Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 17,160
- Reaction score
- 7
Life: Hearing loss group tunes up Yuma's sound of silence | hearing, hard, appleby - Yuma Sun
A hearing loss organization's new Yuma chapter expects to fill the communication gap to bring the hard-of-hearing residents up to speed in the information age, according to advocates. Sherry Appleby, chairwoman for the Arizona Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, says a local chapter of the Hearing Loss Association of America ensures greater accessibility to all public accommodations and improves the quality of life for the hard of hearing.
Appleby, hearing impaired herself and the owner of Hearing Aid Specialists Inc. in Yuma, has been selling hearing assistance technology for 27 years. She said there is a demand for hearing-loss education, awareness and legislation to improve daily life for the deaf and hard of hearing. She said her own customers are the most ardent lobby for a local HLAA chapter.
"We have enough people signed up now, nine, to form a chapter but we're looking for more," Appleby said. "A new chapter will help people get together to solve problems."
Its next meeting will be Tuesday from 10 a.m. to noon at Services Maximizing Independent Living and Empowerment, 1929 S. Arizona Ave.
HLAA meetings will offer members real-time captioning that records dialogue on a screen as it is spoken, Appleby said. That will be a big imperative to get the hard of hearing at meetings because a lot of people were afraid they would not be able to understand what business was discussed. The real-time captioning will be a first of its kind for Yuma, she said.
Technology advances are also helping broaden the perception of the hearing impaired. Fully digital hearing aids, on the market only within the last several years, allow people to hear speech much more clearly in the presence of background noise, Appleby said. Also, new hearing aids have a directional capability that picks up conversation on all sides of a sound source. And when hearing aids no longer help, there are cochlear implant processors available, she said.
Wireless technology made the loops system possible, an accessory for public address systems used in conference rooms, airports, churches and increasingly in residential homes, so people may hear their TVs better, Appleby said. This system conducts the sound directly to a hearing aid through a telephone coil that hooks up with a public address system and is used in all Yuma movie theaters and the Municipal Court as well.
New legislation is also helping the hard of hearing. The Telecoil bill, sponsored by state Sen. Amanda Aguirre, a Yuma Democrat, requires hearing aid dispensers to inform customers about the different technology available so they can make an educated choice when buying a hearing aid. The law went into effect in September.
There is additional legislation Appleby would like to see implemented to assist the hard of hearing. A wireless bill expected to be introduced in the next state legislative session would provide additional funding so the poor are able to get the latest hearing aid technology. A tax credit bill, also to be introduced in the upcoming session, would financially help anyone who needs a hearing aid. Insurance companies generally do not, nor does Medicare, cover hearing aids, she said.
Right now, the Arizona Telecommunications Equipment Distribution Program provides free assistance equipment through the Arizona Commission for Deaf and Hard of Hearing. SMILE, a Yuma nonprofit organization that helps people with disabilities become self-sufficient, provides demonstrations of equipment and free hearing aids for those who qualify. It is also the temporary meeting location for the new HLAA chapter.
"My biggest problem with hearing aid dispensers is some don't give full disclosure of the needs of the hard of hearing," Appleby said. "They also may 'bait and switch' or offer a special promo to get you through the door and wind up selling you a $6,000 hearing aid."
One of the distinctions the public needs to be informed about is that there is a cultural difference between the deaf and hard of hearing, Appleby explained.
Hearing loss sets in with exposure to excessive noise or degrades with advancing age. The hard of hearing are still in the auditory world and capable of making out speech and voices whereas the deaf cannot, she said.
The HLAA, launched in 1979, has chapters in 13 states, including Arizona, but the Yuma chapter is the only one in Arizona outside Phoenix. For further information, the public may e-mail sappleby@digitaldune.net.
A hearing loss organization's new Yuma chapter expects to fill the communication gap to bring the hard-of-hearing residents up to speed in the information age, according to advocates. Sherry Appleby, chairwoman for the Arizona Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, says a local chapter of the Hearing Loss Association of America ensures greater accessibility to all public accommodations and improves the quality of life for the hard of hearing.
Appleby, hearing impaired herself and the owner of Hearing Aid Specialists Inc. in Yuma, has been selling hearing assistance technology for 27 years. She said there is a demand for hearing-loss education, awareness and legislation to improve daily life for the deaf and hard of hearing. She said her own customers are the most ardent lobby for a local HLAA chapter.
"We have enough people signed up now, nine, to form a chapter but we're looking for more," Appleby said. "A new chapter will help people get together to solve problems."
Its next meeting will be Tuesday from 10 a.m. to noon at Services Maximizing Independent Living and Empowerment, 1929 S. Arizona Ave.
HLAA meetings will offer members real-time captioning that records dialogue on a screen as it is spoken, Appleby said. That will be a big imperative to get the hard of hearing at meetings because a lot of people were afraid they would not be able to understand what business was discussed. The real-time captioning will be a first of its kind for Yuma, she said.
Technology advances are also helping broaden the perception of the hearing impaired. Fully digital hearing aids, on the market only within the last several years, allow people to hear speech much more clearly in the presence of background noise, Appleby said. Also, new hearing aids have a directional capability that picks up conversation on all sides of a sound source. And when hearing aids no longer help, there are cochlear implant processors available, she said.
Wireless technology made the loops system possible, an accessory for public address systems used in conference rooms, airports, churches and increasingly in residential homes, so people may hear their TVs better, Appleby said. This system conducts the sound directly to a hearing aid through a telephone coil that hooks up with a public address system and is used in all Yuma movie theaters and the Municipal Court as well.
New legislation is also helping the hard of hearing. The Telecoil bill, sponsored by state Sen. Amanda Aguirre, a Yuma Democrat, requires hearing aid dispensers to inform customers about the different technology available so they can make an educated choice when buying a hearing aid. The law went into effect in September.
There is additional legislation Appleby would like to see implemented to assist the hard of hearing. A wireless bill expected to be introduced in the next state legislative session would provide additional funding so the poor are able to get the latest hearing aid technology. A tax credit bill, also to be introduced in the upcoming session, would financially help anyone who needs a hearing aid. Insurance companies generally do not, nor does Medicare, cover hearing aids, she said.
Right now, the Arizona Telecommunications Equipment Distribution Program provides free assistance equipment through the Arizona Commission for Deaf and Hard of Hearing. SMILE, a Yuma nonprofit organization that helps people with disabilities become self-sufficient, provides demonstrations of equipment and free hearing aids for those who qualify. It is also the temporary meeting location for the new HLAA chapter.
"My biggest problem with hearing aid dispensers is some don't give full disclosure of the needs of the hard of hearing," Appleby said. "They also may 'bait and switch' or offer a special promo to get you through the door and wind up selling you a $6,000 hearing aid."
One of the distinctions the public needs to be informed about is that there is a cultural difference between the deaf and hard of hearing, Appleby explained.
Hearing loss sets in with exposure to excessive noise or degrades with advancing age. The hard of hearing are still in the auditory world and capable of making out speech and voices whereas the deaf cannot, she said.
The HLAA, launched in 1979, has chapters in 13 states, including Arizona, but the Yuma chapter is the only one in Arizona outside Phoenix. For further information, the public may e-mail sappleby@digitaldune.net.