1 CHAPTER OFFICERS Co-Presidents: Teri Wathen: [email protected]and Susanna Dussling: [email protected]Vice President: Jesse Pettey, [email protected]Secretary: TBA Treasurer: Allan Ofield: [email protected]Newsletter Editor: Mary Honomichl: [email protected]March, 2009 Volume 10, Number 3 HLAA (formerly SHHH) is the largest consumer organization dedicated to the well being of people with hearing loss. We believe people can help one another, be helped, and participate successfully in society. Our primary purpose is to educate ourselves and those around us about the causes, nature and complications of hearing loss and what can be done to help. To join the local chapter, please write us at the above address or come to one of our monthly meetings. Our meetings have the following facilities available to attendees: Real Time Captioner and Induction Loop System. NEW Meeting Time & Place Sat- urday, March 14, 2009 at 9:30 a.m.!! We thank the staff of St. Luke’s for giving us this marvel- ous space! Hearing Loss Association of Houston (Formerly SHHH Houston Chapter) PO Box 572091 Houston TX 77257-2091 Website!!: www.hearingloss-houston.org (Be sure to type the dash between loss and Houston) Note: The site is now the ONLY Authorized HLA Hous- ton website and has no advertising Pop-ups. Best viewed with Internet Explorer Browser. We are an affiliate of Hearing Loss Association of America based in Bethesda, Maryland.Website: http://www.hearingloss.org We will be meeting at the St. Luke's Center for Counseling and Life Enrichment Center at 2719 Joanel (across Edloe from St. Luke's United Methodist). Their phone number is 713-402-5046. Directions: the Center is be- tween Alabama and Westheimer and Edloe and Joanel facing Kipling street. The actual address is the back of the building. The Cen- ter faces Kipling. March 3, 7:30 pm: PIP meeting at Wood- haven Church, 9920 Long Point. Presenta- tion will be ‘Internet Identity Theft’. March 7, 2009: All day Hearing Loss work- shop at St. Luke’s Methodist church with Gael Hannan as the featured speaker! Flyer in this newsletter on page 3. Or you may register at www.stlukesmethodist.org . A great day will be had by all, and don’t forget the lunch is free, donated by an anonymous donor! March 14, 2009: 9:30 AM. Monthly meeting at St. Luke’s Center, location above. Pro- gram will be given by Susanna Dussling: “Dare to be Different!”; a Motivational & In- spirational message, and a true story of a lady and her 2 golden boys. They all over- came physical challenges to be Champions both in Life and the Show Ring. It is a story of hope, overcoming adversity, and big dreams. Susanna will talk about her two Ara- bian horses, "Megiddo" and "Chance" who were not afraid to go after their goals and as- pirations, in spite of their physical disabilities. Furthermore, Susanna shares how she uses ALD's (a Personal FM System) to obtain her peak performance as an Accomplished Eques- trianne. In other words, she did not let her hearing loss stop her from competing in the ultra-competitive world of Arabian Show Horses.
Transcript
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CHAPTER OFFICERS Co-Presidents: Teri Wathen: [email protected] and Susanna Dussling:
organization dedicated to the well being of people with
hearing loss. We believe people can help one another,
be helped, and participate successfully in society. Our
primary purpose is to educate ourselves and those
around us about the causes, nature and complications
of hearing loss and what can be done to help. To join
the local chapter, please write us at the above address
or come to one of our monthly meetings. Our meetings
have the following facilities available to attendees:
Real Time Captioner and Induction Loop System.
NEW Meeting Time & Place Sat-
urday, March 14, 2009 at 9:30
a.m.!! We thank the staff of St.
Luke’s for giving us this marvel-
ous space!
Hearing Loss Association of Houston (Formerly SHHH Houston Chapter) PO Box 572091 Houston TX 77257-2091
Website!!: www.hearingloss-houston.org (Be sure to type the dash between loss and Houston)
Note: The site is now the ONLY Authorized HLA Hous-
ton website and has no advertising Pop-ups. Best
viewed with Internet Explorer Browser.
We are an affiliate of Hearing Loss Association of America based in Bethesda, Maryland.Website:
http://www.hearingloss.org
We will be meeting at the St. Luke's Center
for Counseling and Life Enrichment Center
at 2719 Joanel (across Edloe from St. Luke's
United Methodist). Their phone number is
713-402-5046. Directions: the Center is be-
tween Alabama and Westheimer and Edloe
and Joanel facing Kipling street. The actual
address is the back of the building. The Cen-
ter faces Kipling.
March 3, 7:30 pm: PIP meeting at Wood-
haven Church, 9920 Long Point. Presenta-
tion will be ‘Internet Identity Theft’.
March 7, 2009: All day Hearing Loss work-
shop at St. Luke’s Methodist church with
Gael Hannan as the featured speaker! Flyer
in this newsletter on page 3. Or you may
register at www.stlukesmethodist.org . A
great day will be had by all, and don’t forget
the lunch is free, donated by an anonymous
donor! March 14, 2009: 9:30 AM. Monthly meeting
at St. Luke’s Center, location above. Pro-
gram will be given by Susanna Dussling:
“Dare to be Different!”; a Motivational & In-
spirational message, and a true story of a
lady and her 2 golden boys. They all over-came physical challenges to be Champions both in Life and the Show Ring. It is a story of hope, overcoming adversity, and big dreams. Susanna will talk about her two Ara-bian horses, "Megiddo" and "Chance" who were not afraid to go after their goals and as-pirations, in spite of their physical disabilities. Furthermore, Susanna shares how she uses ALD's (a Personal FM System) to obtain her peak performance as an Accomplished Eques-trianne. In other words, she did not let her hearing loss stop her from competing in the ultra-competitive world of Arabian Show Horses.
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Susanna currently resides in Houston,
Texas. She is Co-President of HLA Houston.
She also volunteers with Cochlear Ameri-
cas. She is employed by Academy Sports
and Outdoors as an Assistant Store Man-
ager. When not at work, she enjoys being
with horses and being in the out-
doors. Susanna is also a "Toastmaster." In
addition, has 2 program presentations
scheduled at the National Hearing Loss As-
sociation Convention in Nashville, TN, June
2009.
April 11, 2009: 9:30 AM. Monthly meeting
at St. Luke’s Center. Program to be given
by Lois Gibson, Forensic Artist with the
Houston Police Department. Don’t miss
this one!
Lois Gibson is recorded in The Guinness Book of World Records as "The World's
Most Successful Forensic Artist." Her
sketches have helped law enforcement bring
in over 1,062 criminals. Her near-death ex-
perience as the victim of a serial rapist/
killer fuels her passion for catching crimi-
nals. She has received numerous awards for
stopping violent offenders and getting jus-
tice for innocent victims. She lives in Hous-
ton, Texas with her husband and two chil-
dren. Her book, Faces of Evil was co-authored with renowned writer Deanie
Francis Mills. In her spare time, Lois loves
to do watercolors of scenery and portraits
of her family.
May 9, 2009: 9:30 AM-Monthly meeting at
St. Luke’s Center.
Chapter Board Meetings will be held on the
Monday before the second Saturday of each
month at 7:00 Pm. As always the board
meetings are open to all. The board will
meet at the St. Luke’s Center– the same
place as the meetings.
We do have an opening for chapter Secre-
tary as Susan was forced to resign for
health reasons. Please advise the officers if
you can serve in this vital position!
Saturday, November 7, 2009-4th Annual
Walk4hearing at Tom Bass Park Section 3.
Save the Date!
Note: If you are a younger person & the cost of attending the national convention is an issue for you, there is help. Apply for the Rocky Stone Scholar-ship. Up to January there was only one ap-plication. Go to:
www.hearingloss.org
Click on ‘Convention’ on the left side, then on next screen, click on “Rocky Stone Scholar-ships to Nashville” for more information.
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(Editor’s Note: The following material is exerpted from a letter from Executive Director of HLAA, Brenda Battat, to
chapters and chapter leaders, and show what your national HLAA membership is doing for you)
January in Bethesda
●We are preparing for the HLAA annual Hearing Assistive Technology (HAT) training to take place at San Diego State University early in February. Thirty people applied, and 17 have been selected. The applicants are of very high quality this year and from diverse fields. The focus will be on HAT in the workplace and how to ad-vocate for it. ● We met with the Hearing Industries Association (HIA) to prepare for an HLAA presentation at their annual meeting in AZ in February. Two thirds of the attendees will be CEOs of hearing aid manufacturers and the rest executive directors and presidents of hearing care professional organizations such as ASHA, AAA, ADA (association of Doctors of audiology), and IHS (International Hearing Society). Editors of professional hearing industry magazines have also been invited. Brenda Battat will present on HLAA and what is important in hearing health care for consumers with hearing loss ● The walk website is up with the new walk logo. Check it out at www.walk4hearing.org Florida is the very first of the 2009 walks. Their kickoff was on January 24th with 100 people attending. They have outreached to audiol-ogy students who are getting involved. More than 20 walks are scheduled for 2009. We encourage audiologists and hearing aid specialists to participate in walks in their communities, and have sent a promotional article on the 2009 walk to ASHA, AAA and IHS to publish. ● HLAA has been reappointed to the Federal Communications Commission Consumer Advisory Committee. ● Communication Services for the Deaf, Inc. (CSD) has been awarded a $1.1 million grant from the FCC using funds that were appropriated by Congress last year for DTV outreach. The grant will be used to launch a national awareness campaign about the transition to digital television (DTV). The project is expected to last six months and CSD hopes to aggressively work with several other national groups and organizations such as HLAA, NAD, TDI, and others to reach America's 31 million deaf and hard of hearing people. For more information and up-
dates, visit the CSD Web site at www.c-s-d.org. ● HLAA and other leaders from the hard of hearing and deaf communities met with members of President-Elect Obama’s Transition Team. They presented a consensus document on the issues impacting people with hearing loss. The document will be on the HLAA website and available soon at the following site:
www.change.gov/open_government/yourseatatthetable ● The Hearing Aid Tax Credit Bill will be reintroduced this year by Rep. C. McCarthy [D-NY]. It is already pick-ing up a lot of energy. Rep. M. Thompson [D-CA] who wears hearing aids and is on the key Ways and Means Committee and has come out in support of the Bill. ● Air travel is one of our priorities for 2009. A new easier to use online complaint form for airline travel com-
plaints can be found at: http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/escomplaint/es.cfm When filing a complaint please be
sure to include all the information that is asked for. We have received several complaints that are unusable
due to lack of basic information such as flight number, airline, etc. ● HLAA supported the delay of DTV - with conditions. To read our position on this go to the HLAA website:
http://www.hearingloss.org/advocacy/television.asp#dtvdelay We will be a subcontractor on the Communica-tion Services for the Deaf (CSD) FCC project providing a Help Center for consumers with hearing loss who are having difficulty with the transition from analog to digital TV. We will make sure people with hearing loss know about the Center, publicizing it through our online sources and in HLAA magazine and refer email/callers with problems. ● HearingLossNation is a non-profit online social network community designed specifically for HoH individuals between the ages of 18 and 35. HLAA member Patrick Holkins moderates the discussions for young adults. We have purchased the domain name for HearingLossNation. See more about this on the HLAA website. (Continued on page 5)
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CAPTIONED ENTERTAINMENT AMC Studio 30, Dunvale @ Westheimer Open Captioned:
Not available at press time
Check http://www.moviewatcher.com/jsp/amg.jsp to find
titles and dates of OC and CC movies at AMC theatres. AMC Studio 30, Willowbrook AMC 24, Deerbrook 24, Katy Mills 20, Gulf Pointe 30, First Colony 24 also have Rear Win-dow Captioning. Be sure to request the closed captioned show when you buy tickets. For listing of movie times check the Houston Chronicle AMC listings or the AMC website. Open captioned movies are shown as ‘OC and the Rear Window cap-tioned movies are ‘CC” in very fine print.
Deerbrook 24: Hotel for Dogs-2/23 to 2/26
Gulf Pointe 30: Paul Blart:Mall Cop-2/23 to 2/26
Katy Mills 20- Taken-2/23 to 2/26
First Colony 24– not announced
Willowbrook 24– He’s Just Not That Into You-2/23 to 2/26
AMC Studio 30- not announced
Edwards Greenway Palace 24 , 3839 Weslayan, have also
been showing OPEN captioned movies. They are showing
the ‘OC’ in front of the movie that is captioned, so check
www.REGmovies.com and input ‘Houston’ in the search
field, or the daily newspaper for movie dates & times.
You may link to the open captioned movies in Texas at :
tioning- Anytime –Ask for the device at the door. Not all films are captioned so please ask before you buy tickets.
Alley Theatre-615 Texas Avenue,
For tickets to the Alley Theatre call the Box office at 713 228-8421 (voice) through Relay Texas.
www.alleytheatre.org -Click on “Education and Commu-
nity” on top bar, then click on “Programs for the Audi-
ence” then on “Access Services”. **Discounted tickets are
available from Illuminations Arts: (713) 529-6910 Voice/FAX (813) 529-6909 TTY**.
The last Sunday of every performance is usually captioned.
Toyota Center: For non-Rockets events, captioning re-
quests should go through Guest Services @ 713-758-
7230. They will make arrangements for seating and accom-
modations for the captioner.
Thanks to Susan Henley of Allied Advanced Reporting for
this information!
Broadway Series-see www.broadwayacrossamerica.com/houston for shows at the Hobby Center for the Performing
Arts. Only one show of each performance is captioned.
The TDD# for tickets is 800-755-6244, or phone (713) 627-
3570. Be sure to request tickets in the best spot to read the
captioning. (Note: According to the website the first
Saturday matinee performance and the second Sunday eve-
ning performance of each show are captioned. Please con-
firm this when you call to request tickets).
Theatre Under the Stars: Check www.tuts.com for details and ticket information.
Single tickets are available at 713-558-8887 or online, or at the TUTS box office, M-F 9am-6 pm; Sat.-Sun 11am-4 pm.
A.D. Players -Captioned Plays: ( www.adplayers.org )
Call the box office at 713-526-2721. 2719 West Alabama.
Be sure you request a seat with the best view of the caption-
ing bar.
New Venue!!! Houston Family Arts Center at Barker Cy-
press and 290 plans to caption all its plays. The center, also
known as Berry Center, is located at 8877 Barker Cypress,
Cypress, TX 77433 . The website and tickets can be found
at: http://tickets.houstonfac.com/
**********************************************
(Continued from page 4)
●Attended the monthly meeting of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Alliance (DHHA) – a coalition of consumer and professional organizations related to hearing loss issues. HLAA has been a member for over 20 years. The focus of the coalition for 2009 is 1) Health Care reform 2) Infant hearing screening legislation reauthorization 3) Federal appropriations.
DHHA now has a website: www.dhhainfo.com Kareem Dale, liaison to President Obama’s Transi-tion Team was an invited speaker to the DHHA meeting. He urged all disability groups to work to-gether for change and to resolve any philosophical differences for effective outcomes. There is rumor that he will be appointed as the Special Assistant to
the President on Disability Policy – the first time ever such a position has been named. We worked with members of the DHHA to draft a document on Health Care Reform. The document includes the following foci: Access to Care; Health Disparities; Research and Development; Health In-formation Technology; Prevention and Primary Care; Workforce Issues. We also worked with DHHA on a letter to the new secretary of Health and Human Services to introduce him to DHHA and the issues we want him to address. These include: Medi-care and Medicaid Program; Early Hearing Detec-tion and Intervention; Awareness of Hearing Loss and Its Causes; Deafness and Hearing Loss Re-search. (continued on page 7)
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STAP
The Specialized Telecommunications Assistance Program (STAP) was devised to assist individuals with disabilities to obtain a specialized telecommunications device or ser-vices to facilitate access to the telephone system. STAP provides a voucher to eligible individuals that may be ex- changed for specialized telephone equipment or ser-vices. Communication Axess Ability Group provides an equipment demonstration room conveniently located at our North Loop office. You may schedule an appoint-ment by calling 713.807.1176 or you may e-mail the STAP Specialist, Chris Conway, at [email protected] .
HOH
Communication Axess Ability Group proudly offers Hard of Hearing Services (HOH) through a grant from the De-partment of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services (DARS) - - Office for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services. The basis for HOH is to eliminate communication barriers and to facilitate communication access through projects to expand or otherwise improve the provision of service to individuals who are hard of hearing, late deafened or oral deaf. To schedule a speaking engagement, seminar or conference, call 713.807.1176 or e-mail the Houston coordinator, Teri Wathen, at [email protected] .
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Earmolds - Batteries - Testing - Assistive Products - Hearing Aids Max McCarthy, M.A., CCC-A Les Callaway
Disclaimer: Mention of goods or services in articles or advertisements does not mean HLA Houston endorsement, nor should exclusion suggest disapproval. Please let our advertisers know that you appreciate their interest in our group.
Mary Dopico Reporting Services 6142 Southwell Lane League City, Texas 77573
Mary C. Dopico, CSR, RPR, CRR TCRA LEVEL IV CART PROVIDER
O 713/520-0084 Fax 713/521-1118 H 281/316-0260 Fax 281/316-0261
C 713/829-2599
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HLAA MEMBERSHIP Hearing Loss Association of America, (formerly SHHH -
Self Help for Hard of Hearing People Inc.), is a national
organization headquartered in Bethesda, MD.
You are invited to join the national organization. HLAA
dues, payable annually in the month of joining, are $25 a
year and include a subscription to the bi-monthly, award
winning Hearing Loss Journal, which is always filled with
interesting and pertinent articles on hearing loss. Renewals
of National membership dues are billed directly by
National HLAA. Name_________________________________________ Address_______________________________________ City___________________________________________ State___________________Zip____________________ Email:_________________________________________ Annual Dues: Individual/Couple/Family $35 __________________ Student $20 ________________________ Professional $50 _________________________ Non-Profit Org & Libraries $50 _________________ Corporate $100 ________________________ Make Check Payable to “HLAA” and Mail to: Hearing Loss Association of America 7910 Woodmont Ave., Suite 1200 Bethesda, MD 20814
Or you may join online by credit card at :
http://www.hearingloss.org +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ (continued from page 5)
A Web chat was held January 13. Our own Deanna Baker was guest speaker on CART and captioning. The February chat was the 17th. with HLAA board member and medical advisor Paul Hammerschlag, MD, FACS (Otologist/Neurotologist) who discussed "Medical and Surgical Intervention for Hearing Loss". To view the transcripts, go to the HLAA website. The March chat will be March 19th at 6 pm Central time with the host as Dr. Brad Ingrao who will discuss ‘Everything you wanted to know about ear molds but were afraid to ask”. ******************************************
