Serving
San Diegans Affected by Hearing Loss
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 Diegans Affected by Hearing Loss
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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 HLAA - 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. We had a small, but enthusiastic group at our meeting today. With several members at the HLAA National Convention, and several others either visiting family or hosting family or friends, we expected a lower turnout than normal. And then there was the overcast and drizzle . . . . . But we still had a great meeting. After business and announcements, we started discussing the questions that we distributed in the meeting announcement. Rather than split into separate subgroups, we all stayed together to discuss each topic. Everyone had an opportunity to participate, and everyone did! We really got wrapped up in the second topic, "How my hearing loss has affected my family and social life", and had to take a late break midway through it. And the discussion continued after the break. We had to close the meeting before doing justice to the third topic, "Would I be a different person today if I had not developed a hearing loss?" and never got to the fourth topic. It was a wonderful
reminder that we like to talk about issues that affect us! We had a very interesting and informative meeting today! After some introductions and opening remarks, Nanci Linke-Ellis talked about the Walk4Hearing coming up in Long Beach on November 8. This is a great fundraising opportunity for our chapter, California HLAA, and National HLAA. It's also a great way to raise awareness about hearing loss. We'll be talking more about participating in this event in the coming months. Nanci also talked about Insight Cinema, the organization she founded which has done such a great job of providing open-captioned movies for so many years. That has been pretty much closed down now, because of funding problems. She also mentioned Caption Fish (www.captionfish.com), a new website that locates captioned movies for any location in the country. It will soon be expanding to include all captioned entertainment, including live theater, foreign films, sporting events, etc. After a break for goodies, Bonnie talked about the National Convention which she and Bill attended last month. The convention hotel sounds absolutely HUGE and fabulous. There were 1100 people at the convention, which is a great turnout. She talked about a workshop she attended called "The Hidden Impact of Hearing Loss", which addressed both how hearing loss affects the person with hearing loss, and also how it affects that person's family, friends, and associates. Bonnie noted that the workshop had a really personal affect on her, because she realized that many of the problems she had in her relationship with her father were because of HIS hearing loss! Both Bonnie and Nanci mentioned that the presentation materials for ALL of the convention workshops are on the HLAA website (www.hearingloss.org) It's a lot of great material on a variety of hearing loss topics. So brew a fresh pot and have a look. We decided to have our picnic next month at Bonnie and Bill's home in Alpine. We'll be carpooling from our normal meeting place, and will work out who'll bring what over email. It was great to see everyone today, and looking forward to a very social picnic next month! We had our Annual Picnic and BBQ at the Bonnie and Bill's beautiful home in Alpine. The weather couldn't have been better, the food outstanding, and the company superb. Thanks to everyone who brought such great food and for the wonderful comaradarie. And a special thanks to Bonnie and Bill for hosting! Today's meeting was very interesting and entertaining; I'd say even unique! Following Char's opening remarks, we introduced the CaptionTHAT! Project that Marina Montemor (one of our captionists) has been spearheading, and explained that Bob Hatton would be videotaping the meeting with the intention of creating a short video about hearing loss to present before the films that will be shown at the CaptionTHAT! Silent Film Festival. We separated the folks who didn't want to be videotaped so they wouldn't be in the "group shots", and had others sign release forms to be videotaped. We also announced our membership drive and encouraged people to become members of HLAA National. We asked the to complete the membership application and return it along with cash, check, or credit card authorization. The reason to return it to us rather than just sending it to HLAA is that HLAA will send $10 of the membership back to our chapter if we identify it as coming from our chapter. We collected eleven new memberships! Note that people who are already HLAA members were not asked to renew at this time, but please remember to pass your renewals through the chapter officers so we can collect the $10 chapter donation from national. With the administrative work out of the way, we focused most of the rest of the meeting on CaptionTHAT and a discussion of how people currently use captioning, what additional captioned venues they would like to see, how lack of communications access affects them, etc. Marina did a wonderful job presenting the project and some information about how she came up with the idea, what's been involved in developing it, current status, etc. We then had a wonderful discussion about captioning, communications access, how people would like to see the funds used, etc. Bob was busy filming the entire time, and I think he must have gotten some great footage for our short video. We took a break for socializing and snacks somewhere in there, and finished up the meeting with announcements and MORE discussion. Today's meeting was very interesting and entertaining; I'd say even unique! We had an interesting and informative meeting today. Our speaker was Alec Graham, MS, CCC-A. Alec is a clinical and dispensing audiologist at West Coast Audiology (www.hearsd.com), and he covered a wide range of topics. We began with a discussion of audiograms and audiological testing, then moved on to hearing aid technology, the differences between analog and digital hearing aids, the Phonak hearing aids that translate high frequency sounds to lower frequencies, where many people have better hearing, and s whole host of other topics. Alec provided clear and thoughtful answers to everyone's questions, and we had lots of them! We had to cut the discussion short, because of time constraints. But Alec has offered to attend future meetings, and is very interested in additional dialog with our members. He's very interested in learning about the challenges we face on a daily basis, as well as answering questions we might have. We had our Thanksgiving Potluck in November! This is always a great meeting, with lots of wonderful food and lots of time to chat. As usual, we had so much extra food that most of us got to take home a couple of days worth of leftovers! We had our annual 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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