NEWS & VIEWS
MARCH - APRIL 2017
 
      www.hearinglossnyc.org           212-769-HEAR         info@hearinglossnyc.org

APRIL CHAPTER MEETING
Tuesday, April 25
(Due to Passover, this meeting will take place on the fourth Tuesday of the month)

COCHLEAR IMPLANTS: PRESENT AND FUTURE

Speakers: 
Justin Golub, M.D, Otologist/Neurotologist at New York-Presbyterian Medical Center
  
David  Landsberger,  Ph.D., Principal Investigator at NYU Laboratory for Translational 
Auditory Research
 
CUNY Graduate Center, Segal Theater
365 Fifth Avenue (between 34th and 35th Streets)
6-8 PM
 
CART (real-time captioning) provided by Lauren Schechter of  TotalCaption
An ASL interpreter will be provided with five business days notice


 
MARCH CHAPTER MEETING RECAP
Changing Culture, Changing Practice: Effective Communication in Healthcare
    
 HLAA-NYC Chapter President Katherine Bouton (at the podium) introducing speakers
Jody Prysock and Toni Iacolucci (in front of the PowerPoint screen).
 
Toni Iacolocci, a member of the HLAA Board of Trustees and an ex-officio member of the HLAA-NYC Board of Directors, and Jody Prysock, a certified sign-language interpreter and former director of Language, Cultural & Disability Services at NYU Langone Medical Center, introduced their Guide for Effective Communication in Health Care - an internet resource aimed at helping people with hearing loss get the services they need in medical settings. In Jody's words, "Effective communication allows you to participate actively in your medical care and to make better and safer decisions."
 
A key component of the guide is the Communication Access Plan (CAP) , a one-page, form you can complete and give to your healthcare providers. The CAP has checkable boxes allowing you to specify whether you use hearing aids, cochlear implants, or other devices; the  accessibility  services you need when getting medical treatment; how you want to be notified when you're in a waiting room; and the best way to contact you regarding test results and other follow-up information. Download the CAP, fill it out, and request that it be inserted in your medical record. To provide Toni and Jody with feedback about your experiences with the CAP, send an email to HealthcareAccess1@gmail.com .
 
The guide, which contains information for patients and healthcare providers, has sections on hearing loss in general, rights and responsibilities, and communication in hospital, office, and emergency room settings. "Share the guide with providers," Toni and Jody advised. "Be willing to educate. We want people to maintain their dignity and independence."

FEBRUARY  CHAPTER MEETING RECAP
What Audiologists Need to Know but Didn't Learn in Graduate School
    
Barbara Weinstein (shown in the photo above), Professor and Founding Executive Officer of CUNY Graduate Center's Doctor of Audiology Program, and four of her doctoral students answered questions and listened to suggestions from audience members about how audiologists can more effectively meet patients' needs. Dr. Weinstein's stated, "Audiologists have been deaf to their patients, which is ironic. There are many great audiologists, but most are talking and not listening. I'm going to try to change that with your assistance. Among the recommendations: simplify the hearing aid selection process and fee structure; and educate patients about telecoils, auditory training, and how to self-manage hearing loss.
 
Dr. Weinstein, who is crafting a public service announcement to educate the public about hearing loss, also led a discussion about what HLAA members would like to see included. A key intent of the PSA, one of the students noted, "is to emphasize the diversity of hearing loss and to bust the myth that hearing loss is just an issue for the elderly."

SAVE THE DATES
For Upcoming Chapter Meetings
 
May 16
Hearing Aids
Speaker: Joe Montano, Ph.D., Chief of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology at New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center 
CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue, Segal Theater

June 6
Hearing Loss Heroes: Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony
Muhlenberg Library, 209 W. 23 Street, Third Floor Community Room
 
Note: Programs are subject to change.

ADVOCACY WORKS!
Landmark NYC Hearing Loop Bill
Signed into Law by Mayor Bill de Blasio
 
A HISTORIC MOMENT: Mayor de Blasio was joined at the bill-signing ceremony at City Hall by, from left: Council Member Helen Rosenthal, HLAA-NYC Chapter President Katherine Bouton, MOPD Deputy Commissioner Kleo King, Chapter member and accessibility advocate Jerry Bergman, MOPD Deputy Commissioner Robert Piccolo, former City Council student intern Edward Friedman, and Council Member Elizabeth Crowley
 
On March 21, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a bill believed to make New York the nation's first major municipality to require hearing loops in places of public assembly.  
  
The new law applies to construction and renovation projects funded by the City at a cost of $950,000 or more. Council Member Helen Rosenthal of Manhattan, lead sponsor of the bill, estimates that, under the City's current capital plans, loops will be installed in close to 300 new projects throughout the five boroughs.
  
"Hearing loop technology makes such a radical difference in the ability of so many to participate fully in public life," said Council Member Rosenthal. "I'm proud that as a city we have moved to make it not just a priority but a requirement in our public investments."
  
HLAA-NYC Chapter President Katherine Bouton added, "We look forward to the day when all who wear hearing devices can walk into City meeting halls and hear, understand, and communicate with others."   
  
The new law requires at least one assembly area and one adjacent security, information, or reception area to be looped. It also specifies that by July 2018 the Mayor's office must post on its website a list of such facilities owned or operated by the city. For details about the new law, click  here.

HEAR BETTER WITH LOOPING

DEFINITION OF LOOPING
A hearing loop is a wire that circles a room and is connected to a sound system. The loop transmits the sound electromagnetically to the telecoil in a hearing aid or cochlear implant. 
NYC LOOPED VENUES
Thanks to advocacy efforts by HLAA-NYC members, more and more venues in the metropolitan area are now looped. Click here  to see the updated list of looped sites. The list was compiled by HLAA-NYC member Ellen Semel, with the help of Alexandra Lutz who, in addition to making numerous telephone calls, visited many of the venues to confirm the loop's location and effectiveness.

BROADWAY SHOWS CURRENTLY AT LOOPED THEATERS

From the Nederlander Organization
Gershwin: Wicked
Minskoff: The Lion King  
Richard Rodgers: Hamilton
Lunt-Fontanne: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

From the Shubert Organization
Bernard B. Jacobs: Bandstand

Lincoln Center
Vivian Beaumont: Oslo
Mitzi Newhouse: How to Transcend a Happy Marriage 

WATCH MOVIES WITH CAPTIONS AT AMC & REGAL THEATERS

Captioning, which has long been required on television, is also available at
  AMC and Regal theaters.

AMC offers CaptiView, a goose-neck device that fits into your seat's cup holder and displays all of the movie's dialogue in text. Regal provides Sony Entertainment Access glasses, which resemble 3-D glasses. Captions are projected onto the glasses, and appear to float about 10 feet in front of the user.

CENTER for HEARING and COMMUNICATION NEWS


HONORING ARLENE ROMOFF
Advocate, Author, CHC Board Member

WHERE:  Carolines On Broadway, 1625 Broadway at 49th Street
WHEN: Wednesday, April 19. Doors open at 5:30 PM; showtime is at 7:30
                  ADMISSION:  $75, includes 2 drinks (full menu also available)
  
Don't miss this evening of classic New York comedy made accessible to people of all hearing abilities through:
Real-time captioning
Sign-language interpreters
Assistive technology

To buy tickets, click  here.

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CHC provides a 5 percent discount on all purchases of hearing aids and FM systems (and a 15 percent discount on two hearing aids) by HLAA members. To obtain the discounts, you must show written documentation of your HLAA membership.
For more information, call the CHC appointment secretary at 917-305-7766, or email  appointments@chchearing.org.

CAPTIONED SHOW IN THE GARDEN STATE
A production of The Women of Padilla, captioned by HLAA-NYC's CART provider Lauren Schechter, is scheduled for 3 PM on Saturday, April 29, at the Two River Theater. The theater, located at 21 Bridge Avenue in Red Bank, is a two-block walk from the Red Bank train station, which is reachable via New Jersey Transit from Penn Station. For more information, click here.
 
FUTURE SONGBOOK SERIES AT LINCOLN CENTER
Next performance:  April 24th
Broadway's Future Songbook Series - presented by Arts and Artists of Tomorrow - can be seen in the Bruno Walter Auditorium at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, located at 111 Amsterdam Avenue and 65th Street. Showtime is 6 PM and admission is FREE.  Produced, directed, and hosted by John Znidarsic.  
 
For the fifth year in a row, the New York Public Library will provide captions.
To see the captions, go to nypl.org/captions on your mobile device.

OUR FAVORITE HEARING LOSS BLOGS
Katherine Bouton
Considering a Cochlear Implant? You're Never Too Old
Is there an age limit for cochlear implant recipients? I asked this question of several cochlear implant surgeons around the country. Their answer? Never. All have implanted patients in their 90s and, as Anil Lalwani, of New York-Presbyterian/ Columbia University Irving Medical Center said, he "routinely" operates on patients over 80. His oldest patient is 93. Read more of this post.

Pat Dobbs
Learning Languages with Hearing Loss
We all know how hard it can be when you're speaking with someone whose accent is different from your own. It's worse when you have a hearing loss. I'd bet that at least most of us have had such an experience. So just imagine how much more difficult it might be to get along in an entirely different language - one you don't speak at all. Read more of this post.

Shari Eberts
Do You Love Somebody with Hearing Loss?
Do you love somebody with hearing loss? With 50 million Americans suffering from hearing loss, I bet most people do. What can you do to show your affection for them on Valentine's Day and every day in between. It starts with acceptance, support and understanding. But most importantly, love. Read more of this post.

Gael Hannan
Becoming a Bimodal Babe
I've got news for myself--I'm bimodal. Until recently, I didn't know that bimodal was a thing. For the last two-thirds of my life I've been a hearing aid user (20 years unilaterally and 20 years bilaterally). Now I'm a cochlear implant recipient, and the right-side hearing aid is history. Are you with me so far? Read more of this post.

Mary Grace Whalen
Hearing Loss and Aging: Fact or Fallacy
We've all been present at some time or another when someone makes a hurtful comment about hearing loss. Often, these comments imply hearing loss and aging go hand in hand. "The ears are the first thing to go, haha." How many times have we heard this? Sometimes we witness people imitating a nineteenth-century horn placed in the ear or cupping the ear imitating how we look when we struggle to hear. Read more of this post.

  Nancy Williams
The Willy Wonka of Classical Music
A pianist seated at a grand, a violinist standing nearby in a small recital room: at first we expect a conventional performance video of a Bach violin concerto. But in this Stephen Malinowski creation, after the musicians begin to play, across a black band at the top of the video screen scroll luminescent shapes. For the millions who have viewed Malinowski's work on his YouTube channel, the Music Animation Machine (MAM), these glowing emblems illuminate Bach's compositions with visual representations of the music. Read more of this post.


DISCOUNT PRICES for
CAPTIONED THEATER PERFORMANCES through TDF
 
The Theatre Development Fund's Accessibility Programs (TAP) offers a membership service for theatergoers who have hearing loss or are deaf. TDF/TAP obtains special seating and provides captioning. There is no annual fee, but you must provide proof of eligibility. To see what shows are available - and to join - visit TDF Accessibility Programs .
WEBSITE for THEATERGOERS WITH DISABILITIES

Those who are hard of hearing or deaf, have low vision or are blind, who cannot climb stairs, who require aisle seating or wheelchair locations, who are on the autism spectrum or have other developmental or cognitive disabilities, now can find out everything they need to know to choose a show, buy tickets, and plan their trip to Broadway by visiting Theatre Access NYC. IS NEW WEBSITE FOR INFORMATION OF THEATRE 
HONOR SOMEONE with a GIFT to the HLAA-NYC CHAPTER
SUPPORT HLAA - BECOME A MEMBER

As the nation's leading organization for people with hearing loss, we provide information, education, support, and advocacy for the millions of Americans
coping with hearing loss. Join online or download a membership form.

Searching for the perfect way to observe a loved one's birthday, anniversary, or special occasion, OR to honor the memory of someone special? Please consider making a gift to HLAA-NYC Chapter to support our efforts.

You can donate online or by mailing a check (payable to HLAA-NYC) to HLAA-NYC Chapter, P.O. Box 602, Radio City Station, New York, NY 10101. Include name and address. An acknowledgement will be mailed. Donations are tax deductible.

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Hearing Loss Association of America - New York City Chapter
The Hearing Loss Association of America exists to open the world of communication
to people with hearing loss through information, education, support, and advocacy.
HLAA is a volunteer association for people with hearing loss, their relatives, and friends. It is a nonprofit, nonsectarian educational organization devoted to the welfare and interests of those who cannot hear well. Contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. We are a 501(c)(3) organization. Mention of suppliers and devices in this newsletter does not mean HLAA endorsement, nor does exclusion suggest disapproval.