Hearing Loss Association of America is thrilled to learn Cinemark in Arizona will provide neckloops and receivers to patrons. Resulting from a lawsuit brought by the Arizona Attorney General’s Civil Rights Division, this settlement agreement is, to the best of our knowledge, the first time neckloops are being provided in commercial movie theaters. However, with the 2010 ADA Standards now in place, we expect to see more theaters adopting neckoops and looping technology. We commend Cinemark for providing this access to patrons, for committing to maintaining the equipment in working order, training staff and making efforts to ensure the community knows about the availability of the neckloops in their theaters.

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NAERUM, DK  July 10, 2012 – The Ida Institute today announced the newest members of the judging panel for the Institute’s Ideas, Speak up - Action and Awareness for Hearing Loss competition. The global online competition is an open call for ideas that have the potential to generate better understanding of hearing loss, change public perception and encourage people to take action. The judging panel will help to select the three winning ideas that will be announced at the 2013 AudiologyNOW! conference.

June 18, 2012, Hearing Loss Association of America sent letters to the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator John Kerry, and the Ranking Member of that committee, Senator Richard Lugar, urging the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the entire U.S. Senate to act quickly to ratify the U. N. Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. HLAA was honored to be present at the ceremony when US at the UN in July, 2009 when the US signed onto CRPD. We were thrilled to learn of the submission of CRPD by the Obama Administration to the U.S. Senate for ratification. Moreover we applaud the unified statement of bipartisan support for United States ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that has been issued by seven senators. In their statement, Senators McCain (R-AZ), Durbin (D-IL), Moran (R-KS), Harkin (D-IA), Barrasso (R-WY), Coons (D-DE), and Udall (D-NM) affirm that the treaty upholds the American values of non-discrimination and equal access for persons with disabilities in all areas of life.

HLAA learned at an accessibility issues conference call hosted by Verizon that they will soon be offering Verizon customers access to 911 via text messaging. For people with significant hearing loss, gaining access to 911 via text messaging is a huge leap forward. To date, people with hearing loss were relegated to using TTYs or using a voice call to 911 without knowing whether they would be able to hear what the dispatcher said.

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