HLAA – Montgomery County Chapter

                   Note:  October Meeting Rescheduled to 10/10

After the summer break, chapter meetings resumed on 9/12, the second Monday of the month in September, rather than the first.  And in October, we also will meet on the second Monday, 10/10, because the first Monday falls on Rosh Hashanah this year.

The meeting was in round table format, and covered a wide range of topics:

• We had special guests Mary Finamore and Jackie Gallagher, and we spent some time in appreciation of Tony Finamore, who was a member of  our group for an all too brief time.
•  We elected Andy Walker, an accomplished painter, sculptor, photographer and teacher as vice-president.
• A variety of outreach possibilities were discussed, as well up possible meeting topics, such as:
  •  The third CI provider (we’ve heard from two in the past year)
  •  Captioning services.
  •  A presentation on the biology of aging.
  •  An outing to a local theater with hearing assistance. e.g.  Town and Country Players
  •  Interaction with public services, e.g. with law enforcement if hearing impaired

•  Other discussion topics included:
  •  The convention in DC; progress and products for hearing loss.
  •  The Yellow Dot program, which can alert emergency personnel that a passenger or driver is in some way disabled.  Details  HERE
  •  The 2016 Walk4Hearing on October 9 at The Navy Yard.  Patty Cortez is leading the MontCo team. Volunteers are needed to help in a variety of ways on that date.
    You can sign up to help HERE

 Note:  October Meeting Rescheduled to 10/10.  

The meeting will be an “ALD Workshop”, a hands-on show-and-tell session on a variety of devices, such as the Pocketalker, ClearSounds Quattro, the Resound Minimike, the Roger Pen, a Bluetooth transmitter/receiver pair, and a variety of FM  and IR systems, even TV-Ears.  Bring your favorite device and show it off.

We’ll also have an update from Diana Bender about programs and activities a the national office of HLAA

20160913

Bill Best spoke about recent developments in Hearing Assistance Technology.  He participated in a recent update program at the national office of HLAA.  The presentation included a number of product samples, and a wide range of supporting literature was available.

The group numbered 19.

His presentation was based in part on the results of on online survey, a Google Fom, prepared for this meeting.  There were 14 responses.

Bill Best Talks Technology

CART transcript available on request to hlaamcc(at)gmail.com  (at => @)

Upcoming Events:

• National HLAA Convention June 23 – 26 in Washington DC.  Several members will attend.
• HLAA picnic at Fort Washington State Park, July 17.  Area HLAA members, families, and friends are invited.
• Walk4Hearing October 9 at the Navy Yard

Turea Hutson spoke about the Community Connections  program in Montgomery County, and the role of the “Navicate”. She is the program’s manager.

Community Connections is an innovative approach to provide services to people who need them most, where they need them most—in their community. Community Connections offices are one-stop service centers in an initial four locations around Montgomery County—Willow Grove, Pottstown, Lansdale and Norristown.

The meeting served two purposes; introduction of Community Connections to MontCo HLAA, and introduction of MontCo HLAA to Community Connections, and there was extended discussion of how our group might be of service to their function.

Don Groff spoke about “Dealing with Hearing Loss in Public Spaces”, using his prototype ‘two tin cans on a string’ as a starting point.
Tin Can #1:  typically microphone or a sound track.
String:  Wire, FM, IR, or loop connection
Tin Can #2:  Earpiece, Hearing aid (T-coil)

The pluses and minuses on streaming systems were discussed.

There were 16 in the audience.  CART transcript available on request to hlaamcc(at)gmail.com

Announcement of note:
May meeting – Montgomery County Navicates
Lunch & Learn – May 7
National Convention – June 23 -26, Washington, DC
Picnic – July  17

.

April 4,  2016 at the Jeanes Library, 5:30 p.m.

As always, visitors are welcome.

Doug Lynch, of Advanced Bionics talked about dealing with hearing loss in basic terms, without limiting the scope to CI’s in general or AB in particular.  The group number about 20.

•   Rehabilitation – work that pays off
•   Plasticity of the brain: Why time is always on the side of a people with hearing loss
•   Communication is a two way street: Responsibilities of both hearing impaired and loved ones
•   Technology advances and where things are headed.
  

  Doug Lynch at MontCo on March 7

Doug has been involved with Advanced Bionics in many capacities since 1995, when he was implanted with the CLARION 1.0 as part of the company’s first clinical trial.  He joined Advanced Bionics in 1996 and has served in many capacities including Director, Corporate Communications, and currently serves as the Cochlear Implant Consumer Specialist in the Mid Atlantic. He holds seven U.S. Patents in cochlear implant technology, and has passionately educated families about technology and life with cochlear implants for over twenty years.

Doug provided links to a number of useful web sites for hearing rehabilitation:

www.TheListeningRoom.com  (Rehab resources)
|http://www.abmusicrehab.com/EN/ (Music rehab)
https://hearingjourney.com/ (online community of 30,000 people who care about CI’s and hearing loss)
www.audiologyonline.com/expo/advanced-bionics/ (Online recorded webinars, including rehab and others)
http://www.advancedbionics.com/com/en/support/education.html (AB’s website listing of all educational resources)

CART transcript is available on request to hlaamcc(at)gmail(dot)com.

At our April meeting, Dr. Jennifer Raneri of Collegeville Speech and Hearing will speak.  Watch here for details of her presentation.

April 4, 2016, 5:30 p.m. at the Jeanes Library.

As always, visitors are welcome.

.

The round table meeting attended by a dozen members covered a wide range of topics, but the major items were:
Items in the 15-16 budget
Hearing assistance efforts
Charitable expenditures
Future programs
Advanced Bionics representative in March
Collegeville Speech and Hearing presentation in April
Montgomery County Office of Aging in May
HLAA picnic – July 17 Fort Washington State Park
Recent activities
Farm Show
Center on the Hill Presentation
Experiences with local theater hearing assistance
Other upcoming activities and matters
Lunch & Learn May 7 (Emilio Cortez wll receive
the Finisdore Award  for Advocacy)
HLAA Convention in DC – several members will attend.
Chapter business card now available