Will you speak up?!

"Because I have the right to be heard!  I have a voice!" ~ King George VI, The King's Speech

As audiologists, we pride ourselves on being excellent listeners.  We espouse good communication skills, we advocate on our patients' behalf. Now it is our turn to have our voice be heard.  Our president, Dr. Bettie Borton would like to hear from you, will you give voice to your concerns?  Remember, our bylaws (Section 5.2.1) guarantees our right to address the Board of Directors and be heard, but ultimately it is our obligation to first give voice.  So I invite you to read this letter, and be heard

http://www.audiology.org/about/leadership/boardofdirectors/Pages/LetMeHearFromYou201308.aspx

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Andy Lau, Au.D.,FAAA

Order in a world of chaos

There is a certain madness to organizing things. When one endeavors to impose order, one does so with the full understanding that which has been organized shall inevitably fall into disarray again. Such is the nature of things, entropy is a foregone conclusion. Still, we persevere; daring to organize, categorize, arrange, iron, clean, tidy all that which we deem out of place. Why? Why engage in such futility?

Perhaps this joke explains it best: A young boy inquired of his father why it was necessary to make his bed each morning only to have it all wrinkled up at night when he sleeps in it.  His father promptly replies "why, then do you wipe yourself each time you are done with the bathroom?" It sounds crude, but perhaps therein lies the answer of why we prefer order. There is beauty in symmetry, a mathematical elegance in having defined patterns. More importantly, it accords us the "illusion" of a clean slate, to start anew as they say.

I suppose our lives would be more chaotic had we not develop schematics to help us navigate through the seemingly random events that occur. Without logic and priorities, everything is given equal status, and nothing is left out. We would then have risked sensory overload, subsequently overlooking the minute details that are so essential as we become so overwhelmed.  Evolutionary dictates the need for order; without it, aberrations would not be as salient, and our survival instinct diminished.

The goal, then, is not to make order a Herculean endeavor, but one of increments.  After all, never was a jigsaw puzzle solved in one fell swoop.  Instead, it can be a progressive mental exercise as well as a physical one to solve such puzzles.  It requires patience, a keen eye, and experience to embark on such an endeavor.  Therein lies another example where the journey is indeed more important than the destination.  To have order, to build it in the face of chaos requires integrity, character, and a certain amount of audacity.  Shy not away from it, start small, start gingerly even, but start and soon you will be surprised by how much discipline you have attained.

Signs that you are an audiologist:

1. When you look at someone's neck and think to yourself, "Gee, she has got some very defined [and divine] sternocleidomastoid muscles, I bet I can get some nice VEMPs from those."
2. You get overly exited when you see someone is wearing a set of hearing aids/ CIs/ Bahas
3. You like it when people are telling you about their experiences with dizziness and tinnitus
4. When your friends gave birth to a child, you are more interested in their newborn hearing screen results than their APGAR scores
5. You walk into an American Eagle Outfitters/ Hollister/ any type of bar and wonder if their employee benefits include hearing conservation and hearing aids coverage
6. You actually stop someone when you hear their music through their headphones
7. You carry spare noise plugs
8. You actually wear said noise plugs in bars/clubs and explain to people why they could potentially hear better with them, even though most of them remain unconvinced and you look like a dork
9. Cows have a completely different meaning than some farm animal
10. You do a great imitation of C-3PO whenever you look at nystagmus

Thanks

I had this moment pictured differently in my mind.  I had expected it to be a bit more glamorous, a bit more rowdy.  Or perhaps like opening a chest where my face is lit up by the glow from the treasure within. Definitely not like this, where only hours ago I had to frantically call FedEx to figure out (a)why hadn't they swing by again like they were supposed to, (b) who the heck signed for it when FedEx did swing by later on when I was away, and (c) who had it for the time in between now and when it was dropped off.  I must have sounded like a luny recording from Rescue 911.  

Still, it is a neat feeling to finally touch this piece of parchment for which I had worked hard and endured much.  Few truly appreciate the hardships and the sacrifices made to attain this.  Many of those have been my friends and family who either had to suffer my absence from their lives for extensive amount of time, or stood by me when I seem to have gone off the deep end in my singleminded pursuit. Trust me, I don't think I was very sane during this whole process (in fact, I am still a tad off balance, luckily now I have a proof that I know a thing or two about the inner ear; that should help). 

It is fitting that the thing came looking like a menu with a red cover.  What a feast it has been.  A red passion, it symbolizes the blood, sweat and tears that went into getting to this point.  It also represents the fire that carried me through, and continues to blaze as I move forward.  It is not my personal flame that I speak of, but rather the bonfire of my friends and family that warms my heart and guides me back whenever I seemed to have lost my way.  

It is a precious parchment, occupying about a square foot.  Tangible in that is can be calculated as the sum of years and tuition.  Priceless in that it is the culmination of the efforts of not just me, but those who inspired me; be they friends, family, teachers, and peers.  So, while I am standing here, at once utterly alone in a moment that I had hope would be shared with you, I am bowed low by the overwhelming sense of relief and gratitude towards all of you. How surreal, how sublime.  We did it.  I present to you, my dear dear friends and family, Doctor Hui Shing Andy Lau. 

30 seconds can help our profession!!!

Hello everyone,

Further to my recent post regarding the status quo of audiology (available here or here), several colleagues and I have decided to take it a step further and translate our concerns into actions.  Central to many of our strongest criticism is the fact that our doctoral education does not measure up to the standards other doctoral degrees.  In our strive for full practice authority, the value of our education has been repeatedly questioned. It is undeniable that there currently exists differences amongst audiology programs, that not all is created equal.  It is time we request the Academy to strengthen our educational core and make our experience unified, dignified and wholesome.  For that to happen, we need your help.  I implore you to take a moment, click on the resolution below, and enter your name in support of it.  We will be needing as many signatures as possible, so forward it along to all your colleagues.



https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/audresolution

Thank you.

Andy Lau, Au.D.

Problems with formulas

As much as I admire the myriad of models currently available in promoting efficiency and efficacy in the business and social world; I remain wary of the fact that we have perhaps become too formulaic in our approach to human interaction and life in general.  Formulas can sometime extinguish creativity and suffocate spontaneity.  Rules are necessary, but if we become too adherent to them, and leave little room for aberration, than we inadvertently limit ourselves.  By abiding to rules stringently, we are in fact surrendering our faculty to think critically. Flexibility is lost when we ensconce ourselves in the false security accord by formulas.  We risk yielding too readily to a certain set of outcomes on some logic tree or flow-chart, and neglect the fact there is something more.  Thinking outside the box is good, but who placed us in a box in the first place?  Having formulas work for dealing with the ordinary, but I do believe ultimately our goal is to be able to act extraordinary.

I believe the lesser the rules, the more flexibility therein.  The truth is the more we seek to define, the more we confine ourselves.  Systems strip away humanity in that we seek to operationally define human existence to measurable units, neglecting the fact that we have the potential to be infinite, that our experience can be vast.  Think of the Ten Commandments or the Golden Rule; they are sublime in their simplicity.  The message is simple: be nice to one another, and don’t desire beyond your needs.  Yet much of that is lost in translation beneath the layers of formulas.  

DC- Some thoughts

Say what you will of DC, say you are suspicious of the beltway politics, say it is corrupted, say it is disconnected from the "real" America, say you are disgusted with the pettiness of politicians.  Regardless, if you have not visit this place, I strongly urge you to do so, for nowhere else than in this nation's capitol is more done to pay tribute to the ideals of America.  Nowhere else are there more sacred ground dedicated to the heroes, nowhere else is the rich history of this country preserved, its diversity celebrated.

Unless you turn a blind eye, and stick to your guns no matter what, it is hard to be in this town and not be reminded daily, from moment to moment, what freedom, democracy, honor, and duty really means; and the necessary sacrifices and dedication therein. Beneath all the cynicism, DC remains the meeting point for romantics and idealists.  It is where budding lawyers come hoping to fight for what they believe is right, and conversations on what is constitutional are held regularly with passion and civility.  It is the place where the voices of dissent rings loud and clear, and is even respected.  This is a town where the future of America congregate, attracted by legacies and legends of trailblazers. 

Come, sit upon the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at night and reflect by the Reflecting Pool.  Pay your respects at the memorials dedicated to the numerous selfless men and women who went and fought for what was right.  Go wander in the museums and be at lost in the seamless merger of science, art, and culture.  Enjoy the vastness of the Tidal Basin, be astounded by the majestic monoliths,  and be humbled by the sublime memorials.  Come to the crossroads of the nation and meet with people from all walks of life, from all over, and be proud of what being American truly means.  

For if you are disillusioned, if you think the worst of your government, disenfranchised by the direction in which this nation is heading, there is no better place to eradicate those notions than to come here and speak with those who gather here with hopes of making a difference, with eagerness to learn of this nation's rich tapestry, with understanding that this nation was build on an ideal and remains forever incomplete but perfect in its mosaic of imperfections.

Come visit the District of Columbia, and I guaranteed you will continue to have hope for this nation.