Hearing Aids

* The American Speech Language Hearing Assn. offers brochures on hearing loss. Call (800) 638-8255 weekdays, 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. and 1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. EST, or write to the association, 10801 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md. 20852. * The Hearing Aid Helpline, (800) 521-5247, offers information on hearing loss and hearing aids. Sponsored by the International Hearing Society, a group of professional hearing specialists who fit and dispense hearing aids, the help line operates weekdays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

The Mattel toy makers today introduced a new line of dolls with disabilities--including a one-legged ski instructor and a ballerina with two hearing aids--to boost the self-image of handicapped children. Hal's Pals--19-inch, soft-sculpted dolls priced at $40 and $45--also include a girl in leg braces who walks with help from two canes, a determined guy dressed in a warm-up suit and sitting in a wheelchair and a cherubic girl with guide dog and white cane.

Superstar tenor Placido Domingo is teaming with the Vienna Philharmonic in a global effort called "Hear the World" to raise awareness about hearing loss and to provide hearing aids and other technological help to children and older people in developing countries. "Music is my emotional need. I therefore feel sad for anyone who cannot hear music," Domingo told the Associated Press.

A hearing expert at Auburn University in Alabama has adapted human technology to dogs and is fitting the canines with hearing aids. Jumping, a 12-year-old mixed breed owned by April Agee of Litchfield, Conn., has a hearing aid. Jump, as the mixed German shepherd and husky is called, is a sort of guinea pig in the new field for veterinarian and human audiology researchers at Auburn and Texas A&M.

Imagine yourself in a country where nobody speaks your language. It becomes a necessity to rely on your other senses and hone your powers of observation. You welcome the times when you can "fill in the blanks" and get the gist of a conversation. Each situation is stressful: Will you be a participant or an observer? This is the life of a hearing-impaired person. We are not deaf, and, therefore, most of us do not read lips, sign or wear hearing devices 100% of the time. We try to preserve whatever hearing we have left.