Tamco Learning Creations

10/16/2026

**ONE TRUTH ABOUT HEARING LOSS**

Good hearing aids don't mean you'll understand every word.

Hearing aids help make sounds more accessible, but hearing someone's voice and understanding what they're saying are two different things.

Background noise, poor phone connections, and missing visual cues can all make understanding speech harder.

Sometimes the answer isn't more volume. It's finding a different way to get the message across.

**Hearing more doesn't always mean understanding more.**

10/14/2026

“I can't hear you” doesn't always mean I didn't hear anything.

Sometimes I hear someone's voice but can't understand the words. Other times, I understand most of the conversation but miss one important detail.

And sometimes asking someone to repeat themselves just doesn't help.

In this month's TLC blog, I share two everyday experiences that show why understanding what went wrong can help us choose what to do next.

**Use what you got to ask for what you need. Control what you can.**

Read the blog:

Hearing loss can make conversations confusing. Learn to recognize communication breakdowns and choose strategies that help you understand.

09/28/2026

Friendship requires access, too.

We talk a lot about communication access in classrooms, meetings, and appointments. But some of the hardest conversations to follow happen during lunch, recess, in a crowded hallway, or just hanging out with other people.

I recently wrote about this for Equalize Sensory Services, looking at how communication access can affect friendships for children and teens who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing.

While the article focuses on students, there’s an idea here that carries well beyond school:

Being in the same place isn’t the same as being included in the conversation.

Learn how school teams can support friendships for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students by improving communication access during social times.

09/25/2026

What does it mean for a hearing strategy to actually work?

It doesn’t have to look the same in every situation.

Sometimes the best strategy is changing the technology you use. Sometimes it’s changing where you sit, asking someone to repeat something differently, or finding another way to get the information you need.

This month’s article starts with something I do on a motorcycle, but the bigger idea applies almost anywhere: the goal isn’t to use one particular strategy. The goal is to communicate successfully.

Read more: https://tamcolearning.com/hearing-loss-communication-strategy-working-not-well/

A hearing loss communication strategy can work without working well. See how one couple adjusted their approach and reduced listening effort.

09/21/2026

A communication strategy doesn’t have to completely fail before you try something different.

Maybe you’re understanding the conversation, but you’re exhausted afterward. Maybe you’re getting most of the message, but still missing important pieces. Or maybe something that works well at home doesn’t work nearly as well in a restaurant or group.

Sometimes “it works” isn’t the same as “it works well.”

It’s okay to adjust the strategy.

09/18/2026

What’s one small thing that makes conversations easier for you?

Maybe it’s choosing a quieter table, turning on captions, asking someone to face you, or using a backup way to communicate.

The strategies that work best aren’t always complicated. Sometimes one small change can make a conversation much easier.

What works for you?

09/11/2026

Sometimes the best hearing loss strategy is the one that makes life a little easier.

It might be moving to a quieter table, turning on captions, asking someone to repeat themselves, or finally saying, “I’m not hearing you well from over here.”

Small changes can make a big difference.

What’s one little thing you do that makes communication easier for you?

09/07/2026

My husband and I can ride for miles without saying a word.

Other times, one of us notices something.

“Look at those deer.”

“Did you see that eagle?”

“Look at that old barn.”

The goal of changing our motorcycle communication setup was never to fill every quiet moment. It was to make conversation easier when we chose to have it.

Before the change, I sometimes stopped trying to follow the conversation because listening had become too much work.

Now, the silence is a choice. It is not the result of becoming too tired to keep listening.

What helps make communication feel easier for you?

09/04/2026

Before every motorcycle ride, I turn the microphones on my hearing aids off off.

It sounds backward, doesn’t it?

Our original helmet communication system worked. But “working” and “working well” are not always the same thing.

The system gave me access to some of the conversation, but it also created competing sound, discomfort, and listening fatigue.

In my new article, I share the change that made riding and communicating easier for my husband and me.

There are also buffalo involved.

Read the story:

https://tamcolearning.com/hearing-loss-communication-strategy-working-not-well/

A hearing loss communication strategy can work without working well. See how one couple adjusted their approach and reduced listening effort.

09/02/2026

A communication strategy can work without working well.

Maybe you understand part of the message, but only after several repetitions.

Maybe the strategy helps in a quiet room but not when the room becomes noisy.

Perhaps you can follow the conversation, but you are exhausted afterward.

A strategy does not have to fail completely before it needs to change.

This month, we’re looking at one question:

Is the strategy working, or is it working well?