Our new site is up!

We have moved! You can visit our new website at hlaakc.com. Or, if you wait six seconds, you'll automatically be redirected there. Thanks for your patience during our transitional period!

Our site is moving!

Greetings all! Members of the HLAA KC chapter have been hard at work to provide you with a new website - still a blog, but much more than just a blog. In the next day or two, we'll switch over. People who click on this blog site will automatically be redirected to the new site. All links will still work. Of course, if you should find something that doesn't work the way it should, please let us know! Contact us at hlaakc@gmail.com. Comments, questions and feedback are always appreciated.

Look for the new site soon! We'll share the url for the new site as soon as it's ready!

The Latest on Captioned Movies in Kansas City

***UPDATE 10/1/10: After a three-month absence, captioned movies are BACK in Kansas City. "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of G'Hoole" (PG) is showing in rearview captioned and descriptive video formats this week at AMC Theatre Studio 30 in Olathe, Kansas. Click HERE to view showtimes.***


The HLAA Chapter of Kansas City has been advocating for the return of captioned movies (preferably open captions) at AMC Theatres and will continue to do so with other theater chains. The Kansas City HLAA Chapter is advocating for captioned movies at local theaters. Our first effort was a meeting today with Dan Glennon, manager at the AMC Studio 30 theater in Olathe, KS. Representing the KC HLAA Chapter were Terri Shirley and Shanna Groves.

It appears Studio 30 theater will likely be the first AMC location to provide captioned films in Kansas City that supports all-digital movies. Formerly, captioned movies were on 35-milimeter film. The new digital technology vendors are now playing catch-up with making sure these films are rearview captioned (reflective screen technology, known as "RW") and open captioned (subtitles, known as "OC").

Glennon said he is on board with providing captioned film choices. However, the delay in providing the captioning service is coming from other sources: movie studios producing and delivering OC films, outside vendors providing necessary technology for RW-captioned digital films, and corporate support.

During the meeting, Glennon was presented with hearing loss and Deaf community statistics, compiled by HLAA Supporter Sandra Kelly, executive director of the Deaf Cultural Center in Olathe. This info included the following:

* Though no one maintains the statistics on hearing loss of adults in the area, because the school for the Deaf is located in Olathe [and has been since 1866], there is a significantly larger population of individuals with hearing loss that live in the area.

* It has been estimated that there may be several thousand Deaf individuals in the Greater Kansas City area. This does not include individuals who are considered hard of hearing.

* There is an estimated 34-37 millions individuals in the US with hearing loss significant enough that it affects their daily lives.

* Of these individuals, 2/3 of them are under the age of 65.
Hearing loss within a family affects everyone, not just the person with the loss. Family members [without the hearing loss] are very aware of businesses and organizations that are supportive of this challenge. It is not only the person unable to hear that is considered the consumer. It includes his family, co-workers and others aware of the support from businesses.

* Visitors to the Deaf Cultural Center have come from every state in the Union, as well as, many countries from around the world. Our numbers have more than tripled from three years ago. It would be difficult to estimate how many of these people have hearing loss, but I would estimate at least 50%. Again, it is the family and friends of Deaf / Hard-of-Hearing individuals who often accompany these folks.
90% of Deaf children are born into Hearing families. Parents of these children are looking for equal access to entertainment.

* Last year Olathe was identified in an online survey [Deaf411.com] as one of the most Deaf Friendly communities in the Midwest. This is a 'draw' to people around the country.

~*~*~*~*~*

The KC HLAA Chapter will follow up with AMC and other local theaters' progress in provided captioned movies and will post updates here

Vocational Rehab Explored at Sept. 18th Meeting

Cathee Wolford, a Counselor with Missouri Vocational Rehabilitation, spoke about ways her office helps people with hearing loss find employment opportunities. Cathee, who has a hearing loss, joined the Missouri VR staff earlier this year.


More than a dozen people attended Saturday's Kansas City HLAA Chapter meeting at the Kansas City Library-Plaza Branch. James Ankrom and Cathee Wolford with Missouri Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) shared employment and education resources for individuals with hearing loss.

Wolford, who has a hearing loss, explained how VR services allowed her to thrive in college and in the workforce. "When I got interpreting help, my grades went up," she said. "Maybe I would have done better in (elementary and high school) if I'd had an interpreter."

The purpose of VR in Missouri, which has 27 district offices and six offices in Kansas City, is to help persons with disabilities find good-paying employment opportunities. This includes people with hearing loss or deafness, as well as the learning disabled, visually impaired, persons with brain injury, and other special needs. "We want everyone who comes to us working," Ankrom said about his department's purpose.

Someone who is hard of hearing and desires Missouri VR services will first be sent to an audiologist for an audiogram, or hearing test, to determine the level of hearing loss. The person would need to have a minumum 38-decibel loss to qualify for services.

Any person with hearing loss who needs special equipment to function well on the job can request it through VR referrals. For instance, Wolford uses a video phone at work to be able to make phone calls despite her hearing loss.

VR's job skills training includes how to write resumes, how to interview, and what to wear to the interview.

Missouri VR can also monitor high school seniors who have disabilities, then work with them in finding jobs once they graduate.

"We don't want people with disabilities to be hidden," Ankrom said. "We want them in mainstream society, working alongside able-bodied individuals."

For information about Missouri VR, visit www.vr.dese.mo.gov.

For information about the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, visit http://www.srs.ks.gov/Pages/Default.aspx.

Bring Captioned Movies Back to Kansas City

KANSAS CITY STAR - LETTER TO THE EDITOR (Submitted 9/16/10)

How come the largest movie theater chain in Kansas City stopped showing captioned movies?

I have a hearing loss and need captions in order to understand film dialogue. Local AMC theaters used to show rear-window captioned movies, which required the viewer to place a reflective-mirror device inside the seat’s cup holder and captions from the theater’s back walls reflected onto the glass. A few years ago, I watched an open-captioned version of Mama Mia!, in which the words displayed directly on the film in front of me.

Those days are gone.

Why? "Rear window captioning that functions with our new digital platform will be installed by the end of the month," responded AMC Representative Dan Glennon on July 27. “Studio 30 will actually be the first theatre among our entire chain to have this upgrade completed. Once the device is installed and functioning as expected you will see the ‘CC’ indicators next to the film titles on the internet as well as in the newspaper.”

Still, no captioned movies.

Request that local theaters bring back captions so every Kansas Citian can enjoy films. Updates will be posted at http://hlaakc.blogspot.com.

Shanna Groves
Kansas City Chapter of the Hearing Loss Association of America



**********

KANSAS CITY HLAA CORRESPONDENCE WITH AMC THEATERS


8/02/10 Update

I went a bit further with the person (Dan Glennon) from AMC and explained how CC was misleading to the public and RWC for Rear-window captioning was more suitable. I explained how CC mislead me. If you have time you can read through previous email messages. I suppose if we ever wanted to take it any further, he is happy to set up a meeting.

Terri Shirley
Kansas City HLAA Member

**********

Dan Glennon wrote:

Hi Teri –

I am not sure what you are referring to. I read and responded to your letter this weekend, you will notice the date stamp on the letter’s response as Saturday at 950pm.

I will re-forward following my sending this.

At this time if you would like to further communicate regarding the RWC or CC I would be happy to set up a meeting at the theatre.

Sincerely-

DAN GLENNON

**********

From: Terri Shirley
Sent: Monday, August 02, 2010 8:34 AM
To: Dan Glennon
Subject: [Fwd: Re: [Fwd: Re: Rear Window Captioning]]

Hi Glen,

You just deleted a message without reading it. I would like you to look at this again and consider changing your listings to RWC from CC.

I would appreciate a response as lots of people are interested in this subject. I know the whole captioning is a lot of extra work and we appreciate it.

Terri

**********

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [Fwd: Re: Rear Window Captioning]
Date: Sat, 31 Jul 2010 15:51:26 -0500
From: Terri Shirley
To: Dan Glennon

Hi Glen,

I have another issue I would like to ask you about. The "CC" is misleading. "CC" stands for closed captioned. This misrepresentation caused a lot of confusion on my part. If you had RWC and not CC, that would be the correct definition for rear-window captioning.

I would like to tell you what happened to me, then you may understand how "CC" is misleading the public.

My 1st attempt at rear-window captioned movie - First time I went to a "CC" AMC movie, I left wondering why it was not closed captioned. "CC" means closed captioned and no device is needed. Afterwards, I went to the desk to ask why it was not closed captioned. They showed me what the rear-window caption device was.

My 2nd attempt at rear-window captioned movie - Next time I went, I got the device to put in the cup holder, yet it would not show up in the screen. After going back to the customer service desk, they told me I sat too far back for it to be able to reflect off the device. It was too late to move as movie had started and it was dark, plus I was with other people. It was not going to work to move the group of us to someplace closer to the front.

My 3rd attempt at read-window captioned movie - Next time I went I sat up closer to screen. Still no captioning would show up on the device. I was really frustrated with the stupid cup device. I went up to the customer service and asked why it did not work this time. They had a problem. They did not describe it but said she would come in the theater to tell me when it was fixed. Next, they actually stopped the movie and AMC employee came in theater and said they were sorry for disrupting the movie, but the DVD with the captioning was cracked! Can you believe that? Then they started up the movie again with no rear-captions available. It was sort of embarrassing. Customer service gave me two free passes for another movie.

If you had put "RWC" next to movie listing, I would have had to ask what it stood for and then would have been shown the cup device the first time. Then I would perhaps seen the captions the 1st time, instead I left with no idea why Closed Captioned did not show up on the screen.

Out of all this time, I have only seen one rear-window captioned movie. It is better than nothing.

I agree with other hearing-impaired people, putting the rear-window device in my cup holder is the least preferred out of closed captioned, open captions and subtitles. RWC is taking up a cup space, it is bulky and an attention grabber. It does not bother the hearing population, therefore it will most likely continue. Yes, it is better than nothing. I wonder if other theaters across the US have anything else better to offer.

Let me know that you have gotten this and understand how RWC would be better than CC next to the movie listing.

Thank you,
Terri Shirley

7/27/10

Dan Glennon wrote:

My apologies Terri –

To jump straight to the question you posed, rear window captioning that functions with our new digital platform will be installed by the end of the month. Studio 30 will actually be the first theatre among our entire chain to have this upgrade completed. Once the device is installed and functioning as expected you will see the ‘CC’ indicators next to the film titles on the internet as well as in the newspaper.


Thanks again for your patience/ look forward to seeing you in the coming weeks!

DG

913.393.2262
dglennon@amctheatres.com

**********

From: Terri Shirley
Sent: Saturday, July 24, 2010 10:21 PM
To: Dan Glennon
Subject: [Fwd: Re: Rear Window Captioning]

Hello Glen,

I did not get a response to this. I would appreciate hearing from you.

Thank you,
Terri

-------- Original Message --------

Subject:
Re: Rear Window Captioning

Date:
Thu, 08 Jul 2010 00:42:26 -0500

From:
Terri Shirley

To:
Dan Glennon


Well, my only thoughts are that since 3D is taking up showtime slots, I figured the time slot for rear window captions were pushed off to the back burner since 3D probably brings in more money for the theater. When you speak of all digital projection format, is that 3D? How long will it be before rear window captioned movies are going to be back on the schedule? Used to be it was only one, maybe two movies to choose from each week at AMC30 and AMC20. Now, neither are offering any movies captioned, so do you have projected date? Again, clear me up on what "all digital projection format" is.

Thank you,
Terri Shirley

Dan Glennon wrote:

Hi Terri –

I am glad to answer your question via email. As our industry transitions to an all digital projection format, some systems have not been updated to interact with this new technology –one of which is Rear Window Captioning.

Being that Studio 30 is one of the premier locations for AMC, when this technology comes available you can be certain we will be one of the first to install it.

In the interim if you have any questions whatsoever, please do drop me a note.

Best -

DG

**********

From: Terri Shirley
Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2010 3:37 PM
To: Dan Glennon
Subject: Re: Rear Window Captioning

Hello Dan,

Since I cannot hear over the phone very well, which is sort of obvious since I need rear window captioning, could you send your reply by email? It is so much easier than me having to call through a relay operator who can't type what you are saying as fast as you can speak. Plus I will not have to play telephone tag or have employees chase you down to get to the phone for a long drawn out phone call with a relay operator on the other end..

Thank you,
Terri Shirley

Dan Glennon wrote:

Terri-

I recently received your questions regarding Rear Window Captioning and would like the opportunity to answer them for you.

Please contact me via the information below at your soonest convenience.

Sincerely -

________________________________________
Dan Glennon| AMC Studio - KC 30 With IMAX #0610 | General Manager |
12075 S. Strang Line Road | Olathe, KS 66062 | (:913.393.3030 | 7: 913.393.2368 | *: dglennon@amctheatres.com

September message from HLAA

Some items of note emailed from our national HLAA President Brenda Battat.... her message isn't posted online, but you can find out more on hearingloss.org.

• With the approach of the fall Walk4Hearing™ events, successful kickoffs have been held in several cities including Boston, Chicago, Pennsylvania, and Salt Lake City.

Many more parents are joining and participating in the Walk4Hearing™. We want to be responsive to them and also provide more parent resources. While this was not part of our program framework for 2010, we are very pleased that it is happening. When opportunities arise we must be flexible to enough to seize the opportunities and challenges. The resources we have for parents to date include:

> A Wiki for parents developed by Marcia Finisdore, former President of the HLAA Board of Trustees and a parent of children with hearing loss. This is a place where parents can find unbiased information to empower them to make decisions for their children. To see the Wiki and to refer parents to it go to www.kidsandhearingloss.org . This is an ongoing project so if anyone has articles, pictures, or profiles of families that to add to the Wiki, please send it to Marcia at marcia@kidsandhearingloss.org. We welcome your feedback.

> The November issue of Hearing Loss Magazine is for parents. Their stories will tug at your heart strings and the pictures of the children are beautiful.

> A flyer to hand out to parents at the walks designed by our wonderful volunteer Hollace Goodman. See it at http://kidsandhearingloss.org/

> The keynote speaker during the Opening Session of HLAA Convention 2011, June 16 -19 will be Christopher J. Artinian, Chief Executive Officer and President of Morton’s Restaurant Group, Inc. The Artinian family is the subject of the Oscar-nominated film Sound and Fury, which tells the story of brothers: Chris, who was born with hearing, and his older brother Peter, who was born deaf. Both brothers married and both had children who were born with hearing loss.

• Planning for the HLAA Convention 2011, June 16-19 at the Hyatt Regency in Crystal City is going very well. Many of our convention materials refer to the location of Convention 2011 as Washington, D.C., yet in the same breath we say that it will be held at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City. That can be confusing! To take the mystery out of Crystal City and see the convention highlights to date go to http://www.hearingloss.org/convention/.

• HLAA has notified the chairman of the board and president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts that they have been selected to receive the HLAA National Access Award for 2011. They have already responded positively and are looking into our request to present the award on stage at the Kennedy Center before a captioned performance of “Wicked” to have more exposure for captioning and to use the occasion as an educational opportunity about communication accessibility for the general audience.

• Above is the new logo for the “Get in the Hearing Loop” project…a joint educational effort of HLAA and the American Academy of Audiology (AAA). A brochure on telecoils is complete and now in the design and printing phase. The brochure will be on the HLAA website and downloadable. It will be made available to members in states and chapters to distribute at places such as health fairs, and throughout their communities. A September webinar on telecoils is planned.

• The HLAA webinar held on August 19, 2010 was brought to viewers by Clear Sounds Communication Inc. The topic was technology for use in the workplace and 60 people attended. This is an example of presentations by companies that are promoted as “infomercials”. Hearing Loss Association of America does not endorse products or services. HLAA infomercial webinars are designed to provide consumers with up-to-date information on products and services. To view the webinar go to http://www.hearingloss.org/Community/transcripts.asp.

PLEASE NOTE: Beginning with the September webinar, the HLAA webinars will require preregistration. Once a registrant is registered they will receive the link to join the webinar and will also automatically get a reminder the day before the webinar with the link. If the registrant does not attend the webinar, the next day they will receive a link for the playback. There is no charge to attend HLAA’s online seminars but registration is now required.

Register today for the HLAA Webinar for September 15, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. EDT. The Guest speaker will be Brad Ingrao, Au.D., and his topic is "Getting the Most from Your Hearing Aids with Real Ear Measurement." Detailed information about this webinar and guest speaker can be found at www.hearingloss.org.

• We continue to work on several Federal proceedings: the Access Board on Acoustics, the Department of Justice on movie captioning, the Department of Labor on affirmative action for federal contractors, and the FCC on hearing aid compatible cell phones,

• Barbara Kelley, HLAA deputy director represented HLAA at a reception for the initiation of a capital campaign for a new School for the Deaf in Lexington, Kentucky. Former President Bill Clinton was the guest of honor and Starkey was the presenting sponsor. The HLAA Kentucky state chapter coordinator and other HLAA chapter members were in attendance. We plan to follow up with a request that President Clinton become involved in helping us fight stigma of hearing loss.

September 18, 2010 meeting details

Hey, everyone, I know you're all looking forward to the next HLAA meeting here in September! Details below:

Saturday, September 18, 2010

HLAA Kansas City Chapter meeting

Kansas City Public Library - Plaza Library Branch

Large meeting room

Address:

4801 Main Street

Kansas City, MO 64112

Meeting topic: Vocational Rehabilitation and resources

Presenter: James Ankrom, District Supervisor

See you all there!

HLAA Kansas City Leadership Team

KC HLAA Chapter Leadership Team
(Pictured, l to r - Secretary Shanna Groves, Treasurer Minda Nelson, Walk4Hearing Captain Kelly Rogel, President Dennis Selznick, and Vice President Alex Vetor)



Each month, your KC HLAA Chapter Leadership Team meets to discuss future events and goals for the group. The last meeting, held August 10, covered the following topics:

* Walk4Hearing - This fundraising initiative of the National HLAA organization raises thousands of dollars every year for local chapters and national advocacy efforts. In the fall of 2009, the KC leaders attended the St. Louis, Missouri, Walk4Hearing. The St. Louis walk is held every 18 months, and the goal of the KC Chapter is to participate once again with St. Louis in its May 2011 walk. Kelly Rogel, pictured above with KC leaders, will serve as KC Walk4Hearing Captain. She will contact everyone on the local Walk4Hearing Committee to discuss plans, fundraising goals, and sponsorships.

* Future meetings - See calendar to the right of this page for upcoming events and locations.

* Social ideas - We are planning social activities every other month for the chapter. Send Secretary Shanna Groves your ideas at sgrovesuss@msn.com or post them on this page.

Our next leadership meeting will be September 7. Send your questions or comments about KC HLAA Leadership to President Dennis Selznick at getdennis@gmail.com.

August 2010 National HLAA News

Stuff's always brewing at the national level - check it out:

http://hlaachapternews.blogspot.com/2010/08/news-you-can-use-from-national-hlaa.html

In this Issue
• The HLAA Chapter-National Partnership
• Chapter Connection Calls from HLAA
• October 15 Deadline for Filing IRS Form 990 by ePostcard
• Newsletter Help from HLAA
• How to Use Walk4Hearing™ Funds
• Fundraising Idea

Note to all members who volunteered - I'll be contacting you shortly about your participation in the HLAA Walk 4 Hearing Committee, for the walk to be held in St. Louis in May 2011.

July/August Announcements

We had a wonderful turnout at the July 24th meeting at the KCMO-Plaza Branch Library. A special thank you to KC HLAA Chapter President Dennis Selznick for the interesting presentation on the 2010 HLAA National Convention, held last month in Milwaukee.


Chapter President Dennis Selznick with Wendy Mentzer


Chapter Vice President Alex Vetor (left) with attendees at the July 24th meeting


New Chapter Members Rob and Betty Jefferson of Belton, Missouri

CHAPTER ANNOUNCEMENTS:

* We need Walk4Hearing fundraising volunteers! We are forming an exploratory committee to consider organizing a future Walk4Hearing benefit event in Kansas City. Walk4Hearing is an HLAA-nationally sponsored event to raise funds and awareness for local chapters. These funds allow chapters to pay for services at each meeting, such as transcripts/CART currently provided pro-bono by 20/20 Captioning. The attached transcript will explain more about what CART is. To learn more about Walk4Hearing, visit www.hearingloss.org. Contact me (Shanna) if you are interested or want more info about the KC Walk4Hearing Exploratory Committee, sgrovesuss@msn.com.


* Per Dennis -- Visit HLAA National's Advocacy Blog! http://hlaa-advocacy.blogspot.com. There they have several initatives going on:

a) Classroom acoustics - Write to the U.S. Access Board ASAP! Give your feedback on how classroom acoustics need to be modified so that people like YOU can understand better!

b) HR 3101 - a bill on the "Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act" includes accessibility such as no limits on captioning internet videos, TVs smaller than 13" must include caption decoders, and funds set aside for deaf-blind accessibility.

* We need social ideas! A number of you have expressed an interest in meeting together more often socially. Your ideas and interest will help us in determining how, where, and when we can meet. Please contact me if you would like to serve on the KC HLAA Social Committee.

* Next HLAA Event: Coffee Social - August 21! Join us Saturday, August 21, 10:00am at Black Dog Coffee House, 12815 W. 87th Street Pkwy, Lenexa, KS, for a Chapter Chat and Coffee Social.

July 24th meeting - HLAA convention presentation

On Saturday, I had a chance to present to an interesting audience about my experience at the HLAA Convention in Milwaukee. Sarah and Kelly, two HLAA convention scholarship recipients, were unable to attend but already provided a write up of their experience on this blog site.

Before we opened the presentation, I mentioned a couple of things for the audience:

1) Various new events will be posted on this blogsite via the calendar on the right-hand side:

2) HLAA's national blog is at hlaa-advocacy.blogspot.com. There they have several initatives going on:
a) Classroom acoustics - write to the U.S. Access Board ASAP! Give your feedback on how classroom acoustics need to be modified so that people like YOU can understand better!
b) HR 3101 - a bill on the "Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act" includes accessibility such as no limits on captioning internet videos, TVs smaller than 13" must include caption decoders, and funds set aside for deaf-blind accessibility.

3) Walk 4 Hearing - please volunteer to participate in a committee that will work with the St. Louis HLAA Chapter and help make their Walk 4 Hearing in May 2011 a success!

I'm going to post the meeting presentation and transcript shortly. Stay tuned!

Executive Board meeting

On Sunday 7/18/2010, the KC HLAA board had a meeting to kind of catch up what's going on with the chapter.

Newer members of the HLAA KC chapter, I was wondering if there's some people willing to write a bit about your hearing loss journey or experiences with hearing loss. I think I'll post my journey before this weekend so that people get a sense of what I'm looking for, but I'm interested in showcasing 1) How'd you lose your hearing, 2) What struggles have you faced, 3) How have you addressed those struggles, and 4) What is your life like today with your hearing loss?

You can write a book or a short blurb, and kind of speak to your heart. Let me know!

KC Chapter Meeting July 24

Want to learn more about the Hearing Loss Association of America convention held in Milwaukee last month?

Join us Saturday, July 24, 10:30a.m. at the Kansas City Public Library-Plaza Branch in the library's Great Meeting Room, 4801 Main St., Kansas City, when KC HLAA Chapter President Dennis Selznick presents "Highlights from the 2010 HLAA Convention."

Admission is free and the public is invited. Hope to see you there!

Kelly's Take on the HLAA Convention

I was able to attend this year’s HLAA convention in Milwaukee thanks to Starkey’s Scholarship for Young Adults. Dennis and Sarah did a great job blogging about all the awesome lectures and events that went on during the convention!

For those of you who are curious about my background. I was born with bilateral profound hearing loss which wasn’t discovered until I was 20 months. Sign language is my preferred mode of communication even though I do have some speech. I went through 5 pairs of hearing aids and rebelled against hearing aids as a teenager before I decided to receive a cochlear implant last year at the age of 25.

I have to admit I didn’t think I would be as welcomed as I was. I’m used to being looked down on for using sign language. I’m also used to being looked down on by culturally deaf people for wanting to hear. I honestly thought there would be several situations where I would feel left out because I preferred sign language and didn’t have progressive or sudden hearing loss.

Boy, was I wrong.

I met an amazing group of people who were so eager to meet other people with hearing loss that they didn’t care how I communicated or how I became deaf. This was one of the most diverse group I’ve ever met. Everyone had different types of hearing loss, lost their hearing at different ages, and utilized different technology to hear. What struck me the most about this convention was how willing everyone wanted to communicate.

COMMUNICATION. Anyone with any type and degree of hearing loss know the importance of communicating. Not once did I hear or see anyone say, “never mind” or “oh, it’s not important.” Everyone wanted everyone to understand what was going on and what was being said. People were doing all they could to make sure no one was left out. It was a beautiful thing to witness and be a part of. I witnessed an amazing amount of ACCEPTANCE and PATIENCE that I never knew was possible.

Best of all, I didn’t have to explain myself and I didn’t feel lost. I have been to other conventions/conferences in the past where I was the only deaf person and I always feel so lost at those conventions/conferences. At this convention, I could attend any workshop I wanted at anytime I wanted without having to make prior arrangements which gave me a sense of FREEDOM and FLEXIBILITY that I’ve never had. Networking was easy. Everyone knew the importance of getting the other person’s attention before starting to speak, making eye contact, and speaking clearly but normally.

For once, people understood where I was coming from. I didn’t feel like I was the odd one out for being the only one who couldn’t hear.

I saw people take PRIDE in wearing their HAs/CIs. I saw people wearing decorative items on their HAs/CIs and they didn’t want to hide them. They saw their HAs/CIs as part of who they are and wanted to declare it to the world. That attitude made me feel refreshed, energized, and ready to take on the world.

I’m already looking forward to next year’s convention in D.C.!

Day 3 of HLAA 2010

I’m back home and already on my way out again to another conference on hearing loss! I figure I need to wrap up my experiences at HLAA – seriously, this year’s conference had a significant impact on me and especially with Day 3, I learned some things that I think I need to carry back to my chapter and talk about more in depth.

For day three, I managed to hit up 4 workshops:

The Battle for Movie Captioning - A Case Study of ADA in Practice – John Waldo from WA brought a ton of information and referenced several legal cases setting precedence on the legality of open and closed captioning in movie theatres. It was fascinating to see just how things have evolved into today’s situation where movie theatres continue to resist providing captions and hopefully paves a way to getting it into theatres or having the theatres attempt to fight ADA law.

Trying to Escape by Getting Trapped: Using Drugs and Alcohol to Cope with Hearing Loss – The drugs/alcohol workshop gave me some perspective on addiction. I have a brother who absolutely will not get off the computer – but is it an addiction, or a habit? In this case, the presenter helped me understand better how addiction manifests and what methods of treatment are worth looking into, and how people with hearing loss have approached methods of escape from their own hearing loss. Incredibly eye-opening.

Aural Rehabilitation for Adults with Cochlear Implants - while the presentation was a bit dry, it did help me understand what to look for when gauging my understanding of people around me. Perhaps the presentation was more for people who didn't have hearing loss and didn't understand why someone like me who has a CI couldn't understand them, but I didn't get much out of it.

Bluffing 201 – Masks – Gael Hannon is an absolute blast to listen to. This engaging speaker helped me exercise and admit to my behavior of bluffing (not understanding when in conversation but pretending I do). She stated something along the lines of “bluffing isn’t just for people with hearing loss, people who hear well also bluff too!” So it’s a universal problem and we all can benefit from learning how to not bluff. We took part in an exercise to explain how we identify ourselves as needing understanding in conversation (example, “I have difficulty hearing, please face me and speak clearly”) and to give an example of where we bluff (i.e., talking with someone while dancing in a loud club). One guy wrote that girl asked him something and he said yes, and 40 years, two kids and two grandkids later, he still doesn’t have the heart to tell her he didn’t understand what she said! At the end, we all took a pledge to not bluff anymore – at least I took it, I hear my traveling companions declined! :-p

Each of these workshops were fabulous and important. And I will definitely be parting that information out to my chapter meeting on July 13!

After all the workshops were done, Kelly, Sarah, Vic and I took a breather before getting everyone together at the Milwaukee Brat House. About 10 of us ate outside on the patio during a beautiful summer day, absolutely perfect temperature-wise, and sunny! Very tasty Italian sausage, would highly recommend in downtown MKE!

We strolled leisurely to the busses that would drop us all of at the Comedy Club! Having heard there would be “some food” at the club, I did eat dinner lightly, and was surprised that the eats at the club were actually pretty substantial. It was just a bit late as the busses started at 8:15pm – had dinner started at 7, all would have been good! In any case, we had a spot of socializing, a good number of people who hid themselves in the confines of the conference finally came out of the woodwork and I was heartened to meet a ton of cool people!

However, the real meat of the night was the actual improv performance, done by the comedy club pros with captioning on the screen above their stage. I gotta tell ya, the comedians were really good, and especially had the best time with the captions – integrating it into the act, laughing at the occasional misspelling – “Poppy? I said Poopy!”

The best part was when they got the audience involved and Vic got dragged on stage! Hey, man! You’re a courteous/curious monkey! :-) They kept me in uproarious laughter with complete accessibility – and I hear Vic and Nabeel are gonna try to make something like that happen down in Houston! Go you, guys! Need any help?
The rest of the night was pure shenanigans by the young adult group. I’d say more, but I think I made a goof of myself. ;-) We’ll keep that in the house here! :-)

In any case, even after said shenanigans, all four of us Musketeers actually made it on time to the awards ceremony on Sunday morning. Kelly and Sarah had received scholarships from the convention, and I thought it was appropriate that they be properly recognized. The rest of the young adults and convention goers appeared and I did want to applaud Rhi for doing a fabulous job throughout 2009 and 2010 for young adults. Kudos!

HLAA Convention Overview through Sarah's eyes/ears

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Sarah Mosher and I am hard of hearing and wear just one hearing aid. When I first started attending HLAA meetings last fall, I was quite awed at what the Chapter was accomplishing here in Kansas City. It spurred me to apply for a scholarship to attend the convention in Milwaukee this year. I was a lucky recipient of the Starkey Scholarship for Young Adults, and off I went to the convention last Thursday.

I'll admit I didn't think it would be all that awesome of a convention. I kinda figured a lot of the workshops would be rather dull and there wouldn't be that many young people for me to meet. I'll happily confess I was completely wrong! I'll try to hit the highlights of the trip and not write a book here, but it's going to be hard...

Milwaukee itself is a lovely city and the weather during the four days I was there was absolutely gorgeous! I enjoyed the food at several local restaurants and highly recommend Buck Bradley should you ever get out that way. Also, take a chance on the local Cheese Curds - they are quite a hit!

I'll go over two of the many exceptional workshops I attended. These are the ones that really stuck in my head the most. The first was a medical workshop called "Regenerative Medical Therapies for Hearing Loss" by Samuel P. Gubbels, M.D. He went over a wide range of methods, successes and failures, but the gist of the speech is that they are working quite hard on developing ways to regenerate hair growth inside the cochlea. This regenerative hair cell, when done correctly, could eventually re-learn how to hear. While the hair cells have been successfully regenerated in mice, the re-learning to hear aspect has not been consistently successful. Dr. Gubbels believes it is possible, just not in our lifetime.

The second workshop that make a big impression on me was "Taking off the Mask-Strategies to Stop Bluffing (Bluffing 201)" by Gael Hannan. The main thing to be said of Ms. Hannan is this: she is hilarious! She took a subject matter that is quite common and often not funny and turned it into a great workshop where we were able to laugh at ourselves and some of the situations we've all been in. The basic definition of "bluffing" here is: to nod your head or acquiesce understanding when you really have no idea what is being said. She also went through a myriad of ways that we, as hard of hearing people, can kindly but firmly let others know what our needs our in daily conversations. It was a great learning workshop. I would definitely go see her again.

On the social side, there were more young adults in attendance than I had expected. I met many people and left with quite a few new friends. What I found interesting was that each of us was quite different in our hearing losses and our communication methods. There were several people who had severe hearing losses and did not voice for themselves but relied on sign language to communicate. Then there were several others who had had no exposure to sign language at all. And of course, there was quite a variety of people in-between. All of these people hung out together and communicated easily, no matter what method was being used. This show of acceptance and kinship was absolutely stunning. I'm still in awe.

On Friday evening, a small group of us attended the Harley Davidson Museum banquet and tour. The banquet was quite a spread of hearty biker food, and we were treated to the lovely vocals of Mandy Harvey, who sang jazz tunes for us. After satiating our hunger and our ears, we were allowed to travel through the huge, multi-floored museum of motorcycles. I can't say how fabulous they were!

On Saturday night, HLAA set up a comedy club improv night for us to attend. I have never been to a real improv show because, of course, it's quite hard to follow along. In this instance, a CART captioning screen was integrated into the set design. We had two captioners, Lisa and Lisa. I never did know if they were both really named Lisa, but the actors sure had fun with that! The "referee" of the improv had an absolute blast with our CART screen. He made this comment: "I don't even have to remember what I'm saying! All I have to do is turn to the screen and read my own thoughts!!" The captioners did a fabulous job of keeping up with all the actors, and everyone had an awesome time. Even Vic, who was actually up on stage as a volunteer! Just call him the "Curious Monkey" and hopefully he'll blog about his experience ;)

Now I'm far past the blogging mode and well on my way to writing a novel here, so I'll close up just by saying that it was a fabulous experience and I have every intention of repeating it again next year. A shout-out to the lovely Kansans who attended the convention with me: Dennis, Kelly and Vic, and all the wonderful new friends I made in Milwaukee.

Feel free to email me with any comments or questions you may have! Thanks!

Sarah
sarah@moshdesigns.com

Day 2 - 2010

Here in Milwaukee, it sure gets loud. And what I mean by loud is, man, fireworks and lightning shows sure know how to liven up the town!

I headed out to explore the town a bit and came across a fireworks show on the lake for a small gathering. It was fantastic to see the two pyrotechnicians running around with their red flares flaming, hearing the sizzle of the firework fuses lit up and then zooming into the sky to burst nearly directly above me. Meanwhile, in the not-too-distant horizon, there was a thunderstorm building, so much that it was becoming difficult to tell which flashes were of the fireworks and which were from the thunderstorm. But it was a beautiful and inspiring sight!

Yesterday, I got up early to participate in a Gallaudet research study for cochlear implant users and cell phones. For 90 minutes, I was subjected to a wide range of noises and interference sounds while listening to a voice talk about a trip to Arizona. The goal of the study was to identify what kind of impact does interference have on enjoying cell phone calls, and at what loudness or intensity did the noise make it uncomfortable to use. There were three levels of comfort - Excellent for a minimal amount of noise that was able to be easily ignored and listen to the voice; Acceptable, for the level of noise where I could have an extended conversation but would definitely complain about having on a call; and Maximum, where the noise was the loudest I could stand and still be able to have a short call. I noticed that my Excellent and Acceptable levels were close together and fairly low; I think I attribute this to being used to having good cell phone experiences when on a call and thus I'm not willing to deal with a bad amount of interference on a call. It's vital that I hear clearly when on my calls, which are mostly for business, so that I can ensure all information comes across. I hope that this study will help set standards for noise levels with CIs!

I hit up the exhibit hall and checked out the CI booths - Med-El, Cochlear America, and Advanced Bionics were well represented and provided a wealth of information as to what's new with their services. Cochlear America recently came out with a new Nucleus 5 processor, which has some water resistant features and is so thin that it requires a remote to change volumes and programs. Advanced Bionics was still touting their Harmony processor and HiRes 120 channels programming, and the rep let it slip that there were tests being done about a "Clear Voice" software coming down the wire. I'm going to visit the Med-El booth again to really understand this new electrode and processor they were putting out. But that's just the CIs - I should be collecting into about hearing aids too!

The workshops were great - I jumped around and collected info about Hearing Loss and Cochlea Regeneration, then to the Employment and Hearing Loss, and even the Cultural, Family and Personal Causes of Stresses related to Hearing Loss. There was just so much info to collect about those three during the 75 minutes, and I'm still ruminating on it all. I'll have to do a separate blogpost for each, and I'm actually going to invite the other KC chapter members who were present to write up as well. Kelly Rogel and Sarah Mosher both have excellent insights into their respective workshops as well.

At 2:30pm, I hit up the Walk 4 Hearing workshop on "How to Set up a Walk 4 Hearing, from A-Z" with Kelly, and really got a good session in with Ronnie Adler, the HLAA staff member coordinating Walk 4 Hearing, and her assistant Rebecca. For a little while there, we had a 2 on 2 session where we really got some great instruction and feedback on how to set up a walk for the KC chapter. If you're interested in helping out, we're planning on putting some information up here on the KC HLAA blog to kick off a meeting for a KC Walk 4 Hearing. So stay tuned!

The young group here at HLAA rocks! We had about 10-15 people all through the night meet up at Applebee's for dinner then over to Rock Bottom Brewery for some late night beverages. A shout out goes to everyone who came - Kelly, Vic, Sarah M, Sarah S, Rhi, Alex, Sveta, Viral, Nabeel, Rachel A, Rachel M, Daniel, Michelle, Stephanie, and everyone else!

First day of 2010's HLAA Convention!

Hey, all! I really should have blogged about this before coming to the conference, but I'm here now and I figure I should just write while I can!

Today, three KC chapter members have arrived in Milwaukee for HLAA's 2010 convention. Even with about 800 people nationwide converging on the Frontier Airlines Center in downtown MKE, the KC folks stick out as part of the younger crowd of members! Sarah Mosher, Kelly Rogel and I just jumped into seeing the town and making connections right away.

I participated in the State Chapter meeting on Thursday afternoon, that was a good way to get to know other leaders out there and get some support in meeting fantastic people who can help out our chapter with fundraising, Walk for Hearing mentoring, and recruitment. So stay tuned for what help we'll be getting!

I also attended the Cell Phones and Accessibility workshop for updated information on telecommunications access. There was a panel of experts from RIM, Motorola, AT&T and CTIA who shared their insights on how the cell phones are revolutionizing communications.

I'll keep you all informed. Gotta run!

HLAA Coffee and Chat June 19

Let's have coffee and chat!

When: Saturday, June 19, 10:00am

Where: Homer's Coffee House
7126 W. 80th Street
Overland Park, KS 66204

Open to anyone interested in HLAA Kansas City and guests.

KC HLAA Picnic a Success!

It was a gorgeous day for a picnic this past Saturday, May 22, as the Kansas City HLAA Chapter celebrated its 2nd Annual Picnic for Better Hearing.

A highlight was 6 people signing up for HLAA membership and, as a result, Chapter President Dennis Selznick receiving a pie in the face during the HLAA Membership Drive. More than 50 people attended the May 22nd event, which included a free BBQ lunch, hearing loss resource exhibits from a variety of local organizations, door prizes, and a special presentation by Hamilton Relay.

KC HLAA Chapter Treasurer Minda Nelson was selected as Hamilton Relay's Outstanding Individual with Hearing Loss in Kansas Award, with Hamilton Representative Cady Lear making the presentation. There to celebrate with Minda were her husband, Steve, and 3-month-old daughter Vivian (below).



The KC HLAA Chapter leadership wishes to thank the following organizations and individuals for their donations and support of this event:

* Hometown Hearing - Shelia Cockman (Exhibitor and Door prizes: Free set of new hearing aids and $50 Applebee's gift cards)

* Hometown Hearing - Brent Peterson (Sponsorship: $50 worth of picnic food)

* Hamilton Relay - Cady Lear (Exhibitor and Sponsorship: Three BBQ meat platters)

* Midwest Ear Institute - Kristen Lewis (Exhibitor and Door prize: Dri and Store)

* Meniere's Resources - Sherry Mason (Exhibitor and Door prizes: Meniere's book and cards)

* Loop America - Christopher DenHerder (Door prize: Audio loop system)

* Deaf Cultural Center - Sandra Kelly (Exhibitor and Helpful Volunteer)

* KC HLAA Chapter Leadership - Minda Nelson (Membership Drive and Food donations), Dennis Selznick (MC and Drink donations), Alex Vetor (Food donations)

A huge thank you to all who attended the May 22nd picnic and for everyone's support of the Hearing Loss Association of America in Kansas City!

HLAA Picnic for Better Hearing Update!

Join us Saturday, May 22, 11:00a.m. at Shawnee Mission Park, Shelter #9, 7900 Renner Road, Shawnee, KS, for BBQ lunch, games, prizes, and hearing support info from these as well as other organizations:

* Hearing Loss Association of America
* Midwest Ear Institute
* Hamilton Relay
* Hometown Hearing
* Loop America
* The Whole Person
* Meniere's Resources

And don't miss our HLAA Membership Promotion
If 5 people sign up for HLAA membership at the picnic, Kansas City HLAA Chapter President Dennis Selznick will get a pie in the face!

Lip Reader book signing to be held during the picnic, with one person to go home with a free autographed copy!

A map of Shawnee Mission Park is downloadable at:
http://www.jcprd.com/parks_facilities/map_shawnee_mission.cfm

Visit the Official HLAA Web site at http://www.hearingloss.org

Free to Public! HLAA Chapter Picnic May 22nd

What: 2nd Annual HLAA Kansas City Picnic For Better Hearing

When: Saturday, May 22, 2010 11:00a.m.

Where: Shawnee Mission Park (Shelter #9)
7900 Renner Rd.
Shawnee, Kansas

Details: Free to public… Lunch, hearing support info, games, prizes!

Sponsored by:
Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA),Kansas City Chapter
With Support from Midwest Ear Institute, Hamilton Relay, and other local hearing support organizations

For more details, contact:
Shanna Groves - e-mail: sgrovesuss@msn.com

Next event coming up - Homer's Coffee social

Mark Saturday, 3/13/2010 on your calendar - Homer's Coffee Shop social will be the next HLAA KC Chapter event meeting. The location is Homer's Coffee at 7126 W 80th St, Overland Park, KS 66204. We'll be there at 10am to 12pm, and afterwards we might all go out to lunch. Spring is coming and it might just be warm and sunny here for once - yay! See you all there!

Deaf Night Out

There will be a Deaf Night Out at Birdie's on 75th St in Overland Park, KS after 5pm on Friday, February 19, 2010. Come on out and meet deaf professionals, interpreters, and other enjoyable people who come out to network and chat. See you there!

Coffee chat

Our next meeting will be at Homer's Coffee on 75th and Metcalf in Overland Park, KS on 3/13/2010 at 10am to 12pm. Look forward to seeing you all there!

Music presentation

There was a "Hearing Loss and Music" presentation on February 13, 2010, at the Kansas City Plaza Library. Dennis Selznick presented. A link to the presentation file will be posted shortly.

1st posting

Just wanted to say "Hello, World" and that more content will be added to the site momentarily. Questions? Email hlaakc@gmail.com, or for the time being, also email getdennis@gmail.com for the KC Chapter President. Thanks!