It’s the sign of the times these days. To stay connected, the world is virtual through various online communication platforms. On Saturday, May 16, the chapter had our first virtual meeting using Zoom. Meeting transcript can be found here.
We miss you and hope you and your loved ones are safe and in good health.
As we try to navigate our world(s) during this unprecedented and extraordinarily difficult time, we have the added burden of trying to hear and understand family members, grocery store employees, health care workers and others through their face masks, without the ability to read lips as well as having to contend with strange and muffled sounds that emanate through the speaker’s masks.
Rebecca Alexander
Gael Hannan
Grace celebrating her 100th birthday!
The hearing loss community and our chapter lost an icon when our beloved Grace Tiessen passed away at 11am on March 23. She passed away calmly and quietly in her home of 62 years. This was her wish, no ER, no nursing homes, just at home with her children watching over her.
Grace had a storied life full of many experiences, including going back to school at age 51, graduating from UC Berkeley in 1940 at a time when women graduating college was very rare, and joining HLAA in 1984 after asking herself the question, “What does it mean to be hard of hearing in the hearing world?”.
World Hearing Day 2020 is on March 3rd and this year’s theme is, “hearing for life: don’t let hearing loss limit you,” according to World Health Organization (WHO). It’s estimate nearly 470 million people are impacted by hearing loss and it continues to grow dramatically. Education and prevention are keys to saving your hearing.
To learn more about this important day and the theme for raising awareness, check out a related article here!
Update: Due to the Coronavirus situation and CDC recommendations, we have cancelled our March meeting.As many of you know, we have been in a lengthy process to find a new home for our chapter meetings. After much perseverance by our dedicated President, Sharon Swerdlow, and tips from our chapter members, a home has been found! We will start our new journey at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles starting with our Saturday, March 28, 2020 meeting.
New member Matthew sharing his challenges at work.
You can view the meeting transcript here.
(note – due to technical difficulties beyond our control, captioning was not available at the start of the meeting)
Audio-visual glitches didn’t stop us from enjoying a lively relationship panel yesterday morning moderated enthusiastically by Sandy. Nanci/Steve and Dana/Todd shared their experiences in communication when one partner has hearing loss and the other doesn’t, and how they support one another in the process, while Matthew shared powerful examples of coping with various challenges of working in a retail environment – background music, people talking to him from behind, and answering a LANDLINE PHONE, for starters. Sharon and Leora shared how a mother-daughter bond can improve through good humor and advocacy. Audience participation was fantastic – there was a lot of raw honesty and a heartfelt sharing of the trials and tribulations that result from our hearing challenges.
Tinnitus is no laughing matter!
There are some research studies support the idea of seasonality with tinnitus. Do you notice the winter months with cooler temperatures, changes in humidity, and less physical activity creates a greater awareness and sensitivity to your tinnitus? Or maybe it’s something to think about?
Check out the Living with Hearing Loss blog to learn more about this possibility.
One of the greatest fears and challenges for those of us with hearing loss is visiting our audiologist. Will they have our best interest at heart? Can they really help us? What should I expect or don’t know? Believe me, you aren’t alone but with proper research, asking others for advice, and understanding a little bit what the audiologist point of view is can go a long ways.
