Heather sharing her hearing dog story
(This is the first of two summaries about our April 28 chapter meeting. This one covers the meeting overall. Part two, posted separately, outlines the presentation by our guest speaker.)
Click here to view meeting transcript.
Our guest speaker for this meeting was Melissa Billingsley of Billingsley Veterinary Clinic and Canine Companions for Independence (CCI).
Melissa Billingsley with Hilty and Lotus
Melissa Billingsley of Billingsley Veterinary Clinic and a volunteer for Canine Companions for Independence (CCI), introduced her hearing dog, Hilty and puppy-in-training Lotus. Melissa has a lifelong hearing loss, which was undiagnosed until she went through the process of applying to work for the CA Highway Patrol in 2010.
Presenter Gary Dorf, AudD, pointing out nerve cells in a normal cochlea.
(Click here for our meeting transcript)
Meeting for the first time in a completely new place can be a nerve-racking experience. Will everyone find the new place? Will the audio and visual equipment work? Will Mitzi bring her homemade apple strudels? When we all finally said our goodbyes, it’s safe to say the meeting was a big success.
Our April Chapter meeting is bound to be a fun gathering with a canine feel to it. Melissa Billingsley, RVT Practice Manager for Billingsley Veterinary Clinic and a member of the Canine Companions for Independence, will visit us with a furry friend to share and educate us all how those hard of hearing can maintain their independence and ease of mind by having a hearing dog. It should be very educational and fun so make sure to join starting at 10am sharp (but arrive earlier to mingle or to introduce yourself if it’s a first time for you).
Please click here for meeting information and directions. See you then!
This is the first meeting of Spring, 2018 and the first in our new location in Sherman Oaks.
Gary Dorf
Our guest speaker will be Gary Dorf, Regional Manager at Oticon USA in Orange County. His presentation will focus on recent studies that deal with cognition and hearing loss. BrainHearing™ describes the approach that Oticon takes when creating solutions for those with hearing loss. It starts with the fundamental observation that speech understanding is a cognitive process that happens in the brain. (Summary via HLAA-City of Orange website; thank you!)
We will also hold elections for two interim steering committee members. Those elected will serve until regular elections in September. If interested, email Heather elsewhere on our website, http://hlaa-la.org/contact-us/
A note about March 24: Chapter President Heather Lehr will be attending the HLAA-California Board of Trustees meeting, which is open to all. It takes place from 9am-3pm at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites LAX, 11436 Hawthorne Blvd, Los Angeles… Other members may be taking part in the March for Our Lives Rally in Downtown L.A.
(Meeting transcripts can be found here)
WOW awards to Teri Brier, for arranging the March guest speaker (Gary Dorf of Oticon, who will discuss cognition and hearing loss) and Tim Browning, for winning National’s “Best Chapter Website” award (to be presented at the convention)
Walk4Hearing coming up on June 9; more details to follow, including volunteer opportunities. One is a carpool organizer to get to Long Beach.
It’s rare that our chapter moves to a new location. As a matter of fact, this move to the Sherman Oaks Library for our March meeting will only be the second time since the founding of the chapter over 13 years ago! But times change and our chapter needs to adapt. The Huntington Hospital served our needs and we thank them, but there were challenges, as many of you know, with the location. We hope you’ll find this new location to your liking.
Love is in the air! And in honor of Valentine’s Day, we are doing a moderated panel on coping with hearing loss featuring: married couples, single and dating, and parent-child challenges! Note these panel participants will come from a mixed environment – one hearing and other hard of hearing.
It’s going to be an awesome love-fest, so come prepared with any questions you may have regarding your own communication/relationship issues, and please invite hearing family members and significant others to attend!
Networking starts at 9:30am with the meeting starting at 10:00am and going until 12:00pm. As always, the meeting will be CART captioned and looped for tele-coil users; coffee and refreshments will be served. You are welcome to bring breakfast potluck items to share.
We are meeting at the Huntington Memorial Hospital. Directions here. See you on February 24th!
Our January 2018 Meeting
(Click here for our meeting transcript)
We had a great meeting for January focusing on catching up with each other after the holidays and not seeing each other for some time. We capped it off with our guest speaker, Dr. Ray Goldsworthy, who provided an in-depth discussion about Cochlear Implants (CI) and optimizing how they are used (see more below). The presentation was more of a free form and open discussion to ensure immediate questions people had were addressed. We also had a great surprise that Lisa was able to join us as she is visiting here all the way from Washington D.C.!
It’s the new year and time to get into action toward a great year ahead with our chapter! Plus, time to catch up with friends and hopefully introduce some new folks. We have a great meeting lined up to start the year as Dr. Ray Goldsworthy will provide an in-depth discussion about Cochlear Implants (CI) and optimizing how they are used. Whether you have a CI or not, this should be an informational and rewarding meeting to attend. Please see below for further information plus our meeting information and location. See you there!
