It may seem a long ways away, but it will soon be June which is the month the annual HLAA Convention is held. This year it will be in the magical city of New Orleans from June 18-21. Early bird registration is now open until March 2 so if you are planning on attending, now might be a good time to take action (further information below).
Suzannah Hagan sharing a wealth of information!
Meeting transcript can be found here.
We had a packed house for our meeting last Saturday. Suzannah Hagan started us off with a terrific presentation – understanding audiograms, what it takes to be a cochlear implant recipient (and be covered for the surgery/equipment by insurance!), how Cis work, …. Due to a plethora of questions during the presentation, Suzannah only made it through a fraction of her slides, but we learned a lot from what we saw and heard!
Getting a cochlear implant doesn’t restrict by age whether you are a newborn or in your 90’s. A touching story was recently shared by a chapter member about a parents struggle to have their newborn born deaf get a cochlear implant when originally told no. As many people know, a child’s ability to effectively learn to communicate starts at a very young age. Have a further read below.
(By our own Wendi Washington!)
American Girl of 2020 – Joss
On New Year’s Day I dragged Nanci Linke-Ellis over to the launch event at American Girl. The 2020 doll of the year, Joss was being introduced. She is a surfer girl and a cheerleader who wears one hearing aid. Woo-hoo! The place was teeming with girls and their families buying these adorable but expensive dolls.
We’re looking forward to seeing you at our first meeting of 2020! Note that we will still be meeting at the Sherman Oaks Library.
Date: Saturday, January 25
Time: 9:30am, social; 10am-noon, meeting
Place: Sherman Oaks Branch Library, 14245 Moorpark St, Sherman Oaks
Notes: Feel free to bring a snack to share. It’s the Lunar New Year; perhaps some fortune cookies are in order.
Topic: The Latest information on Cochlear Implants / Hearing Aids / Hybrids and other Hearing Loss Related Issues
Presenter: Suzannah Hagan, AuD, CCC-A, F-AAA; Assistant Professor of Clinical Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery: Director of Cochlear Implant Program at USC Keck Medical Center. She has also been affiliated with Advanced Bionics.
Attendees will have an opportunity to share memories about Katherine Burns, chapter co-founder, past president, and dear friend, who lost her four-year battle with cancer on December 25.
We’ll miss you Kat but never forgotten!
It is with profound sadness that we inform you of the passing of our beloved Katherine “Kat” Burns. Katherine and her husband Danny Tubbs were among the seven founding members of the LA chapter of HLAA. Kat is the only person in our chapter’s history to have served as president for three consecutive years. Over the years, she also served as treasurer and secretary, and she spent several years on the steering committee. Kat was known for her beautiful smile and warm personality. When she was the Walk4Hearing Captain, she named our team The LA Stars, and we have been shining ever since.
We had another successful HLAA Holiday Party at the beautiful home of Heather & Frank Lehr just over a week ago. The crowd was a great mix of long-time members as well as a number of new guests who are interested in what HLAA has to offer. We enjoyed turkey and ham, as well as several delicious side dishes supplied by Urban Plates. Kudos to the staff at Urban Plate for comping our salads and bread! And thank you, Heather and Frank, for the spiked punch!
Although the article notes Thanksgiving as a common gathering that can give all of us with hearing loss communication fits, the article really makes sense for any social and holiday gathering. Giving yourself breaks, compassion, and using certain strategic ways to effectively communicate and enjoy the gathering can help make your family and holiday get-together that much more enjoyable. Learn tips and strategies with this article.
If you haven’t rsvp’d yet, please do so if you have interest to join our holiday party scheduled for
Saturday, December 14 at Heather’s home from roughly 6pm-9pm.
It’s always a great time filled with good food, company, and getting to know people who “get it” when it comes to the daily challenges and struggles with hearing loss. An invite was emailed to our members but if you haven’t received one, no worries! Just email us at info@hlaa-la.org and note the following:
Hope to see you there!
Essay by Alicia Fernandez
It is with great pleasure that I thank the current HLAA-LA Steering Committee for the wonderful 15-Year Anniversary Celebration on Nov. 2, 2019. It was both informative and joyful! As one of the founders of this group, I could not be prouder.
Note: View the full article to see some of the very first chapter newsletters!
