Reconnect and reengage
If you’ve been struggling to hear, Amanda’s Family Hearing can help you reconnect and reengage with the world around you.
At Amanda’s Family Hearing, its compassionate care team, lasting relationships and advanced technology come together to help patients reconnect with the sounds—and the people—that matter most.(Photography: Francis Angelone)
In an era of rushed appointments and revolving-door health care, the vibe at Amanda’s Family Hearing is refreshingly rare.
From the moment patients walk through the door, the difference is obvious. There’s no sterile, clinical feel. You’ll see cozy lamps, appealing artwork and comfy furnishings. Owner/audiologist Dr. Amanda Barbur and her cheery staff want to put patients at ease. She took over the private practice in 2020 after working there for years.
“We never want patients to feel like a number,” she says. “If a patient needs extra time, we give it. We make sure they leave feeling heard and informed.”
Alongside fellow audiologist Dr. Julia Saxon, Dr. Amanda has built a private practice centered on relationships and continuity of care. Patients see the same faces at each visit, and the doctors collaborate behind the scenes to provide the best level of care.
Dr. Saxon, who began her career in a larger health system, says it’s a luxury to be able to spend as long as she needs getting to know her patients.
Life-Changing Outcomes
Meet Rose, who was born deaf in her left ear.
“I spent my life compensating for it,” she says. “Always having to turn my head, standing on a certain side of people, I didn’t think there was anything that could be done.”
Simple things—like locating where a sound was coming from—were a challenge. So was her career as a teacher. In busy environments, conversations blurred into background noise.
It wasn’t until she visited Amanda’s Family Hearing in her late 60s that everything changed.
Dr. Amanda suggested she try a CROS (contralateral routing of signal) hearing device.
“This technology transmits sound from the non-hearing ear to the hearing ear,” she says. “Rose was at first skeptical of how well it would work. But after I fitted her with it and whispered in her left ear and she heard it in her right one, she said it was astounding.”
The experience of rediscovering sound was immediate and emotional. Rose was so overjoyed, she started keeping a list of all the new sounds she could perceive.
“The sound of my car window going up shocked me,” she says, laughing. “I could hear rain on the roof of my car, and my husband talking while we were driving…things I’d never heard.”
Beyond the novelty of new sound, the CROS transformed her daily life, too.
“No more constant compensation,” she says. “It opened up the world for me.”
For Drs. Amanda and Julia, stories like Rose’s are why they became audiologists.
“Hearing loss is incredibly personal,” says Dr. Amanda. “We help people reconnect and reengage with their family, community and everyday lives.”
Technology plays a major role. The doctors explain that advanced AI has been part of this field for the past 10 years—and it’s been getting smarter, learning how to fine-tune noise, training on millions of sound environments to provide a better quality of hearing.
Come hear with us. Schedule your hearing test today.
Amanda’s Family Hearing
1701 Mentor Avenue, Suite 5, Painesville
Coming to a Senior Center Near You
Drs. Amanda Barbur and Julia Saxon live up to their mission of helping people reengage with their lives. They regularly visit local senior centers and provide complimentary hearing screenings.
“It’s a nice way to offer care in a familiar, relaxed setting to those who might feel intimidated by coming into the office,” says Dr. Amanda.
Each month, one of the doctors visits senior centers in Mentor, Fairport Harbor and Perry. The quick, no-pressure assessments are designed to give people an easy first step toward understanding their level of hearing.
“Our visits can identify early signs of hearing loss, as well as check for common issues like earwax buildup, and determine whether more comprehensive testing is needed,” says Dr. Amanda. “It’s about education and access. We want people to understand their hearing and feel empowered to take action.”
Look for visits to the Mentor center, Wednesday, December 2, from 10 a.m. to noon, Fairport Harbor, on Wednesday, November 18, from 11 a.m. to noon, and Perry, on Wednesday, October 14, from 10 a.m. to noon
Meet the Team
Patients appreciate why “family” is in the name at Amanda’s Family Hearing.
For Dr. Amanda Barbur, who received her doctorate in audiology in 2012 and suffers from hearing loss herself, what attracted her to the occupation was being able to help others by finding solutions.
She was joined by fellow audiologist Dr. Julia Saxon in 2024.
“What I love most about my job is the emerging technology,” says Dr. Julia. “Even in the past year, the products have improved tremendously. It’s also great to connect on a personal level with my patients. We joke that everyone who comes here is just one good laugh away from becoming our friends.”
Keeping all the plates spinning and managing patient communication is Melinda Kirk.
“I’m fascinated by this field,” says Melinda. “The sense of hearing is amazing. I had no idea what it was about before working here. Now I want to study it in school. My favorite part of the job is the conversations with patients. It’s a joy getting to know them.”
Recent Posts
RELATED ARTICLES
