Washington State Hearing Loss News
You’re Invited to Our Annual All-Members Meeting
Our annual all-members meeting is November 12, 2022. The meeting is virtual (online) again this year. We’re happy to welcome two special guests from ODHH, Earnest Covington III and Maggie Campbell.
In addition to learning more about ODHH, we’ll discuss how needs differ between people with hearing loss and people who are deaf or late-deafened, ideas for increasing hearing access in healthcare and telehealth, legislative updates and our latest advocacy efforts, and brainstorming how we can promote hearing loss resources to help more people. As always, your experience and insight are important. Hope to see you on the 12th!
Live-captioned and ASL-interpreted, and always free. Everyone is welcome, including friends and family.
Do We Still Need Telecoils and Loops?
New assistive listening technologies are emerging, but we’ll still need hearing loops and telecoils for the foreseeable future. That means we still need telecoils (and Bluetooth) in our hearing aids and CIs.
Cheri Perazzoli explains on our blog this week.
Vote in Our Board Election
Members: Remember to vote in our board election. Rick Faunt graciously agreed to step in as treasurer after the passing of our longtime treasurer Bill Collison. Now it’s time to officially elect him to begin a new term.
Age-Friendly Housing Forum :
Where Will Seattle’s Older Adults Live?
Discuss age-friendly home design, housing challenges for older adults, and what’s being done to help ensure housing access at this in-person forum on Wednesday, November 2, 2022, Noon – 4:30 pm at the LOOPED Bertha Knight Landes Room, Seattle City Hall, 600 4th Avenue, Seattle. Lunch is served. Free. Register here.
Help Is on the Way on Our New Services and Resources Page
Where to get assistive listening equipment, how to find an audiologist, where to sign up for telephone relay service, how to get a free caption phone, and many other resources are available on the Services & Resources page of our new website. Let us know what other information you’d like to see: webmaster@hearingloss-wa.org.
In Memory of Cibyl Kumagai
Cibyl Kumagai, who served as president of the Everett Area Chapter and as our secretary, recently passed away. Cibyl was a dedicated HLAA leader and deeply committed to helping the hard-of-hearing community.
Cybil’s memorial is Saturday, November 12, 2022, at 2:00 pm at Cedar Park Church, 16300 112th Ave NE, Bothell.
Hearing-Friendly Events Coming Up at MOHAI
Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) is hosting an in-person hearing-friendly program in November:
- History Café: How Comics Frame History on Wednesday, November 16, 2022, at 6:30 pm/ ASL and CART (live captions) will be available.
Next HOPE Meeting
November 2, 2022–TOMORROW
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 related.
Facilitated by a caring, compassionate HOPE Crew, these monthly virtual meetings are free, live-captioned, and open to everyone with hearing loss and their friends and family.
National Hearing Loss News
Webinar: FDA Regulations for
Over-the-Counter Hearing Aids
Are the new over-the-counter hearing aids regulated? Are they right for me?
Find out at an HLAA webinar featuring Thomas A Powers, PhD, Tuesday, November 8, 2022, 11:00 am Pacific/2 pm Eastern.
Why Aren’t Hearing Aids Covered Under Medicare?
We’ve all been asking ourselves this question for years, if not decades. In the latest issue of Hearing Life magazine, HLAA Executive Director Barbara Kelley tells us how close we were to expanding Medicare coverage to hearing aids in 2022, and why we failed. HLAA Hearing Life Magazine Fall 2022 (hearingloss.org)
The HLAA Get in the Hearing Loop Program Offers New Help for Advocates
An advocacy guide, a handbook part 1 and part 2, a toolkit, and an assistive listening system guide are now available from the team at HLAA’s Get in the Hearing Loop program. All are free and available to download anytime.
New Issue of Hearing Life E-News
The October 27, 2022, issue of HLAA’s Hearing Life e-News includes HLAA’s responses to over-the-counter hearing aids, Walk4Hearing update (almost $1 million raised!), upcoming events, and more.
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.