It’s the year 2017. A new year = a time for new projects, new ambitions, new goals, new outlook, new resolutions. AudioSense will do just that.
This year, Canada is celebrating its 150th birthday as an independent nation. The Canadian Academy of Audiology is celebrating its 20th anniversary. And me, well, I’m celebrating some of my own birthdays too. There are many first birthdays. My babygirl’s one year birthday. My one year as a mom. The opening of my clinic, AudioSense. I have had a unique vision for the type of clinic that AudioSense would be for a long time. A completely independent hearing and balance clinic, which offers excellent and superior services for children and adults to help them hear better and balance better; to use unique, novel and out-of-the-box methods to make interventions for hearing loss and balance difficulties fun and personal. And as the cherry on top, we offer all of our services in both English and French, and with a delicious cappuccino for you to sip on while we work together.
Here is a tidbit of what to expect from AudioSense. Every person who comes in for a hearing test will also receive a screening for vestibular issues and we make sure to always talk about tinnitus (i.e., ringing in the ears) and exposure to noise. Then, we talk about your options. If your hearing is fine, then we address whichever concerns that made you come in to visit us in the first place. If your hearing is not fine, then we talk about options available to you. Sometimes, those options will be hearing aids. Other times, it will be other types of therapy. And then, we build on that and we work on fixing the problem together. Together is the key word here and is what makes AudioSense different from all other clinics in Toronto and is what makes our services unique and personal. On the balance end, we work as teams with a vestibular physiotherapist and your ENT to help. Everything we do, we do with you and your loved ones. We take the time needed to make sure that your loved ones understands what you are going through, so that you are never alone in your journey to hearing and balancing better. And of all this, we do with motivational triggers in mind.
Think of your favourite sounds for a moment. My favourite one is listening to my baby girl giggle and giggle when we play peekaboo (we call it ‘Coucou!’), or when she hums to me or babbles “bababa” while I’m holding her and cuddling with her. Now, think of your favourite sound. This is what we will use as motivation to make you hear better. Now think of your favourite activity. Mine is dancing a slow with my daughter, a rock’n’roll with my father, a party song with my husband, or a line dance with my mother and sisters. What is your favourite activity? This is what we will use as motivation to make your balance better.
About the Author
Salima Jiwani is the Founder/Director and Lead Audiologist at AudioSense Hearing, Balance & Concussion, an audiology clinic in Yorkville, Toronto. Salima has a keen clinical and research interest in disorders of the external, middle and inner ear, including hearing loss, auditory processing difficulties, tinnitus, sound sensitivities and post-concussion auditory deficits. Salima is passionate about understanding how the brain responds to sound after injury and in post-surgical management of cochlear implants. Salima works with children and adults of all ages at AudioSense, and provides her patients with industry-leading audiological care by leveraging her clinical, research and industry experience. She firmly believes in a holistic cross-collaborative team approach to audiological care and is always looking for outside-the-box evidence-based innovative ways to offer care to her patients. Outside of work, Salima continues to be engaged in advocacy initiatives to elevate the profession of audiology, give audiologists a voice and promote optimal audiological care for her patients.
