PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE HEARING LOSS ASSN OF AMERICA ORLANDO CONVENTION

TTHEHE H HEARINGEARING L LOSSOSS C CALIFORNIANALIFORNIAN Fall 2006

By Marilyn Finn Convention goers, like me, lived in a huge fantasyland at beautiful Disney Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, Fl, home of amusement parks and entertainment. Lou Ferrigno, the Incredible Hulk of years past -- hard of hearing, very, very fit, and amazing -- opened the convention with inspira-tion for all. State leaders met a day early for an all-day workshop with a report from Executive Director, Dr. Terry Portis, on the state of the organization, information on the American Academy of Hearing Loss Support Specialists by Chris Sutton, and a leg-islative report by Brenda Battat. While enjoying a fantastic lunch, we had an overview of the six pilot Walkathons by Anne Pope, incoming President of the Board of Trustees and Chairperson of the Walkathons. Our afternoon speakers taught us about Performance Improve-ment and Wireless and Cordless Phones. Friday and Saturday workshops, four at a time, went from morning to late afternoon. I was interested in state leadership and had several good choices. People with hearing aids and people needing coping skills were served. Cochlear implant wearers had many things to attend. Our executive director Terry Portis (hearing) and his wife, Denise (cochlear implan-tee), did a workshop on Superman and Wonder Woman Don’t Live Here: How Ordinary People Face the Challenge of Hearing Loss. It was honest, full of aha’s, and funny. The exhibit hall brought out all the wonders of new tech-nology and gave us people to talk to with our questions about hearing aids, wireless technology, cochlear implants, offsite captioning, and so much more. Rocky Stone’s family manned the Rocky Stone Endowment Booth. My favorite event is always the Awards Ceremony. HLAA volunteers are amazing achievers. Californians ex-celled with: Best Newsletter, Esther Snively, Silicon Valley Chapter; Best Website, John Hennessy, Long Beach/

Lakewood Chapter; and Outgoing State Associa-tion President, Sandi Streeter. Five certificates for donations over $500 to Founder’s Day went to: Diablo Valley Chapter, San Francisco Chapter, Sacramento Chapter, Shasta County Chapter and the Hearing Loss As-sociation of California. Raegene Castle, our California Walkathon Chairperson, was every-where that walkathons were talked about. And they were talked about. The four states hosting them this year, with a total of six walks, brought in 11 percent of the budget for HLAA.

Next year the plan is for thirteen walks. Look for ours in Southern California in 2007. Californians met and mingled. Margaret Azcona (Margaret and Mike were at the convention with six or seven of their kids and grandkids), Carol Waechter, Sister Ann Rooney, Raegene Castle, Grace Tiessen, Doug Hachtel, Steve Noroian and four Californians that were not yet active chapter members: Richard and Claudia Herczog and Bill McBride, the photographer from Carpinteria and another Southern CA guest. We enjoyed the Banquet, the entertainment. We greeted Sunday with Ahme Stone’s Devotional Service followed by the Research Symposium. People fit in family outings to the parks around their convention schedules. Other folks partici-pated in focus groups where various products were evaluated by convention goers. Exciting changes are happening for hard of hearing peo-ple through the work of our organization. We changed our or-ganization name in 2006. We hosted a walkathon in 2006. State leaders are looking at changes in the way they interact. We have 150 people enrolled in the American Academy of Hearing Loss Support Specialists. In 2007, the convention will be in Oklahoma City and will be wonderful. If you can make it, you will be as thrilled and enthralled as I was this year.

Some California attendees: Bill McBride, Marilyn Finn, Grace Tiessen, Margaret Azcona, Carol Agate, Sister Ann Rooney and Carol Waechter.

The Hearing Loss Californian Page 2, Fall 2006

New Column, ASK VALERIE Before I begin answering some of your wonderful questions, I would like to thank you for your interest in the column. Each quarter, I will try my best to answer some of your questions. Remember, I am not an audiologist; I am not a doctor nor a licensed therapist; I am a social worker with an MSW degree, with years of personal and general experi-ence related to hearing loss and hours of research on the topic. This quarter I received very interesting questions on safety, hearing aids, cochlear implants (CI) and audiologists. I wish I could answer them all, but I had to make a choice. I chose to answer the two questions below as they are related. Valerie, does your implant work for you and did you have any complications? George K. I am HOH and am trying to decide at what point to get a CI. Seems like a gutsy move to make. I feel like that in-between stage in no mans land. Does the CI really help that much? How is it in social situations? George L. My answers to these questions are very personal. Be aware that you can ask this question of 100 people and they will all give different answers. The similarities will be sig-nificant, but there is always the exception, and you have to be mindful of this when you read my account. I lost my hearing over a period of seven years. Then it took me three years to make my next move, which was to get a cochlear implant. And you know what? It is OK! We are all different. Some people wish they could have a CI before they even qualify for it, and others wait an unnecessarily long period of time. Both cases are fine as long as you are comfortable with your decision. It is a very personal choice. Meanwhile, I learned sign language (as a backup if the implant failed) but it did not help me at all with my family or with my friends, as I always navigated in a hearing world. I was exhausted and needed something different. People usu-ally hesitate because it is true that the damage a CI causes to your cochlea is irreversible and when the electrode is in-serted, you may lose all the remaining hearing you have. In my case, it was really not an issue and I felt confident that even if it failed or was not successful, I would be fine. So I went ahead and had the surgery. Post-surgery was somewhat painful for me. A friend of mine was back to nor-

mal life the day after, while another one was truly in pain for up to three weeks. Surgery outcomes vary greatly. The pain when I woke up was intense and I had a reaction to the anesthe-sia. But a week later I was back to normal. Before the surgery they require you to get a CAT scan to check that your cochlea is intact. They could not see that my cochlea was hardening. The day of the surgery arrived and they were only able to insert 13 of the 16 electrodes. During the month wait between the surgery and the activation of the device, I was worried that it would fail miserably. Hearing loss late in life may bring so many difficulties to one’s life, and I totally agree that the social scene is one of the most difficult ones. This feeling of always being out of the loop, of being a burden to others or even simply appearing silly, can truly be unbearable--and the isolation!!! It is so much easier to just stay home with a good book; but soon you end up alone. It is so sad. I went through this; and at times, when I am in a very unfriendly environment (very noisy with people who do not care whether or not I can follow), I still feel this way. Thanks to my CI, I have recovered a good part of my hearing which allows me to perform much better in our fast-paced world. Sure, I am still HoH and cannot enjoy a movie without captioning and public lectures can still be a challenge (some CI users can actually do all this), but all the rest is so much easier. Within 3 months after activation (when the external part of my CI was turned on), I was able to talk on the phone with my family in my mother tongue (French). English remains difficult for me on the phone, and I don’t usually use a regular phone. Environmental sounds are loud and clear, and hearing in quiet situations is fine. For example, I can talk to my husband from another room and small group discussions are fine. For me it is not perfect but it is a lot better than it ever was wearing two hearing aids toward the end of my hearing life. If you have more questions on this topic or other topics, do not hesitate to email me, vstern@gladinc.org, or write to me, Valerie Stern, GLAD, 2222 Laverna Avenue, Los Ange-les, CA 90041).

2007 BOARD OF TRUSTEES ELECTION

Deadline September 15, 2006 The Hearing Loss Association of California Nominations Committee announces applications will be accepted to fill three Board of Trustees’ positions. An applicant must be a member of Hearing Loss Association of America and a resident of Cali-fornia. The term of office is three years with two Board meet-ings a year in February and August. A limited reimbursement is allowed for travel expenses. Information for applying may be obtained online at http://www.hearinglossca.org, click on Board of Trustees. Or from Mary Clark, Secretary, 6160 Salem Road, Yorba Linda, CA 92887, phone 714-529-0218, mclark@hearinglossca.org. Completed applications must be postmarked no later than Sep-tember 15, 2006.

Page 3, Fall 2006 The Hearing Loss Californian

Building the future of HLAA BY GIVING scholarships today

Five chapters gave scholarships this year. Diablo Valley, Escondido, San Francisco, Shasta County and Silicon Valley Chapters. Nine of these scholarship winners, the high school and college students, also received memberships in HLAA. HLAA needs to grow new members and young mem-bers. What better way to introduce students to HLAA than by giving scholarships plus a one-year membership in HLAA. Membership gives them 6 copies of the Hearing Loss Journal and 4 copies of the State newsletter, The Hearing Loss Cali-fornian. Awarding scholarships supports HLAA’s mission of encouraging and assisting people with hearing loss to live com-fortably within the mainstream hearing world. Attendees of the HLAA conventions and the HLA-CA conferences always include a membership in HLAA with their registration fees, if they do not already belong. Following are the scholarships given this year: Diablo Valley Chapter: $1000, a gift by the Noroian family, to Brian Bae, a senior at Concord High School, going to UC Berkeley to study Chemical Engineering. Escondido Chapter: a $1,000 scholarship to Sub-Tae "Tony" Kim, a senior at Rancho Bernardo high school, going to Maryland Institute College of Art. San Francisco Chapter: a $350 scholarship to Camp Sign Shine, a summer camp for deaf and hard of hearing chil-dren and their hearing siblings.

Shasta County Chapter: a $4,400 bequest from Robert & Elizabeth Hyatt. Robert was hard of hearing. First Grade awards - Kevin Officer-Combs, Jordan Cham-berlain Second Grade - Leslie Lamanuzzi, Jessica Rasmussen, Erica Worrall, Dominic Cruz Third Grade- Taryn Allen, Xenia Tierney Fifth Grade - Casey Rasmussen Sixth Grade - Erin Oldham, Thomas Sisson Eighth Grade - Bethany Miles Tenth Grade - Katie Arrerich, Stephanie Calvert ALL of the above were presented with a certificate and $100 check Grace Bias, Kevin Carter. These two graduating seniors re-ceived a certificate and $500 sent to their postsecondary school (Shasta College). Bonnie Wilson-Schmitt (Shasta College), Amanda Goyne (Univ. of Nevada, Reno). These college recipients received a certificate and $1,000 sent to their colleges for their continuing education. Silicon Valley Chapter, $500 to Jason Huang, a gradu-ate of Gunn High School, who plans to attend UCLA. $500 to Christine Ganancial, a graduate of Leigh High School, who plans to go to De Anza Community College and then to San Jose State University. Her goal is to become a nurse and teacher. $500 to Arianna Olson, a Graduate of Leigh High School, who plans to go to San Jose State University. Her goal is to get a master’s degree and become a librarian. Congratulations to all!!

The Hearing Loss Californian Page 4, Fall 2006

COPING WITH CAROL - Geese

As we begin a new year of HLAA meetings, many people are just taking the reins of leadership for the organization. During our Leadership Trainings last year, we found out that we can learn a lot about leadership from geese. Following the guidelines that geese exemplify, we can improve our chap-ters and meet the needs of more people with hearing loss. Here are some things to consider: • It pays to share leadership responsibilities. As each

bird flaps its wings in formation, it gives uplift to the one following it and therefore, all the geese get 71% greater distance. Likewise, if we share responsibilities in our chapters, we will get more out of our leaders, too

• Stay in formation with those going in your direction. When a goose falls out of formation, it feels the drag of resistance and doesn’t do as well. It is important that we all work well with those around us.

• Don’t stay at the head of the line too long. Geese change positions to give leaders a rest while others take over. We all need to take our turn at doing the hard jobs.

• Trust yourself to lead and entrust others with smaller tasks. Be confident!

• Be guided by the needs of others. We may have to ener-gize those on the front lines and also those spreading their wings for the first time just as geese do.

• Regrouping is sometimes necessary to stay focused. When one falls out of the line, someone else must step in.

• Take advantage of all your resources. Geese all take a turn at leading and we should be utilizing everyone, also.

• Never abandon the fallen. When a goose is sick or in-jured, 2 others will stay with it until it can rejoin the group. We must give support to others in our group.

• Honking from behind is a good thing as long as it is en-couraging. Otherwise it is just honking. When geese honk, it is to encourage the leaders. We need to do the same.

• Keep a rigid body but a flexible neck so you can see all sides of situations and can keep a look out for problems.

• Take joy in the flight! New experiences can be joyful • Keep your eyes on the goal! And go towards it.

Adapted from the book HIGH FLYING GEESE by Browne Barr.

Page 5, Fall 2006 The Hearing Loss Californian

The Deaf and Disabled Telecommunications Program (DDTP) seeks a Hard of Hearing person for the Equipment Pro-gram Advisory Committee (EPAC). Committee members provide critical input regarding the California Telephone Access Program (CTAP) and related mat-ters to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). EPAC advises on new equipment technology, new prod-ucts, equipment distribution, service quality and policies. EPAC recommendations are presented to the TADDAC (Telecommunications Access for the Deaf and Disabled Adminis-trative Committee) for approval. If approved, TADDAC forwards the name(s) to the CPUC for a conflicts review. CTAP equipment is distributed to eligible Californians who are deaf, hard of hearing, speech disabled, blind, or who have low vision, cognitive impairments, or restricted mobility EPAC normally meets from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month at the DDTP Headquarters, 505 14th Street, Oakland, California 94612 Committee Members are paid a $300 stipend per diem, plus travel expenses. Meetings are captioned and open to the public. The deadline for applications to be received is September 1, 2006. Interviews may take place at the DDTP office in Oak-land during the week of September 11, 2006. To request an application, contact Larena Burno Committee Coordinator, DDTP (510) 302-1100 ext.110 larena@ddtp.org http://www.ddtp.org

Mark your calendars. Pirates Jim Montgomery and Don Senger invite you to our HLA-CA conference at the Oakland Airport Hilton Hotel, February 16-17, 2007. Bring your friends and family to join us at the Treasure Chest of Sounds. Learn! Socialize! Enjoy! Five Scholarships (a free registration and a free banquet ticket) to the HLA-CA State Conference are being offered to the chapters. All you need to do is email Jim Montgomery at jmontgomery@hearinglossca.org and ask to have your chapter name placed in the hat for this scholarship drawing. Deadline for entry is October 29, 2006. It is suggested that winning chapters pick a person to attend who could not have attended otherwise. You will be able to see complete conference details in the Winter 2006 issue of The Hearing Loss Californian and soon on our website http://www.hearinglossca.org. For more information, please contact Conference Co-chairs Don Senger, dsenger@hearinglossca.org or Jim Montgomery, jmontgomery@hearinglossca.org.

TREASURE CHEST OF SOUNDS HEARING LOSS ASSN OF CA

CONFERENCE February 16-17, 2006

OPENING FOR HOH PERSON ON EPAC Deadline September 1, 2006

2006 - 16TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADA

July 26 marks the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990.This landmark legislation granting civil rights for people with disabilities was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush. SHHH Founder Rocky Stone was appointed by the president to serve on the U.S. Access Board. Rocky, along with input from SHHH members, drafted the guidelines for communication access for people with hearing loss.

LIVE THEATRE D/HOH ACCESSIBILITY

The Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles will give an open captioned performance of “Curtains” on August 19, 2006. So far, only 3 performances have been open captioned--Big River in 2004, The Drowsy Chaperone in 2005, and Curtains in 2006. There are 50 times more people with hearing loss (who don’t know sign language) than deaf people. When will we non-signers have access to open captioned live theatre? On the other hand, CTG’s Project D.A.T.E. (Deaf Audience Theatre Experience) has offered ASL (American Sign Language) interpreted performances to patrons who are deaf and understand sign language for over 30 years. At least one performance of each show at all of CTG’s three venues is sign language inter-preted. That means that fourteen performances of live theatre will be signed between September 2006 and August 2007. Will even one performance be open captioned in 2007? The ADA is 16 years old, but those who do not know sign have almost no communications access to live theatre.

Page 6, Fall 2006 The Hearing Loss Californian

VICTORY – CAPTIONING OF DVD EXTRAS The Los Angeles County Superior Court has prelimi-narily approved settlement of Boltz v. Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc. et al, a class action lawsuit which alleges that certain motion picture producers and distributors misled consumers by inaccurately describing the nature of the cap-tioning provided on their DVDs. Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc., The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., Warner Home Video Inc., Universal Studios Home Entertainment LLC, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment LLC, Sony Pictures Entertain-ment Inc., Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Inc., and Tri-Star Pictures, Inc. (the "Settling Companies") misled con-sumers by displaying a captioning symbol on certain DVD packaging when the main feature presentation was captioned, but some or all of the DVD "bonus material" was not. The Settling Companies have denied liability, but have agreed to settle this action to avoid litigation by, in the future, provid-ing captioning of bonus material on major categories of DVDs they distribute over the next five years. They agree to pay $275,000 to certain non-profit or-ganizations dedicated to advocacy for deaf and hard-of-hearing persons and to pay attorneys' fees and costs up to $1,300,000 in exchange for the release of claims. The pro-posed settlement affects U.S. residents with or without any hearing loss, who, before April 27, 2006, purchased or rented

a VHS, Laser Disk, DVD, or other home video product pro-duced and/or distributed by any of the Settling Companies with the expectation that it contained captioning. HLAA may receive $105,000 in all as follows: Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Warner Home Video, Universal and MGM will each make a one time payment of $5,000 ($20,000 in all) to HLAA, for use by that organization in a manner which is reasonably designed to help low income users of Home Video Products. Sony will make a one time payment of $85,000 to each of Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA), National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and Telecommunications for the Deaf, Inc., (TDI) (for a total of $255,000) to be used to promote captioning of visual arts. A hearing to determine whether the Court should grant final approval of the settlement and the amount of any award of attorneys' fees and costs (including any incentive award to named plaintiff) will be held before Judge Anthony J. Mohr, in Department 309, Central Civil West Courthouse, 600 S. Commonwealth Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90005, at 10:00 a.m. on August 28, 2006. See http://www.dvdcclabelingclasssettlement.com

PEACE There is no way to Peace. Peace is the Way

Page 7, Fall 2006 The Hearing Loss Californian

Walk 4 Hearing - 2006 WRAPUP 2007 Kickoff!

Here are the final figures on the 2006 Walk4Hearing. It’s amazing and unbelievable. $304,655 was raised nation-ally, a sorely needed financial boost for HLAA. Downstate New York $ 122,559 Ft. Worth, TX 17,000 Houston, TX 15,881 Northern CA 66,215 Pennsylvania 48,762 Rochester, NY 34,248 $ 304,665 Total Gross Since this event was sponsored by the National organi-zation, all funds were collected and distributed by HLAA in Bethesda, MD. Northern California raised $66,000 + plus $6,500 in donations of food and services. HLAA returned $31,700 as their share to the Northern California Walk4Hearing which was distributed by the committee as follows: Twenty-two chapters participated. They will get $23,175, which includes an outright gift to each chapter in the amount of $100 plus their 25% share of the funds they raised for the walkathon. Six chapters did not participate in any way and will still get $100 each. With the remaining profits, the 2007 Walk4Hearing committee will receive $2000 in startup funds. The State Association HLA-CA will get the balance of $5,700. With the success of the pilot walkathons, HLAA at Na-tional is anxious to expand the Walk4Hearing program from 7 walks in 2006 to 13 walks in 2007. The first Southern California Walk4Hearing 2007 meet-ing was held August 5 at the House Ear Institute. We’re on our way. Pat Widman, Los Angeles Chapter, and Mary Clark, Orange County Chapter, agreed to co-chair the orga-nizing committee. Mike Kaplan, Los Angeles Chapter, will be Treasurer and Nanci Linke-Ellis, Santa Monica Chapter will chair the Site committee. And the meeting was truly communications accessible. We had captioning, a loop, and FM all operating at the same time.

Southern Californians, begin thinking about next year’s walk, likely to be held in May 2007. The Committee has submitted an application to National requesting to host Walk4Hearing in 2007 in southern California. Every chap-ter has the opportunity to participate. Seniors, this includes you! If you aren't walking you can help on the day of the walk, and in looking for donations from your friends and family. Who will walk with you? Make lists of possible donors, those who do-nated in 2006 and those who might donate in 2007. Some great tips and opportunities for participation will be forwarded to each of you as the details are finalized. What celebrities with hearing loss might join us? With the entertainment industry located here in southern California, we are looking through our pool of contacts for the right celebrity to join us in the walk, and serve as a spokesperson. Let us know if you have a contact or an idea. Can we raise $900,000 nationwide in 2007. I think so. Can California raise $150,000? Yes, we can.

NEED MONEY FOR CAPTIONING? HLA of Los Angeles held its annual giant garage sale in May and cleared $1200. They also sold drinks and munchies. They had fun! They raised lots of cash! Congratulations!

Page 8, Fall 2006 The Hearing Loss Californian

What changes do we need in the ADA? Following is what Brenda Battat submitted to the Access Board in July 2006 about needed changes in the ADA for better communications access. Communication access is the “ramp” for people with hearing loss. We can usually get into the building but cannot fully participate in programs and services unless communica-tion access is taken into consideration. Here are some of the unmet needs that people with hearing loss have within the built environment. 1. Need for Continuing Education on Existing Guidelines. In many different settings the existing rules are not being im-plemented and in some cases facilities and covered entities are still not aware of their obligations. This is seen too frequently for example in hospitals, courtrooms, new construction and hotels that are sorely lacking compliance with communications access regulations 2. Information Presented Over Public Address Systems. Public address systems are not accessible to people with hear-ing loss. They are often in noisy, reverberant places, the equip-ment is of poor quality and the live voice or recorded message is not articulated clearly or at a frequency that people with hearing loss can understand. There is a need to provide visual information of the stops in each car/bus/train and any other information given out over the public address systems. Consumers tell us how hard it is to take public transportation and trying to decipher where they are, especially at night. A significant number of people with hearing loss cannot understand public address systems however they are devised and need the information presented visually. This is rarely be-ing provided today even though the technology to do it, both preprogrammed information and information in real time, is developed and available. 3. Emergency Information Given over Public Address Sys-tems. In addition to regular information there is a need to de-velop alternatives to audible emergency instructions delivered over public address systems. Text alternatives should be de-signed to be delivered wherever the individual happens to be. We cannot assume that an individual will be sitting in front of a TV or computer screen when the emergency happens. Mes-sages should be directed to PDAs, cell phones and other mobile devices. For example, there is now a Tsunami alert system that consumers can sign up for that also has a special technol-ogy called Flash SMS that will turn on the phone with a special tone and flash the screen of any GSM device. Further there are now REVERSE 911 systems that con-sumers may sign up for in some communities. The reverse 911 system will make a phone call to the individual’s home in an emergency such as tornado or bad storm through the county emergency management system. In the built environment screens should be placed at rele-

vant points to flash emergency warning information simultane-ously with the audio public address system in realtime. Under and above ground transportation systems must have visual live emergency alerts for riders. The destination signs currently in use in some transportation systems could be used to provide live emergency alerts. For example, a train catches on fire and the central command can alert passengers in other parts of the train in real-time on the destination sign screens as to what the emergency is and what they need to do. Requirements should be developed and incorporated into the rules and standards. 4. Acoustics. Acoustical standards are needed for all new construction used by the public, not just in learning environ-ments. At the very least there is a need to incorporate minimum standards to ensure appropriate acoustics for learning environ-ments, particularly in educational facilities to support children with hearing loss, learning disabilities and developmental de-lays in speech and language acquisition. The Acoustical Soci-ety of America has issued the voluntary ANSI S12.60-2002 standard “Acoustical Performance Criteria, Design Require-ments, and Guidelines for Schools.” This standard would make a world of difference in the learning environment and should be made a requirement and not a guideline. Architects, builders, and operators who do not under-stand the real benefit to children with hearing loss of improved acoustical design argue that it is too costly 5. Setting Sound Input for Assistive Listening Systems in Different Venues. Many individuals report having trouble hearing with assistive listening devices in such facilities as performing arts centers. The facility is in compliance with the ADA having invested in a listening system and the patron is excited at the prospect of hearing the performance but it does-n’t work for them. The initial reaction is that the equipment is defective. In fact it is usually the result of poor installation and or a lack of understanding of effective microphone set-up for sound input. The installations are usually not tested for sound quality and inappropriate microphone installations can make speech virtually unintelligible to hard of hearing people and render the assistive listening system unusable. A simple thing such as turning on a ceiling microphone in addition to the mi-crophones being used by the performers could seriously erode the speech signal for people using the assistive listening sys-tem. We are recommending that the Access Board fund re-search on how to set sound input in different situations for assistive listening systems. It would be useful to test the effec-tiveness of a variety of assistive listening systems set up at various places like performing arts centers, theaters, and movie theaters, with particular attention to how the sound is captured. The research could address miking performers at theaters, staff meetings, government meetings, teachers, and connecting to existing sound systems. There is a real need to understand this better and for guidance to sound engineers to provide effective communications access. If we had actual data showing that many systems are im-properly installed, or that some systems are ineffective due to

HERE’S WHAT HLAA DOES FOR YOU Brenda Battat speaks for us about

needed changes in the ADA

The Hearing Loss Californian Page 9, Fall 2006 Combustion and Science Engineering has shown that the ma-jority of hard of hearing people do not wake up with a strobe light. Vibrating bed shakers would be more effective than strobe alerts. Given these problems we call upon the Access Board to fund a multi-disciplinary committee of professionals and con-sumers who would be charged with the goal of reviewing re-search in this area and of developing clear standards for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms to make them safer and more foolproof for people with hearing loss. Although consul-tation with experts from the smoke alarm industry is certainly needed, we must emphasize the need for the Access Board to take a strong leadership role on this issue. We request that you push for developing clear minimum accessibility standards. Though informed of the need ten years ago the smoke alarm industry has failed to incorporate low frequency tones in smoke and carbon monoxide alarms voluntarily and this has caused unnecessary deaths and must be corrected as soon as possible. 8. Volume Control for Telephones. Volume control levels on all phones - landline, mobile, and pay phones are not strong enough. The ADAAG rule on volume control, ADAAG 4.31.5, requires that volume controls shall be capable of a minimum of 12 dBA and a maximum of 18 dBA above normal. Only if an automatic reset is provided may 18 dBA be exceeded. This rule is critical in that it has become the model for other tele-communications regulations set by the FCC such as Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act. Industry argument in the past has been that if volume boost reaches a certain level, more than 25 dBA, then distor-tion and degrading of the signal will result for all users. HLAA presented evidence to dispute this argument in the past and it is on record as part of the past process to revise ADAAG. People with hearing loss need more volume boost on telephones and a rule change is needed to make that happen. Drive Through and Point of Sales Machines and Counters. Point of sales machines and drive thru machines, such as those used in quick service restaurants, are not communica-tions accessible. Consumers tell us that the speaker phones are usually poor quality or the server has an accent that affects their ability to understand. Devices that take orders from the car are not hearing aid compatible. What is needed is a text option to punch in your order and eliminate the need to inter-act verbally. McDonalds has a display that shows what you ordered and the amount due which consumers find effective. 9. Dive Through and Point of Sales Machines and Count-ers. Point of sales machines and drive thru machines, such as those used in quick service restaurants, are not communica-tions accessible. Consumers tell us that the speaker phones are usually poor quality or the server has an accent that affects their ability to understand. Devices that take orders from the car are not hearing aid compatible. What is needed is a text option to punch in your order and eliminate the need to inter-act verbally. McDonalds has a display that shows what you ordered and the amount due which consumers find effective.

poor decision-making rather than defective equipment this would help illustrate the problem and the need for clearer guid-ance. A training program could then be developed for people who set up the microphone systems and the assistive listening transmission systems 6. Access to Movies. Though ALDs are required in theaters and movie houses these are not appropriate for many people with hearing loss. Captioning is needed to ensure full access to movies and live theater. There are several ways to provide cap-tioning today. HLAA does not stipulate one method over an-other, all work well. Our goal is to have movies and live theater performances be accessible to people with hearing loss – they are generally not today. Some progress is being made but ex-tremely slowly and usually the result of lawsuits. It’s time to change that situation by ruling on it in the ADA. 7. Safety: Fire and Carbon Monoxide alarms. Two HLAA members died in New York last year because they did not hear their carbon monoxide alarm alert. HLAA is pleased with the Access Board’s recommended revised guideline that fire alarms be hard-wired. However, the methods recommended for alerting or waking a person with hearing loss – strobe alerts and high frequency sounds - are not satisfactory and in fact give a dangerously false sense of secu-rity. Audible Alarms: there are many different kinds of alarms used in buildings. HLAA requests that all alarms intended to be heard should incorporate a 1000 Hz intermittent tone to increase the chance that hard of hearing people can hear them. The ma-jority of people with hearing loss have much better hearing in the low frequencies than in the middle or high frequencies even if their hearing loss is severe or profound. Epidemiological re-search shows that hearing thresholds for 250 Hz and 500 Hz remain relatively stable as most people age, but hearing at higher frequencies worsens, particularly at frequencies 2000 Hz and higher. Existing research regarding the waking effectiveness of smoke alarms demonstrates that many people, including people who are hard of hearing, wake up much more reliably and quickly to low frequency sounds. In one study, 100% of people with hearing loss woke up to a low frequency signal at 80dB while only 58% woke up to a 3100 Hz signal at the same vol-ume. Even people with normal hearing were better alerted by the low frequency alarm than by a traditional smoke alarm – 100% compared to 94%. ADAAG and ANSI both have an upper limit on the fre-quency for elevator signals. Surely it is not more important to hear an elevator signal than a fire alarm. The Access Board has left smoke alarm standards to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). NFPA was in-formed of this problem ten years ago and HLAA submitted pro-posals to rectify the problem as recently as 2005. Our proposals were turned down. HLAA will continue to press NFPA to change its standards but we need the Access Board to take a leadership role in ensuring that smoke alarms are effective for people with hearing loss. Visual Alarms: current ADAAG regulations requiring visual fire alarms in bedrooms are not adequate. Research from

Page 10, Fall 2006 The Hearing Loss Californian

GLAD 4TH ANNUAL BRUNCH AT THE HOUSE OF BLUES A Fun Musical Show for People with Hearing Loss

By Valerie Stern In West Hollywood, the deaf, hard of hearing and hear-ing community took over the House of Blues on Sunset Strip for the 4th Annual GLAD Brunch! This takeover was like no event the House of Blues had ever hosted. It may seem strange that an agency which provides ser-vices for the deaf and hard of hearing population chose a mu-sical event as a fund raiser. How could they possibly enjoy such a musical event? Well, when you go to a live music event, there is much more than just the music. There are the lights, the vibrations, the dancing and most of all, the uplifting feeling one has when watching a performer sing his/her heart out. This is what makes this show so extraordinary, even for a hard of hearing or deaf person. As Kathleen Rowsell stated: “The vibes, the dancing, and singing along (with open cap-tions) with the Gospel group and famous celebrities, made it a happy place to be!” Guests arrived dressed to impress in their Sunday best to show their support for GLAD. This year, twenty five HLA-CA members showed up. They came from as far as Orange County to attend this exciting event. After picking up their tickets at the registration table, attendees enjoyed a cof-fee social in the exclusive Foundation Room located on the top floor of the venue. Then came the delicious buffet that featured breakfast favorites plus a host of southern specialties, while a GLAD PowerPoint presentation showed slides of vari-ous community events and GLAD’s services. Lights flickered on and off. Governing Board President David Kurs took to the stage to welcome everyone and intro-duce the hosts of the event, actors Tyrone Giordano and Shoshannah Stern, who lit up the room with their wonderful chemistry and message. Dr. Patricia Hughes, CEO of GLAD, thanked sponsors for making the event possible and

called to the stage David Michalowski of DM Multimedia to applaud his work in creating GLAD’s new and improved web-site (check it out at www.gladinc.org). The Gospel Queen Sylvia St. James, dressed in a gor-geous white gown with a large brimmed feathered hat, got eve-ryone up out of their seats to dance to the tunes of Firm Soun-dation. Talented ASL interpreters Laura Ripplinger, Michael Purcell, Hope Simon, and Mark Robinson brought their end-less energy into their signing. Captioning done remotely by Caption Colorado was displayed on the overhead screen and right on the beat. Napkins were twirling, everyone was danc-ing, hands were waving and the room was electric! Diane Gross, one of the hard of hearing attendees stated: “You could feel the vibrations in your throat, and even those were loud! At our table, well, we were all hopping in our seats. I haven't moved that much in years, and I think I may have pulled a muscle.” The takeover of the House of Blues would not have been possible without the generous support from: Sprint Relay, Sorenson VRS, Payden & Rygel, Nordia, Go America, Northrop Grumman, City National Bank, Commercial Capital Bank, Sherman Oaks Womens Club, AutoTrader.com, NBC4, Sam Simon Foundation, Voice Interpreters John Arce and Laura Ripplinger, Staff Interpreters Lynne Anne McGrail and Jonathan Gleicher, Public Relations Team Rachel Braver and Maisha Franklin, Sylvia St. James and Ray Sydney, GLAD Staff, volunteers and all individual ticket supporters. Everyone had a hand in making this dream come true and the House of Blues will never be the same. “Love was in the air and all around us. It sure rocked my full tummy! The brunch was delicious! The whole House of Blues event was fabulous! I will go again!” says Nancy Hayes. Hopefully, we will see you all again next year.

Page 11, Fall 2006 The Hearing Loss Californian

BUILD A STRONG ADVOCACY FORCE

JOIN HLAA NOW Are you tired? Tired of paying $5,000 out of pocket for a couple of hearing aids? Tired of waiting six months for a first run movie to come out on DVD? JOIN HLAA. When we go to the California Legislature and ask for hearing aid insurance coverage, and say that we represent 1120 hard of hearing people, the legislators ignore us. It’s a drop in the bucket compared to the one million people in Cali-fornia who have a severe/profound hearing loss. HLAA represents .00125% (that’s 1.25 thousands of one percent) of hard of hearing Californians or very, very, very, very few. There is strength in numbers. We need 5000 HLA-CA mem-bers to get legislation passed. JOIN HLAA and let us do your advocacy for you. Do you feel fearful and lonely and isolated? JOIN HLAA and socialize with others who have hearing loss. Share your insights, coping skills and frustrations with those who understand. Give service. Attend and participate in building your chapter Audiologists, do you want to sell more hearing aids? Invest in your business. Join HLAA. It’s only $50 for a pro-fessional membership. Invest in the success of your clients. Add a $25 mem-bership in HLAA to your hearing aid delivery so your clients can continue to find support and information about hearing loss. Help them become successful hearing aid users. A membership in HLAA gives you the bi-monthly magazine, Hearing Loss Journal, and the free quarterly newsletter, The Hearing Loss Californian. You can sign up online at our secure site, http://www.hearingloss.org. Click on Join and Renew. Or make a check payable to HLAA and mail to HLAA, 7910 Wood-mont Ave., Suite 1200, Bethesda, MD 20814. If you would like to receive The Hearing Loss Califor-nian (it’s free), please send your mailing address to Grace Tiessen, 714 Prospect Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91103, gtiessen@hearinglossca.org.

THANK YOU – BOB RENNIE FOR DEDICATED SERVICE

1989-2006 Bob Rennie, Vice President of North Orange County Chapter of Sertoma, stepped down after 17 years as an officer of the Orange County Chapter of HLAA. The Orange County Chapter gave him a plaque in ap-preciation of his many years of dedication to people with hearing loss. In return, Bob gave $750 to the chapter from Sertoma.

SERTOMA (SERvice TO Mankind). Sertoma’s primary service project is assisting the more than 50 million people with speech, hearing and language disorders. Sertoma also sponsors community projects to pro-mote freedom and democracy, to assist youth and to benefit a variety of other local community needs, as identified by the individual clubs. Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, Sertoma is a 501(c)(4) not-for-profit international organization with 20,000+ members in more than 650 clubs across Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the United States. Every year Ser-toma clubs raise more than $20 million for local community service projects. Through these projects, as well as grants and scholarships, Sertoma clubs return those funds to their respec-tive communities.

WELCOME TO HOLLAND

by Emily Perl Kingsley, ©1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission of the author.

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this... When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting. After months of eager anticipation, the day finally ar-rives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland." "Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy. "But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place. So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met. It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts. But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned." And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss. But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

Page 12, Fall 2006 The Hearing Loss Californian

Page 13, Fall 2006 The Hearing Loss Californian

HEARING LOSS CHAPTERS ACROSS CALIFORNIA

Los Angeles Cochlear Implant Chapter Diane Rott, dianeshear@msn.com 451 E. Rowland #29, Covina, CA 91744 626-331-7547 Los Angeles Chapter - Pasadena Valerie Stern, valstern@verizon.net 310-477-7256 Mission Viejo Chapter Lola Attinger, Lattinger@cox.net 949-858-9024 V 12 Amantes, Rancho Santa Margarita, 92668 Pril Kirkeby, pwkirkeby@cox.net 949-855-6786 V Orange County Chapter – Orange Mary Clark, frozsquash@yahoo.com 6160 Salem Rd. Yorba Linda, CA 92887 714-694-0627 Orange County Cochlear Implant Chapter - Orange Jack A Belt, JABELT@aol.com 1225 N. Harvest Walk Dr. Valinda, CA 626-934--0127 Redlands Area Chapter - Redlands Jim Koski, jkoski@surfcity.net 18711 Tereticornis Ave, Lake Elsinore, CA 92532 951-674-5901 V Riverside Chapter Shari Cone, Pugsandco@yahoo.com San Fernando Valley Chapter – Encino Phil Kaplan, philillini@aol.com 19262 Pebble Beach Pl, Northridge, CA 91326 818-368-1303 Santa Barbara Chapter Dorothy Holland-Kaupp, dorothyh@west.net 5140 San Lorenzo Dr, Santa Barbara, CA 805-967-5241 Santa Monica Chapter Nanci Linke-Ellis Nanci.LinkeEllis@insightcinema.org 310-452-8700 Simi Valley Chapter Arnie Plotkin, arniejo1@sbcglobal.net 5886 Spiritlake Court Simi Valley, CA 93063 805-577-1051

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA Northern CA Chapter Coordinator Cindy Jagger, cjagger@hearinglossca.org 1213 Pheasant Dr, Suisun City, CA 707-422-3753 V/CRS

Diablo Valley Chapter-Walnut Creek Jim Montgomery Jmontgomery@hearinglossca.org 925-684-2731 V/TTY/Fax

East Bay Chapter -Oakland Barbara Bishop, ptownmoma@aol.com 33 Linda Ave, #2502 Piedmont, CA 94611

510-601-9828 V/TTY Dorothy Brookover Tulipup007@cs.com

Fresno Chapter Susan Coulter susanc@dhhsc.org 5340 No. Fresno St., Fresno, CA 93710 599-225-3323 V 559-225-0116 Fax Napa Valley Chapter - Napa Bern Klein, bern3280@aol.com 3200 MacLeod St. Napa, CA 94558 707-226-9832 V Peninsula Chapter -Redwood City Raegene Castle, raegeneandjack@aol.com 827 Mohican Way, Redwood City, CA 94062 650-369-4717 Sister Ann Rooney, annrooney@sbcglobal.net Marjorie Heymans, 650-593-6760 V 1505 Ralston Ave. Belmont, CA 94002 Sacramento Chapter Colette Noble, Cnoble@norcalcenter.org 916-349-7500, leave message Jean Collop, 916-334-9406 San Francisco Chapter Ronda Bonati, RondaBonati@sbcglobal.net 935 Diamond Street, San Francisco, CA 94114 415-705-0550 V Marilyn Finn, mfinn@hearinglossca.org Shasta County Chapter - Redding Sharon Hunter, sleehunter@sbcglobal.net 530-242-1574 Marion Peterson, bomarx@aol.com P.O.Box 864, Anderson, CA 96007 530-365-0790 V

Silicon Valley Chapter - San Jose Rufus Wesley, rufuso@pacbell.net 369 Manila Drive, San Jose,CA 95119 408-229-1041 Bruce McClelland Tri-Valley Chapter –Pleasanton Hiram Van Blarigan, 925-455-6591 716 Katrina, Livermore, CA 94550 Hvanblarigan@hotmail.com SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Southern CA Chapter Coordinator Barbara Tucker, btucker@hearinglossca.org P.O. Box 761,Beaumont, CA 92223 951-849-9315 V Beaumont Chapter Sandi Streeter P O. Box 483, Beaumont, CA 92223 951- 845-5174 TTY or Relay sstreeter@hearinglossca.org Burbank Chapter Leo Maggio, leowmaggio@cs.com 23410 Kittridge, West Hills, CA 91307 818-340-1503 V/TTY/Fax Coachella Valley Chapter- Thousand Palms Betty Weiss, bmweiss1@earthlink.net 760-343-3828 Escondido Chapter Dorothy Wormser, dorthi@cox.net 851 Concerto Glen, Escondido, CA 92025 760-747-3813 V 760-737-9149 Fax HLA-4-Lunch Chapter –Encino Diane Gross, shhh4lunch@yahoo.com 15455 Glenoaks Blvd. #355, Sylmar CA 818-367-8360 V, 818-367-2062 TTY Irvine Groves Chapter –Irvine Lorraine Fanizza, hear@hearpros.com 5200 Irvine Blvd., #308, Irvine, CA 92620 714-669-0401 V/TTY/FAX Laguna Woods Village Chapter Woodley Butler, woodjr@teambase.com 2248-A Via Mariposa East, Laguna Woods, CA 92653-2179 949-859-4088 V 949-699-2931 Fax Long Beach/Lakewood Chapter - Lakewood

Ellen Mathis, EPMathis@verizon.net 63 St. Joseph Ave, Long Beach CA 562-433-6509

Where/when do these chapters meet? See www.hearinglossca.org/html/

Telecommunications Access for Deaf and Disabled Administrative Committee (TADDAC)

Philip Kaplan Chair Philillini@aol.com 19262 Pebble Beach Place Northridge, Ca 90326 818-368-1303 Mark Finn (Late Deafened) mfinn000@gmail.com

California Relay Service (CRSAC) Colette Noble (Hard of Hearing) cnoble@norcalcenter.org 916-489-9958

Equipment Program (EPAC) Christine Seymour christine.Seymour@dcara.org Free Telephones (CTAP) CA Telephone Access Program http://www.DDTP.org/CTAP Work Related Issues: Getting and Keep-ing a Job When Hard of Hearing

Robyn Tenensap 310-641-3214 TTY; 310-417-8326 FAX MRTENENSAP@aol.com California Dept of Rehabilitation 8929 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Ste. 300 Los Angeles 90045

Youths with Hearing Loss

T. Jordan Goulder, Ph.D. 858-623-2777 x408 V 858-552-1998 TTY tgoulder@alliant.edu 6160 Cornerstone Ct. E, San Diego 92121 Nick Nichols 760-745-4577 V NicknFreda@aol.com 819 E. 5th Ave., Escondido 92025

Real Time Captioning at College

Colette Noble, cnoble@norcalcenter.org P.O. Box 360021 Milpitas, CA 95036 916-349-7500 (work)

Page 14, Fall 2006 The Hearing Loss Californian

CONTACT THESE DESKS WITH YOUR HEARING LOSS QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS!

Desks are volunteers with expertise in sub-jects that interest hard of hearing people. They will answer your questions, give ad-vice or just lend an ear, depending on your specific needs. Advocacy/Access and Accommodation for Hard of Hearing People

Phil Kaplan PHILILLINI@aol.com

Assistive Listening Devices Eric Wormser 760-747-3813, ewormser@cox.net PO Box 301307, Escondido 92030 Fax 760-737-9149

Audiology Issues/ Ethics/Training Kenneth I. Billheimer, AuD

925-484-3507 V; kenb@hearworld.com 4460 Black Ave. #C, Pleasanton 94566 Cochlear Implants Cindy Jagger (Northern CA) 707-422-3753 cjagger@hearinglossca.org 1213 Pheasant Drive, Suisun City 94585

Darlene Fragale (Southern CA) 909-882-4680 V dfragale@dslextreme.com 759 Orchid Drive San Bernardino, CA 92404 Combined Hearing and Vision Loss

Cathy Kirscher c/o Helen Keller National Center 6160 Cornerstone Ct. E, San Diego 92121 858-623-2777 x 389 V 858-646-0784 TTY; 858-642-0266 Fax ckirscher@alliant.edu

Diane Gross, SHHH4Lunch@yahoo.com 15455 Glenoaks Blvd. # 355, Sylmar CA 818-367-8360 V 818-367-2062 TTY

Coping and Adjustments to Hearing Loss

Carren J. Stika, Ph.D. 858-623-2777 x386 V; 858-554-1540 TTY carrenjstika@aol.com 6160 Cornerstone Ct. E, San Diego 92121 Laine Waggoner, M.A., M.S. 173 Club Circle Drive, Palm Springs CA 760-324-4150 V LaineWaggoner@dc.rr.com

Education: Hard of Hearing Children Grace Tiessen

gtiessen@hearinglossca.org Helen Walter 909-849-6713 V

rhijah@earthlink.net 4325 Mockingbird Lane, Banning 92220

Health Care Access and Advocacy Margaret Azcona 510-531-SHHH V FAX margazcona@aol.com Hearing Aids, Assistive Listening Device Ellen Baker, eblairb@aol.com 805-522-2159 V 2719 Bitternut Circle, Simi Valley, CA 93065 Lip Reading Contact Don Senger, d.senger@juno.com See www.hearinglossca.org Felice Kolda, CCC-AU 626-585-8766, Pasadena & LA 310-828-4389, Santa Monica 949-499-2740, Mission Viejo Infant Hearing Screening Grace Tiessen, gtiessen@hearinglossca.org LILS-Locations with Installed Listening Systems (customized lists available for $3) Richard Panzer, rpanzer@juno.com 707-257-1718 TTY, V, Fax 1315 Loma Vista Dr., Napa 94558

HLA California Marilyn Finn, President mfinn@hearinglossca.org 101 Lafayette Circle, Apt. 1 Lafayette, CA 94549 925-284-2847

Dogs for the Deaf Anne Hills annehills@sweep.com 440 Meadowview Dr. La Canada, CA 91011 818-790-5056TTY Canine Companions for Independence Joie Charm, jcharm@cci.org P.O. Box 446, Santa Rosa, CA 95402 Sam Simon Foundation Hearing Dogs info@samsimonfoundation.org http://www.samsimonfoundation.org 310-457-5898 888-DOG-SPAY appointments

To find an SHHH group near you or To start a new SHHH group:

Cindy Jagger Barbara Tucker See page 13 for address/phone

AUDIOLOGISTS/CHAPTER LEADERS/KAISER REACH OUT TO HOH PEOPLE

This is an easy way to spread the word about the Hearing Loss Association of America, to reach out to hard of hearing people looking for support and information. If you would like to receive copies in bulk of the State newsletter, please email gtiessen@hearinglossca.org by October 20 to let her know how many copies of the Winter 2006 issue you could profitably use. The following have ordered bulk copies of The Hearing Loss Californian. East Bay Chapter, Dorothy Brookover (20 copies) HLA-4-Lunch Chapter, Diane Gross (20 copies) Long Beach/Lakewood Chapter, Ellen Mathis (20 copies) San Fernando Valley Chapter, Bev Gaines (20 copies) Santa Monica Chapter, Nanci Linke-Ellis (20 copies) Silicon Valley Chapter, Esther Snively (20 copies) HoH Specialist Julie Crowther at Inland Empire CODIE (20 copies) HoH Specialist Colette Noble at NorCal (20 copies) HoH Specialist Valerie Stern at GLAD (20 copies) Outreach Specialist Raquel Camarena at B-GLAD (20 copies) Kaiser Audiology, Harbor City (20 copies) Kaiser Audiology, Irvine (20 copies) Kaiser Audiology, Redwood City (20 copies) Kaiser Audiology, Riverside (20 copies) Kaiser Audiology, Sacramento (20 copies) Kaiser Audiology, Santa Rosa (20 copies) Norco Elementary, Karen Smith (20 copies) Riverside Itinerant Teacher of D/HoH, Theresa Copple, (30 copies) Evelyn Smith, M.S., CCC-A, HearUSA, Chula Vista (20 copies) Laine Waggoner, Hearing loss Education and Relationships, Palm Springs (20 copies) Chris Wilson, HEAR Center, Pasadena (20 copies) Exhibit Table, California Academy of Audiology Convention (250 copies) Louise Bratton, HLAA member, Carmel (10 copies) Clare Childers, HLAA member, Woodland (20 copies) Arlene Patton, HLAA member, West Covina (15 copies) Margaret Waegell, HLAA member, Sacramento (15 copies)

The Hearing Loss Californian Page 15, Fall 2006

Board of Trustees Marilyn Finn, President San Francisco Chapter 925-284-2847 mfinn@hearinglossca.org Carol Waechter, Vice President Long Beach/Lakewood Chapter 562-598-3850 Cwaechter@hearinglossca.org Mary Clark, Secretary Orange County Chapter 714-529-0218 mclark@hearinglossca.org

Gene Cox, Treasurer (CI) CIAI-LA Chapter 818-363-4518 gcox@hearinglossca.org Sandi Streeter, Immediate Past President Beaumont Chapter 951-845-5174 TTY or Relay sstreeter@hearinglossca.org Raegene Castle (CI) Peninsula Chapter 650-369-4717 rcastle@hearinglossca.org Delia Itanen 760-946-1586 ditanen@hearinglossca.org Jim Montgomery, (CI) Diablo Valley Chapter 925-684-2731 V/TTY/Fax

Jmontgomery@hearinglossca.org Sister Ann Rooney Peninsula Chapter 650-343-0114 arooney@hearinglossca.org Grace Tiessen, (CI) San Fernando Valley Chapter 626-796-0034 Voice/Fax Gtiessen@hearinglossca.org Don Senger, Emeritus (CI) Diablo Valley Chapter, dsenger@hearinglossca.org Cindy Jagger, ex officio (CI) No. CA Chapter Coordinator 707-422-3753 Voice cjagger@hearinglossca.org Barbara Tucker, ex officio (CI) So. CA Chapter Coordinator 951-849-9315 Voice btucker@hearinglossca.org Steve Noroian, ex officio National Board of Trustees 925-938-7235 Fax Snoroian@noroian.com

HLA-California publishes The Hearing Loss Californian quarterly in mid February, May, August and November Demographics. There are 10,250 National HLAA members of whom 1120 are Califor-nians. Our database consists of 4000 records--1250 California HLAA members; 1330 Califor-nia audiologists; 100 CA Department of Rehabilitation Hard of Hearing or Deaf Counselors; 120 Itinerant Teachers of the HOH or Deaf; 30 Office of Deaf Access regional/outreach centers, 50 members of CIAI (Cochlear Implant Assn International), 20 members of ALDA (Association of Late Deafened Adults), 45 Costco Hearing Aid Centers, 25 HEARx Hearing Aid Centers, 50 Kaiser Permanente audiologists, 25 members of AG Bell (Alexander Graham Bell Assn. For the Deaf and Hard of Hearing), 135 Sonus Hearing Aid Centers and others inter-ested in hearing loss issues. Editor: Grace W. Tiessen, gtiessen@hearinglossca.org, Layout: Lisa Rettino, leftylisa@pacbell.net Contributions are eligible for income tax deductions as provided in Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Service Code. Mention of goods or services in articles or advertisements does not imply endorsement, nor does exclusion suggest disapproval. Any portion of this newsletter may be reprinted or disseminated, as long as credit is given to the individual author or to this publication. Submissions for the Winter 2006 issue are due no later than October 15, 2006 and should be sent to gtiessen@hearinglossca.org. Inclusion and/or editing will be at the full discretion of the Editor.

Hearing Loss Association of America, Inc. is the largest consumer organization of hard of hearing people in the United States.

Our Mission Statement: To open the world of communication to people with hearing loss

by providing information, education, support and advocacy.

Watch your websites for the latest news. HLAA: www.hearingloss.org

HLA-California: www.hearinglossca.org Webmasters: Grace W.Tiessen & MBBDesign, www.Mbbdesign.com

Who We Are

Hearing Loss Association of America, (formerly Self Help for Hard of Hear-ing, Inc.) is an international, non-sectarian, educational, consumer organi-zation of hard of hearing people, their relatives and friends. It is devoted to the welfare and interests of those who can-not hear well but are committed to par-ticipating in the hearing world. HLAA 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 1200 Bethesda, Maryland 20814 301-657-2248 V 301-657-2249 TTY 301-913-9413 FAX info@hearingloss.org www.hearingloss.org. HLA-CA, California State Association of Hearing Loss Association of Amer-ica, is affiliated with the national organi-zation headquartered in Bethesda, MD. Both are non-profit and tax-exempt. Anyone residing in California who has joined our national organization is a member of HLA-CA.

Grace W. Tiessen 714 Prospect Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91103

Address Service Requested

HEARING LOSS ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA (Formerly Self Help for Hard of Hearing People, Inc.)

FOUNDER, Howard E. “Rocky” Stone Supporting HLA Chapters throughout California