Fort Worth HLAA Christmas Partyhearinglossfortworth.org/newsletters/Heard in Fort Worth...
Transcript of Fort Worth HLAA Christmas Partyhearinglossfortworth.org/newsletters/Heard in Fort Worth...
Heard In Fort Worth Hearing Loss Association of America - Fort Worth Chapter December 2016
Fort Worth HLAA
Christmas Party December 10, 2016, 10:00 a.m. to noon Goodrich Center, 2500 Lipscomb Street
We’ll have a marvelous meal, a gift exchange, and a music performance with Christmas carol sing-along and dramatic readings by entertainer Carl Johnson. Carl is a theater professional with 40 years of experience as performer, musician, conduc-tor, and director. He has performed as vocalist and narrator with the Dallas Winds and with symphonies in Dallas, Fort Worth, Allen, and Irving. He is a former voice faculty member at Texas Christian University. We’ll enjoy the program. The chapter will provide meat selections for the meal. Bring the dish you signed up for at the November meeting. If you did not sign up, please bring either a vegetable dish, a salad, or a dessert – enough to serve 10 - 12. To participate in the gift exchange, please bring a wrapped gift worth $10 or less for a person of your gender. Please do not put a name tag on your gift. The “Chinese Auction” exchange is great fun. As always, the meeting will be captioned and the assistive listening systems will be on for communication access.
You’re invited! Bring guests.
Scenes from Last Year’s Party
Photo Credit: The photograph of The Fort Worth Herd on our Heard In Fort Worth banner is used by permission of The Fort Worth Herd
and its sponsor, the Fort Worth Parks and Community Services Department.
David’s Discussion
Holiday Season and Hearing Loss
The holiday season is here and our chapter Christmas
party will be held on Saturday, December 10. We
have had a great year as we reached out to the
community to let them know what resources are
available to folks with hearing loss. As a result we
continue to welcome new members to our chapter
this year. I look forward to coming together at this
party, mixing our loyal longtime members in with
these new members. This will be a time when we can
get to know each other and share in the joys of the
holiday season.
This time of year, however, can be very stressful for
those of us with hearing loss. With many large group
gatherings being held, including family gatherings, it
can be a very difficult time of the year. With these
large holiday family gatherings, laughing and
conversing, it’s easy for someone with a hearing loss
to feel left out, isolated, bewildered, and sad. Hearing
aids and cochlear implants have limitations in these
types of environments, but there are things we can do
to make these experiences more enjoyable for all. As
I have done in the past, I’m offering some ideas that
could make this season more enjoyable for all.
Most important is to be patient with yourself. For
many of us, the large dinner table with everyone
talking and laughing at once is probably one of the
most difficult settings we can ever encounter.
Understand this and be patient with yourself and
focus on what you can do and not the negatives of
what is difficult. Getting flustered and upset will only
make the situation worse. Even those with perfect
hearing have difficulty in these types of situations.
If this is a family gathering, you can seek out other
things that you may do. Find someone to talk to one
on one, away from the larger number of friends and
family. It is easier for us to understand in quieter
environments. You may also want to seek out
assisting the host in doing other things in the kitchen
to help out. By volunteering to help you will be doing
something besides trying to hear. I enjoy cooking, so
a strategy that I use is to help cook or prepare
something for the meal. The kitchen usually has
fewer people and the noise is not as bad as in other
areas.
Find a suitable place to sit, maybe next to someone
who understands your hearing difficulties and can
help you understand what is being said. If you can
hear better on one side than on the other, then find a
seat where the majority of people are on that side of
you. Look for a place where you can clearly see the
others’ faces and away from the background noises,
like a TV football game, if possible. Even so, it will
be inevitable that you will not be able to understand
all that is being said, with many people talking and
laughing at once. Start a conversation with friends on
either side of you. This way, you will know the topic
and will more easily follow the conversation. Ask
people to repeat the part you missed. Maintaining a
positive attitude can benefit you in not getting
flustered at all the things you are missing.
There are assistive listening devices, such as personal
amplifiers and auxiliary microphones that can help
you hear in noisy environments. These can work
either in conjunction with your hearing aid or
cochlear implant or directly into your ears. There are
many new devices like this being developed
continually. Keep up with this type of technology. It
can play a large role in your being able better to
understand what is being said.
Most importantly, I want to wish each and every one
of you a Merry and stress-free Christmas season.
David Edmondson, Chapter President
Airport Travel Tips
The holiday season is a hectic time at airports, and noisy
crowds make it especially difficult for passengers with
hearing loss. Lawrence Rolon, Disability Coordinator at
Los Angeles International Airport, offered tips to make
travel easier and less stressful.
At least three days before your flight, contact the
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at TSA
Cares: 855-787-2227. TSA can arrange for special security
screenings to accommodate specific disabilities, including
deafness and hearing loss. This will ensure that specialized
TSA personnel are available to assist you through the
screening process. You can print a TSA Cares notification
card which allows you discreetly to identify yourself at the
screening location.
Contact the airline before your scheduled departure date
to arrange for any special accommodations you require
during the flight due to a disability.
When checking in at the ticket counter, request that your
reservation be flagged to indicate that you are deaf or hard
of hearing. This will alert airline staff that you may need
special assistance in the event of a situation requiring
terminal evacuation or other emergency.
At the TSA screening location, notify the Transportation
Security Officer (TSO) that you are deaf or hard of hearing
and indicate the best way to communicate with you. Let
the officer know if you have a hearing aid or cochlear
implant. (These devices do not need to be removed for
screening.)
If you need extra assistance or have any difficulty at TSA
screening, ask to speak to a Passenger Support Specialist.
The PSS is specially trained in accommodating persons
with disabilities.
Advise boarding gate staff about your hearing loss and
indicate where you will be sitting while waiting to board
the plane. This will allow staff to contact you individually
for boarding announcements or gate changes so that you
don’t miss your flight. Most airlines will preboard
passengers with disabilities—but they need to know who
you are.
Be mindful of your surroundings at the airport. Take
advantage of special seating for passengers with
disabilities. Identify the locations of message boards and
other informational signage.
Source: The Hearing Loss Californian, winter 2016-17 issue,
forwarded by Darlene Liesner
Help Us Help Others Beyond helping our members and guests, this chapter
exists to reach out and help others with hearing loss and
their families and friends to live more effectively and to
improve the quality of their lives.
One of our hopes in the year ahead is to assist HLAA’s
national Hearing Loop Advocate, Juliëtte Sterkens,
Au.D., in visiting our area and giving presentations to
hearing professionals and others in several locations.
We who have experienced the benefits of looping in our
chapter meetings can help to inform and inspire others.
Too many audiologists and other professionals are not
aware or are not convinced of the value of telecoils and
looping systems. The subject is not covered in most
audiology training programs. We want to change that. It’s
part of a national campaign by HLAA, Sertoma Clubs, and
others. We can do this. The visit is planned for March.
We can help by contacting possible venues at area
universities, assisting with arrangements, publicity, and
possibly registration. We can have a booth at each
presentation to inform attendees about HLAA and our
chapter.
If you will consider helping, contact Jeannene Brown by
email at [email protected] or call her at 817-275-7320.
Member News Back in September, we reported on Karen Moulder and
her family being devastated by the flooding in Louisiana.
Karen had moved there to assist her mother, who was in
poor health. Several of us sent donations to help with their
needs. New we have learned that Karen’s mother Clarice
Ballard died this week. Her funeral service is scheduled for
Dec. 8 at Amite Baptist Church in Denham Springs, LA.
Karen contributed significantly through her terms as our
chapter president and at state and national HLAA levels.
In addition, she was a longtime and effective hearing loss
resource specialist contracted with DARS.
Ray Brown has had several back surgeries with compli-
cations and much pain. Jeannene has been busy driving
back and forth to the hospital and rehab center and caring
for Ray. She has requested that someone volunteer as
chapter hospitality co-chair during this difficult time.
Chapter Secretary Frank Brauer had emergency eye
surgery after suffering a massively torn retina. He cannot
do anything strenuous for a month, hoping avoiding a
recurrence. The possibility of losing vision is a scary
prospect for a person with severe hearing loss.
Please keep these members in your thoughts and prayers
and assist wherever you can.
HIGHLIGHTS OF NOVEMBER 2016 PROGRAM:
Hearing Loss Hacks and Useful Technology to Boot Presented by Robin Carson, Au.D., CCC-A, owner of Carson Hearing Care, Fort Worth
Edited and excerpted by Darlene Liesner from the meeting transcript by Maribel Arredondo, CSR. This is merely an outline and a few highlights.
At the November meeting Dr. Robin Carson gave an
enthusiastic and informative presentation. A hearing aid
wearer herself, Dr. Carson understands what we go
through.
Dr. Carson discussed hearing loss and the parts of the ear
and explained how to read an audiogram, which shows the
degree and type of hearing loss. The audiogram reveals
how well the patient hears a range of pitches, especially
those most common in speech sounds. When people
cannot hear high frequency consonant sounds, i.e., “S,”
“T,” “CH,” and “SH,” they do not have clarity and speech
understanding.
The most important test she does in her office is the speech
discrimination test. Through a list of words presented loud
enough to overcome the patient’s hearing loss, she
determines how much speech the patient understands. A
typical score is 68%. Some people have better speech
discrimination than others.
Hearing loss may cause the people around the hard of
hearing person more difficulty than it does the affected
one. The person with the loss is living in a world in which
if they miss something, they may not know it. It takes the
people around these people to help them be successful, but
the person with the hearing loss must take ownership of
the loss, be assertive, and learn how to be an effective
communicator.
As the severity of hearing loss increases, the necessity to
rely on coping strategies and people around you to help
you be successful becomes greater. Some ways family and
friends can help are:
1) Don’t talk from another room. Be mindful of the
distance from which we speak to somebody or begin to
speak with them.
2) Get their attention. Say their name.
3) Speak clearly and slowly. Don’t over enunciate.
4) Keep hands away from face.
5) Minimize background noise.
6) Don’t just repeat. Instead, reword or rephrase.
Part of the responsibility is on the hard of hearing person
to figure out how to get by in the world without expecting
everyone to accommodate them. The hard of hearing can
improve communications by improving their listening
skills. Active listening requires dedicating all of their
attention to the speaker and avoiding distraction.
Common sources of distraction are:
1) Stress – anxiety over missing important information or
coming up with an awkward response. The battle to hear
speech with a hearing loss in itself causes anxiety and
strain.
2) Lack of focus – Hearing loss removes the listener from
the present moment. While working to figure out what the
speaker just said, the hearing impaired person also loses
out on what the speaker is saying at the moment. Constant
catch-up guarantees never completely understanding the
message.
3) Misunderstanding – Stress and lack of focus can lead to
misreading the message which may lead to becoming upset
or annoyed with a message the speaker never meant to
send. The speaker who is persistently misunderstood is
also aggravated.
Dr. Carson demonstrated a remote microphone. The mic is
first paired with the hearing aids or cochlear implant
processor by pushing a button on the back of the mic. The
family member or friend wearing the microphone can then
speak from another room or from up to 80 feet away. In a
noisy restaurant, the hearing impaired person can use an
iPhone app to turn down/off the instrument’s microphones
and turn up the remote mic the other person is wearing. In
church, if the pastor wears the remote mic, the person with
the devices can sit in the back row. The remote mic can
also be placed by the television. Dr. Carson encouraged the
audience not to be afraid of smart phones and other
technology that can help in most environments.
Some providers sell hearing aids for a living, and some
help the hearing impaired for a living. Find a provider to
connect with, see at regular intervals, and build a
relationship with. The provider is as important as the
devices.
Other helpful articles and information may be found at
carsonhearing.com.
Thank You for supporting our Fort Worth chapter. During the past year, the people named below have contributed significantly to our chapter,
assisting with equipment, supplies, newsletter publication, and other expenses.
We’ll start the recognitions over again in January. Please join them.
Platinum: Johnnie Carter. Gold: Patricia Key. Silver: David Edmondson.
Bronze: Wanda Gibson, Georgia Leech, Oliver Jones, Fred & LaNeta Teryn.
Friends: Carmelita Clark, Don Fitz, Lanny & Jill DeMoss, Emma Hill,
Delton & Janice Parker, Joyce Parlin.
Platinum = $400+; Gold = $200 to $399; Silver = $100 to $199; Bronze = $50 to $99; Friends = Up to $49
The Fort Worth Chapter is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization.
All contributions are tax-deductible.
Hearing Loss Association of America - Fort Worth Chapter
NEWSLETTER POSTAL SUBSCRIPTION & CHAPTER DONATION FORM
Make checks payable to: HLAA - Fort Worth Chapter
Mail to HLAA – Fort Worth, 2500 Lipscomb St., Fort Worth, TX 76110-2625
Name:________________________________________________________________________
Address:________________________________________ City:_______________ Zip:________
Email address:__________________________________________________________________
Annual Chapter Newsletter Subscription Fee for Postal Delivery ($15) $__________ Donation to Fort Worth Chapter $__________
TOTAL $__________
The Hearing Loss Association America (HLAA), founded in 1979 by Rocky Stone, opens the world of communication to people with hearing loss through
information, education, advocacy, and support. HLAA publishes the bimonthly Hearing Loss Magazine, holds annual conventions, produces Walk4Hearing®
events, hosts online learning, and more. HLAA has an extensive network of chapters and state organizations. Further information can be found at
www.hearingloss.org. The national headquarters is located at 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 1200, Bethesda, MD 20814. Telephone: 301-657-2248.
2016 Board of Directors President: David Edmondson ([email protected]) Vice-President: Jack Wages ([email protected]) Secretary: Frank Brauer ([email protected]) Treasurer: Patricia Hindman ([email protected]) Newsletter Editor: Dan White ([email protected]) Librarian/Historian: Judy Oetting ([email protected]) Hospitality Chair: Jeannene Brown ([email protected]) Program Chair: Joyce Parlin ([email protected])
Heard In Fort Worth
This newsletter is published monthly by the Hearing Loss Association of America - Fort Worth Chapter
2500 Lipscomb Street, Fort Worth, TX 76110-2625 Telephone 817-564-3764 or 817-228-8041
http://www.hearinglossfortworth.org http://www.hearingloss.org
Hearing Evaluations * Hearing Devices
J. Thomas Roth, Au.D. CCC-A, FAAA Doctor of Audiology
Phone 817-332-8817 904 W. Pennsylvania
Fax 817-332-8827 Ft. Worth, TX 76104
ANTHONY HEARING AIDS
Physician-Based Hearing Solutions
Phillip F. Anthony, M.D., Otologist
Sandra Clarkson, MA, CCC-A, FAAA, Lead Audiologist
Julie Mistic, Au.D, CCC-A, FAAA, Audiologist
901 Hemphill, Fort Worth, Texas 76104
817/338-HEAR
Fonner Hearing Aid Center
315 Randol Mill Road, Arlington 76011 Call 817-277-8121 Fax — 817-277-8191
6647 Boulevard 26, Fort Worth 76180 Call 817-284-8584 Fax — 817-284-3253
www.Fonnerhearing.com
HEARING CARE CENTER
“Helping patients and families hear a difference”
Kurt Chappell, BBA
4736 Bryant Irvin Road, Suite 702 Fort Worth, TX 76132
(817) 263-1971 www.chappell-hearing-aids.com
This Ad Space is Available.
Email [email protected].
Fonner Hearing Aid Center
Arlington 315 Randol Mill Road
Tel — 817-277-8121 Fax — 817-277-8191
Fort Worth 6647 Boulevard 26
Tel — 817-284-8584 Fax — 817-284-3253
www.texasears.com
HEALTHFIRST MEDICAL GROUP
SCOTT O’LEARY, M.S., CCC-A AUDIOLOGIST
Audiology/Hearing Aids
George Kostohryz, Jr. M.D.
Otolaryngology/ENT
4625 Boat Club Road, #257 Phone 817-346-6464
Fort Worth, Texas 76135 Fax 817-238-0054
Marylyn Koble, M.S., CCC-A, Audiologist
(817) 504-3644 [email protected]
Call for an in-home consultation
Audiology Associates of Arlington
Elizabeth Johnson, Au.D., FAAA
Comprehensive Audiological Evaluations Hearing Aids and Assistive Devices
3132 MATLOCK RD., STE 303 817-472-7720 ARLINGTON, TEXAS 76014 817-417-7280 FAX
NEWSLETTER SPONSORS
We are extremely grateful for the financial support we receive for our newsletter from our sponsors. Mention of goods and services does not imply HLAA endorsement, nor should omission suggest disapproval.
Advertising rates are $150 per year or $12.50 per month for a business card size ad.
2500 Lipscomb Street Fort Worth, TX 76110-2625 E-mail [email protected]
or call 817-228-8041 to UNSUBSCRIBE
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
.
PLACE
POSTAGE STAMP HERE
Heard in Fort Worth HEARING LOSS NEWSLETTER
meets on the second Saturday of each month at the Goodrich Center for the Deaf
and Hard of Hearing
2500 Lipscomb Street Fort Worth, Texas 76110
Telephone 817-228-8041 for further information.
All are welcome!
Take this Hearing Loss and Healthcare Survey
Researchers from Duke University and the Medical
University of South Carolina in Charleston are
conducting a brief survey to find out how hearing
loss affects communication with people you
interact with during your health care visits. It
should take no more than ten minutes of your time,
and results will be kept confidential. No informa-
tion will be collected that can identify who is
responding. They would very much appreciate your
assistance. Your answers will help researchers
design and test the most appropriate strategies for
improving hearing health care for adults. If you
would like to get additional information or need
technical assistance, please contact Erika Juhlin
at: [email protected].
Source: www.hearingloss.org