PRESIDENT'S REPORT
Katherine Bouton, President, HLAA-NYC
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A major achievement this year was the redesign of our website, which Toni Iacolucci and Holly Cohen worked on, with designer Max Cove. It debuted in July at
hearinglossnyc.org and is very easy to navigate. Lynette Tudorache is our webmaster.
We have had several advocacy successes:
- In 2016, Mayor Bill DiBlasio signed two bills increasing accessibility and services for people with disabilities, including hearing loss. In March 2017, Mayor de Blasio signed a bill requiring that all new city-funded construction or renovation with a base cost of $950,000 include at least one hearing-looped meeting space, and a hearing loop at the information desk. Chapter members Ellen Semel, Jerry Bergman, Ruth Bernstein, Toni Iacolucci, and Holly Cohen were involved in these advocacy efforts.
- Access to theater for people with hearing loss continues to expand. The Shubert theaters are expected to introduce hand-held caption devices this year. TDF-TAP continues to offer open-captioned Broadway and off-Broadway performances, including two captioned performances of the megahit "Hamilton." Several theaters installed hearing loops. You can find these theaters on our website under Resources.
- We continued our partnership with the Center for Hearing and Communication. HLAA members are offered a 5 percent discount on hearing aids. We also work with CHC on outreach and advocacy.
- In September 2016, the chapter was honored at Yankee Stadium's annual Disability Day game. Disabilities Commissioner Victor Calise presented chapter representatives Toni Iacolucci and Katherine Bouton with a citation from the Mayor for "providing vital support and resources for individuals with hearing loss and their families." It went on "I am proud to join with the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities to applaud this organization for protecting the hearing health of people in our city and beyond." Continue reading ...
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YOU'RE INVITED
To the HLAA-NYC Awards Ceremony
Tuesday, June 6
5:30 PM
Muhlenberg Library, 209 W. 23rd Street
Third Floor Community Room
C
ART (real-time captioning) provided by Lauren Sche
chter of
TotalCaption.
An ASL interpreter will be provided with five business days notice.
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HLAA-NYC Member ELLEN SEMEL
Receives CHC's Ruth R. Green Advocacy Award
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| Ruth R. Green Advocacy Award recipient Ellen Semel (left) with 2014 recipient Ruth Bernstein |
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| At its April 4 meeting, the Center for Hearing and Communication (CHC) presented several awards. HLAA-NYC's Ellen Semel received the Ruth R. Green Advocacy Award, given in honor of CHC's former Executive Director. According to Carolyn Stern, manager of CHC's Center for Hearing and Aging, "Ellen is deeply passionate about the hearing loss cause. This passion gives her tremendous energy to stick with initiatives even when they're daunting. When Ellen led a coalition that persuaded Amtrak in Penn Station to install hearing loops, many other organizations followed suit. Ellen is an effective advocate because she's not afraid to initiate new programs, sweat the details, and follow through." The Irving Berelson President's Award for Excellence in the World of Hearing Health went to Mark Ross, a clinician, researcher, and mentor to students, consumers, and hearing health professionals. In accepting the award, Dr. Ross outlined his own hearing loss history, which he addressed first by using hearing aids. "When hearing aids wouldn't help I got an implant," he stated. "Now I expect to be able to talk on the telephone and to have an assistive listening device in the theater, looping in taxis, and an alarm clock that wakes me up with a vibrator. These devices, plus many others, were not available when I first wore hearing aids. Things have gotten a lot better." Continue reading...
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COMMUNICATION ACCESS IN HEALTHCARE SETTINGS ...
A Public Health Issue
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While writing and introducing the Guide and the CAP
, we
noticed that despite HLAA's strong history of advocacy for communication access at meetings, movies, museums, and theaters, there has been little discussion about effective communication in medical settings. That left us wondering why. Is it because a friend or family member often ends up helping people communicate with medical personnel, while others mask their frustration and vow to be more assertive about their communication needs next time?
Since communication in medical settings is about health, well-being, and safety, we hope we can work together to inform our peers, friends, families, and providers - and make this a public health issue. Here's how you can help make this happen.
1. Bring a copy of your CAP, informing your providers about the aids and services you need, to every healthcare appointment. This creates awareness about the prevalence of hearing loss and helps to ensure that other hard-of-hearing and deaf patients will receive the services they need.
2. Follow up on your request for services with emails and letters. Persistence and patience are critical.
Keep us posted about your CAP-related challenges and successes at [email protected]. One chapter member reached out to us with this:
"Recently I learned that a friend with hearing loss was going in for surgery, and I discussed hearing access with her. She hadn't even thought about this! When you are ill you focus on the illness and forget about how you will communicate with the medical staff."
Acting on her friend's behalf, the chapter member wrote a letter to a patient advocate requesting services, as stipulated by the Americans with Disabilities Act. This is where it starts - one patient, one advocate, one facility, one provider, one step at a time.
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SAVE THE DATE: SEPTEMBER 24
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Planning is underway for the NYC Walk4Hearing on September 24 in Riverside Park. Save the date and count on another fun-filled morning, featuring attractions for children, food and beverages, and lots of good cheer.
Walk New York! is the Chapter's official team. It's our only fundraiser - generating over 90 percent of the Chapter's operating revenue. It's not too soon to sign up and make your donation. Click
here to go to our team page, then click the green "Join Team" box at the top right and follow the prompts.
Or start your own team, as 13-year-old siblings Eli and Avery Reiman have done. Eli was diagnosed with hearing loss nine years ago, while sister Avery has normal hearing. Their Team E.A.R. has already raised over $2,000 of their $3,000 goal!
If you'd like to start your own team,
this link will take you to the main NYC Walk page. Scroll down and click "Register as a Team Captain and Start a Team" and follow the prompts.
If HLAA has helped you to better understand hearing loss, to better manage your particular hearing loss, to receive better hearing health care, and/or to better understand how hearing aids and assistive listening devices can help, this is your chance to demonstrate your gratitude and keep HLAA going strong.
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APRIL CHAPTER MEETING RECAP
Cochlear Implants, Present and Future
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| HLAA-NYC President Katherine Bouton introducing speakers David Landsberger and Justin Golub. |
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Columbia University Medical Center cochlear implant surgeon Justin Golub and HLAA-NYC professional adviser David Landsberger, an assistant professor at NYU Langone Medical Center, talked about cochlear implants present and future, with an emphasis on the future. With a cochlear implant, Dr. Golub said, "nearly all forms of deafness can be treated; not cured, but treated." The next frontiers in the CI world, according to Dr. Golub, are enabling users to hear music clearly and hear speech amid background noise, implanting people who are not profoundly deaf, and increased use of implants to treat tinnitus and balance problems. "In the future," he said, "better electrodes will enable better hearing."
Dr. Landsberger, a scientist who studies how hearing works and how it can be improved with cochlear implants, explained how CIs carry sounds in the form of electrical signals from the auditory nerve to the brain. "I have a brilliant grad student who has been working on an algorithm that removes background talkers," Dr. Landsberger stated. He added, "Another place where we can work to improve things is in the brain itself. With proper training, even people who have had many years of experience with an implant can improve further."
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HLAA-NYC is always looking for volunteers - to speak at community centers and other venues, run tables at street fairs and health fairs, and represent the chapter at events like the Disability Pride Parade on July 9 (see the article above). Plus, we need many volunteers at the Walk4Hearing on September 24. The volunteer form on the chapter's website enables potential volunteers to specify their skills and interests, so that we can place people where they will be most comfortable and most useful.
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DEFINITION OF LOOPING
A hearing loop is a wire that circles a room and is connected to a sound system. The loop transmits the sound electromagnetically to the telecoil (t-coil) in a hearing aid or cochlear implant.
NYC LOOPED VENUES
Thanks to advocacy efforts by HLAA-NYC members, more and more venues in the metropolitan area are now looped. Click
here
to see the updated list of looped sites. The list was compiled by HLAA-NYC member Ellen Semel, with the help of Alexandra Lutz.
BROADWAY SHOWS CURRENTLY AT LOOPED THEATERS
From the Nederlander Organization
Gershwin: Wicked
Minskoff: The Lion King
Richard Rodgers: Hamilton
Lunt-Fontanne: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
From the Shubert Organization
Bernard B. Jacobs: Bandstand
Lincoln Center
Vivian Beaumont: Oslo
Mitzi Newhouse: How to Transcend a Happy Marriage
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WATCH MOVIES WITH CAPTIONS AT AMC & REGAL THEATERS
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Captioning, which has long been required on television, is also available at
AMC
and
Regal
theaters.
AMC offers CaptiView, a goose-neck device that fits into your seat's cup holder and displays all of the movie's dialogue in text. Regal provides Sony Entertainment Access glasses, which resemble 3-D glasses. Captions are projected onto the glasses, and appear to float about 10 feet in front of the user.
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| OUR FAVORITE HEARING LOSS BLOGS |
Ruth Bernstein
Hearing Loss Advocate Shares Lessons Learned
I have a history as an advocate for people with hearing loss that goes back many years. In the process of advocating I've learned many lessons, a few of which I want to share with you in recognition of Better Speech and Hearing Month.
Read more of this post.
Katherine Bouton
What I Learned by Flunking Out of ASL
This past winter I decided to take a class in American Sign Language, ASL. It was a six-week course with a two-and-a-half hour class once a week. It was totally immersive - no spoken language allowed, even with the administrators.
Read more of this post.
Shari Eberts
How to Enjoy a Barbecue with Hearing Loss
I love summer barbecue parties - Memorial Day Weekend, Fourth of July, or just a regular summer weekend. It is fun to gather friends and family to enjoy the summer weather, each other's company, and the casual fare. Parties can be a challenge for people with hearing loss, but barbecues are some of the easiest to navigate.
Read more of this post.
Gael Hannan
The Best Hearing Advice I've Ever Received
When hearing problems start, so does the advice. The first suggestion is usually, "You should get your hearing checked." But to be honest, when loved ones start lobbing that advice, most people don't immediately jump in the car and drive madly to the hearing clinic. And they probably won't mention a possible hearing problem to their family doctor, either - who should have brought this up already with the patient, don't you think?
Read more of this post.
What's it Like to Date and Be Deaf, Gray, and Italian?
In an old rerun of the "Sex and the City" series, Candice Bergen plays Carrie's single boss. She laments to Carrie that the older man in her life should be seeking women his own age, and that every time an older man seeks a younger partner, the pool gets smaller for her and other older women. This statement represents a belief held by many older women. Read more of this post.
Nancy Williams
Finding a Community of Musicians with Hearing Loss
At eight years old, Jennifer Castellano learned that she had perfect pitch, and found out that she needed hearing aids for a mild to moderate hearing loss in the middle frequencies. Now as a performing pianist and composer with two original solo albums, she has been featured on classical radio programs and has written music for an orchestra and a music teachers' association.
Read more of this post.
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DISCOUNT PRICES for
CAPTIONED THEATER PERFORMANCES through TDF |
The Theatre Development Fund's Accessibility Programs (TAP) offers a membership service for theatergoers who have hearing loss or are deaf. TDF/TAP obtains special seating and provides captioning. There is no annual fee, but you must provide proof of eligibility. To see what shows are available - and to join - visit
TDF Accessibility Programs
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WEBSITE for THEATERGOERS WITH DISABILITIES
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Those who are hard of hearing or deaf, have low vision or are blind, who cannot climb stairs, who require aisle seating or wheelchair locations, who are on the autism spectrum or have other developmental or cognitive disabilities, now can find out everything they need to know to choose a show, buy tickets, and plan their trip to Broadway by visiting Theatre Access NYC.
IS NEW WEBSITE FOR INFORMATION OF THEATRE
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| HONOR SOMEONE with a GIFT to the HLAA-NYC CHAPTER |
SUPPORT HLAA - BECOME A MEMBER
As the nation's leading organization for people with hearing loss, we provide information, education, support, and advocacy for the millions of Americans
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Searching for the perfect way to observe a loved one's birthday, anniversary, or special occasion, OR to honor the memory of someone special? Please consider making a gift to HLAA-NYC Chapter to support our efforts.
You can donate online or by mailing a check (payable to HLAA-NYC) to HLAA-NYC Chapter, P.O. Box 602, Radio City Station, New York, NY 10101. Include name and address. An acknowledgement will be mailed. Donations are tax deductible.
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Hearing Loss Association of America - New York City Chapter
The Hearing Loss Association of America exists to open the world of communication
to people with hearing loss through information, education, support, and advocacy.
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