Greetings ALDAns,  I hope your summer is going well. I recently returned from two conventions that I attended as ALDA President. The first was the annual Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) convention in Tampa, Florida. While the HLAA convention had a smaller number of people in attendance than usual due to COVID-19, it was still well attended. ALDA was well-represented with about 25 ALDA members attending. It was good to see many ALDAns and I hope to see them again in October in San Diego. The second convention was called the NF Summit. NF stands for Neurofibromatosis. In the…

by John Waldo This week, we celebrate the 32nd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a piece of bipartisan legislation aimed at enabling people with all types of disabilities to live in the world on the most equal basis possible. For those of us with hearing loss, the benefits of the ADA have been enormous – captioned television and movies, interpreters in court and in hospitals, and reader-boards with captions at many sports venues, to name just a few. But the ADA is not self-explanatory. While it sketches out broad objectives, it contains very few specific provisions. Indeed,…

By: Anne Marie Killilea, MSN, RN On January 19, 1999 I woke up to a whole new life experience… I could not hear. After taking the first dose of a macrolide antibiotic the previous evening, I now found myself almost completely deaf with very little residual hearing. I was frightened, confused, and very sick. I could not communicate. My family did not understand what had happened to me and insisted I just needed rest and things would return to normal. But I never regained my hearing. I felt isolated and very much alone.  My overwhelming fear was if I was…

By Communications Chair Jim Laffer The main news for the Communications Committee this quarter is that I will be stepping down as Communications Chair. There are various reasons for this decision, but primarily it’s just time for someone else to take the reins. The ALDA Board is interviewing candidates and a new chair will be named shortly. I will stay on to help them get up to speed and show them the systems that are in place to make their job easier. Other than that, there hasn’t been much to report recently. The main focus of the communications team over…

by Kay Tyberg Embracing the 21st Century hearing assistive technology has brought products to meet the needs for the hearing loss community. The hearing aids transformed from analog to digital with bluetooth and other features such as noise reduction and rechargeable batteries. Further developments and improvements with cochlear implants have been limitless. Med-El, AB, and Cochlear Companies are empowering people with hearing loss to broaden their connectivity and communication in our society. Other hearing assistive technology products are in the works and our younger generation of engineers and developers are doing a wonderful job envisioning future needs. A wide variety…

by Cynthia Moynihan Disability Pride: In 2021, I was blessed and shocked to have three outstanding hearing loss advocates submit my nomination for the I. King Jordan Award. Wow! During the night of the ALDAcon 2021 awards, I found myself being asked to sit with I. King Jordan and he asked what I planned to share on stage. I could barely breathe between finding out I was sitting with my hero and at the same time being asked what I might share with everyone present when I received it.  Speech, what speech? While getting my nerves to calm a bit,…

Our latest interview is with Linda Lewis, a long time ALDAn. Many of you probably have met her over the years, so here is a little insight into why she is one of us. KK: Where were you born/grew up? LL: I was born in Washington D.C. We moved to Provo, Utah when I was five-years-old, and went to school and college there. My siblings say that my brother and I were born in Washington D.C. while they came from “Heaven.” KK: Where do you currently live? LL: I live in Salt Lake City, Utah. My home is near the…

by Debra Bare-Rogers, Regional Director 1 In my state, Disability Rights Maine celebrated with a wonderful gathering, with individuals varying disabilities. We enjoyed gathering with others who embrace our differences, and are not limited by society’s expectations of being ‘normal’. Note that I use the term ‘differences’. My disability pride means that I communicate differently than my family who hear well. This is MY journey. My life experiences are an opportunity to advocate everyday to make accessibility a standard, not a special accommodation. I love to be outdoors: I hike as a woman with hearing loss and two hearing aids-…

by Joe Linder For the second quarter of 2022, most of the activity was tied to registration for the 2022 ALDAcon in San Diego. Through the end of the second quarter, we had 81 fully paid registrations, six confirmed roll-over registrants, and 19 registrants signed up under EZ Pay plan still reflecting outstanding balances. Total registration revenues in the second quarter approximated $9,125 which was offset by $1,450 in refunds due to either cancellations or duplicate entries. Revenue from sponsorships totaled $13,300 in the second quarter. ALDAcon donations totaled $395 with another $3,700 donations made toward ALDA Inc. in the…