HLAA Boston - March 2025 Newsletter

World Hearing Day @ WML - March 3rd

Join us at the Wilmington Memorial Library for 2 World Hearing Day events: 

• Children’s story time (10-10:45am) led by Miss Nicole followed by a “See & Learn” on hearing aids led by Tech Librarian Brad McKenna. Story Time Registration.



• Professional viola player Betty Hauck shares her hearing loss journey interspersed with short illustrative pieces of music. 7-8pm. Register: A Life in Music Lost & Found

More Information: Wilmington Memorial Library

SAVE THE DATE: March 19th Chapter Meeting

Click here: Mar 19 Registration

Come learn how Aural Rehab can improve your comprehension!

• Jan 15th - Assistive Technology Roundtable
• Feb 12th - Employment Challenges & Tools to Help
• Mar 19th - NU's Aural Rehab & Discounted Hearing Aid Program
• Apr 16th - MGH: Audiogram insights, Research & Hearing Programs
• May14th - MCDHH Commissioner on MA programs for HOH/Deaf
• Jun TBD - In person meeting; hearing assistive dogs & social.
• July 23rd
• No August Meeting
• Sep 17th
• Oct 15th
• Nov 19th
• No December Meeting

* Meetings on Zoom, 6pm EST start unless indicated; subject to change

**Most meeting recordings, transcripts and AI summaries are available on our website.

UPDATE: New England Hearing Loss Conference

March 28-30

Due to high demand, the conference registration cutoff is now March 1st.

This decision was made to ensure a comfortable experience for all attending.

If you have already registered but not yet paid please mail your check today.

Change of plans? No problem; just let us know you now won't be attending.

Questions or issues? Email sueschy@gmail.com. Thank you!

Member Survey Results

A BIG THANK YOU to those who took time to complete our member survey and provide valuable input to the HLAA Boston board and leadership team.

Responding members largely expressed high satisfaction with the type and quality of the informational services and support currently provided by HLAA Boston and provided specific suggestions useful to us in refining our programs for the remainder of the year. Look for the following:

• Meetings: Audiology (Mar, Apr), research, managing relationships, accessible public spaces, health care and workplace accommodation.
• Support: highlighting of opportunities for one-on-one counsel be it for technical help, situational navigation, or just listening in time of need.
• Socials: Sporting events, museums, and BBQ to join theater and restaurant events to date.
• Advocacy: More political push for the interests of our community.

Still to be heard? Email us at HLAAboston@gmail. Your voice matters!

Meet Julie Lane ... of "Julie & Brad" Fame!

Greetings, all! My name is Julie Lane, and I am thrilled to have this opportunity to introduce myself to all of you as a new member of the HLAA Boston Chapter. I am a career Special Education teacher working with elementary aged students and their families. I hold an undergraduate degree in Elementary Education; Moderate Special Needs Education; and Human Development from Boston College. I also hold a Masters Degree in Special Education and a Graduate Certificate in Autism Advocacy with a focus on navigation of the judicial system for individuals with exceptional needs. 

I have bilateral, sensorineural deafness in both ears and prefer the term “hearing impaired”. My hearing loss was sudden and detected at the age of 3 years old when my personality abruptly shifted from a gregarious, animated child to one that was easily startled, shy, and hesitant - words that certainly do not apply to my boisterous and energetic personality. I am the sole member of my large Italian family with hearing loss, and while sensorineural deafness is typically hereditary, there was no discernible cause, and subsequent generations of cousins, nieces, and nephews do not exhibit hearing loss. I received my first set of hearing aids at the age of 4, and have been a fierce self-advocate and voice for others ever since.

The best part of my job as a Special Education teacher is having the opportunity to share my own experiences as someone with a physical disability with my students who have hearing loss or other physical or learning challenges. This allows me to support the development of their own self-advocacy skills. I also value the close collaboration I have with their families to ensure that they receive the quality education that they deserve. 

I am thrilled to be a collaborative partner with Brad McKenna, Technology Director of the HLAA Boston Chapter, and one half of the creative duo behind “Hearing Things with Julie and Brad”, a weekly YouTube video clip series where we cover a myriad of topics related to living life as people who happen to be hearing aid wearers with a perfect blend of research and ridiculousness. Our goal is to inform, educate, and entertain everyone with or without hearing loss to bring a greater understanding to how we navigate a world not designed with our needs in mind. Click below to check it out:

• Facebook: Hearing things with Julie and Brad
• Youtube: Hearing Things with Julie and Brad

You can also check out our "Hearing Things" presentation at the New England Hearing Loss Conference on Saturday, March 29th at 3:50 p.m.

Brad and I also write and publish weekly blogs, frequently with common topics, where we present our own personal philosophies, perspectives, and anecdotes. We believe that there is “more than one way to be deaf or hard of hearing” and we challenge antiquated stereotypes and misperceptions.

• Julie's Blog: Deaf but Not Really
• Julie & Brad Blog

If you have a question or a topic that you would like to see featured in our video series, blogs, or the HLAA Newsletter, reach out to us at HearingThingsWithJulieAndBrad@gmail.com.

And look for my upcoming articles on 504 plans intended to raise awareness and knowledge of our rights to reasonable accommodation in the workplace and in education. Looking forward to collaborating!

Julie DeMatteo-Lane 

Statewide Advisory Council Appointment

Congratulations to HLAA Boston Leader Jonathan Ozek for his appointment to the Statewide Advisory Council (SAC) for the

Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (MCDHH).

MCDHH is the principal agency in the Commonwealth tasked with raising awareness of the issues of Deaf/HOH community. MCDHH provides accessible communication tools/services, education, and advocacy to consumers and private and public entities so that programs, services, and opportunities are fully accessible to persons who are Deaf and hard of hearing.

SAC members - appointed by the governor - represent various aspects of the Deaf and hard-of-hearing communities, including service providers, educators, advocates, and community at-large. SAC provides counsel to MCDHH and other state agencies on services for the Deaf/ HOH community and is a outreach vehicle to solicit input for MCDHH from the community served.

Reach out to Jonathan at jonathan.ozek@outlook.com

Hearing Restoration Program Needs Volunteers!

Back in September we hosted Dr. Tian Wang, esteemed researcher and program lead for the Congressionally funded Hearing Restoration Project who spoke to us about why SNHL was so hard to treat and what needed to be done to improve research efforts, trial construction, and outcomes.



The Hearing Restoration project relies on a team of "consumer reviewers" who sit on peer review committees alongside scientists and provide "lay input" into the decision of which of the many proposed research funding requests get granted. This "peer review" construct is unique and incredibly important.

Consumer Reviewers invest up to 40 hrs over a 4 to 6 week period reviewing assigned project requests and writing comments for those applications in advance of peer review meetings. They then participate in the peer review meetings which are held virtually over 2 to 3 days. Check out this Consumer Reviewer Flyer.

Want to learn more or participate? Email Heather.Bishop@gdit.com to be included in an upcoming Zoom information session in March.

Johns Hopkins Research Study

Music Enjoyment and Hearing Loss

This study led by Alexander Chern, MD aims to identify key factors that influence music enjoyment for people with hearing loss, with the long-term goal of improving music quality through hearing aids and cochlear implants. 

Participants will need to complete a short 10-15-minute survey about their hearing and music background. A subset of participants will also be invited to participate in a 40-minute interview to discuss in more detail how hearing loss affects their music-listening experience. (This is not a compensated study).

To learn more or to take part in the study, please fill out form.

Questions? Email achern1@jh.edu and carar1@jh.edu.

Hearing Aid Tips and Tricks

Streaming sound from a iPhone or iPad into hearing aids has the potential to greatly improve a person's ability to understand phone conversations and to enjoy movies, music, podcasts, sporting events and more.

To do this you need to pair your hearing aids with your device. The process is relatively simple -- albeit frequently requires repetition -- but some of us don't perform it enough to remember how when we need to. The pairing instructions below should help.

Pairing hearing aids with iPhone or iPad

Questions? Email us at hlaaboston@gmail.com

ADVOCACY: Hearing Aid Insurance Coverage

On February 13th the Disability Policy Consortium (DPC) hosted a "Meet and Greet" at the State House at which disability community support organizations met and thanked those legislators supporting our community needs. DPC is Massachusetts’s leading disability rights organization.

Rep Sean Garballey, Democrat 23rd Middlesex, is drafting a bill to mandate private insurer coverage for hearing aids. While the bill is in draft, you can help increase the chance of the draft bill getting to the floor for a vote by contacting your State Senators and Reps to ask them to cosponsor HD 3015. 

Click here to Find My Legislator (Scroll down to enter your address.)

BIG THANKS to Nini Silver (DPC) who organized participation by Deaf/HOH advocates. Attendees included Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (MCDHH) commissioner Dr.Opeoluwa Sotonwa - pictured below with HLAA Boston's Jonathan Ozek. DPC is pushing for increased MCDHH funding for HOH/Deaf communication access in this budget session.

ADVOCACY: Senior Centers/ Independent Living

Discussions have begun with New Horizons at Choate in Woburn and at The Jenks senior center in Winchester regarding HLAA Boston hosting an educational session on hearing loss for their communities.

If you are interested in participating in this or other senior outreach efforts, or know of another senior community who could benefit, please email us at HLAAboston@gmail.com.

ADVOCACY: Hybrid Access to Public Meetings

During the pandemic, state and local governments allowed for remote public participation. Not only did this make government more transparent and accessible, but it removed long-standing barriers to political participation for people with disabilities, seniors, and others.

Unfortunately the current rules allow - but do not require - hybrid meetings, and now some municipalities are returning to in-person meetings only.

Contact your MA representatives to ask them to support bill HD.368 (filed by Rep. Tony Cabral) that would require entities already under the Open Meeting Law to guarantee hybrid participation options.

Click Here: Support Hybrid Access for Public Meetings

PARTNER Update:

DEAF, Inc. recently hosted an engaging and informative event with Jonathan Ozek from HLAA Boston and Joan Marcoux from ALDA. Jonathan, who manages social media for HLAA Boston, and Joan, the chapter and group chairperson for ALDA, shared great resources and personal insights. Their presentations helped connect hard-of-hearing community members with organizations that can support and empower them on their journey.  

Help Us Help More:

Please DONATE to support HLAA Boston. Thank You!

Volunteer with HLAA Boston;

Be the Change you want to see in our world!

Contact HLAA Boston

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Read the latest issue of "Hearing Life" the HLAA National Magazine.

HLAA Boston does not endorse any technology, nor does exclusion suggest disapproval. We support the full spectrum of hearing technologies and hearing access for everyone. As an all-volunteer run organization, 100% of every dollar donated is directed to our programs. HLAA Boston is an IRS non-profit 501(c)(3) organization; all donations are tax-deductible as allowed by relevant IRS code.