HEARING LOSS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, MONTGOMERY COUNTY CHAPTER NEWSLETTER
OCTOBER 2009
Montco Chapter Officers:
President:DonnaPenman,phone:610-292-9003or610-279-0905;Emailaddress:pen447@verizon.netorpenguin2@tmail.com
Treasurer:KathyHarral Secretary:LauraSkwirutAssistiveTechnology:DonGroff
Newslettercommittee:DianaBender,email:bender@hla-pa.org,andDonGroff
MeetingSchedule:1stMondayofeachMonth,exceptJanuary,February,JulyandAugust:GerberRoom,3rdfloorMercySuburbanHospital,2701DeKalbPike(Route202),EastNorriton,PA,6:30 – 8:30p.m.
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October Meeting Recap
The interim director of the Jeanes Library, Elliott Shelkrot, explained plans for the renovation of the library, complete with floor plans and an artist’s rendition of the finished building. Elliot is the former director of the Free Library in Philadelphia who had thought he was retired until asked by the Jeanes Library to take this temporary position until renovations to the library are completed.
An addition will be built to the existing library, and the old library will be completely refurbished inside. Most of the new addition will be used as a children’s library, but there will also be a small meeting room that will be available to the general public. The library will close our meeting room to meetings in mid October in order to have a place to start moving books and other furnishings. The library will remain open to other users until mid November, when it will close completely. Construction on the addition will start December 2.
After the library closes, approximately 15% of the books will be moved to a temporary facility on Harts Lane, just off Ridge Pike, which will open January 4, 2010 and will remain open until the new library is completed. Contractors have estimated that construction will take 9 or 10 months. The renovated library will still keep the large meeting room downstairs, together with a new kitchen and rest rooms. They plan to add about 10 new parking spaces around the perimeter of the library.
Elliot invited us to return to the new library when construction is completed. Alice thanked him for providing us with meeting space for so many years.
Montco moves to Suburban Hospital
It’sofficial!!StartingwithourNovembermeeting,MontcomeetsthefirstMondayofthemonthandwewillbemeetingintheGerberconferenceroom,3rdfloor,atMercySuburbanHospitalneartheintersectionofGermantownPikeandRoute202.
Here are directions to the hospital:
FromKingofPrussia
GonorthonRoute202(DeKalbPike).BearrightonRoute202NorththroughBridgeportandoverthebridgeintoandthroughNorristown. ProceedonRoute202North,thehospitalwillbeonyourleftpriortothe
intersectionofGermantownPike.
From Plymouth Meeting
Go west on Germantown Pike. At the 202 junction, turn left. The hospital will be on your right within 1/10th of a mile.
FromLansdale
GoeastonRoute63.Atthe202junction,turnrightandproceedon202South.Thehospitalwillbeonyourright1/10thofamilepastthe
intersectionofGermantownPikeonRoute202.
FromCollegeville
GoeastonGermantownPike.Atthe202junction,turnrightandproceedon202South.Thehospitalwillbeonyourrightwithin1/10thofamile.
2008HLA-PAAwardBrunch,Sunday,Nov.22
Justareminder,HLA-PAwillpresentthe2009MarciaFinisdoreAwardforAdvocacyatabrunchonSunday,November22,2009from11to2pmattheConshohockenMarriottHotel.Formoreinformation,contacttheorganizersatCarolynMeyeratMeyer@hla-pa.org
Former Montco member Peg Adamucci will do a book signing for her new children’s book on how to communicate with a grandparent who is hard of hearing. Michael Norris of Art-Reach will tell us about the Independence Starts Here Program, which will bring open captioning to many live theaters in Philadelphia.
Noise-Induced Hearing Loss
SanDiego —Acomprehensivestudyoftheprevalenceandriskfactorsfornoise-inducedhearingloss(NIHL)showthatmen,especiallythosewhoarewhiteandmarried,aresignificantlymoreatriskthanwomen,accordingtonewresearchpresentedatthe2009AmericanAcademyofOtolaryngology-HeadandNeckSurgeryFoundation(AAO-HNSF)AnnualMeeting&OTOEXPO.
Thecollaborativestudy,involvingHamidDjalilian,MD,oftheUniversityofCalifornia,Irvine,MedicalCenter,whichanalyzedtheaudiometrictestingdatafrom5,290peoplebetweentheagesof20and69yearsindicatesthatmorethan13%sufferfromNIHL,whichwouldcorrespondwithapproximately24millionAmericanssufferingfromtheailment.Thestrongestassociationwasofgender,wheremenare2.5timesmorelikelytodevelopNIHLthanwomen.Amongthatgroup,marriedwhite (non-Hispanic)menrepresentthehighestriskgroupfordevelopingNIHL.
The authors believe this is the first study of its kind to delve in to the demographics of NIHL using the most recent figures from 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES). They believe this information can allow greater education, preventative, and screening efforts.
http://www.hearingreview.com/insider/2009-10-08_03.asp
Joke of the Month
Three retirees, each with a hearing loss, were taking a walk one fine March day.
One remarked to the other, “Windy, ain’t it?”
“No,” the second man replied, “It’s Thursday.”
And the third man chimed in, “So am I. Let’s have a coke.”
Next Meeting: Convention Experiences
Montco members Alice, Claire, Diana and Donna will share their Nashville convention experiences with workshops, the exhibit hall, and social opportunities, such as attending the very first real-time captioned performance of the Grand Ole Opry. We will start with a social half hour beginning at 6:30 pm. This will be followed by our speakers and the business meeting beginning at 7 p.m. We will have to be out of the meeting room by 8:30, so please be prompt.
Please join us for our next meeting on
Monday,
HLAA - Montgomery County Chapter 