Thursday, May 22nd, 2025- Healthy Aging Expo in Bangor & HLAA DownEast
Thank you to Pat Dobbs and Gwen LaPointe for holding down the HLAA DownEast table. There was amazing pedestrian traffic and the girls made lots of personal connections!
Watch this website and e-mails! There will be new and hopefully active in-person gatherings of HLAA DownEast friends.
Picture is of Pat Dobbs making connections at Healthy Aging Expo in Bangor.
Another Get-Together in Augusta on May 17, 2025 Was Loads of Fun!
Our HLAA DownEast Chapter had a second Augusta ‘in person’ gathering at Riverfront Barbecue & Grille and it was a wonderful luncheon!
Ten of us made the long haul from our distant Maine towns and we were all glad we did.
Riverfront was marvelous to turn off the loud background music, the service was fantastic, the food was delicious, and we were able to re-arrange the furniture to help meet our needs as good folks with hearing loss.
Thursday, April 18, 2025 Hearing Loss 101
Nothing fancy here – just a little bit of everything. Just the facts.
And we all learned and shared a lot.
If you missed it, you may watch the recording:
Click HERE to view and listen to the recording. The password to view the recording is e=#rc89e
Click HERE to view the corresponding PowerPoint presentatation.
March 28 – 30, 2025 – The New England Regional HLAA Conference
Over 100 people across New England came together to learn, share, network and have fun at the New England Regional HLAA Conference.
HLAA DownEast had a super good turnout with about a dozen of us. That is excellent considering that we had to drive to Marlborough, MA and hotel it for at least one night, but really two nights.
It is a good thing that the weather was bad because we all stayed inside to hear all the wonderful speakers, and share stories amongst ourselves.
Our Andy Chandler and our Pat Dobbs were presenters! They both did excellently of course. Andy spoke of cyber security, Pat spoke of hearing loss and relationships. Some other topics were ‘How to Buy a Hearing Aid,’ ‘Hearing Aids and AI,’ ‘home safety,’ ‘aural rehabilitation.’ It was a pleasure to have HLAA Executive Director Barbara Kelly and HLAA Chapter Engagement Manager Melissa Kruse speak about what is happening nationally.
There were captions and interpreters but presentations were not recorded. If Powerpoint presentations become available for posting, or if other links about the event emerge, I will post them here.
Our photo gallery is available now. Please click here to view the gallery.
The conference website is www.hearinglossnewengland.org/
February 20, 2025 – Phone Apps for Hard of Hearing Folks
Margaret Myatt presented the many smartphone apps that make it so much easier to hear and understand calls. The meeting was well attended and much discussion ensued.
If you missed it, you may watch the recording by
clicking here
This link brings you to the corresponding PowerPoint presentatation.
February 15, 2025 – Bridgton Winter Carnival Vendors and Crafts
Hooray! We teamed up with Lisa of Disability Rights, ME (www.drme.org) at the Bridgton Winter Carnival . Together we met new friends and stayed warm inside. Together we worked to get the message out: You are not alone with hearing loss! It was a fun, worthwhile day.
Jan 16, 2025 – InnoCaption free smartphone captioning app explained by Matt Goncalves, Senior Marketing Director.
InnoCaption is a free mobile app for the deaf and hard of hearing, offering real-time captions for phone calls using live stenographers (similar to CART). There is an option for automatic speech recognition, and users can switch captioning mode during calls. Both sides of the conversation are captioned – this is unique to InnoCaption. This app allows clear communication for personal, business, and essential conversations. They provide this without cost to these users in the USA thanks to FCC funding.
We had a good turnout for this event. For those who missed it, the 1 hour 24 minute presentation is available for viewing:
Zoom recording is available here. Please use this passcode xk06s5*q
Below is a quick summary of the presentation.
An expanded text summary is available at this link.
Innocaption comes to the national HLAA convention regularly. Privacy of callers is protected by law. A recent survey indicated that users’ listening fatigue was cut in half after only 3 months of calls. InnoCaption can only be used for incoming and outgoing calls where the user is deaf or hard of hearing; NOT for in-person conversations.
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.
Passcode: 3Z=&Zmxd
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
We are moving around the state and trying to find you.
We want hearing loss Mainers to get together no matter where we are! And we can Zoom together too. Yup. We are reaching out to each other. Let’s keep reaching!