Kecia Weller has been a member of Hearing Loss Association of America for more than 4 years and has been a Moderator on the HLAA messages boards for around three years. Ms Weller has bi-lateral Meniere's Disease and has a moderate hearing loss in her ears. Ms Weller accepted a position as a teacher's assistant in one of UCLA's Extension Programs, the Pathway Program which is a new two-year certificate program designed for students with developmental disabilities, where she currently assists in an American Government Course. Kecia has been a disability rights advocate for more than 15 years.
My name is Mandy, I'm 30 years old and from North Carolina. I was born with a moderate/severe bilateral hearing loss. I currently wear a Danavox full shell hearing aid in the left ear, and I have the Envoy Esteem middle ear implant in the right ear. I have three daughters - one hearing, one with a mild hearing loss, and one with a moderate/severe hearing loss. I volunteered as a moderator on the message board in 2005, and after a couple of years off, I'm glad to be back among friends. With limited exposure to hearing impaired people in my everyday life, the message board is a great way to meet others who also share an interest in hearing loss issues!
Judy Martin - I am a lifelong New Yorker who retired and moved to Jacksonville, FL in October 2004 with my husband Tom. I have had a progressive hearing loss since about the age of 11 and for most of my life wore hearing aids. In January 2006, I became a proud user of the miraculous cochlear implant. Living with hearing loss almost my entire life led me to believe I knew all there was to know about being hard of hearing.
How wrong I was! The Hearing Loss Association of America entered my conscious in April 2005. I became a member and since then, my life has not been the same. To me, those words education, advocacy and support are the very personification of HLAA. There was a time, not too long ago, when I didn't know about assistive listening devices, the ADA, digital hearing aids, cochlear implants, middle ear implants, open captioned movies, t-coils, looping technology, hearing assistance dogs, bluetooth technology, hearing loss message board and chat rooms, etc., and now they are part of my every day vocabulary.
As I said, my life has changed in ways I couldn't have dreamed. For that reason I wanted, in some small way, to help others have those same life-changing experiences. I started by founding a chapter of HLAA in Jacksonville, then joined HLA-Florida as a board member. Next I created the state newsletter, Hear Ye, Hear Ye, and recently accepted an appointment to the Florida Coordinating Council for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. I have been a moderator for HLAA since July 2005 and receive much satisfaction connecting with others who understand exactly what it's like to live as a person with hearing loss.
Sr. Elizabeth "Liza" Segleau, SDS - I am a Catholic Sister. I joined the Sisters of the Divine Savior in 1995. I went to college at Mount Mary College and got my bachelors degree in social work in 2002. In 2003 I began having hearing problems. It was quick and sudden. Within three years I had profound hearing loss. In my panic and not knowing what to do back in 2003, my audiologist gave me the HLAA website.
I read and read and read everything I could about hearing loss. I soon joined the boards and chat in 2003. By 2004 we had a steady group going and they gave me all kinds of tips and support. My anxiety was changed into self advocacy and doing what I needed to do to work and interact with others on a daily basis despite my hearing loss. In 2005-2006 my hearing had progressed from moderate to severe/profound loss. I was invited by my order to return to school and get my masters in social work. I ran into the concern that I would not be able to hear well enough in class and not be able to handle school.
Members at HLAA boards and chat jumped in again, giving me direction, information and encouragement. They strongly suggested I contact the office for students with disabilities. Me, disabled? No way! After some time of reflecting about this new view of myself, I contacted the office for students with disabilities at Loyola University in Chicago, I graduated with a masters in social work in August of 2006. In 2007 I became eligible for a cochlear implant. All went well with surgery. In July of 2008 I had my second implant done. Today I am hearing quite well and look forward to many more years of stable hearing! http://www.sistersofthedivinesavior.org/
