HLAA Convention Exhibit Hall - Part 7

By Cheryl Heppner

- HARC Mercantile
- Oklahoma ABLE Tech -- Fire Safety
- Canadian Hard of Hearing Association
- Dry & Store/TransEar

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HARC Mercantile

Joyce Thorson of HARC Mercantile gave me an enjoyable tour of the items on exhibit. HARC offered daily shopping sprees and discounted items for convention goers. There was a loop system discounted from $199 to $149 and buying the Clarity C2210 professional amplified telephone would net you a free lamp flasher or bed shaker to go with it. The phone is hearing aid compatible and amplifies up to 50 dB. There's a 3.5 mm audio jack for a neckloop, cochlear implant, or other listening device, and a 2.5 mm hands-free headset jack.

A hot and unusual item this year was cellular jewelry, which sold out quickly. An example was a bracelet on which the beads would flash if the individual's cell phone rang. It had a 3-foot range and was only $10. Potential buyers need to be aware that it did not work with some Verizon phones, and may not work for others.

Also hot was the Dry & Store hearing aid/cochlear implant conditioner, especially with its new drying blocks that lasts 2 months and the special conference price. You'll hear more about this in one of my later reports. Anything related to emergencies and emergency preparedness was also a hot seller.

HARC was attracting attention to its new assistive listening device, a loop system, which they had set up for the television at the neighboring MED-EL exhibit. It made watching the MED-EL DVD much easier for those who had telecoils in their hearing aids or cochlear implant processors.

I liked HARC's colorful exhibit of different makes of hearing aid "sweat bands", a nice way to have a hearing aid with personality while giving it some protection. They will also fit some cochlear implant behind-the-ear processors. Some larger sizes can fit over an FM boot on a hearing aid.

Lise also stopped by the exhibit and Joyce showed her a portable individual loop system that she thought would be useful for small group meetings, like HLAA Chapter meetings. HARC is selling those for $450 for the loop, amplifier and three hardwired microphones. Joyce made a point to note that HARC will help guide new users through set up and troubleshoot any problems after purchase.

For more info: http://www.harc.com

For information about the loop system information: http://harc.com/detail.aspx?ID=565

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Oklahoma ABLE Tech -- Fire Safety

Oklahoma ABLE Tech has funding from a FEMA/U.S. Fire Administration grant to distribute and install free smoke alarms and provide fire safety messages to Oklahomans with disabilities. Housed at Oklahoma State University, the program has created public education program that includes a fire safety DVD in American Sign Language.

To participate in the program, you must be an Oklahoma resident with documented proof of a disability and live outside a facility such as a nursing home or dorm. There is no income requirement and the 2-page application is available by mail, fax or online.

People with hearing loss receive the Silent Call smoke alarm with a bed shaker and a receiver with or without a strobe light. After installing the equipment, the installer works with the individual to create a home escape plan, inspects the home for potential fire risks, and advises on how to reduce those risks and maintain the new equipment.

Since the program began in 2005, 513 applications have been received and six families have been saved due to the specialized alarms and education.

For more info: http://okabletech.okstate.edu - Select "Fire Safety"

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Canadian Hard of Hearing Association

Count on the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association (CHHA) for the most unique business cards. One side is in English and the other side is a duplicate in French, for "L'Association des Malentendants Canadiens" (AMEC). Imagine being an organization known by two such different acronyms! The French name always makes me wince. Too many dark or mean words start with "mal" - malcontents, malfeasance, malnourished, malevolent. For certain we can rest easy knowing that none would apply to Janice McNamara, the National Executive Director, or Colin Cantlie, the Special Advisor to the President, who staffed the CHHA/AMEC exhibit.

I spent an interesting few minutes talking with Janice, who is the only paid staff for the organization, and Colin, who is a very active volunteer. We talked about some of the problems that are hard to lick and some that never stay licked. We talked about how different our countries can be, theirs "social" driven and ours entrepreneurial driven, and how that calls for different strategies. They kindly gave me a copy of their CD "Hearing Awareness: A Cornerstone of Canada's Social Fabric" which of course contains both English and French versions.

Talk then turned to their hosting of the International Federation of Hard of Hearing People Congress from July 2-6, 2008 in Vancouver. The conference registration and information packet has very enticing photos of the city and there are lots of optional tours (Victoria Whale Watching!) and special events. Early bird registration at the reduced rate ends January 30, 2008.

A Call for Proposals for the Congress is out, with workshops, panels and poster sessions. Proposals and abstracts are due September 1, 2007.

For more information: http://www.chha.ca

IFHOH Congress: http://www.chha-ifhohcongress208.com

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Dry & Store/TransEar

I had a pleasant reunion with Katy Pindzola, who is Director of Marketing & Operations at Ear Technology Corporation. This year there was no fishbowl to drown hearing aids and resurrect them, but Katy had the happy news about a breakthrough for the Dry & Store. This "conditioning system" for hearing aids and cochlear implant equipment, noise maskers, and ear monitors removes moisture, dries earwax, kills germs and deodorizes them. A study report published last year showed that the Dry & Store can reduce repairs and give longer battery life.

And the breakthrough? Ten days before, a new "brick" for the Dry & Store, the Dry-Brik II, began shipping. The new brick, which had been under development for two years, is cheaper and more effective than the old one at adsorbing moisture. MolSiv is used instead of silica gel. Katie told me that at one time MolSiv was too expensive for these kinds of uses, but the cost has come down. It's so powerful that there are just four tiny holes in the polypropylene cover housing the MolSiv.

A three-brick pack will last six months. Another exhibitor who sells the Dry & Store and the bricks really liked that these new bricks have a timestrip that will tell you exactly when to replace them with a new one.

TransEar, the other product, is for single sided deafness -- significant sensorineural hearing loss in one ear and normal hearing for most speech frequencies in the opposite ear. It looks like a conventional behind-the-ear hearing aid. It uses bone conduction to transmit sound to the better ear instead of amplifying the sound.

For Dry & Store information: www.dryandstore.com

For TransEar information: www.transear.com

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