March 18 – Barbara Kelley is named executive director by the HLAA Board of Trustees
June 2 – HLAA applauds a new report issued by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (the Academies), Hearing Health Care for Adults: Priorities for Improving Access and Affordability. The groundbreaking report documents the critical nature of hearing loss and provides 12 recommendations that underscore hearing loss as a significant public health concern. The recommendations accurately reflect the needs, concerns, and frustrations that consumers face when making hearing health care decisions, including whether to seek treatment at all. HLAA is proud to be the only consumer organization to serve as one of the sponsors of the report.
Convention 2016 – Hearing Loss Association of America hosted the HLAA Convention and the International Federation of Hard of Hearing People (IFHOH) Congress, in Washington. D.C. HLAA National awards were presented to the following individuals in the categories indicated:
- Lucille B. Beck, Ph.D., was awarded the Rocky Stone Humanitarian Award
- Amy Donahue, Ph.D., was honored with the James B. Snow, Jr., M.D. Award
- Sony Corporation received the Innovation Award
- Yahoo Accessibility Team was awarded the National Access Award
- Ernst & Young, LLP, received the Outstanding Employer Award
- Brenda Battat was recipient of the Keystone Award
- Geoff Plant, OAM, was awarded the President’s Award
- Cheri Perazzoli, received the Get in the Hearing Loop Award
- Dan Carione, was presented with the Marcia Dugan Advocacy Award
August 10 – the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted new rules to ensure people with hearing loss have full access to wireless devices. HLAA was intimately involved in the collaborative effort that led to the groundbreaking signed by industry representatives: CTIA, the Competitive Carriers Association (CCA), the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), and consumer organizations: HLAA, TDI and NAD.
June
HLAA joins the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT’s) Advisory Committee on Accessible Transportation (ACCESS Advisory Committee) focusing on accessible in-flight entertainment
December 2014-December 2016
HLAA becomes one of the initial members representing people with hearing loss of the Federal Communications Commission’s Disability Advisory Committee (DAC).