GRATEFUL for 50 Episodes!

Join Dr. Carrie Spangler, host of empowEAR Audiology, in this gratefulness episode. Living out the mission of the 3C Digital Media Network, Dr. Spangler shares how she is grateful to personally be able to connect, collaborate, and communicate through her cochlear implant journey AND grateful to be the host of empowEAR Audiology and interview the multitude of guests. Take a listen to this GRATEFUL-themed episode reflecting back on the 2022 personal and professional journey, the lessons, and the growth.  

Links:  hearingspanglish.blog

You can listen to this episode wherever you listen to podcasts and at: www.3cdigitalmedianetwork.com/empowear-audiology-podcast

For more information about Dr. Carrie Spangler- check out her Linktree at https://linktr.ee/carrie.spangler.

For transcripts of this episode- visit the podcast website at: https://empowearaudiology.buzzsprout.com

Transcript

Announcer: [00:00:00] Welcome to episode 50 of empowEAR Audiology with Dr. Carrie Spangler.
Carrie: [00:00:15] Welcome listeners to the empowEAR Audiology podcast. I am going solo today as I am celebrating a milestone episode, The Fabulous 50. In addition to that, I'm also celebrating my birthday. And for the record, not a milestone birthday. This is also the holiday season of gift giving, and I am grateful for the gift of sharing with all of you. And I will talk about in a moment. I am grateful for the gift of hearing. And it's also a time of the year when we're given the opportunity to reflect on what was happening and then the whole year behind us in 2022. Back in January of this year, I bought myself a gratitude journal, which was a simple and powerful way to start the year. And each day it lets you see what is present in your life instead of what isn't. As I reflect back on the purpose of empowEAR Audiology, I am grateful for the grateful is the theme for the 2022 Journey. The lessons and the growth. Looking back on the year, I am grateful for where how your ideology is at and I'm also excited for where and how your ideology is going. As part of the 3C Digital Media Network, whose mission is to connect, collaborate and communicate, empowEAR Audiology has had a successful year living out this mission. I wanted to start this episode with a personal story. It was exactly one year ago when I wrote a blog for hearing Spanglish blog titled Relieved and Grateful.
Carrie: [00:02:05] Journaling the checkpoint for my successful cochlear implant restart. For those of you who don't know, I had experienced electrode migration for my internal device, which resulted in having to be re implanted two years after my initial cochlear implant surgery. I laced up my shoes for the marathon and have had a smooth training year and 2022. Thinking about each Empower Ear Audiology episode, I am reminded of what Rebecca Alexander shares in episode 48. She said Choose to be grateful. Be happy with what you have today and be optimistic about tomorrow. These words hit me personally, as it has been a year in which I am grateful for cochlear implant technology. Well, communication is an important part of my life personally. Communication is a two way street where messages must be both sent and received. It is complex and as humans we are wired to be connected with those around us. In 2019, I realized that oil communication was becoming more and more difficult with the hearing aids that I had. My family and my friends. First language is spoken English. I did not want to lose this connection with them and recognize that I was struggling. I am naturally inquisitive of others, hence why I love interviewing guests and the empowqEAR Audiology podcast. Deciding to venture on the cochlear implant path gave me my natural language back to me. I reconnected with my parents, my husband, my kids, my friends and colleagues.
Carrie: [00:03:59] I was back to being curious and confident, striking up conversations with new acquaintances. I treasure streaming phone calls with my parents on my way to work to find out what they are enjoying that week in retirement. Listening to podcast Am I long drives between school buildings to serve Students who are deaf and hard of hearing was given back to me. Turning up my favorite tunes on the radio or on a streaming device to enlighten my day. When I reflect back on the marathon journey of living with a cochlear implant, I realized the alternative of not pursuing this for my own personal journey would have been depriving myself of the opportunity to continue strengthening the meaningful connections with those I love and those who I will come to know and love in the future. During this time of the year, as we go into the gift giving season, I am grateful for the gift of my cochlear implant, my hearing aid, my assistive hearing technology, my communication strategies. And I am grateful for all of you who support me on this cochlear implant marathon so that I have the opportunity to grow as a human. As I said earlier, this is the 50th episode and I also wanted to hit the grateful button with a year of review of Empower Audiology. Guest And I wanted to thank you all as listeners. Reviewing this past year, I can just say that I am grateful for all of the gaffes that took their time out of their busy lives to be part of an episode.
Carrie: [00:05:44] This podcast would not be possible with without each of you being willing to give up some time and show your talents. I genuinely get excited each and every time I get to have an interview set up and you can visit the website to listen or you can subscribe on Apple, Spotify and Google Play to catch all of the episodes. This may take a few minutes to do a rundown of the 2022 guests, but I hope you are listen as I do a short recap of this amazing year. Grab your phone or a piece of paper and make note of the episode that pique your interest or the ones you must listen to again. So starting back in January with episode 33, we had Dr. Don Goldberg share his journey to becoming an audiologist and the important professional work for the joint committee, an infant hearing and additional professional research projects that he's involved in. Episode 34 Dr. Derek Houston shows about how language impacts children with cochlear implants and a proposed conceptual framework to explain the relationship between language input and outcomes. Episode 35 with Dr. Kim Maher. How to Advocate for Educational Audiology Services When the Service Does Not Exist. And a School District. We had episode 36 with Dr. Christina Blaser talking about the importance of understanding assessment patterns and trends for children who are deaf and hard of hearing when you are the FLP Episode 37 with Lisa Kovacs, a parent, an advocate who works for hands and voices whose motto is powerful, stating What works for your child is what makes the choice, right? She also shares about the different programs that she's involved with in the organization.
Carrie: [00:07:41] Episode 38 Dr. Jessica Sullivan and Dr. Lauren Callender also discuss the impact program, which increases diversity within the fields of speech, language pathology and audiology. And Episode 39, Kayla Gurnard, chief strategy and program officer for AG Association, talks about servant leadership and how each person is a leader with them. In episode 40, Matt Hayes shows his emotional and physical journey of losing and regaining his hearing. He shares how he composed a soundtrack of silence as he was losing his hearing and the journey to getting an auditory brainstem implant. In episode 41, I interviewed Sarah Robinson, who is a speech language pathologist, and she opens up about growing stronger in her acceptance and advocacy as a deaf and hard of hearing individual. And Episode 42, Dr. Jessica LaFleur, my colleague and coworker, shares about her nonprofit Piper's Key and her mission to unlock representation for children who are deaf and hard of hearing. And Episode 43, Dr. Johnny Sexton discusses the Care Project and Educational Audiology Services with a threaded theme of changing the culture of communication.
Carrie: [00:09:06] Episode 44 Lin Wood, who was one of my childhood audiologist. We take a leap back down memory lane, and Lin also shares about her professional career working with children and starting her online resource store. Listen with LAMB. Episode 45 Dr. Yvette Stager is a licensed psychologist working at the University of Miami Institute. She shares about her research and experience working with families, navigating through parental stress and developing self efficacy. Dr. Uma Thurman is a teacher of the deaf and she shares about the opportunity she has had to pay it forward through her work as a professor and through her nonprofit listening. Together, we take a deeper look into the role of the teacher of the deaf in the field. Episode 47 Jody Cutler, mom, activist, entrepreneur, producer, shared the big news that Rally Caps movie was selected to be part of the 31st Heartland Film Festival. The message about accessibility and inclusion is important for the big screen. Episode 48, Rebecca Alexander, who is an author advocate, fitness instructor, psychotherapist, shares her own journey with Usher Syndrome Type three and set the example of choosing to be grateful. Be happy with what you have today and be optimistic about tomorrow. And Episode 49 Dr. Matthew Busch is an ecologist, neuropathologist and professor at the University of Kentucky. In this episode, we have a conversation about how social determinants of health are critical conversations and considerations for improving hearing health care for individuals and families.
Carrie: [00:11:06] I want to say that I don't have a favorite episode because I love them all. I am grateful for all of you, for your storytelling, whether it was personal or professional. I love learning from each of you and digging deeper into topics to empower your others, and I cannot wait to meet more. Guest as we kick off another 25 episodes in 2023 to. Thank. Thanks to all of you for tuning in twice a month to catch the latest episodes. I have heard from many of you over the year and continue to receive positive feedback. It brings me great joy to hear when a college professor shared this podcast with students to listen. It warms my heart to find out that a parent was inspired by another parent sharing their story. And I am encouraged when an adult who is deaf or hard of hearing realizes that there is others out there in those shoes. Listeners keep listening. Please share with others. Engage with me on the empowEAR Audiology Facebook page and please give a five star review. Consider writing a favorable comment. All of these actions help empower others to listen and so that others can also benefit. Listeners, if there is someone that you want to hear from, please reach out and let me know. Grateful. Grateful is the word of the year, and I am grateful to everyone for believing in me. Cheers to year three and 25 more. Thanks again for listening.
Announcer: [00:12:47] This has been a production of the 3C Digital Media Network.