Hearing Loss Association of America, Silicon Valley Chapter

HLAA Virtual Zoom Meetings today 9.12.2020 - https://mailchi.mp/5df22573/virtual-chapter-meeting-6553838

May is Better Hearing and Speech month. This is a gentle reminder for our hearing family and friends, this will help us hear better.

HEARING LOSS BLOGS YOU CAN READ By Lynne Kinsey, President of HLAA-SV If you are looking for new material to read by and about people with varying degrees of hearing loss, here is one list of such blogs that will keep you busy for a long time: ... https://www.hearinglink.org//blogs-for/hearing-loss-blogs/ A blog is a web log that an author can add material to on a regular basis. Some allow you to subscribe and automatically receive all new updates. Sometimes reading what other people have experienced (in this case about their hearing loss and what has or has not worked for them) can be more useful that a detailed explanatory article. This list comes from an organization in the United Kingdom, but some of the listings are American. You can find more listings by searching for Hearing Loss Blogs. When reading a blog, you can read as much or as little of it as you want. They will sometimes contain links for more detailed information. Some are longer than others, but you do not commit yourself to reading a whole book. You can use some of your isolation time to do additional reading.

By Lynne Kinsey, President The Walk4Hearing (W4H) scheduled for May 30, 2020 in Alameda will be replaced with an online celebration. I do not know exactly what will be included. There will be captioned entertainment and speakers with a festive atmosphere. We will be hearing more about it as the time gets closer. All other spring W4Hs will be in this format, so we will have a chance to view them as well. Raising money is even more important than before because the national HLA...A office staff is working hard from home to create these new events, cancel contracts with facilities that were scheduled, make Coronavirus coping strategies available to members and answer all of our questions, deal with everything else as it comes up and re-schedule things for the future. I thank everyone that has already donated to the W4H. I am proud to say I have collected the most donations for our W4H. 40% of my donations will come to our chapter. Earl Mizuguchi and his team are also raising W4H funds, 40% of which will come to our chapter. Please consider donat- ing to one of us or starting your own fundraising. Family and friends are usually happy to donate to causes that are important to you. Ask me how to start your own campaign or donate at http://hlaa.convio.net. Click on Donate and enter the name of the walker. Thank you for supporting our important cause and adding to the success of our Walk4Hearing.

HLAA2020 Convention is Cancelled Click on the link below to learn more: https://www.hearingloss.org/hlaa2020-convention-cancelled/

Communications & Medical Access in the Hospital During Disasters: Temporary Recommendations for Hospitals and Medical Facilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic https://bit.ly/2WQbxXD

MARCH CHAPTER MEETING HAS BEEN CANCELED. THERE WILL BE NO MEETING TOMORROW!

WEDNESDAY MARCH 11 CHAPTER MEETING Program: San Jose City Facilities for Seniors by Linda Brewka... Linda Brewka from the City of San Jose Department of Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhood Services will tell us about city facilities that are specifically geared for senior adults. Are you tired of reading about an interesting place or event and finding that it was overrun with noisy active children and you had difficulty hearing, seeing, and moving around to enjoy it? Ms. Brewka will inform us on the facilites thast are best suited for us and what accommodations are available to make it easier for us to hear and enjoy the provided programs. It should not be necessasry to miss the programs that sounded interesting to us. Bring your questions and share positive and negative past experiences. Sally Edwards from the Peninsula HLAA Chapter will also attend our meeting to speak about the upcoming Bay Area Walk4Hearing scheduled for Saturday, May 30, 2020, at Crown Memorial Statre Beach in Alameda, Calif. We wlll also have election of officers for the new board. Meeting Program: 12:30 pm - Everyone is welcome to bring a sack lunch or snack to eat before the program starts. 1:00 pm - Meeting starts: Announcements and Program. Our Meetings are captioned and the room is looped. Use the hearing-loop system by turning your hearing aids to the Telecoil (T-coil) setting and/or read real time captions projected on our overhead screen. OUR FUND RAISERS: Don't forget to bring dollar bills for the 50/50 raffle. The Second Hand Treasures table will not be available this month. LOCATION: We meet in the Red Dining Room off of the Main Lobby in the San Jose Masonic Center, located at 2500 Masonic Dr, San Jose. Parking is available in front and side of the center.

Today is World Hearing Day, which was founded by the World Health Organization in 2007. HLAA has partnered with the World Health Organization and these three c...ampaigns below to promote prioritizing hearing health. 1. HLAA and American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA): Often left untreated in adults, hearing loss is associated with other medical conditions such as dementia, heart disease, and diabetesand can have a negative impact on one’s social life, personal relationships, mental health, and quality of life, said Theresa Rodgers, MA, CCC-SLP, 2020 ASHA president. A host of effective intervention and treatment options exist for people across the lifespan with all degrees of hearing loss, according to Barbara Kelley, executive director of HLAA. Whether hearing loss is something a person is born with or something they acquire months, years, or decades later, this World Hearing Day, we want to empower and motivate people to take the next step toward good hearing health. Learn more: http://bit.ly/2TwF2uw ___________________________________________________ 2. HLAA and Hearing Industries Association (HIA): HLAA has partnered with HIA and their "Hear Well. Stay Vital" campaign for World Hearing Day. Stay engaged, stay vital and enjoy what you love. Travel. Hiking. Jogging. Playing. Music. Untreated hearing loss increases risks of dementia, depression, falls, memory and balance issues. Get a hearing health check every year. Learn more: https://www.hearwellstayvital.org/ ___________________________________________________ 3. HLAA and the Know Your Hearing Number Campaign: World Hearing Day is today and it’s a great opportunity to help spread the word that your hearing number is an important health measure to know and monitor. *Survey of 1,250 conducted by Penn, Schoen, Berland, March 13, 2019. Data on file. Learn more: https://www.hearing2020.com/

MEET OUR NEW CAPTIONER- At our February 12th meeting, we introduced our new captioner, Patricia (Trish) Poulad. Our previous captioner, Leah Sowles, informed us that she can no longer do captioning on Mondays and Wednesdays, which is when she captions for us and the Peninsula HLAA Chapter. I anticipated having trouble finding a new person, but we found Trish Poulad who visited our meeting once before to see how a captioner works with us. She is available and is anxious to wor...k with us. Please say hi to Trish when you see her and welcome her. I asked Trish to write a short article for our newsletter to introduce herself. Thank you, Trish, for letting us feel like we know you. I love your Craption (read on to see what I am referring to). We all have many similar misheard statements. We look forward to using your captions to better understand what is being said! Trish Poulad--I was born and raised in San Francisco and moved to the South Bay when I got married in 2015. I graduated from the University of Arizona with a major in Linguistics and then graduated from Golden State College of Court Reporting and Captioning in Pleasanton, CA, which is now closed. I was a court reporter for five years before I made the transition to broadcast captioning. I have been captioning at Vitac, the largest captioning company in the U.S., for almost four years. 100% of my work is done remotely from my San Jose home office. I am a bit isolated, but my eight- year-old pug, Kahlua, keeps me company. Being a broadcast captioner is an interesting job because there's so much variety. One hour I might be captioning cable news, and the next hour might be a shopping channel or an NBA game. The most rewarding part of my job is when there is emergency breaking news, such as a tornado warning or shooting, and I am called upon to caption important information that's being relayed by authorities. It's really rewarding to know I'm helping people by providing equal access. Lynne asked me to share about "humorous captioning experiences." This is my first example of what we in the industry call "craptions": A famous movie actor passed away of natural causes in Los Angeles. News anchor: "He will be buried in his home state of Texas. He was 68." Captions: He will be barbecued in his home state of Texas. He was 68. See more

MARCH AND APRIL 2020 NEWSLETTER PAGE 1 ONLY MARCH 11 PROGRAM San Jose City Facilities for Seniors... Linda Brewka from the City of San Jose Depart- ment of Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhood Services will tell us about city facilities that are specifically geared for senior adults. Are you tired of reading about an interesting place or event and finding that it was overrun with noisy active children and you had difficulty hearing, seeing, and moving around to enjoy it? Ms. Brewka will inform us on the facilities that are best suited for us and what accommodations are available to make it easier for us to hear and enjoy the provided programs. It should not be necessary to miss the programs that sounded interesting to us. Bring your questions and share positive and negative past experiences. APRIL 8TH PROGRAM Airport Services for the Hard of Hearing Rosemary Barnes, Public Information Manager for Mineta San Jose International Airport, will discuss their new program that will provide services for the hard of hearing. The airport has continued to be a user-unfriendly place for people with hearing loss. It is extremely difficult to hear the people behind the ticket counter and at departure and arrival gates. The overhead announcements seem like an unintelligible source of noise, rather than their intended useful information. Come to hear what their new system will be like and how it will help us. This will be our chance to express our appreciation for improving our airport experiences, to ask questions, and explain what the past difficulties have been. Both these meetings will be interesting presentations on local facilities and activities for seniors in our area. These city departments do not know what we really need if they do not hear from the people that need and use their programs. These will be two opportunities to hear what they have to say and to give them feedback. Monthly Chapter Meetings Meetings are on the 2nd Wednesday of the month, September to June. All Meetings are Audio Looped and Captioned. Meetings are held in the San Jose Masonic Center, 2500 Masonic Drive, San Jose, CA 95125. Look for us in the Red Dining Room, off from the main lobby. Presentations start at 1:00 pm. Refreshments and Social start at 12:30 pm when there is no potluck. Potlucks are held in March, June, September, and December and start at 12:15 pm. Our Secondhand Treasures Sales are held at non-potluck meetings in January, February, April, May, October, and November. For more information, contact President-Lynne Kinsey at [email protected] or call 408- 265-4038. Website: http://www.hearinglossca.org//northern-cha/silicon-valley- chapter

Please join us Wednesday, February 12th, for our HLAA-SV chapter meeting Our program will feature Jolene Bradford, an experienced Mobility and Communications Specialist at Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) , who works with older adults and persons with disabilities. She will inform us of services VTA provides that meet the needs of the senior community. This program should provide insight into what senior citizens with hearing loss can expect from this organi...zation. Please check your newsletters for upcoming programs and mark your calendars. Schedule: 12:30 pm - Coffee, lemonade and refreshments. Everyone is welcome to bring a sack lunch to eat before the program starts, a snack to share or just visit. 1:00 pm - Meeting starts: Announcements and Program. Our Meetings are captioned and the room is looped. Use the hearing-loop system by turning your hearing aids to the Telecoil (T-coil) setting and/or read real time captions projected on our overhead screen. OUR FUND RAISERS: Don't forget to bring dollar bills for the 50/50 raffle and the Second Hand Treasures table. We also need salable items for the table which will be open this month. Please donate what you can. If your items do not sell, then take them home and bring them again in a future month as we do not have storage facilities for extra items. LOCATION: We meet in the Red Dining Room off of the Main Lobby in the San Jose Masonic Center, located at 2500 Masonic Dr, San Jose. Parking is available in front and side of the center.