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Washington State Hearing Loss News
Webinar: Ask For The Hearing Access You Need
Join the next webinar in our Empowerment Series on March 15, 2023, 4:00 pm Pacific. Hearing loss advocate Ann Thomas will explain what hearing access is, what’s required under the law, and where exactly access is required. Learn how to gain access–proactively. Free, live-captioned, and open to everyone.
Legislative Update: Hearing Aid Bills Keep Moving, Need Our Support
House Bill 1222 passed the House! Next up: a journey through the Senate.
- Help by asking the Senate Health & Long Term Care Committee for a public hearing. The cutoff for this committee to take action is March 29, 2023. You can copy and paste the committee’s email addresses: Annette.Cleveland@leg.wa.gov, June.Robinson@leg.wa.gov, Ann.Rivers@leg.wa.gov, Ron.Muzzall@leg.wa.gov, Steve.Conway@leg.wa.gov, Manka.Dhingra@leg.wa.gov, Jeff.Holy@leg.wa.gov, Mike.Padden@leg.wa.gov, Emily.Randall@leg.wa.gov, Kevin.Vandewege@leg.wa.gov
- Consider providing written or in person testimony once HB 1222 is on the committee’s agenda. We’ll know more about timing of the hearing on March 8, so watch for an action alert.
Senate Bill 5338 will be considered in executive session in the House Healthcare & Wellness Committee on March 6. It’s expected to pass out of the committee, so no action is needed at the moment. Many of you have provided heartfelt testimony in support of the bill. THANK YOU!
- Stay tuned for how you can help move this bill forward sometime after March 8, when the bill will be in the House Appropriations Committee.
Read more about this hearing loss advocacy movement, and the heroes–big and small–who are leading it, on our blog.
Thank you for your ongoing, dedicated support of hearing-friendly legislation! YOU are making the difference in keeping these bills moving.
How Do Recent Hearing Aid Legislative Efforts Help Seniors?
The new hearing aid legislation in Washington State addresses hearing aid requirements for private insurance. Would seniors benefit from this legislation, too? Find out how and why on our blog.
HLAA-WA Leaders Educate in Long-Term Care Settings
Hearing loss among residents in long-term care settings is both common and treatable, and volunteers and staff can do a lot to help these folks.
At a recent meeting of the Washington State Long Term Care Ombudsman program, HLAA-WA President Cheri Perazzoli and HLAA-WA Agency and Legislative Liaison Diana Thompson shared ways ombuds volunteers can best help residents with hearing loss. Get tips from this presentation on our blog.
Local Advocates from HLAA-Whatcom County Featured in Presentation:
The Looping of Northwest Washington
Local hearing loss advocates Lou Touchette and Mike Sweeney will present to the HLAA-West Valley Chapter on March 14, 2023, at noon Pacific time. Find out more, including how to join via Zoom, on our blog.
Next HOPE Meeting: Wednesday, April 5, 2023, 4 pm Pacific
What are some ways a PocketTalker can be useful? Can mini-microphones help in small-group situations? These are some of the questions we discussed at our last HOPE meeting.
Our Hearing Other People’s Experiences (HOPE) meetings are a safe, welcoming space where you can ask questions from your peers about anything and everything hearing loss and hearing tech.
Facilitated by a caring, compassionate HOPE Crew, these monthly virtual meetings are free, live-captioned, and open to everyone with hearing loss and to their friends and family. You’re welcome to relax, listen, and simply spend time with people who understand what it’s like to live with hearing loss.
Meet Earnest Covington III, ODHH Director, at Meetings Around Washington State
The Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing is hosting meetings around Washington State. Join one of the in-person meetings below, get to know Earnest, and find out what ODHH is up to.
Saturday, April 8th, 2023
1:00 – 3:00 pm
Olympia Senior Center
Multipurpose Room B
222 Columbia Street NW
Olympia, Washington 98501
Saturday, June 10th, 2023
1:00 to 3:00 pm
Tacoma Public Library
Anna Lemon Wheelock Branch
3722 North 26th Street
Tacoma, WA 98407
Deaf interpreters, American Sign Language interpreters, a hearing loop system, and CART (live captions) will be provided.
National Hearing Loss News
Diverse Workshops Coming at the HLAA Convention in New Orleans
Learn how to make yourself heard, find out more about over-the-counter hearing aids, discuss hearing loss in children, connect with the African American hearing loss community, solve uncommon hearing aid problems, and more: Check out the workshops coming up at this year’s HLAA convention. There’s even a workshop in Spanish this year.
Registration fees start at $150 for one day, and only $175 for students for all three days. Register for the convention here.
Amazon’s Fire TV Can Stream to a Cochlear Implant
People with cochlear implants can now stream directly from their Fire TV Cube or “compatible” smart TV–though not from Fire TV Sticks. An app is needed, but not a streamer, according to this article in Fast Company.
If you’ve found success with this tech, please let us know in the comments, or send an email to webmaster@hearingloss-wa.org.
Hearing Loss Not a Problem for Kids Learning Music
This story made our hearts sing: A music teacher in San Antonio is helping kids with hearing loss to learn and play music. The teacher, Adam Chitta, wears a hearing aid himself.
Join HLAA and HLAA-WA
Member benefits include product discounts, reduced convention registration fees, help with the latest hearing loss tech, and HLAA’s award-winning quarterly magazine, Hearing Life. Your HLAA membership automatically includes HLAA-Washington. Dues start at $45 a year.
HLAA-WA does not endorse any technology, nor does exclusion suggest disapproval. We support the full spectrum of hearing technologies for everyone.