Make Hearing Loss an Issue of National Concern

news

Volume 39 Number 8

October 2017

Serving People with Hearing Loss and their Families A Chapter of the Hearing Loss Association of America

Save the Date! Dec 16: Holiday Party at Delmar Reformed Church.

Exciting News!

Thanks to an extraordinary donation by Don and Lois Porter, to

the many generous donations made in memory of Steve Minnich

and the hard work of the HLAA Albany Chapter Looping Committee, we now have a brand new loop to replace the loop system

purchased in 1985! In addition to the loop system, we have new wireless

microphones plus receivers for persons who do not have hearing aids or whose hearing aids are without t-coils. Be sure to attend the November 8 program

(see below) at the Colonie Town Library for its unveiling! Be a part of HLAA

Albany Chapter history! !

November 8: I Have a Hearing Loss, What Can I Do?

Are you or someone you care about facing challenges in dealing with

hearing loss? Are you experiencing feelings of frustration at times over

missed conversations or misunderstandings?

Join in discussion with others also working hard to listen and understand

on Wednesday, November 8 from 6 to 8 pm at the William K. Sanford

Library, 629 Albany Shaker Rd Albany, NY 12211. Members of the Hearing Loss

Association of America-Albany Chapter will participate in an informal discussion

facilitated by the organization’s Founder and Professional Advisor, Dr. Donna

Wayner. A variety of helps available to include hearing aids, cochlear implants,

communication strategies for home and work place as well as speech reading and ADA

issues will be reviewed.

Pizza and light refreshments will be served. Any questions? E-mail Pat at

hearhlaa@yahoo.com or call Joanne at 518-488-8268.

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Still Wanted! Newsletter Editor! After many years, Pat Mirza is

retiring as Newsletter Editor. HLAA Albany Chapter is

looking for a new editor. Otherwise the final newsletter will

be the December 2017/January 2018 issue! Work at

your own pace, change the format, change the issue frequency—

make it work for YOU. Use the program of your choice (currently the newsletter is set up on Microsoft Office

Publisher), and email the completed newsletter to the printer

(currently Nott Street Office). The printer will print, collate, fold, tab, label, stamp and mail the newsletters. There are many

article topics that write themselves, such as Getting to Know

You and Help the Editor articles. HLAA National has wonderful articles for reprint on their website. Pat and the HLAA Board

will be happy to offer guidance and assistance.

Bookkeeper! We are cur rently looking for

someone with some bookkeeping experience. The ’job’

requires about 2—3 hours each quarter balancing the accounts, matching receipts, and presenting at the

quarterly business meeting.

Greeters! Greet people at the door, encourage

them to sign our sign up sheet and maintain Welcome Packets for new attendees.

Board members! Perfect oppor tunity to become a part of the heart of this wonderful chapter. Duties and

ideas are shared and a good time is guaranteed.

Interested or just want to give it a try? Email us at

HEARHLAA@Yahoo.com.

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HEAR NEWS is a monthly newsletter of Hearing Loss Association of America Albany Chapter (HLAA) We are a not-for-profit self-help group for individuals with hearing impairments. Any mention of opinions, services or products does not mean endorsement, nor does lack of mention mean lack of endorsement. Address all correspondence to:

HEAR News, c/o HLAA P.O. Box 9445 Schenectady, NY 12309

or Email us at

HEARHLAA@yahoo.com

(518) 488-8268

Website: https:// hearinglossalba-

ny.wordpress. com PLANNING COMMITTEE:

Laura Cooper

Sue Davis

Joanne Knauer

Margie Litwin

Janet Mattox

Pat Mirza, Editor

Michelle Othon

Sharon Rende Au.D

Ellen Rupert

Debbie Trees, Au.D

Donna Wayner, Ph.D and Professional Advisor

Nancy Williams We welcome your input! Please send articles, inquiries and letters to the editor to the addresses listed above.

Please become a member of HLAA Albany Chapter, or at least give us a try – see the form on the last page.

Go NATIONAL! Join the

Hearing Loss Association of

America HLAA

7910 Woodmont Avenue

Suite 1200

Bethesda, MD 20814

301-657-2248 (voice)

email: inquiry@hearingloss.org

website: www.hearingloss.org

Accessibility Enhancements at Proctors

Theater By Laura Cooper

In September, Don Porter and I were invited to

Proctors Theater. We were not there to attend a

play or musical, but to test out the assisted listening devices

that Proctors currently utilizes. The reason for the invitation

came as a result of Proctors partnering with HLAA to provide

the best possible delivery of assisted listening devices,

whether they are headsets or neck loops.

There are several procedural changes regarding listening

devices at Proctors. First, they are no longer being given out

at the bar/ concession stand. If you want a device, you need

to go to the box office. When you receive the device, you will

have the opportunity to test it through the theater's sound

system. This is an exciting new innovation designed to

alleviate the possibility of getting to your seat and not

realizing your device is nonworking until the show starts and

it is too late to remedy the situation.

During our visit to Proctors, we met with Dan Sheehan,

Operations Director, Mike Bacchi, Box Office Manager and

Jill Moffett, Assistant Box Office Manager. They showed us

the units and we got to work. An important aspect of the

testing was figuring out how to stream the music played in the

lobby to the speakers so that we could discern the sound and

thus determine if units were working or not. After several

attempts, Dan was able to get sound to us and we started the

test. Of the 18 receivers that we tested, three were deemed to

be in need of repair. Two of the headsets were not working.

All of the devices that did not work will be sent out for

repair.

Finally, Don and I gave the staff a crash course in the

difference between headset and neck loop technology, as well

as several things to look for when a patron indicates that he or

she is having trouble with the device.

It was a terrific visit, and we look forward to a sustained and

vigorous relationship between Proctors and the Albany

Chapter of the Hearing Loss Association of America.

See you at the show!

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Professional Associates

CART

Communications Access Realtime Translation ~ ~ ~

Realtime speech-to-text translations – the spoken word scrolling onto a screen, laptop, or tablet -

from speech to text!

For more information contact:

Renee D. Leguire, Certified Realtime Reporter

courtreporters@nycap.rr.com or thesteno@gmail.com

(518) 371-4143 or (800) 787-3376

Dr. Laura Brodsky Board Certified Doctor of Audiology

Comprehensive Hearing Healthcare

Advanced Technology Hearing Instruments

THE AUDIOLOGY CENTER

783-3110, EX. 3004 ACCEPTING ALL MAJOR INSURANCES

Delmar Health Center Capital Region Health Park

250 Delaware Avenue 711 Troy-Sch’dy Road

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A Hearing Aid is

less conspicuous

than your

Hearing Loss!

Hoot! Hoot!

Caught you

looking!

Advertise here!

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For a special Remembrance, think of our Tribute Fund! Tribute donations are a thoughtful way to honor a birthday, an anniversary or

any special event, or to memorialize the death of a loved one. You may also make undesignated contributions. The money from the Tribute Fund is used to make our meetings accessible to everyone. Just mail the form below with your check

(payable to HLAA, Albany

Chapter). to:

HLAA Albany Chapter

P.O. Box 9445

Schenectady, NY 12309 Your designee (or his or her family) will receive a prompt acknowledgement of your

contribution. The gift amount is never disclosed.

Your

Memory

Or

Tribute

Here

This tax deductible donation is:

____In HONOR of

____In MEMORY of

____Not Designated

___$ Total

Donor’s

Name____________________

____

Donor's

Address___________________

_________________________

Please Acknowledge to:

____Donor named above, or

Name_________________

Address____________________________________________

Going on until October 31!! Please

purchase a bag and support us!

The Hannaford Supermarket located

at 96 Wolf Rd, Windsor Plaza, Colonie, NY

has chosen Hearing Loss Association of America Albany

Chapter as a beneficiary of the Hannaford Cause Bag program!

This means for the entire month of October, every time the

blue reusable bag with the good karma message is purchased at

the Colonie Hannaford, we receive $1!

This is truly a great opportunity for us, and an easy way

for you to show your support for Hearing Loss Association of

America Albany Chapter!

Please go to the store, find the reusable bag rack and buy a

few bags!

And remember to spread the word – the more bags

purchased, the bigger donation to HLAA Albany Chapter.

For more information about the Hannaford Cause Bag

Program, visit www.hannaford.bags4mycause.com.

Tweets of Note via @HLAA_AlbanyNY

(check out the links) HearingHealthMatters: We have amazing opportunities to reduce

impacts of dementia and #hearing. Let’s make a difference together.

@HLAA_AlbanyNY @YourEdgeLearn

*************

SonicCloud raises $4M to bake a hearing aid into phone calls through an

app http://tcrn.ch/2yiZ2rf # via @techcrunch

************

Listen up: theKR Liu @krliu_advocate

When Disaster Strikes Information Access is Critical for the Deaf and

Hard of Hearing Community http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/when

-disaster-strikes-information-access-is-

critical_us_59b2df7de4b0d0c16bb52c67 … # via @HuffPostBlog

***********

'See' sounds around you with these eyeglasses for the hard of hearing

http://mashable.com/2017/09/18/peri-eyeglasses-deaf/

#ggpqKwZUsZOI … via @mashable

**********

Thanks @HealthONEsystem for helping improve accessibility for deaf

& HOH patients. We appreciate your efforts #deaf http://safenclear.com

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Information you can USE (note, descriptions may be found on www.hearingloss-albany.org) Hearing Loss Association of America— www.hear ingloss.org.

Hands and Voices—www.handsandvoices.org.

Hearing Like Me—www.hearinglikeme.com.

Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center—www.gallaudet.edu

National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes—nationaldeafcenter.org

Albany Law School Civil Rights & Disabilities Law Clinic-

www.albanylaw.edu

Office of the NYS Attorney General, Civil Rights Division—

www.ag.ny.gov

Young Adults - www.hearingloss.org/ content/young-adults-and- hearing-loss

American Tinnitus Association—www.ata.org.

Madison Hearing Ctr, 14 Columbia Circle Drive, Ste 202, Albany, NY 12203 (518)690-2060

Madison & Saratoga Hearing Ctr, 414 Maple Ave, Ste 800 Saratoga Spgs, NY 12866 (518)584-0578

Madison & Saratoga Hearing Ctr 81 Miller Rd, Ste 700 Castleton, NY 12033 (518)689-0792

Resource Center for Ind. Liv. 347 W. Main St. Amsterdam, NY 12010 (518)842-3561 Center for Better Hearing 318 Ridge Street Glens Falls, NY 12801 (518)798-4800

Resource Center for Ind. Liv. 401 East German St Herkimer, NY 13350 (315)866-7245

HearUSA 2200 Burdett Avenue Troy, NY 12180 (518)272-7323

AMC Loews (amctheatres.com)—Rotterdam—Captioning

Bowtie Cinemas (bowtiecinemas.com)—Schenectady, Saratoga, Wilton-’Cup Holder’

Captioning

Regal Cinemas (regmovies.com)— Clifton Park, Crossgates, Colonie Center,

E. Greenbush, Wilton Mall, and Aviation Mall— Captioned Glasses

Capital Repertory Theatre (capitalrep.org)—Loop

Delmar Reformed Church (drchurch.org)—Loop

Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady (uuschenectady.org) - Loop

St. Mary’s Crescent Catholic Church Clifton Park (www.stmaryscrescent.com) - FM

system

Our Lady, Queen of Peace Catholic Church, Princetown Road, Schenectady, NY

(www.olqprotterdam.org)—Loop

Christ Our Light Catholic Church (www.christourlightchurch.org) - FM

First Presbyterian Church (firstpresalbany.org) 362 State Street Albany

Barrington Stage (barringtonstage.org)- first six rows of Main Stage are looped.

Spectrum 8 (Landmarktheatres.com)- Infrared and CCR-100 Captioning.

(If you know of any other venue that is accessible, please share it with us! Likewise, if you

patronize the venue and it is no longer accessible, let us know!)

Lions’ Hearing Devices Loan-Out Centers —try out devices before buying!

Patronize These Accessible Venues!*

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news

Hearing Loss Association of America

Albany Chapter

P.O. Box 9445 Schenectady, NY 12309-0445

Information Line: (518) 488-8268

email: hearhlaa@yahoo.com and our website is at

https:// hearinglossalbany.wordpress. com

We’re on

Facebook!

We’d

LOVE you

to LIKE us!!

We’re on

Twitter!

Follow us at

@HLAA_AlbanyNY

October 2017

Hearing Loss Association of Albany Membership Registration

Hearing Loss Association of Albany operates on a calendar year basis, and chapter registration fees are due on

January 1 of each year.

Persons who would like to ‘try us out’ can opt to receive a trial newsletter for three months by checking” Trial

Registration" on the form below.

Registration fees collected are used for operating expenses, including this newsletter, and Professional Associates are cited

in each newsletter issue.

We thank you for supporting Hearing Loss Association of Albany, and we hope you will be able to participate.

************************************************

Hearing Loss Association of Albany Membership Registration Form

Name___________________________________

Street___________________________________________________

City_________________________________State_____Zip Code___________

Phone_____________________ Email__________________

Annual Chapter Fee (Calendar Year Basis):

Please indicate your choice:

___Single: $15.00 ___Patron: $50.00 ___Family: $20.00 ___Supporting: $35.00

___Trial Registration ___Contribution: (tax deductible)

___Professional Associate: $100.00 or $175.00 ___Check here for tax receipt

Total Amount Enclosed $ ____

Make check out to HLAA, Albany

Chapter and mail to: HLAA Albany Chapter

P.O. Box 9445

Schenectady, NY 12309