The San Francisco Chapter Voice
HLAA: Supporting Issues and Chapters
Chapters Put Individuals Back on Track Through Support,
Education and Information
By Marilyn Finn

Hearing Loss Association of America’s reach is long because of its double focus. One focus is on advocacy to our government and to our world, and nationally for hard of hearing issues. The other focus, right alongside that, puts individual lives back on track through support, education and information in our chapters. There is overlap of course, chapters are involved with community access, state organizations work for issues at the state level and support the chapters, etc. Nevertheless the HLAA focus is two pronged: issues and chapters, both making a huge difference.

My personal focus as HLA-CA president is to bring HLAA and the issues of hard of hearing people to the agencies and organizations of this state, wherever meetings take place. There are a great many agencies, and much to learn. The meetings that I attend are of disability groups where I may be the only hard of hearing representative there. Often there is someone representing both deaf and hard of hearing people, speaking through an interpreter.

• Do all of the people involved in California agencies understand that we have a disability entirely different than deaf people; that we are not just “less deaf?"  No.
• Do the agencies find our needs as serious as those of the deaf?  Rarely.
• Do the agencies serving deaf and hard of hearing people in the state know how terrifying it is for us to go to an agency with only “deaf” in the agency name, know that we may never get there?  Rarely.
• Do agencies have trained staff to serve our population? Not hard of hearing staff.
• Do they understand that being a part of the hearing world, while not hearing well, is not solved by two hearing aids alone?  The world of assistive devices is becoming better known through education. The adjustment problems of the late deafened poorly understood. We can help there.
• Do agencies feel that if there are both deaf and hard of hearing people present at a public meeting that providing an interpreter is going to suffice?  Some do, unfortunately.
• If they understand the need for captioning, will they provide captioning also?  Usually not without a request, usually a couple of weeks in advance.
• Had the members of these committees and employees of these agencies ever heard of HLAA and did they know how to find us?  Many did not. We are changing that.

I am impressed with the dedication of people representing disability groups, most of them with the disability represented. I find them extremely competent and thirsty for knowledge of our needs. The more we are present, the more the agencies understand that we are underserved and need their help. The more we never let up, the greater our chance for significant change.

• As an example, I see real services to hard of hearing people being offered by Rehabilitation Counselors for the Deaf in the Department of Rehabilitation and am impressed with what is offered, but see large gaps in the training process..  We can help with that.

HOWEVER…Does the average hard of hearing person know to ask ahead for communication access and what to ask for?  Does that person know what to ask for in the workplace, at school, in hospital settings? Woefully, no
Issues and Chapters. We in the chapters are the ones who must reach those multitudes, one by one. My HLAA membership has changed my life. I know that it can change the lives of countless others. This part is up to us. We have to create a better future for people with hearing loss and their families. Let’s increase our own chapter and HLAA memberships to touch some lives right here. 

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Catching up with Eloise Schwarz
Advocate for the Milwaukee / Racine Chapter

As an FYI – I now have the opportunity to sit on a short-term state Task Force committee for Preparedness of our Special Populations of WI.  It’s the directive given to each state from the CDC’s workbook found at this site www.bt.cdc.gov/workbook  
 As a representative of both HLAA and the Governor’s Council for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing; I have equal access to contribute to the state/county/local plans for preparing for our state’s Emergency Preparedness and Response recommendations. 

We held our first meeting this February and it was exciting to rub shoulders with state/political/academia and other notable leaders in the state.  At next month’s meeting – I will have them set up CART (computer-assisted real-time transcription) for me.  Alice Sykora, our state liaison who is deaf, had her sign language interpreters present – which were rather insightful for everyone. That being, many are not exposed to this type of communication access too often.   If nothing else, it comes down to what and how we all communicate.

For the next meeting I will be adding the transcriptionist via the CART system to showcase the communication that I depend on.  I can hardly wait!  As an educator – I love these types of opportunities.  

The other item for update – Sen. Feingold sent me a letter last week and invited me to attend his first listening session for 2008 at our Milwaukee Public Library.  CART is being set up as we speak.  I have 2-3 other chapter members coming along as well.  This time I will be able to further our conversation regarding the Tax credit for hearing aids which he has indicated is sitting in the Ways/Means/Finance committee, which he sits on.  So we are on a roll. 

And lastly, our grassroots push to get the insurance coverage for hearing aids and cochlear implants for birth to 11 years of age is advancing.  Sen. Lasee has our requests to hold a public hearing for the assembly.  Carol Burns and I have been conversing with our legislators weekly to get this moving again since the time line for action is closing up what with the elections and other actions are in the near future.  We have been working with other notable groups in WI that have the front end proof – our children who would benefit from this action/bill.  All of our WI chapters have been active in writing to our legislators, so we know that catches their attention.  When all is said and done, we will have more to provide for everyone.  

Addendum
Addendum to my previous message regarding my attendance with Sen. Feingold at one of his Listening Sessions here in Milwaukee – I had the opportunity to take my turn and ask for his opinion and response to co-sponsoring this piece of legislation – S 1410.

He was very well aware of my request and had read through my proposal/statistical paper and basically stated that he now supported the bill, but that in order to get this passed, the means to pay for it will need to be determined.  Since there were quite a few veterans in the audience with voicing the concerns about our newer vets coming back with many disabilities, I voiced the fact that many would be hearing impaired and may require hearing instruments as well.  It was the perfect scenario to again ask for his support. 

I will follow-up with a letter to Sen. Feingold and validate his signature on the federal bill on Roberts list in a few weeks.  What with all of the economic stimulus and other front page news taking up our attention, I am sure it will be some time before anything is done by the Committee of Finance where the bill is located. I will be continue my campaign as I have both for this federal bill as well as for our state bill AB133 for the Insurance coverage for hearing aids/CIs for birth to 11 yrs here in WI.   

That’s all for now…I took my husband along so that he could experience what takes place in these types of sessions – an eye opener to say the least! 

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ALD Applications: Tell Patients About Their Telecoils

The growing implementation of induction loop systems makes it important for hearing patients to understand how to use their telecoils.

By Stephen O. Frazier

 [Editor’s Note: Steve wrote this article as a continuation of the HLAA New Mexico Loop initiative and another opportunity to put the name of the Hearing Loss Association of America before hearing care providers. Outreach works.]
 
"Our meeting room has an induction loop system. If you have a t-switch, turn on the telecoils in your hearing aids and you'll hear the speaker much more clearly."

That's the announcement at the opening of every Hearing Loss Association of Albuquerque meeting. It's always followed by these questions from first-time visitors: "What's a telecoil? Do my hearing aids have a t-switch?"

We explain telecoils and how they work with the loop system in the room. Then one of us looks over their hearing aids and, more often than not, tells the visitors they have telecoils and a t-switch. Then they ask, "Why wasn't I told about telecoils?"

Only their hearing care providers can answer that question. We believe everyone with hearing aids needs telecoils and should be told how they can help them to hear and understand in situations where hearing aid microphones may not be enough.

First-time users of a loop also tell us they are amazed at how much better they can hear. One, not a first-time visitor, had just replaced his old, non-telecoil-equipped hearing aids with new aids with telecoils. After the meeting he said, "This is the first time in three years attending meetings that I understood everything the speaker said." Another said, after moving here, she went to her church for 5 years for the fellowship because she couldn't hear the sermon. Now that the church is looped, she hears and participates fully in the service.
We've been told by users that they can now watch, hear and understand TV without turning up the volume so high that it drives others from the room. Others say, using a neck loop, they don't have to find a quiet location before they can make a call on their cell phone.

We once wondered if it was just local hearing care providers who were ignoring these important accoutrements to hearing aids, but we’ve discovered it happens all over the United States. Carren Stika, PhD, and Mark Ross, PhD, two nationally known hearing care experts, conducted a study that found only 48 percent of audiologists and 42 percent of hearing aid dispensers make certain their clients understand the T-switch. Even when they did explain how it works with a telephone, just under 34 percent of audiologists and only 28 percent of dispensers discussed assistive hearing devices and technologies beyond the hearing aids.
To address this situation we started our own Loop New Mexico initiative (HLAAbq.com/LoopNM.html). Like David Myers' pioneering Let's Loop America(hearingloop.org/loopamerica.htm), Tuscon's Loop Tucson(alohaaz.org/lets_loop_tucson.html) and other groups, we are attempting to raise the awareness of both the hard of hearing and of hearing care professionals to the benefits of this neglected but very effective technology that adds so little to the cost of hearing aids but so much to the quality of life for those who use it.
In Great Britain, loop systems in public meeting places, churches, transportation hubs and even retail business are as common as the ubiquitous PA system or the omnipresent background music—the first often useless to the hard of hearing and the second just annoying to those with hearing loss. We would like to see the same abundance of induction loop systems in this country.

Through our initiative, a growing number of churches and other facilities in Albuquerque have installed induction loops. Two of the largest, most popular concert venues have purchased and loan out neck loops that convert the signal from their earlier installed infrared system to a magnetic signal that can be picked up by the telecoil in hearing aids, corrected for that particular individual's hearing loss, and sent on as clear, crisp sound.

People suffering from hearing loss are buying their own systems and looping their living rooms for better TV viewing or, in some cases, looping their entire home. They're buying neck loops to plug into cell phones for hands free use—getting the added benefit of sending sound to both ears while getting rid of most background noise. They use those neck loops with hot new tech toys like the IPod. Some have even looped their cars!
Audiologists who promote this technology have found they have patients who are happier because of the added benefits they're getting from their hearing aids. Some, such as Bill Diles, MA, in Sonoma County, CA or Carol Clifford, AuD, FAAA, here in Albuquerque, even bundle a room loop for TV watching with each pair of hearing aids they dispense. They report dramatically fewer hearing aid returns when they train their clients in the use of the telecoil and explain induction loops to them. They also loop an always running but otherwise silent TV in their waiting area and loop exam rooms.

Dr. Clifford often tells of a family that was so excited they could have movie night again when their TV room was looped after their daughter got new hearing aids. The daughter thought it was the coolest thing ever and plans on getting one for her dorm room when she goes off to college.

As a former retailer, I see this situation as an opportunity for hearing care providers to not only better serve their clients, but to improve their bottom line. Albuquerque has a local retailer named All Things Said, who stocks and sells loop systems and peripherals using this technology but, for most Americans, this equipment is available only on the Web or via catalog.

Dispensing offices can purchase induction loop related items for resale to clients from manufacturers and distributors such as Wireless Hearing Solutions, Pure Direct Sound and Oval Window Audio, all of whom can be accessed on the Internet. These sources can also provide guidance on how to find a local installer for room and whole house loops for those clients who do not feel technically able to do the installation themselves.

For those hearing care professionals who simply don't want to get that deeply involved in loop technology, we urge them to, at the very least, thoroughly discuss the benefits of telecoils and induction loops with their clients and give them a resource guide to such catalog/Internet retailers as Harris Communications or Weitbrecht Communications where they can purchase these invaluable adjuncts to their state-of-the-art digital hearing aids.
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Stephen O. Frazier is New Mexico State Coordinator of the Hearing Loss Association of America, www.hearingloss.org. Contact him at hlaabq@juno.com.