Category: News

The Hearing Loss Association of America® would like to invite you to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for Convention 2010, June 17 - 20, at the Hilton Milwaukee City Center and adjoining Midwest Airlines Center. Located on beautiful Lake Michigan, Milwaukee offers a multitude of attractions: from the Milwaukee Brewers team to the many museums, mansions, breweries, and gardens, there is something for every age and interest to experience. See this Milwaukee Guide which has complete information about family-friendly activities, shopping, dining, and transportation - everything you need to make your trip to Convention 2010 a memorable one. Never been to Milwaukee? You must see this city - you'll be surprised!

Online registration for Early-birds! Enjoy a discounted registration up until December 31, 2009 and get a chance to win a 3-night stay at the host hotel (taxes are the responsibility of the winner). A $435 value! There is also a discount for HLAA members who are First-Timers to an HLAA convention. And for the second year, we are offering a complimentary registration to veterans of OIF and OEF. See our Convention Page for all the exciting details!

The Research Symposium, Hearing Aid Research and Development: What It Means for the Consumer, will be moderated by Dr. Catherine Palmer, an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Science and Disorders at the University of Pittsburgh. She also serves as the Director of Audiology and Hearing Aids at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Dr. Palmer conducts research in the areas of adult auditory learning post hearing aid fitting and matching technology to individual needs. We are pleased to have major hearing aid manufacturers participating in the symposium, including GNResound, Oticon, Phonak, and Siemens, Sonic Innovations, Starkey and Widex.

Bill Barkeley, Keynote Speaker
The Hearing Loss Association of America® is delighted to have Bill Barkeley as the keynote speaker at the Opening Session, June 17, 2010. Being deaf-blind has not slowed him down in the least - he recently completed a climb of Mount Kilimanjaro and next summer (July 8 - 17, 2010), he will lead an expedition of young adults (full-time students, ages 17-22, with and without hearing loss) to the Peruvian Amazon as part of a partnership between Global Explorers and Hear the World.

Workshops Especially for Parents and Educators
In response to the overwhelming number of parents who have participated in HLAA's Walk4Hearing™ program this year, we are pleased to offer two very special workshops on Thursday, June 17th. Designed for school professionals and parents of children with hearing loss, "What Children with Cochlear Implants Need at School" will review key topics that can help achieve a favorable classroom environment and provide guidance for the regular classroom teacher. Although the focus will be on children with cochlear implants, some of the content is relevant to the needs of any child with hearing loss. Among the topics to be addressed are:

• FM systems
  
• Classroom acoustics
  
• Best practices for teachers in the classroom
  
• Roles of various team members including classmates

The workshop fee of $50 includes entrance to the HLAA Exhibit Hall on the afternoon of the workshop. This workshop is free to those registered for the full convention. The workshop will run from 8:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.; check-in and coffee at 8 a.m. Please see the Convention page for more details and information about registration.

The second, a "Panel Discussion for Parents of Children with Hearing Loss", is an interactive presentation bringing together parents of children with hearing loss to discuss and share experiences with hearing aids, cochlear implants, services in the school system in their respective communities, and suggestions on how to work with school officials to obtain an appropriate education for their children of all ages. Learning how others have worked with their children to develop good communication skills and how to cope with the effects of a child's hearing loss on the entire family will be discussed. Laws that impact on the child's education and their right to appropriate access will be presented.

All parents, grandparents, and older age children are welcome to attend. There is no additional fee for this workshop.

There are a million places in Milwaukee that would be perfect for an off-site event for attendees, but clearly, the Harley-Davidson Museum® is a winner! Attendees will delight in the history and culture of this American legend. Rumble at the Harley-Davidson Museum® will take place Friday evening, June 18, 2010.

The Hilton Milwaukee City Center is ideally located in the center of the city's business, entertainment, and cultural districts. Guests are within easy walking distance of many of the city's attractions, restaurants, shopping centers, sporting events, and museums including:

• Lake Michigan's picturesque shoreline;
  
• Bradley Center Sports Complex, home to Milwaukee Bucks NBA basketball team, numerous concerts and special events;
  
• The Historic Third Ward, featuring antique shops, restaurants, galleries, and boutiques;
  
• Milwaukee's Theater District, consisting of the Pabst Theater, Milwaukee Reparatory Theater, and the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts;
  
• The Museum Center which includes the Milwaukee Public Museum, Discovery World and the IMAX Theater.

Register today at the Hilton Milwaukee City Center!

Midwest Airlines is the Official Airline for Convention 2010. See the HLAA website for more information about how to get up to a 10% discount on your air travel. Use discount code CMZ1710.

About the Hearing Loss Association of America

The Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA), founded in 1979, opens the world of communication to people with hearing loss through information, education, advocacy and support. HLAA publishes the bimonthly Hearing Loss Magazine, holds annual conventions, Walk4Hearing™, and more. Information can be found at www.hearingloss.org/. The national headquarters is located at 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 1200, Bethesda, MD 20814. Phone: 301.657.2248. HLAA has chapters and state organizations across the country.  

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Funds earmarked for Friends of Monfort, Inc. and St. Vincent's Center for Handicapped Children, Port-au-Prince, two organizations serving deaf and disabled in Haiti.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (March 2) -- CSD, the nation's largest deaf and hard of hearing service organization, announced today it will be sending over $10,000 to two separate Haiti entities to assist them in serving their deaf, hard of hearing and other disabled population in the wake of Haiti's recent national disaster.

Employees from around the nation participated in this fundraiser in various capacities, either by simply donating cash or buying "Jeans for Haiti" coupons, which allowed staff to wear jeans for one day; purchasing Candygrams with flowers for their fellow coworkers; buying custom-made Valentines for office friends and colleagues; and several other means.

As a company by, of and for the deaf, CSD decided to donate these funds to two Haitian organizations who align themselves with CSD's mission. The first is Friends of Monfort, Inc., an organization serving over 600 deaf and deaf-blind children in Haiti. The second, St. Vincent's Center for Handicapped children, operates a residential and day program for 350 deaf, blind and physically disabled students. St. Vincent's facilities were impacted by the earthquake and are in need of donations to rebuild.

"I am humbled by our employees' commitment to understand and heed the call to 'think globally and act locally,'" said Ben Soukup, CSD chief executive officer. "From our offices in Alaska and Hawaii to our contact center in New York, CSD employees joined together to help those in need in Haiti, and hope our contributions assist them as they turn the page and overcome this catastrophic ordeal as best they can."

For more information on and to give to Friends of Montfort, Inc, go to www.friendsofmontfort.org, and for more information on St. Vincent's go to www.friendsofstvincents.org.

(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., Jun. 22nd, 2010) ―

The happiest place on earth brought some cheer earlier this month to the news team at KCSN, the public radio station based at Cal State Northridge, which was awarded two first place honors by the Associated Press Television Radio Association (APTRA) during a ceremony at Disneyland in Anaheim.

The KCSN team, which consists of news director Keith Goldstein and broadcast journalism students, received the award for "Best Newscast - more than 15 minutes," as well as first place for "Best Serious Feature."

The award was for an "Evening Update" broadcast on Nov. 5, 2009. The newscast included coverage of the Fort Hood shooting, the Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry, pay increases for LADWP employees and the police backlog of DNA analysis rape kits.

The newscast team consisted of Eileen Carranza as anchor, Sonia Esquer, business reporter, Kristin Fryrear, health reporter, feature reporter Claudine Sarmiento and field reporter Janete Weinstein.

The "Best Serious Feature" award went to broadcast journalist student Matt Johnson for his story, "Teacher Layoffs and Budget Cuts." He beat out professionals in this category.

"The newscast was judged for its in-depth, high quality reporting which also included excellent writing and long form segments," said Goldstein. "It demonstrated our capability to respond to breaking news, with detailed reporting on the Fort Hood Shooting. The broadcast journalism students also did a good job of covering issues related to homelessness and the demands being made on regional food pantries."

The APTRA competition involved 12 states: California, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Washington, Idaho, Colorado, Utah, Montana, Wyoming and Alaska.

KCSN News competes in Class Two, which are radio stations with six or fewer full-time employees in the News Department.

Last week, the Department of Transportation (DOT) released new federal rules extending Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protections to passengers with disabilities aboard ships and boats. The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) participated in the development of these groundbreaking rules. For the next 90 days, the DOT is welcoming comments about these new rules. This is your chance to support NAD in our efforts to make passenger vessels accessible.

The NAD is excited that the DOT has decided to announce the first federal rule to provide ADA protections aboard boats and ships. Here are some important things you need to know about the new rules.

Where am I protected against discrimination because I am deaf or hard of hearing?

• On any publicly owned transportation vessel, such as a public ferry.
• On any private boat whose main purpose is to transport people, such as a cruise ship.
• The new rules do NOT apply if you are on a private boat which provides another important service in addition to transportation, such as fishing charters and dinner cruise boats. However, Department of Justice ADA rules cover those services.

What rights do I have under the new law?

• You cannot be denied access to a boat because you are deaf or hard of hearing.
• You cannot be charged for accessibility related services.
• The company cannot force you to bring your own attendant or interpreter.
• The company must provide you with information about accessibility services, and must have a knowledgeable person on staff to help you with questions about those services.
• If you are provided with a TV on the boat, it must be able to display closed captions.
• Safety information must be provided to you in an accessible manner.
• Like the ADA, the company must provide "auxiliary aids and services" for effective communication, unless this is an "undue burden." This includes interpreters, captioning, hearing-aid compatible phones, and other devices/services.
• The new rules do not cover building or modifying ships to make them physically accessible.  Construction guidelines for physical accessibility are being developed.

Why should I comment?
Please thank the DOT for their efforts. Tell the DOT that - as a member of the deaf and hard of hearing community - you support the new rules. The new rules created by the DOT will ensure that you can buy cruise, boat or ferry tickets; enjoy access to services while on board; and understand safety information. 

The NAD played an important part in creating these new rules. Now, by sharing your views with the DOT, you can help make sure that these rules serve us best and become models for future changes in other areas. Build on this success and keep pushing for equal access!