SHHH Boulder Chapter

December 2001 Newsletter (text)

Dec 05, 2001

SHHH BOULDER CHAPTER NEWS DECEMBER 2001

Annual Holiday Potluck Party, Saturday, December 8, 2001 12:30-3 pm at the Villa Del Prado Clubhouse, Boulder

By Debbie Mohney, President

It's that time of year again, and although it seems early by the calendar, Christmas is just around the corner. Hopefully, all of you have been successful in your holiday endeavors and are ready to just relax and enjoy the holiday season! Ha, I never feel like I've gotten everything done that I should have. I try to keep in touch with relatives and old friends, and I always kick myself for not getting my cards out sooner!

Here's wishing all of you the best and that all of your communications will be clear and understood. I know that's sometimes easier said than done, but try to take some time out to slow down, relax and don't worry about trying to keep up with ALL of the conversations. Instead focus on the person you are communicating with, perhaps one on one, and let them see that you are trying to give them your full attention. If possible, try to be prepared with your assistive devices, and keep a pad of paper and pen available for those truly trying moments. And lastly, don't feel that you should apologize for your hearing loss. If you do feel like you need a little extra assistive device help, consider giving yourself an early holiday gift.

Our Annual Holiday Potluck Party is quickly approaching, Saturday, December 8th, 2001, 12:30 pm-3:00 pm at the Villa Del Prado Clubhouse (see box for directions). Time to dust off your recipe collections (or whatever means you have at your disposal) and bring a tasty contribution to our potluck. Marion Dean has graciously agreed to bring a ham again this year for the chapter contribution toward the main dish. The chapter will also provide drinks, plates, silverware and napkins. For the potluck contributions, I would suggest bringing a favorite vegetarian dish, a side dish such as: salad, vegetable, potato or rice, and of course there is always the ever-popular dessert. If you want to let me in on what you are bringing so I can give out last minute suggestions, you can either call me (voice only) at (303) xxx-xxxx or e-mail at: debbie@mountainocean.com or TTY at 303-xxx-xxxx.

Our holiday party wouldn't be complete without the exciting "White Elephant Gift Exchange". This gift exchange is not meant to break the pocketbook, so search your home for that special item you could live without. If you don't allow clutter (never a problem in my house), then please limit yourself to $10 or less. This gift exchange is fun and we don't allow any unnecessary roughness. Be sure to wrap the gift so that no one can tell in advance how lucky they would be to end up with your treasure, and don't put any names on the packages.

Our November meeting featured John McClanahan from Cochlear Corporation, with a presentation on Cochlear Implant Insurance Issues. I was traveling to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving, so Ann Pruitt ran the meeting in my absence.

John presented statistics on the Deaf/HOH populations, health insurance plans and the number of people who are screened for possible implantation. The statistics are bleak when it comes to actual coverage of cochlear implants. When employers have health insurance plans, they are able to pick and choose the plans and coverage that they want. In some cases, employers may consider coverage for cochlear implants to be unimportant, too expensive or unnecessary. Medicaid in Colorado just barely covers over 50% of the cost of an implant. Mr. McClanahan spends 60% of his time battling insurance companies for reimbursements/payments with Medicare and Medicaid.

The end of his talk addressed the need for all of us to become more educated about cochlear implants, and to educate others about the benefits of providing them to people who can qualify for the implants. The statistics show that the average total costs for a CI in the first five years is $63,000. Compare that cost to an average lifetime cost of deafness, $297,000, and the cost of pre-lingual deafness: $504,000 - special education, $455,400 - lost productivity, $70,200 - medical costs and $11,500 - Vocational Rehab.

The fight for cochlear implant insurance coverage doesn't end with the actual costs, however. Education is the key because there are other human factors that come into play, such as special education professionals who fight for the survival of their jobs when children with cochlear implants no longer need their services. Another human factor are people (both in and out of the deaf/HOH community) who either don't understand the benefits to society of providing cochlear implants or those who outright resist the technology.

If you are considering a cochlear implant or know someone who is, do as much research into your insurance coverage as you can. Ask the company who is providing the implant to help with contacting your insurance company prior to having the implant so that you don't have any unpleasant surprises afterwards. It is up to us to educate and demand (diplomatically, of course) that coverage be available to those who wish to get a cochlear implant. After all, there's more to communication than just being able to hear the birds singing.

I hope to see all of you on Saturday, December 8th, 2001 at 12:30pm for the Holiday Potluck Party!

Directions: The Villa Del Prado clubhouse is located very close to the Meadows Branch on Mohawk Dr. Going south from Baseline, turn right into the Villa Del Prado parking lot at 635 Mohawk, just before you normally turn left into the library. Take this right turn when you see the Rite Aid Drug Store on the left. As you enter the parking lot, you will see a "Manager" sign next to an arched entry way, and that is the entry way that will take you to the clubhouse.


DENVER CHAPTER NEWS

Saturday, Dec. 15 at noon: Join us for a festive afternoon for lunch and candy tour. Meet for lunch at the Park Hill Golf Club, at intersection of 35th and Colorado Blvd. in Denver. We'll dine at ROUND tables for better hearing and visual communication. You pay for your own lunch of choice. Then we will take a short drive to the Hammond's Candy Factory Tour scheduled at 2:00 at 4969 Colo. Blvd. Watch candy made the old fashioned way in small batches, hand-pulled and hand-twisted. Indulge in sugar-spun memories of youth by sampling homemade candy canes, ribbon candy, whirl lollypops, chocolates, etc. The tour includes visits to the candy store and museum. Limit: 20 people. Reservations are required by calling Marjorie by Dec. 12. Carpool at 11:30 from the Center. Meet at the Center or at the Golf Club or at Hammond's? Leave message.

SHHH Boulder Chapter
President: Debbie Mohney
Vice-President: Dianna Attaway/Jack Gibson
Secretary: Karen Keil
Treasurer: Sue Gossett
SHHH Colorado State Coordinator: Ann Pruitt
SHHH Central Denver Chapter
Chapter Contact: Dave Conant
Membership Contact: Marjorie von Frantzius

A major objective of SHHH is to develop a constituency of hard of hearing people. This cannot be achieved without members throughout the U.S. Members of SHHH groups and chapters should be members of SHHH National to help accomplish the goals that will benefit all hard of hearing people and at the same time receive the benefits of that national membership.

Individual: $25/USA, $35/Canada/Mexico, $45/Overseas (via airmail).
Professional: $35/USA, $45/Canada/Mexico, $55 /Overseas (via airmail).
(Other types of memberships include Library, Non-Profit Organization and Organization, etc.)

For information, send a SASE to SHHH, 7910 Woodmont Ave., Suite 1200, Bethesda, MD 20814.

Quote of the month

No man who is in a hurry is quite civilized.
--- Will Durant.

10 Great Ways to Help a Hard of Hearing Person Hear

1. Never say "Never mind" no matter how trivial or silly the statement under question is.
2. Make a choice talking to me or us listening to music--the quiet background is so much better for me to understand you.
3. No talking with gum or hard candy or anything else in the mouth including pen/pencil, fingers or floss.
4. Just speaking a little louder will do it without shouting.
5. Get our attention first before speaking to us--a light tap will do.
6. Rather than repeating the same words over, choose new words to help us attain that moment of enlightenment.
7. Look at us while talking--facial expressions and body language help us understand more easily.
8. Close the distance gap on our conversations--anything beyond 10 ft. starts to fade out.
9. Help make the lighting environment one that facilitates seeing each other--not too bright but not exclusively candlelight either.
10. Long meetings/conversations are fatiguing while trying to hear--give us some down time to recover. (SHHH News, Lane County, OR, July 2001, p. 7.)


The Old Man and His Hearing Aid
On the advice of his Ear, Nose and Throat specialist, an older man who had gone totally deaf bought one of the latest-model hearing aids. Sometime later, he went back to see the specialist.
"How's the apparatus working?" the specialist inquired.
"It's marvelous," the man replied. "I can hear again, as if I was 20 years old."
"Your children must be happy."
"In fact, I haven't told them yet. Ever since I've been able to hear their conversations without them realizing, I've already changed my will five times." (SHHH News, Lane Co., OR, Nov. 2001, p. 4)


OPEN-CAPTIONED MOVIE TITLE
LOCATION (See http://www.tripod.org for latest info)
DATES
NOTE: If you wish to get the latest e-mail updates on open-captioned movies in Colorado, please send e-mail to debbie@mountainocean.com to be added to the mailing list.

Colorado Springs
K-PAX
Carmike Chapel Hills
December 11, 12

Greeley
K-PAX
UA Bittersweet
December 18, 19

Denver
Don't Say a Word
UA Greenwood
December 11, 12


NEW COLORADO SHHH CHAPTER

What do you get when you take two very determined people with the same goal and add in six years? In this case it is the newest Colorado SHHH chapter. Linda Verona, who was at the time working for Connections for Independent Living in Greeley, and Gladys Russell, outspoken advocate for equal access for people who have a hearing loss met in 1995. Both were attempting to start a hearing loss group. They combined their efforts, and the first meeting of Hear-N-Colorado was held in January of 1996.

Both Linda and Gladys are long-time members of SHHH, and wanted to make the group into an official SHHH chapter. The group never could seem to meet the requirement for the number of SHHH members to sign the charter, with people moving away, etc. That is, until they learned they could have as few as four SHHH members and be affiliated!

Hear-N-Colorado meets monthly in Fort Collins, where most of the participants live. They meet the fourth Thursday of each month. (The November meeting will be the 29th, due to Thanksgiving) Members have come from Greeley, Loveland, Cheyenne and Wellington. The group is under the umbrella of Disabled Resource Services. They have the volunteer services of Tammy Stoneberger, who provides real-time captioning at the meetings.

Hear-N-Colorado has been active in advocacy, educational programs and in social activities. Over the years, they have had programs on hearing dogs, cochlear implants, assistive technology, the ADA, hearing aids, sign language, coping with a hearing loss, and many more topics. They have been instrumental in bringing about a change in the way captioning is shown on Denver television stations. During inclement weather, the school closings, etc., were superimposed over the captioning. The group took pictures of the television sets illustrating the problem, and sent them along with a series of very strong letters to the TV stations. A marked improvement appeared right away, and the group continues to monitor the situation.

Currently, HNC is working at getting real-time captioning at Fort Collins City meetings, as well as closed captioning on televised City proceedings. Members of HNC recently attended a televised meeting with the Mayor and alerted him to the fact that most late-deafened people could not understand sign language well enough to follow an interpreter, and that real-time was needed. Promises were made, and the group will be following up on the issue. The other issue HNC is working on is access in movie theaters. Currently, there are a scattered few captioned movies shown in Fort Collins, and they are not announced until the very last minute. Letters to the theaters were sent with very little response so far.

A little about the people who started Hear-N-Colorado: Linda is proficient in American Sign Language. She has presented sensitivity awareness training for governmental entities, nursing homes, hospitals, mental health centers and other care facilities on the topic of deafness, and about the Deaf culture. She has provided extensive training for organizations to educate them about the issues faced daily by people who are Deaf. She has worked with Deaf people and people who have a hearing losses a professional capacity in positions with Connections for Independent Living and with Disabled Resources. Recently making a career change, she is presently working for the MS Society.

Gladys has dealt with a progressive hereditary hearing loss her entire life. She is a gerontologist who worked for Larimer County Office on Aging for eleven years. Through this position and volunteer work with many human service agencies, she has gained experience and insight in working with people coping with hearing losses, resulting in being owner of The Critical Connection, a business that offers training and consultation to help emergency personnel communicate more effectively with people who are Deaf or have a hearing loss. She was presented the Fort Collins Mayor's Award for Volunteer of the year in 1998, and the Dorothy Lasley Memorial award in 2001, an award given to a disabled individual providing service to the disabled community. With the plaque was a $1,000 check for Hear-N-Colorado. The group is considering purchasing a lending library of books related to hearing loss and sign language, as well as assistive listening devices.

The contact person for Hear-N-Colorado group is Gladys Russell, at 970-568-7610, or e-mail: baracuda@frii.com. (Submitted by Gladys Russell)

Digest of the News
The latest Qwest phone bill's envelope printed information on the new 711 dialing option for calling Relay Colorado, saying:

"Now it's easier than ever to communicate with friends, family and business associates who are deaf, hard-of-hearing or speech disabled.
* Just dial 711 on your regular phone, at no additional cost!
* You'll be connected with a Communications Assistant who uses a TTY machine and is trained to help conversations flow accurately and with ease.
* Provide the telephone number for the person you want to call and begin speaking. Calls are handled with strictest confidentiality.
711 is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week."

The website, http://www.smalltimes.com, in an article dated October 24, 2001, Small Tech Implants are Restoring, Improving Sound for Hearing Impaired, by Rosemary Clandos, discusses Symphonix's Vibrant Soundbridge implantable hearing aid and the implantable hearing aid being developed by Otologic LLC, based in Boulder, CO.

A research team at the University of Michigan is developing a "second generation, low-power cochlear implant" incorporating an array of 128 electrodes, compared to 8-22 electrodes used by current cochlear implants. One researcher, Kensall Wise, said that 128 electrodes will improve sound perception and that present cochlear implants do well with speech but not with music or languages that depend heavily on pitch and inflections.

Wise and his team have received funding from the National Science Foundation, U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and several companies with first-generation cochlear implant devices like Advanced Bionics and Cochlear Corp. " 'They can take the pieces of what we do and benefit their products,' Wise said. 'That's how we can get these advances into the products as quickly as possible.' "

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