Nov 14, 2024 – Tips and tricks on how to survive the holidays with hearing loss
We had a well attended Zoom meeting regarding all those large and noisy holiday gatherings. Yup, hard to hear environments. It is difficult! And we all shared ideas on how to survive. What delightful sharing and conservation we had! Thank you, Thomas, for recording the meeting and we are all invited to experience the discussion again by clicking the link below. And believe me … You are not alone. We are all challenged by large gatherings.
Click on this link to view the meeting recording.
Oct 6, 2024 – Walk4Hearing in Boston, MA.
DownEast HLAA Maine team raised $1667 for the 2024 Boston Walk4Hearing (closest to our state). Roster Margaret Myatt – Captain, Andy Chandler. Maine folks may participate in these annual events in-person or virtually. Since 2006, these Walks have been the largest event of HLAA to raise funds for education, advocacy, and support for those dealing with hearing loss. They are our community of support in action: raising awareness, breaking down barriers to hearing health, and empowering people with hearing loss nationwide. #Walk4Hearing
April 18, 2024 – The Emotional Side of Hearing Loss.
Jeffrey Wax,LCSW-R, will be our guest speaker. He is the Director of NY’s Emotional Health and Wellness Center for Hearing and Communication. He provides counseling services to people who are deaf or hard of hearing, regardless of hearing ability, age, etc. Click HERE to see a recording of the presentation. The passcode is L8x@r%&8
March 21, 2024 – Cybersecurity and Hearing Loss.
Andy Chandler, discussed further ways to protect yourself and your data from online threats and phone scams.
What does Hearing Loss have to do with Cybersecurity? A lot, actually. Daily, we are bombarded with phishing attacks, security warnings, and fraud alerts. How do we protect ourselves from identity theft, loss of funds, and loss of reputation? Especially when it comes to the dreaded … telephone? With over 20 years of cybersecurity experience, and as a lifelong hearing aid wearer and recent CI recipient, Andy provided tips and tricks to keep you safe not only from cybercriminals and social media, but also from those persistent alerts from the “IRS”, “Social Security”, and the … (big voice) “FEDERAL GOVERNMENT” (none, of course, which are real). And those cyber “invites” seeking friendship – are they really friends? Or are they preying on the sense of isolation we sometimes feel as individuals with hearing loss? Here’s what you can do to protect yourself and your loved ones.
Feb 15, 2024 – Tom’s jaunt through the ears and years
Tom Watson III shared a short fun virtual trip (see links below) through his 60-ish year life from hearing to hard-of-hearing to deaf². This led to taking part in the creation of the HLAA Downeast Chapter in Maine, and becoming an advocate for HOH folks via our ongoing mission. Optimism and a sense of humor counteract frustrations with assistive listening devices and other technology. Tom experienced all 4 stages of hearing loss: mild, moderate, severe, and profound. Hearing aids mostly worked until November of 2022. Stress and noise damaged the nerve inside his brain, thus cochlear implants are not an option. Each stage affected his career programming medical software, as well as his life choices after retiring. He shared what worked versus what didn’t work with hearing aids, some other organizations he belongs to, and how keeping play in our lives can reduce both stress and the negative emotions. What worked: speed reading (much simpler than lip reading), captions, social media, chat rooms, and asking folks to rephrase rather than repeat what they said. Tom’s links :
- Link to video of presentation will be forthcoming; transcript with corrections; chat.
- American Heritage Dictionary, e.g., definition of jaunt and part of Tom’s history.
- Audiograms explained via an earlier presentation for us by Brad Ingrao.
- Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles has a form titled `Certification of Deafness and Hard of Hearing` which seems to be optional.
- Closed Captioning Quality Club on Facebook.
- Association of Late Deafened Adults aka ALDA.
- Difference between deaf and Deaf via RIT; Tom almost went there – see College HOH info under Resources on our website.
- Medieval fun via SCA.
- Tom’s medieval info on an SCA kingdom’s Wiki.
Links and info from participants:
- Check out Hi-There Solutions for some advanced technology that is going to make a huge difference in communication between deaf and hard of hearing folks.
Footnote 2: There is a significant difference between “deaf” and “Deaf”, particularly when it is not the first word of a sentence. Capital D indicates Deaf culture; lowercase indicates the physical condition.
January 17, 2024 – ‘Ask An Audiologist” The lead audiologist from Northeast Hearing and Speech joined us via Zoom to answer our questions about hearing aids, audiograms, hearing evaluations, and how to buy hearing aids.
Northeast Hearing and Speech has been helping folks like us for 100 years! “Since 1924, Northeast Hearing & Speech has been providing speech-language pathology and audiology services, as well as the latest hearing aid technology for people of all ages.”*
The lead audiologist, Laura Keech, answered our questions regarding auditory exams, what an audiologist does, and other hearing loss related questions.