July Social & Special Program

Monday, July 11th

Potluck Picnic at Appleton Yacht Club

1200 S. Lutz Drive

H.O.P.E gathering 4:45

Social Time 5:30—Supper 6:00

NOTE: Beverages must be purchased at the bar.

Please Bring*………

Appetizers, Main Course, Salads, Etc.

The chapter will provide dessert.

Program at 6:45 or 7:00 (depending)

Mary Miller will share her love of, and expertise

with, Native American flutes; instruments that

quite amazingly, most of us can hear. Let’s eat

well, and then sit back & enjoy a special program.

* Please bring a dish that will serve 8 –10 people.

Plenty of plug-ins for crock pots.

Fox Valley Chapter News Volume Issue 5 ~ July 2016

HLAA Strongly Supports Recommendations of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Report –

Hearing Health Care for Adults: Priorities for Improving Access and Affordability

6/2/16 Bethesda, MD: HLAA applauds a new report issued by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (the Academies), Hearing Health Care for Adults: Priorities for Im-proving Access and Affordability. The groundbreaking report documents the critical nature of hearing loss and provides 12 rec-ommendations that underscore hearing loss as a significant public health concern.

Implementation of the recommendations will provide people with hearing loss greater access to accurate information, offer more affordable choices and options, and will empower consumers to take steps to address their hearing loss. The Academies’ report estimates that 67-86 percent of people who might benefit from hearing aids do not have them and addresses areas of hearing health care that currently prevents many from seeking treatment. The findings in the report touch on almost every aspect of hearing health care, underscoring the fact that managing hearing loss not only requires far more than the technology of hearing aids but also involves family and society as a whole.

“The Academies’ report keeps the individual with hearing loss as the first priority. The guiding principles of the committee’s work are philosophically in line with those of HLAA,” said Barbara Kelley, executive director of HLAA. “HLAA will be working toward seeing that the recommended actions are implemented. We look forward to working with all stakeholders as we move forward to improve hearing health care.”

Hearing Health Care for Adults: Priorities for Improving Access and Affordability is the result of the work of the Committee on Accessible and Affordable Hearing Health Care for Adults, which was convened by the Academies to study the affordability and accessibility of hearing health care for adults in the United States. It consisted of experts from a variety of disciplines and back-grounds related to hearing health throughout the country. HLAA is the only consumer organization involved.

Dan G. Blazer, M.D., Ph.D., MPH, chair of the Committee, will speak about the report at the national HLAA convention. You can read the Report, and recommenda-tions for individuals, families and hearing healthcare professionals at nas.edu/hearing

Save the Date!

You Don’t Want to Miss This Event!!

A major Hearing Loop Expo, sponsored by HLAA Mil-

waukee Metro Chapter in collaboration with HLAA-

Wisconsin, will be held at the Milwaukee Area Tech-

nical College on Saturday November 5th. The HLAA-

WI annual meeting, which is open to all HLAA mem-

bers, will be held on Friday evening, November 4th. Several ex-

cellent speakers have been lined up for both the meeting and the

daylong Expo.

The registration fee for the Expo is $25 per person, which

includes lunch. Fox Valley Chapter has set aside funds, and will

reimburse the $25 registration fee for up to 25 active chapter

members who attend the Expo. You are encouraged to support

our state HLAA association and the Milwaukee HLAA Chapter.

Reserve the dates now. Further information will be posted in

the September newsletter as there will be no August issue.

The registration form is available at: www.hlaawi.org

Watch the website for more information about speakers, sched-

ules, hotel rooms, etc.

Barbara Kelly, HLAA

Executive Director with

Dan Blazer, chair of the

committee.

Chapter Leader’s Message…

Hi Everyone! I'm still here! I became a mem-ber of Fox Valley Chapter HLAA in 2000. I was 16 years younger! I am a past president, vice-president , secretary & treasurer. I am cur-rently your Program Chairperson and Cochlear Implant support group Chair. I have been a dental hygienist for 39 years.

Life changed for me 16 years ago when I was diagnosed with a bilateral auto-immune hearing loss. My marriage status changed and I had children in both high school & college. My hearing loss felt like a slow death.

I found out about HLAA when I went to Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee to be evaluated for a cochlear implant. I picked up a magazine in the waiting room, read an article that said the state organization was going to have a meeting in Milwaukee. Two weeks later, I walked thru a door that changed my life forever. The first people I met were Marie Ruys, Jo Kintopf-Crabb and Julie Ol-son, all from Fox Valley Chapter. Then, I was a typical hearing loss person who knew nothing about hearing loss, nor how to cope with it.

Living with acquired hearing loss has been an adventure. We deal with the hand we are dealt. The confidence I have gained over the years has come from self-education thru HLAA (formerly SHHH-Self Help for Hard of Hearing People). Even with that confi-dence, I still force myself to go to social events and meet groups of people where I know I will struggle to hear. But, I do go.

Almost daily, I meet people who have hearing loss at my dental practice. I see those who are eager to learn, those who are con-cerned with financial cost, and those who don't care to improve their quality of life. I know who you are by you reading this news-letter!

I am a bilateral cochlear implant user. One side is excellent, the other is so-so! I have had 3 surgeries. I have dealt with tinnitus and vertigo. The cochlear implant support group that I chair is an informal educational group. It includes people who have implants from all three implant manufacturers and is not brand spe-cific. We share experiences and learn from one another. The door is open to anyone who would like to learn more or who be-lieve you may be a candidate for a cochlear implant. Our next meeting is Monday evening, July 18th. See notice in lower right corner.

HLAA has changed my life. It helped me become confident about living well with hearing loss! See you soon at a chapter meeting!

Rhonda Clancey, Program Chair

3rd Quarter Meeting—Monday July 18

6:00 PM at Festival Foods Meeting Room

647 S. Green Bay Road—Neenah

Upstairs meeting room. Elevator & stairs on the

front left as you enter the store.

Remember to buy HLAA Bean Soup Mix.

Available at chapter meetings or from Carol:

carolsmoke@live.com

Great for Soup or Salad!

HOPE Notes….

Everyone's Hearing Loss Story Is Different, But....

...We do not realize how many everyday experiences

due to our hearing loss are very common. Coming to-

gether at H.O.P.E. with others who know JUST what

you mean, and with whom you can laugh about the

same indignities and confusions can be very rewarding.

Monday, July 11, is the chapter's summer pot-luck

social at the Appleton Yacht Club. H.O.P.E. will

meet at the Yacht Club at 4:45 p.m., before the pic-

nic begins.

There will be no HLAA-FV chapter meeting/

presentation nor newsletter in August, but

H.O.P.E will meet as usual, the second Monday,

August 8 at 5:30 pm in the UUF sanctuary. Please

mark your calendar.

If you would like a reminder for the August H.O.P.E

meeting, please send your email address to hlaafoxval-

ley@gmail.com.

Questions like, “What can I do about...?”, “Is this nor-

mal?”, “Does anyone know...?” come up daily for

us. Therefore, H.O.P.E meets every second Mon-

day, every month of the year.

You are not alone. Please join us.

Nancy Gilbertson, HOPE Facilitator

H.O.P.E. = Hearing Other People’s Experiences

“A word of encouragement can mean the

difference between giving up

or going on.”

Guideposts Magazine

Disclaimer—HLAA does not endorse products or services. Mention of

such is intended to provide readers & those who attend meetings with

information on products or services that might be of interest, & is not a

recommendation or endorsement.

Please consider redistributing the HLAA Magazines you receive with

national membership. They are full of information. It’s another way to

let the public know HLAA exists. Drop them off at doctor’s offices, beauty

salons, etc. wherever magazines are available in waiting rooms. Thank

you!

2016 Chapter Sponsors

[Platinum Level ($200 or More)

About Better Care Audiology – Stephanie Long AuD Anonymous Audiology & Hearing Aid Center of ENT Specialists of WI - Audiologists; Mark Conradt, Erin Krueger, Holly Rush-Clothier, Tricia Roh, Tammy Mischka, Katie Armatoski & Cathy Dreifuerst Audiology and Hearing Services – Michael Thelen AuD Ear Nose & Throat Surgical Associates - Kristin Borgen AuD, Beth Gabavics AuD & Nicole Maxam CCC-A Fox Valley Hearing Center, Inc. - Bria Anderson AuD, Melissa Dintelman AuD, & Candy McGinnis AuD Haviland Hearing Aids, Inc. Peter Zellmer AuD, CCC-A Kyle Martel AuD Rural Audiology Services, Inc. Cari J. Cramer AuD, Becky L. Franz MS, CCC-A Ray & Betty Smith Char & Bob Van Asten Gold Level ($100 - $199)

Anonymous, Joe & Barb Bach, Judy & Larry Benish, Jim Cuene, Betsy Foley, Kevin Gossins, Doug Grant MD, Hear-ing Clinics of Wisconsin Inc.; Robert Broeckert MS-CCC-A, Jo Kintopf-Crabb, Christine Klessig, Mike Landreman, Thomas & Linda O’Connor, Marge & Vern Parker, Howard & Charlene Porter, Julie Reisinger, Juliette Sterkens & Max Maxfield, Julianna Turoski (in memory of Victor Turo-ski), Walt & Phyllis Ziemke Seeing the Word - Margo Lucas, CRC, RPR, CRI Silver Level ($50 - $99)

Jim & Rhonda Bartelt Suzanne Brown,Dave & Nancy Gil-bertson, Liz Ginke, Mary Ginke, Charlie & Betsy Hansen, Elizabeth Keggi, Ione Muehlenbein (in memory of Paul Muehlenbein), Chris Prust, Joyce Rudolph, Stevie Schmidt, Karen & Thomas Schuppe, Lyle & Phyllis Sconzert, Carol Smokovich, Barb & Russ Soderberg, Gene & “T” Van Asten, Mike & Lois Vande Loo, Jerry & Phyllis Van Handel, Jan & Diane Veenedaal, Earl & Shirley Younk, Paul & Harriet Zuiker Bronze Level ($25 - $49)

Affinity Medical Group Audiology; Debra Engebos AuD Carol Burns, Rich & Janet Erickson, Donald Kunde, Janice Liebscher, Fred Lilly, Raymond R. Morris, Alice Reimer-McKee, Mary Walter, Katie Weber (in memory of ‘Butts’ Weber), Dick & Mary Wilkenson, Anonymous X 2

We are grateful to these Sponsors for their gen-erosity and support of HLAA Fox Valley Chap-ter. Their support allows us to print & circulate this newsletter, to hold regular meetings, to pro-vide information & materials to those who at-tend our meetings & much more.

Our meetings are open to the public. .

Tax deductible donations can be sent to: HLAA-FVC

Treasurer, P.O. Box 25, Menasha WI 54952-0025. The

chapter is a registered 501(c)3 non profit. NOTE: Substantial in-kind donations & services are provided by: Lorna Hamilton, Julie & John Olson, Gene & ‘T’ Van Asten, Col-

leen Van Rooy, Nancy & Dave Gilbertson, & others. who contrib-ute time, energy & mileage.

Horsepower vs Hearing (original article by Mary Ellen Gabriel)

Growing up on a farm, Melanie Buhr-Lawler AuD, heard her dad’s tractors and other loud equipment every day.

Now, as a clinical associate professor of audiology at UW-Madison, she promotes hearing conservation to those with

little or no knowledge about those noisy risks.

Studies find that many rural residents over age 40 ex-perience hearing impairment. Farm equipment can exceed

100 decibels; enough to cause permanent hearing damage.

To raise awareness, Buhr-Lawler and students from UW’s Department of Communiation Sciences & Disorders attend the Tomah Tractor Pull, an annual event that draws over 60 thousand spectators. They talk about options to protect hearing, and offer free ear plugs to block out the deafening roar of turbocharged, three thousand horsepow-

er machines.

“A tractor pull is one of the loudest places on earth—as

loud as a jet plane at takeoff”, says Buhr-Lawler.

The project, funded by a Statewide Outreach Incentive Grant from UW, aims to create a model program that can

be used at other loud events in rural areas.

When she started this effort three years ago, she had some trepidation about passing out earplugs to a crowd that was clearly up for some noise. “We wanted to be a pos-itive force, not one coming in to nag everyone, she says. But the crowds have welcomed them with ‘open ears’. So

far her team has passed out thousands of earplugs.

Edited from “On Wisconsin Magazine”; Submitted by Chris-

tine Klessig, Fox Valley Chapter

Editor’s Note: Many summer activities we enjoy can en-danger our hearing. It’s wise to have and use ear plugs while boating, cycling, attending concerts or car races, when watching fireworks, while target shooting, when rid-

ing in convertibles, and while doing yardwork.

HLAA-Fox Valley Chapter

P.O. Box 25

Menasha WI 54952-0025

2016 HLAA-Fox Valley Chapter Board

President: Colleen Van Rooy: cvanrooy@yahoo.com

Treasurer: Jane Young: YBLUEJAY@aol.com

Secretary: Christine Klessig bommaklessig@gmail.com

Programs & Cochlear Implant Group Chair: Rhonda

Clancey: rclancey@hotmail.com

Newsletter Editor: Julie Olson: julieo@athenet.net

H.O.P.E. Chair: Nancy Gilbertson

nancy.gilbertson2@gmail.com

Member at Large: Jo Kintopf-Crabb

Support Crew: Bob Opsteen - Room Set-up, ‘’T” &

Gene Van Asten - Outreach & Fund Raising, Lorna Ham-

ilton - Newsletter preparation & phone support 920-725-

2579. Chapter e-mail: hlaafoxvalley@gmail.com

2016 Chapter Meeting Calendar

July 11—Picnic Social + Musical Sounds We CAN Hear

August—No Regular Chapter Meeting in August.

August 8—The HOPE group will meet at 5:30.

September 12—Hearing Aids & Assistive Technology

October 10—Captioned Telephones

November 14—Coping Strategies in Difficult Settings

December 12—Annual Holiday Party

The monthly newsletter serves as our meeting notice.

Please sign up to receive it. Lorna: 725-2579 or

julieo@athenet.net It can come via mail or e-mail.

Specific program information about topics, timelines, and

presenters will appear in each monthly newsletters.

Chapter meetings are preceded by HOPE support group.

NOTE: HOPE discussion will be held each month, including

months of chapter socials and also in months when the

chapter doesn’t meet. (August, January & February)

More Dates to Remember

Cochlear Implant Group Meets Quarterly

July 18, October 17, January 17 (2017)

November 4—Annual Meeting of HLAA-WI

November 5—State Hearing Loop Expo (Milwaukee)

Board Help Needed! Perpetuating this chapter

should be a goal of everyone who attends meetings.

Please consider how YOU might help take the pressure off

the handful of leaders. Your energy is needed. Elections

take place in November. Will you step up? Let us know.

June Chapter Program Summary

Our scheduled speaker from the Wisconsin Office for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing, for the June 13th program was unable to be there at the last minute. Julie Olson kindly stepped in to facilitate a discussion of the planned topic, “Emergency Pre-paredness for Hard-of-Hearing People”.

A great deal of the session involved audience members sharing their own tips for emergency preparedness. For exam-ple, you can contact the local fire department and let them know that a person at your address is hard of hearing. That way, if they are called to your home, they won’t assume you’re not there if you don’t answer the door.

You can buy a weather radio that captions the warnings. These radios are readily available at area stores.

If you can’t hear alarms while asleep, including smoke alarms, there are assistive devices that will shake your pillow or flash a strobe light. Options for Independent Living is a great resource for assistive devices. Some people with hear-ing loss depend on trained hearing dogs to alert them.

You should have a complete set of documents, including healthcare power of attorney, your will, and medical infor-mation in more than one place, such as with family and in a safe deposit box. Make a record of all of your valuable posses-sions in case they are lost to fire, tornado, or flooding. One person suggested photographing everything and storing the pictures on a flash drive in a safe deposit box.

Last, but not least, always be sure to have your hearing devices and the batteries they require handy.

Thanks again to Julie and all who shared their tips.

Summary submitted by Elizabeth Keggi

NOTE: We will try to reschedule this program sometime in the future. We were told by Margo Lucas, our CART reporter that a kit is available from the state that is full of suggestions and directives. Margo had captioned this program at another HLAA chapter. We will request kits be made available to our chapter members.

Registration form for the Loop

Expo, along with hotel infor-

mation is available online at:

www.hlaawi.org Registration

fee of $25 per person includes

HLAA Fox Valley Regional Chapter is an affiliate of the national

Hearing Loss Association of America, Inc. This chapter does not collect

dues.

Dues to the national HLAA organization are $35/year, and can be

paid to HLAA National Office, Attention: Membership, 7910 Woodmont

Ave., Ste. 1200, Bethesda MD 20814. You can also join national HLAA

online at: www.hearingloss.org.

HLAA at all levels is a 501c3 non-profit organization.

Disclaimer—HLAA does not endorse products or services. Mention of such

is intended to provide readers & those who attend meetings with infor-

mation on products or services that might be of interest, & is not a recom-

mendation or endorsement.