HARD OF HEARING SURVEY
PARTICIPANTS REQUESTED
With funding from the National Institutes of Health, Gallaudet University is conducting a national study that investigates health and quality of life outcomes in deaf and hard of hearing populations (PROMIS-DHH project). To date, the University has collected data from more than 1,000 adults who are deaf or have a hearing loss who use American Sign Language. The next step is to include at least 250 more adults who are deaf or have a hearing loss and who use spoken English in this study.
The University is inviting those who became deaf or hard of hearing prior to turning 13 years old and prefers spoken English to communicate to participate in the survey project. Each participant will receive a $25 American Express gift card as a gratuity.
Download the study flyer for more information.
Your help with sharing this survey project would be greatly appreciated! If there are any questions or concerns, please email
deafhealth@gallaudet.edu. Gallaudet University’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) has approved this study.
LEGAL–GOVERNOR SCOTT SIGNS BILL TO ASSIST HARD OF HEARING MOTORISTS
Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill that will allow deaf and hard of hearing people to voluntarily identify themselves as hearing-impaired when they register a vehicle.
Now, HLAA members and friends can request this designation on their vehicle registration to alert law enforcement of hearing loss prior to their approach to a vehicle. Also, recent legislation allows the international symbol for hearing loss to be placed on your driver's license.
Under the new legislation, the information about being hearing-impaired will be included in a driver and vehicle database and in a criminal database that police routinely use.
The goal of the bill is to provide information upfront to police officers to prevent communications issues with deaf drivers that could inadvertently lead to confrontations.
Interest in protecting deaf and hard of hearing drivers came from an event where a North Carolina man was shot and killed near his home after he didn’t pull over for police.
Under the new law, Florida drivers can voluntarily identify themselves as hearing impaired when they register cars. That information would be included in a driver and motor-vehicle database and a criminal database that police officers routinely access.
House sponsor Loranne Ausley, D-Tallahassee, said giving police access to the information upfront would help “to eliminate any potential communication issue” between officers and hearing-impaired drivers.
The new law, 2018-042 can be found at http://laws.flrules.org/node/7618.
The bill, which passed unanimously in the House and Senate and was signed by Governor Scott on March 21.
The state estimated that it would cost less than $25,000 to capture the information and include it in the driver and vehicle database as well as the criminal database used by police.
The measure was the second bill the Legislature has passed since 2016 to address deaf and hard of hearing drivers. The other bill allows deaf people to add the international symbol for the deaf and hard of hearing to their driver’s licenses for an additional $1 charge.
CAPTION UPDATE
Technology to Help Hearing
LISTEN! UP has featured ADA, FCC and DOJ rules and court cases on captioning from time to time. HLAA has prepared a short summary of situations where captioning is used.
TV: Most TV programs and commercials have closed captioning which means written words of the text are displayed on the TV screen. The captions are accessed either directly by the TV’s remote or going into the menu and finding the caption options. The Television Decoder Circuitry Act of 1990 mandates that since July 1993, all televisions manufactured for sale in the U.S. must contain a built-in caption decoder if the picture tube is 13" or larger. Closed captions on television programs most often have a black background and white text, although different combinations are possible.
Movies: Movies on DVD are captioned as TV shows are. Captions are turned on by turning on the captioning through the menu.
Movie Theater Captioning: Some movie theaters offer open-captioned movies (where the word appears on the screen for everyone to see) or offer closed captioning through devices the customer must ask for. To see where captioned movies are playing in your area, go to www.captionfish.com.
Live Theater Captioning: Some theaters offer captioned performances of live shows.
Captioned Telephones: Show written captions of everything the caller says. The written text appears in a built-in display screen.
CART – Communication Access Real-Time Translation: The verbatim, near instantaneous conversion of spoken language into text. A stenotype machine, notebook computer and real-time software are used to produce the text. The text is usually displayed either on a screen by a projector connected to the notebook computer, or on a notebook computer or computer monitor. People with hearing loss who use spoken language as a primary mode of communication usually use CART.
CHAPTER'S PAST USE OF GIVING CHALLENGE PROCEEDS
Thanks to your support during the past three Giving Challenge fundraising events our chapter has provided:
(1) Four Hearing Tech Expo & Clinics in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 attracting 2,200 residents from the Sarasota-Manatee area.
(2) 48 monthly educational programs at chapter meetings covering topics as varied as hearing aids, assistive listening devices, personal safety, effective communication strategies, and emotional well-being for 4800 community members with hearing loss.
(3) A Veteran’s Clinic that connected over 150 veterans and their families with hearing health providers, services, and assistive technology.
(4) 36 organized dinners, 12 Happy Hours, 8 wine-and-cheese receptions, and 36 live-theatre outings to looped performances at the Players' Theatre of Sarasota for 1,500 area residents with hearing loss. An additional 50 people per year attend special performances at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall benefiting our chapter.
(5) A return to the movies for over 720 individuals who took advantage of Sony caption glasses at Regal theatres and CaptiView caption devices at AMC theatres.
(6) Supported over 6,000 people at community outreach events such as the Sarasota Farmers’ Market, Chamber of Commerce gatherings, special educational presentations to service clubs and other business organizations, and similar community events.
(7) Provided 56 free hearing screenings to over 948 people at events such as: Hearing Tech Expos & Clinics, Sarasota Farmers Markets, Age-Friendly Sarasota event, Man Health Fair in Bradenton, Sertoma Hearing Health event, and other health-related functions.
(8) Advocated to, and convinced, 150 community venues (churches, theatres, restaurants, retail establishments, Sarasota City Council Chambers, Lakewood Ranch Town Hall) to provide better communication access through the installation of an induction hearing loop system that makes sound clearer to those with tele-coil switches in their hearing aids and cochlear implants.
(9) Supported over 250 people to participate in various community advocacy events supporting greater access in the community. Presenters included notable hearing loop advocates, Executive Directors of the Hearing Loss Association of America, representatives of local government, and authors of books about living well with hearing loss.
HLAA WEBINAR
HLAA Webinars are scheduled with short notice so check for the latest schedule. http://www.hearingloss.org/content/schedule.
On March 20, Juliette Sterkens, HLAA's Hearing Loop Advocate inspired looping advocates with a presentation entitled, "Hearing Loops Don't Just Happen".
Summary:
Hearing Loop Advocate Juliëtte Sterkens informed members on how to foster hearing loops in their community. This webinar reviewed how to locate supportive hearing care providers and trained hearing loop installers, how to rally support in the community for loop technology, how to “find” and leverage funding, and how to spread the good news once hearing loops are installed using social and local news media.
You can view this and past webinars at any time. Link to:
http://www.hearingloss.org/online-community/webinars/transcripts-replay-webinars
CHAPTER PRESIDENT'S MONTHLY COLUMN
IN THE VENICE GONDOLIER
Anne Taylor is a Bilateral Cochlear Implant user, a Gallaudet Certified Peer Mentor for the Hard of Hearing, and President of the HLAA Sarasota/Manatee Chapter.
Hang on to your Hearing!
Hearing enhances your life in so many ways.
How about listening to music, going to the movies and plays?
How about relationships with family?
How about your job?
How about safety?
Difficulty in hearing affects all aspects of life.
According to the Hearing Loss Association of America, approximately 48 million Americans have some level of hearing loss, with only 20% doing anything about it. In Sarasota/Manatee counties alone, there are approximately 145,000 people with hearing loss.
Hearing Loss is Not Always Age-related
Some of our soldiers are coming home from the wars with many life-changing injuries. Many of them say that the most challenging injury is hearing loss (most often caused by excess noise).
About 2 to 3 out of every 1,000 babies in the United States are born with a detectable level of hearing loss in one or both ears. More than 90% of deaf or hard of hearing children are born to hearing parents. https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/statistics/quick-statistics-hearing
Personally, I lost most of my hearing at five years old. I contracted mumps and had a tonsillectomy a few months later. My ears became infected and medication was used. Very likely, my inner ear was damaged, causing hearing loss. READ MORE!
JUNE HLAA CONVENTION NOTE
The upcoming HLAA Convention is in Minneapolis on June 21 – 24 and the host hotel is the Hyatt Regency.
Highlights:
- The opening night “Get Acquainted” party will include light fare, entertainment, and a cash bar.
- The National Awards Breakfast & Ceremony will be held on Thursday morning.
- The State and Chapter Awards Ceremony & Reception will be held on Wednesday evening. The awards ceremony is being split into two separate events. This ceremony will highlight state/chapter awards, while the national awards will be presented on Thursday morning.
- The Research Symposium, Hearing in Noise, will be on Friday morning.
- Educational workshops will focus on: Hearing Assistive Technology (HAT), Advocacy, Living with Hearing Loss, Hearing Aids & Cochlear Implants, and Hearing Loss in Health Care Settings.
MEMBERSHIP NOTES
The Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) is the country’s leading membership and advocacy organization for people with hearing loss. As a member of HLAA, you are part of an organization with a mission to provide information, support and advocacy to people with hearing loss. Through HLAA's advocacy work at the federal level, it represents 48 million people with hearing loss in the United States.
If you prefer to mail-in or fax your membership form, please download the membership form [PDF] for your convenience.
Chapter Members, please note:
HLAA sends only one notice for renewal and many members have unknowingly not renewed.
You can check whether your membership is current by logging in at: https://17291.thankyou4caring.org and if not, please renew (or join) by linking to: http://www.hearingloss.org/content/join.
THANK YOU!
If you have any questions on membership, please feel free to contact Anne Taylor at http://hlas.org.
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