes for control group.