Living a Full Life With Hearing Loss

Updated on Nov 14, 2025 | Community, Engagement

Jonathan Taylor, PhD, President of the New York City Chapter of the Hearing Loss Association of America.

People with hearing loss have widely varying needs and challenges, and accommodations such as captioning, clear face masks, and general awareness can greatly improve quality of life. This was the message of Jonathan Taylor, PhD, President of the New York City Chapter of the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA), during a virtual talk. The talk can be viewed here. Click the “cc” button for closed captions.

“People are always eager to help, but may not always understand the needs of those with hearing loss,” Mr. Taylor said in the session, “Living a Full Life With Hearing Loss,” which was part of the Raising Disability Awareness Virtual Talk Series. The series, launched by ODI in 2020 for Disability Awareness Month, featured speakers from around the Mount Sinai Health System as well as the community to raise awareness and promote an inclusive and equitable work place and health care environment for people with disabilities.

Mr. Taylor’s hearing loss stemmed in part from his career as a freelance classical trombonist. The loud sounds from the trombone progressively affected Mr. Taylor’s hearing abilities. Eventually, Mr. Taylor had to stop performing, but he continues his passion for music by doing administrative work with orchestras. He also earned a doctorate in developmental psychology and has built a career in educational research.

Clear masks may be used for effective communication with people who are hard of hearing. Above, Maura Cosetti, MD, Director of the Ear Institute at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, consults with a patient.

As a strong advocate for people living with hearing loss, Mr. Taylor discussed the social and medical effects of hearing loss. Aside from social isolation, which could lead to depression and dementia, hearing loss may have other health implications, he said. For example, older adults with hearing impairment are twice as likely to fall due to balance issues related to the inner-ear.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also presented new challenges for the hearing loss community. Many people who experience hearing loss depend on reading lips. Wearing masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19, however, has made it impossible to read lips. Mr. Taylor stressed the value in using clear masks during this time to address this issue.

The Patient Experience team at Mount Sinai did an initial distribution of Clear Masks™—approved by the FDA and Mount Sinai Infection Prevention and Control—to raise awareness at all eight hospitals, and notified nursing leaders of the availability of these masks. Materials Management made sure to keep an adequate inventory to supply units that request additional clear masks. The use of clear masks for effective communication with patients who are hard of hearing was also included in training sessions related to Patient Safety, ADA Awareness, and mandatory Annual Core Education.

Resources and Information

Establishing and fortifying partnerships with public and private programs, as well as providing closed captioning, hearing loops (a sound system that transmits to hearing aids and cochlear implants), and educating clinical staff on the importance of using transcription apps during medical visits are all ways to enhance access for people with hearing loss. The HLAA’s mission, according to Mr. Taylor, is “to serve as an extension of the national organization by promoting the philosophy of self-help while specifically addressing access advocacy, awareness, and education.” More information about the Hearing Loss Association of America can be found on its site.

The Ear Institute at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is a close partner with the community and HLAA, says Maura Cosetti, MD, Director of the Institute, adding that staff from the Institute were recently invited to address Mr. Taylor’s chapter on the relationship between hearing and balance. More information about hearing loss support is available here.

Supporting People With Developmental Disabilities in the Workplace

Updated on Nov 14, 2025 | Community, Engagement

Ben Adler is an intern in Talent Acquisition and Retention, Human Resources, at the Mount Sinai Health System.

Providing people with developmental disabilities job and internship opportunities benefits all concerned—by allowing the employees to maximize their independence while also enhancing disability inclusiveness and diversity of thought in the workplace.

This was the message of a virtual talk by leaders of the Adaptations Job Program, a job-services program made possible with support from public and private donations and a Mount Sinai partner since 2018, to create a holistic approach to job development for adults with disabilities while allowing the participants to embrace their individuality and learn job skills. The virtual talk can be viewed here.

The session was titled “Best Practices for Supporting People with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Developmental Disabilities in the Workplace.”  It was part of a special series featuring speakers from around the Mount Sinai Health System as well as the community to raise awareness and promote an inclusive and equitable work place and health care environment for people with disabilities.

“In order to be independent, you need the financial means to live a full and happy life, and we believe that employment is a crucial component of that life,” said Andrea Goodman, MA, M.Ed, LCSW, Director of the Adaptations Job Program, who led the event with Ilana Shachat, MSc.OT, Employment Specialist with the Program.

Neurodiversity in the workplace also leads to an overall organizational culture where all individuals are respected and feel they belong. According to Ms. Goodman, through interactions with participants, there are changes in people’s attitudes in regard to people with disabilities, to a more positive one as people learn and understand different learning styles and appreciate their differences.

Best Practices in the Office

Best practices for employers include a clear communication strategy—explaining the goal of the project, giving one instruction at a time, giving instructions in writing, and using straightforward language, Ms. Goodman said. It is also important to explain priorities, discuss how much time a project or task would take to complete, and if possible, provide examples of what a finished project looks like.

The Adaptations Job Program is an integrated social, recreational, and vocational program, Ms. Goodman said. It works with participants and employers in maximizing the participants’ strengths in the workplace so that they could be productive employees. The program has both a person-centered and business-driven approach, so that the needs of the businesses are met through the intern placements and by offering a pipeline of talent. For more information, visit the program’s site.

A Vaccine Pod Dedicated to Mental Health Patients

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community, Featured, Psychiatry, Vaccines

From left: Raymond Rene, Office of Mental Health (OMH); Ruth Llanos, OMH Psychiatric Nurse; Paul Michael Avellaneda, OMH Psychiatric Nurse; Michelle Izmirly, DO; Gariy Livshits, OMH Treatment Team Leader

Earlier this year, the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) launched a program to bring vaccine doses to mental health patients, as many have trouble navigating the internet or don’t have smartphones and need help facilitating appointments. The OMH program was designed for patients to come to state psychiatric centers, but they were also eager to expand their reach and offered to set up vaccine pods at all OMH licensed clinics across the state. Michelle Izmirly, DO, Medical Director of Ambulatory Psychiatry at The Mount Sinai Hospital, reached out to OMH so that The Mount Sinai Hospital’s clinic could be included as a site.

“We see a very vulnerable patient population, and I knew a lot of our patients weren’t comfortable going to places like the Javits Center,” said Dr. Izmirly. “Some were even crying because they were so scared and so frustrated; often, they lacked internet access or cellular service to navigate the New York State vaccine eligibility website. We’re the ones they know. They know our setting and our staff, and they’re more comfortable getting the vaccine with us. They were so grateful that they had this option.”

It was a true team effort to pull it off. OMH scheduled a site visit to make sure the clinic had the appropriate setup: strong Wi-Fi, a comfortable area for injections, and supportive staff. Rajvee Vora, MD, Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs for the Department of Psychiatry, collaborated with Ania Wajnberg, MD, Medical Director of Ambulatory Care at The Mount Sinai Hospital and Site Lead for Vaccine Operations. They engaged the pharmacy and engineering departments to ensure the clinic had the appropriate equipment to safely store the vaccine.

Due to special efforts by Patricia Lamb, Chief of Ancillary and Support Services, Sue Mashni, PharmD, Chief Pharmacy Officer, and Michael Roche, PE, Senior Director of Engineering, the clinic space was converted to a safe and effective vaccine pod in one week. Eva Bayon, Administrative Manager, and Joan Bell, LCSW, Clinical Director of Ambulatory Psychiatry Services, handled the logistics of confirming and scheduling patients. Alicia Hurtado, MD, Associate Dean for Medical Student Wellness and Student Affairs, arranged for medical students to volunteer to monitor the patients for 15 minutes after they received the vaccination.

On April 8, the team vaccinated 72 patients—10 every 30 minutes starting at 9:30 am. And this might only be the beginning. The vaccine pod was such a success that OMH will return May 6 to reach the patients who were unable to attend their appointment that day. If OMH continues to provide the doses, the clinic could continue to offer it to their patients moving forward.

Cassidy Leverett, a care coordinator at the clinic, believes that the stability for these patients is key. “A lot of people find it really difficult to schedule the vaccine because it can be far from where they live or work, so it’s really great that people can go to a place they’re familiar with and see faces that they know. It’s been a very crazy time so it’s nice to have one stable place where you can go get your vaccine.”

Dr. Izmirly hopes this spreads beyond her clinic to other mental health clinics and practices. “You see so many news stories and research studies about people with mental illness contracting and dying from COVID-19 at higher rates than those who don’t suffer from mental illness,” she said. “We’ve even lost some of our own patients, which was completely devastating. This is an opportunity to help our own patients in our own settings, where we know they’ll feel comfortable.”

 

Read more stories from the Mount Sinai Department of Psychiatry
Read more Featured stories about Mount Sinai

Enduring Racial Slurs and an Assault, Medical Student Oranicha Jumreornvong Speaks Out Against Asian Hate

Updated on Nov 14, 2025 | Community, Engagement, Featured

Oranicha Jumreornvong, center, took to the microphone at an Anti-Asian Hate rally in March.

The rise in Asian hate crimes—including an assault she experienced herself—has transformed third-year medical student Oranicha Jumreornvong into an outspoken advocate for the rights of Asians in the United States.

In March, Ms. Jumreornvong helped organize an anti-hate rally in New York City on behalf of White Coats Against Asian American and Pacific Islanders Hate. The rally drew an estimated 1,000 supporters, including Senator Charles Schumer, D-NY; New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Yang; and 100 health care workers, including 50 classmates from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. 

“Speaking out is not really an option in Thailand, where I’m from,” says Ms. Jumreornvong, 26, who grew up under military dictatorships and widespread censorship. She arrived in the United States in 2014 as an undergraduate at Stanford University. All of her family members live in Thailand. “Thai people learn to minimize things to try to get along,” she adds. “In the past, I would advocate through research but not by public speaking because it conflicts with my own upbringing of trying not to stir up problems.”

“I think the first step to healing is to recognize there is a problem, and I implore everyone to stop viewing the Asian American Pacific Islander community as a model community of wealthy and educated people and, instead, as a heterogeneous group.” — Oranicha Jumreornvong

But her reluctance to speak out against hate ended abruptly on a chilly morning in February, on the Icahn Mount Sinai campus, at 97th Street and Madison Avenue. That is when a stranger wearing a mask yelled “Chinese virus” at her before following her, kicking her, and dragging her across the pavement, as bystanders looked on. The attacker grabbed Ms. Jumreornvong’s cell phone and ran off. The police have not yet found him.

“I was on my way to get my first COVID-19 vaccine at Mount Sinai before returning to work at the hospital later that day,” says Ms. Jumreornvong. “I had a coat on over my scrubs. I told him, ‘I’m a medical student,’ and at first he seemed okay with that and I thought he would leave me alone. But then he didn’t.” After the attack, Ms. Jumreornvong’s mentors in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine and Human Performance checked on her via telemedicine and a friend who is a resident in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation tended to her wounds

Ms. Jumreornvong had been the victim of a bias incident several months earlier, while she was in between shifts at Mount Sinai Morningside. She was alone on a bench eating a granola bar when a woman pushing a child in a stroller told her to put her mask on and go back to China.

Support from friends and mentors outside and within the Mount Sinai community has helped ease her pain. “Mount Sinai has always been supportive emotionally and in terms of advocacy work,” she says. After her assault, Mount Sinai’s medical students started a petition to denounce anti-Asian hate and the Health System quickly embraced it. “I feel like Mount Sinai has provided me with this privilege—this platform to speak out—and that I have to do something, and by helping others I’m also healing.”

Oranicha Jumreornvong, front row, fourth from the left, and her colleagues from White Coats Against Asian American and Pacific Islanders Hate, drew an estimated 1,000 supporters to their rally in Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood.

In raising awareness about anti-Asian hate, Ms. Jumreornvong wants the public to view the Asian community as a diverse group of people. There is a lot of poverty among Asian groups, she says, and many are underrepresented in medicine and other professions.

“I think the first step to healing is to recognize there is a problem, and I implore everyone to stop viewing the Asian American Pacific Islander community as a model community of wealthy and educated people and, instead, as a heterogeneous group,” she says. She would like to see the establishment of scholarships that help underrepresented Asian groups and the elimination of health disparities that exist in poor Asian American communities. She would also like the U.S. medical community to recognize some of its own unconscious biases.

After her painful experiences in the United States, Ms. Jumreornvong’s father in Thailand was concerned for her safety. She assured him that she would be all right.

“As an immigrant, I have an American dream too,” she says. “America is so diverse and you see people of different colors and ethnicities come together. I consider this my second home, so I don’t want to leave it. You can choose to weigh yourself down with bitterness. I think it’s easier on the soul to heal through kindness and resilience.”

Read more about how Mount Sinai stands in solidarity against racism in the Asian American community
Read more Featured stories at Mount Sinai

Mount Sinai Radiation Oncology Leaders Elected to Form Radiation Therapy Association of New York State

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community

Maria Dimopoulos, MBA, RT(T)

Maria Dimopoulos, MBA, RT(T), Radiation Therapy Program Director, and Samantha Skubish, MS, RT(R)(T), Chief Technical Director for Radiation Oncology at Mount Sinai, have been elected to the inaugural positions of President and President-Elect for the Radiation Therapy Association of New York State (RTANYS).

As founding members of the association, they formed the organization in an effort to advance the profession, advocate for high-quality, safe patient care, promote the development of radiation therapy students, and provide networking and Continuing Education (CE) opportunities for radiation therapists across the state.

Samantha Skubish, MS, RT(R)(T)

Now elected by their peers, the pair will lead a group of more than 200 members with three additional board members from across the city and state toward advancements in practice, affiliated under the American Society of Radiologic Technologists and New York State Society of Radiologic Sciences.

A radiation therapist, or RT(T), is a key member of the radiation oncology team that is credentialed by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) and licensed by the State of New York.

Radiation therapists use high doses of radiation to treat cancer patients and are responsible for operating sophisticated technology and equipment while offering skilled patient care during daily treatment sessions.

Read more about Radiation Oncology at Mount Sinai

Prevalence and the Understanding of Autism Spectrum Disorder Are on the Rise

Updated on Nov 12, 2025 | Community, Pediatrics, Seaver Autism Center, Your Health

The Seaver Center for Autism Research and Treatment at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is advancing the understanding of autism spectrum disorder.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is increasing in prevalence, but so are options for evaluation and therapies, said Paige Siper, PhD, Chief Psychologist for the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment, and Michelle Gorenstein, PsyD, Director of Outreach for the Seaver Center. “The interesting and exciting part about the work that we do is that we get to see toddlers through adults, and I think that is something very unique about this field,” said Dr. Siper, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The virtual talk can be viewed here.

Paige Siper, PhD, Chief Psychologist of the Seaver Center

“Autism Spectrum Disorder Across the Lifespan” was part of a series featuring speakers from around the Mount Sinai Health System as well as the community to raise awareness and promote an inclusive and equitable health care environment for people with disabilities.

Dr. Gorenstein, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine, said that an important tool in the field is Applied Behavioral Analysis, a class of interventions based on principles of operant learning theory—that is, providing positive reinforcement for observable behavior, like asking for a push on a playground swing, or making a choice. Another therapy, Relationship Development Intervention, is a family-based method that builds social and emotional skills. And there are a variety of therapies to treat conditions that can accompany ASD, such as anxiety, ADHD, or epilepsy.

Michelle Gorenstein, PsyD, Director of Outreach for the Seaver Center

ASD is characterized by difficulty with social communication, as well as the presence of repetitive behaviors or restricted interests.  ASD is primarily a genetic disorder but can also be influenced by environmental factors. Dr. Siper said multiple studies have shown that vaccines do not cause ASD, dispelling a common myth.

One in 54 children in the United States are diagnosed with ASD, and boys are four times more likely than girls to receive the diagnosis. ASD can be identified in children as early as age 18 months, which makes early intervention very important in improving social, communication, motor, and daily living skills.  “Early intervention can change outcomes,” Dr. Siper said. “It’s the opposite of watch and wait.”

The Seaver Center is dedicated to caring for people of all ages with ASD, furthering research into risk factors and drug development, and leading clinical trials. “One of the unique things about our Center is that it really does translate the basic sciences to the clinic,” Dr. Siper said. For more information, visit the Seaver Center site.