Audiology and hearing health professionals in developed and developing countries (2002), Lyn et al. (1998), and Swart et al. (1995), impacted cerumen is one of the most common ear diseases and causes of hearing loss, with prevalence rate between 7.4% and 63%. Additionally, otoscopy does not require a great deal of expertise beyond basic training and is useful to refer a child when the tympanic membrane cannot be visualized due to occlusion of the external auditory meatus by cerumen. Pure-tone audiometry screening, in which there is typically no attempt to find threshold, has been found to accurately assess hearing status in children six years and older, when trained health workers
What Is the What writes: "Over the course of many years, Dave and I have collaborated to tell my story... I told [him] what I knew and what I could remember, and from that material he created this work of art." The book is typical of Eggers' style: blending non-fictional and fictional elements into a non-fiction novel or memoir. By classifying the book a novel, Eggers says, he freed himself to re-create conversations, streamline complex relationships, add relevant detail and manipulate time and space in helpful ways—all while maintaining the essential truthfulness of the storytelling. However, not all critics were impressed. Lee Siegel sees