Serving
San Diego, Los Angeles and Orange Counties
Hearing Loss Network
Information
and Services for Hard of Hearing and Late-Deafened People, and their Families
and Friends
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Serving
San Diego, Los Angeles and Orange Counties
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Hearing Loss Network |
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Information
and Services for Hard of Hearing and Late-Deafened People, and their Families
and Friends
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Combined Monthly Meeting with ALDA - 2009 People sometimes ask me which are good meetings for a new person to attend, and I always give the same reply - the next one! We realize that it's often hard to attend your first meeting, but we promise you'll be happy you did. And if you put it off, when you finally do attend you'll be kicking your self for all the great meetings you could have attended, but didn't. As you can see in the following schedule we do a variety of things throughout the year. But we always make sure to allow time to socialize; we believe that getting to know others with hearing loss is the single best thing a person with hearing loss can do for herself! We had an interesting and diverse meeting today! We began with a presentation by Anne Marie Piper, a Ph.D. Candidate at UCSD. She is doing research on technology that can help people cope with their hearing loss; she told us a bit about her work and conducted a short (one-page) survey on communication issues we face. She also solicited interest in participants for more extensive research. Oh, and she brought some wonderful treats! We then discussed the future of this meeting, and what programs people would like. The first issue was what affiliation (if any) we should have. The three options are to continue as an ALDA chapter, change to an HLAA group, or become an independent group sponsored by our local hearing loss service agency (Hearing Loss Network). After some discussion, Bonnie volunteered to put together a list of pros and cons for the various options and to send it to the list. In the January meeting, we also normally elect new officers and have a membership drive. But we decided to postpone those activities until we determine our affiliation. We then discussed a service project that we might get involved in. We considered several ideas before deciding on a program to provide mentoring to kids and young adults with hearing loss. The following people expressed interest in this project: Christy, Julia, Lois, Bill, Bonnie, Susan, Anne, and Char. We'll be setting up an email list for this group. The next topic was the Hard of Hearing Support Group that we established several months ago. We have been meeting once or twice a month on Thursday evenings at the County Health Center Complex on Rosecrans, and the turnout has been very low. One option we discussed was to change the format of that meeting to be more of a social group that meets in a coffee house or restaurant, and to dedicate parts of some of our regular meetings to Support Group discussions. This idea had a lot of support; we'll discuss it with the leaders of the Support Group before taking any action. Part of the discussion of the Hard of Hearing Support Group included consideration of meeting time and location. This expanded to include consideration of our meetings at the Clairemont Friendship Center. Some people felt that meeting at a Senior Center discouraged younger folks from coming to the meeting. We didn't come to any conclusions, but it's something to keep in mind. Of course anyone who would like to research other meeting location options is encouraged to do so! The next topic is
who people would like for speakers. The following suggestions were made: Some people also expressed an interest in beginning sign classes. This has been an ongoing item of interest and really needs someone to step up and make it happen. I think we have several people who could lead such a group, and several people who would be interested in taking it. (Editor's note: Is this something that could be incorporated into a regular social group meeting?) Please contact Larry if you would like to take the lead on this project. Anne suggested (as
amended via email) that our annual agenda should look something like this: We are thrilled to have Christy Hill speak to us this month about hearing dogs. Christy has recently moved to San Diego and has been an active participant in our Hard of Hearing Support Group. She intends to become active in our ALDA group as well, so we're looking forward to seeing more of her. Christy has both hearing and vision loss and has had hearing dogs for 22 years. She has also recently founded the The San Diego Assistance Dog Support Club, which supports people with all kinds of assistance dogs. She's very knowledgeable about the various types of service dogs, and also the various organizations that provide dogs to folks who need them. I'm looking forward to an entertaining and informative discussion. And of course we'll have lots of social time and some goodies, as well!
Another exciting and informative meeting today! We began with an "open forum", during which people had an opportunity to bring up what's on their minds. And we had several interesting discussions on these topics. We next discussed the changing of our affiliation to the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA), something that we have been considering for awhile, and are now moving ahead with. There are several advantages to doing that, and we're looking forward to our new affiliation. We had a short tribute to Michael Gergley and Laine Waggoner, two wonderful people who passed away in the past month. Several members got up to speak about Michael and Laine, and some of us were teary-eyed! Next we had our normal social break. It's really nice to have an opportunity to socialize and get to know everyone a bit better. And of course, there were cookies that we had to eat! And, as always, it was really hard to get everyone to stop chatting and reconvene for the rest of the meeting. It's like trying to herd cats! And finally, Larry presented "Things You Never Knew about Hearing Loss", or at least the first part of it. We ran out of time before we finished, so Larry will have to pick that up at some future meeting. We had a very informative and interesting meeting today! Marilyn Weinhouse, a graduate of the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) Hearing Assistive Technology (HAT) training, presented on hearing assistive technology. She did a great job of discussing the various types of devices, how they are used, where to get them, etc. There were lots of questions and discussion from the group, and a lot of interest in how to use some of this technology. Our break was longer than usual, because so many people wanted to try some of the assistive devices, and those who didn't were enjoying the opportunity to chat. We finally reconvened for some
announcements and a discussion of aldosterone, a hormone that has shown
some promise to restore some hearing for some folks! We a great meeting on Saturday! Christy Stolzer recently completed the Hearing Loss Association of America training on assistive technology, and has gone on to research how folks with hearing loss can effectively use telephones. She gave us a very interesting and informative presentation on that topic, including lots of questions and discussion! She also brought her devices and gave people an opportunity to try them out during the break. Following her presentation we took a ten-minute break that stretched to more like 20 minutes before we got folks back. Lots of people brought goodies, so we had a huge variety! My goal was to eat one of each, but I didn't make it. ;-) Bonnie and Bill talked about our progress in moving over to the Hearing Loss of America. That is basically done, and we are now an official HLAA chapter. There's still some paperwork to complete to get this all done, but that too is well underway. They talked about some of the things they're thinking about for the group, and it all sounds very exciting - things like new activities, fundraisers, and social opportunities. They're working on a questionnaire to determine what folks are interested in. They also talked about
the national convention in Nashville next month. They will be attending,
as will Deb and Brian from the new HLAA group in Carlsbad. John and Jan then talked about the EPAC meeting they attended. EPAC is the group that chooses the equipment provided through the California Telephone Access Program (CTAP), and they were looking for consumer input. The meeting was for all users of the program, including people with hearing loss, vision loss, mobility issues, etc. John commented that holding the meeting on Friday was not the best way to get consumer input, because so few people could attend. He, Jan, and Brian also talked a bit about some of the new things in the works for CTAP, including possible cell phone programs with some exciting new phones. Line
Dancing! We've had several people express an interest in learning line
dancing, and we've managed to locate a couple of people who can show us
what to do! So do come to this meeting for a lot of fun and exercise! We will have our Annual Picnic and BBQ at the July meeting. We have a variety of acivities in addition to some wonderful food. It seems like the weather always cooperates for this event, and we are able to play outside, as well as inside! TBD TBD TBD We will have our Thanksgiving Potluck in November! This is always a great meeting, with lots of wonderful food and lots of time to chat. We will have our Holiday Celebration, White Elephant gift exchange and CAROLING! If you've never participated in a White Elephant gift exchange you've been missing an exciting new experience! And if you haven't heard this group sing, you're REALLY missing something.! Those who have attended our holiday celebrations in the past know to turn off their hearing aids , bring earplugs, or do whatever else they can do to protect themselves from the truly horrible sounds we produce ;-) Oh, yeah, and lots of holiday goodies! |
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