HLAA – Montgomery County Chapter

Our May 6 meeting featured a presentation on how to protect yourself from scams while using the modern communication technology so important to people with hearing loss.  We watched a video of Andy Chandler, a retired cybersecurity professional, who made this presentation to the New York City HLAA chapter in March of this year.

The following discussion included technology advances such as captioning systems and the availability of Auracast.

The tentative topic for our June 3 meeting with be dealing the impact of hearing loss when dealing with the health care system. Watch for details here.

The chapter may arrange for a picnic in July, but in a less formal way than in previous years. Watch for details here.

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Our April meeting will be based on a TED Talk by Juliëtte Sterkens in which she discusses the need for hearing assistance beyond what is provided by hearing aids.  T-coils and hearing loops continue to be the go-to system even as more sophisticated technologies come on the scene.

The video is captioned, and our loop system will be active.

Tuesday, April 1, 2025, 5:30 pm at the Jeanes Library, 4051 Joshua Road, Lafayette Hill.

Please join us.

The topic for our October meeting was the challenges of traveling with hearing loss. MontCo member Cathie Harvey is planning a trip to Scotland, and discussed measure for making the trip easier.

Past and future travelers shared their experiences and plans.

Travelers face some unique problems, but many are what we all face at home.
Please join us and share in the discussion.

At the Jeanes Library, 4051 Joshua Road, Lafayette Hill, October 1, 2025, 5:30 to 7:30

Captioning and loop system will be in use.

The group discussed a variety of hearing assistance devices, with a focus on TV watching.  There are a half dozen or so devices available, generally specific to one or two brands of hearing aids.  Auracast promises to provide interoperability for this field.  Its pace of introduction is uncertain, will be a few years before widespread availability, it appears.

Our September 3 meeting will focus on devices usually called ‘TV streamers’, which transport the sound from a television set, or any audio source, directly to your hearing aids.

If you have such a device, bring it along for ‘Show & Tell’.

These are modern versions of things we’ve used for a long time: loop systems, ‘TV Ears’, even headsets on a long cable.

If time permits, we’ll also talk about remote microphones, which use the same technology in a somewhat different way. The word ‘Auracast’ will come up often.

We’ll also discuss activities for the next year.