Volume 36 Issue 1

HOH-LD-News
Vol. 36, Issue 1
July 5, 2008

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Table of Contents
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- Article 1: HLAA Convention: Is group audiological rehabilitation worth the time, cost, and effort? - Part One

- Article 2: NCD on ADA Amendments Act - Part One

- Article 3: Chemical Combo May Prevent Hearing Loss

- Article 4: Short Takes

Our advertisers make it possible for us to provide HOH-LD-News as a free service. Please let them know you appreciate their support, and please mention that you saw their message in HOH-LD-News.

- Advertisers in this Issue
First Premium Placement:
SayWhatClub Conference in Philadelphia
YOUR AD HERE
Second Premium Placement:
New Zephyr Travel Hearing Aid Dryer on Sale
Third Premium Placement:
Hearing Aid Repairs from Hearing Haven
Fourth Premium Placement:
MAXI Digital from Bellman Audio now at Sound Clarity, Inc.
Classified Section:
One Online Store, one Poker Tournament and one Employment Opportunity

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Contact information and disclaimers are at the end of this newsletter.
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2008 SayWhatClub Conference in Philadelphia
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The SayWhatClub invites you to attend their Tenth Annual Convention, July 9 - 12, 2008, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the Holiday Inn in the Historic District for four days of fun and workshops, meeting friends old and new and touring the Birthplace of America's Independence!

Early Bird Registration (before March 15, 2008) is $100.00 for SayWhatClub members and $125.00 for non-members with special rates for spouses. Hotel rates are $139.00/night with up to four to a suite. Room rates are applicable up to two days before and after the convention.

For more information: http://www.saywhatclub.com/events/pacon/ or email to: pacon@saywhatclub.com
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YOUR AD HERE
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If you're interested in getting your message out to people who are hard of hearing or late deafened, and to the people who serve them, you might consider a premium ad in this newsletter! Our rates are surprisingly affordable and we reach the movers and shakers in the hearing loss world. And this newsletter (unlike some of the others) is strictly "opt-in", which means that everyone who receives it WANTS to receive it!

For more information please point your browser to: http://www.hearinglossweb.com/res/pub/nsltr/hln/adv.htm
or contact larry@hearinglossweb.com
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- Article 1: HLAA Convention: Is group audiological rehabilitation worth the time, cost, and effort? - Part One
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Editor: This is a topic near and dear to my heart, and I bet it is to yours, as well. Audiological rehabilitation is all the stuff besides hearing aids that your audiologist or hearing aid dispenser should provide for you; it's what makes the difference between treating you as a person who needs a range of information and services to deal with her hearing loss, vs. treating you as a pair of giant ears that need hearing aids inserted!

Presenter Ingred McBride, Au.D, CCC-A, is one audiologist who gets it. Her clinic (the Arizona State University Hearing and Speech Clinic) provides a FREE 16-hour audiological rehabilitation program for hearing aid users. So here's a question for you: Does your audiologist provide a similar service? If not, why is she still your audiologist?

This article is part of our coverage of the 2008 HLAA National Convention. For our comprehensive coverage of this great convention, please point your browser to http://www.hearinglossweb.com/res/hlorg/shhh/cn/2008/2008.htm

This is part one of two parts.

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Arthur Boothroyd defines adult audiological rehabilitation (AR) as "the reduction of hearing-loss-induced deficits of function, activity, participation, and quality of life through a combination of sensory management, instruction, perceptual training, and counseling."

Mark Ross defines it as "any device, procedure, information, interaction, or therapy which lessons the communicative and psychosocial consequences of a hearing loss."

Both definitions include the concept that the goal of AR is to alleviate the difficulties related to hearing loss, and the notion that it should be all encompassing and comprehensive.

ASHA recommends that all audiologists provide AR services, but many don't do so. HLAA also recommends it, and that's a very powerful recommendation, because it comes from a consumer and advocacy group. So it's the clients telling the providers what they need!

Referring back to Boothroyd's definition, hearing aids and cochlear implants address only the deficit of function (hearing loss itself), but not the other deficits that have such great impact on the lives of people with hearing loss. Too many audiologists consider a successful hearing aid fitting as the end of the process, rather than the beginning.

Successful AR is based on the following assumptions:
- A hearing aid or cochlear implant is only one component of the AR process.
- Speech understanding is a bisensory event. It requires speechreading as well as listening.
- Instruction is a key component. People with hearing loss need to learn about technology, psychosocial implications, communications strategies, etc.
- Practice is very important, more so than instruction.
- Personal adjustment counseling is required to change attitudes and behaviors.
- Hearing loss is a family affair.
- People need help dealing with the psychosocial impact of hearing loss.

Successful AR intervention is the result of a holistic approach. What has been traditionally offered was called aural rehabilitation, and it was characterized by one-on-one practice of lipreading and auditory training.

Audiological rehabilitation evolved from that beginning, and broadened the scope to include:
- Overall communications skills, including communications strategies training and communication partner training
- Assistive technology
- Personal Adjustment Counseling, including training in coping strategies and psychosocial adjustment
- Information and education regarding causes of hearing loss, treatment options, and implications of hearing loss
- Speechreading training
- Auditory training

Group AR is better than individual AR because of the impact of group dynamics. The best groups are those in which the leader is a facilitator, rather than the sole source of information and content. The leader must ensure a good balance of instruction and interaction, keeping in mind that the real value of a group derives from the sharing among members, including:
- high levels of member participation (the more, the better)
- support from others facing the same issues
- members realizing that their experiences are not unique
- participation by family members is especially important.

Dr. McBride mentioned that conventional wisdom has it that people won't attend AR, or that they will go once and not go back. That is not her experience. They offer five classes a year and continue to have a waiting list. Furthermore, many people who miss a particular session want to make it up during the next class!

She presented Luterman's Eight Cohesive Factors in Groups, which address the power that derives from group interaction. They are:
- Installation of hope - members see how others in a similar situation have overcome adversity and realize that they can too
- Universality - members realize that they are not alone, that others share their feelings, perceptions, and experiences
- Imparting of information - Lots of it is exchanged in a group setting
- Altruism - Support and encouragement of other members
- Interpersonal learning - Members feel safe and learn how to be open and accepting of others
- Group cohesiveness - Members of the group trust each other and learn to work together
- Catharsis - Group allows members to release pent-up emotions in a safe environment
- Existential issues - Groups give members the ability to work through a variety of important life issues

Multiple studies confirm that participation in group AR programs provide the following benefits:
- Reduction in the perception of the hearing handicap
- Better use of communication strategies and personal adjustment
- Improved quality of life due to a reduction in social, emotional, and occupational withdrawal
- Better use of and satisfaction with hearing aids
- Increase in perception of audiologist effectiveness
- Increased awareness and use of assistive technology

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New Zephyr Travel Hearing Aid Dryer on Sale
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The Zephyr (ET-ZEPHYR) is on sale at Harris Communications for $59.95 (regularly $74.95). This sale price ends July 10, 2008.

For more information go to:
http://www.harriscomm.com/link/?www.harriscomm.com?sr=hlw8
or contact us: mailto:info@harriscomm.com .
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- Article 2: NCD on ADA Amendments Act - Part One
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Editor: You may have heard about celebrations regarding the recent passage of the "ADA Restoration Act", which will restore some of the original ADA rights that have been weakened by court decisions over the years. While there is much of value in the recently passed bill, it is NOT the ADA Restoration Act as originally proposed, and some disability rights organizations aren't happy about it being watered down. Here's a thought-provoking article from the folks at ADA Watch/NCDR. You can visit them at http://adawatch.org/

This is part one of three parts.

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July 2008

The ADA Watch/NCDR Board and State Steering Committee has announced, in a show of unity with other disability organizations, its support of the ADA Amendments Act.

This is not, however, the ADA Restoration Act we all worked so hard on and it is quickly moving forward without the support of key disability rights organizations and leaders. The concerns being voiced come from many who were vital in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. The Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (www.dredf.org), for example, as part of an analysis posted on their website, states that:

"Passage of the current deal will improve the status quo for many, but it will also mean that the opportunity to correct the paradigm to remove severity as a factor of coverage and include many more who are currently unable to use the ADA because they are not considered 'disabled enough' will be lost or indefinitely delayed as the new provisions are interpreted up the judicial ladder."

As you might have noticed, ADA Watch has been publicly quiet for some time now. Spending 18 months on the Road To Freedom bus traveling the United States to promote the original ADA Restoration Act certainly has left us in a prolonged period of reentry both organizationally and personally. [See below for what we have been cooking up] But we also we also held our public tongue at the request of disability negotiators who were in "delicate" negotiations with the business community.

Well now those negotiations are over, there is a deal that does not allow for any strengthening of the bill by our supporters in Congress, and there is little time to use this process to build community or change public consciousness about disability rights. There also seems to be, in this process, a missed opportunity.

As this process unfolded, ADA Watch/NCDR was at the table and, like others, expressed our concerns regarding content, process and timing. While many say that this is the best deal that could be had in the current environment, and while the Congressional leadership forced us into negotiations with business lobbying groups before it went to the floor, it seems that we, as a community, could have done more to soften the ground leading to these negotiations. A more cohesive and inclusive campaign, much like the one that led to the initial passage of the ADA, could have produced greater unity in our community and capitalized on all of our strengths -- from the grassroots advocates to the legal teams, from our lobbyists to our media experts, and more.

ADA Watch/NCDR was praised by the disability negotiators for the extensive media we received in publicly making the case for ADA Restoration on the Road To Freedom bus tour. While we appreciate the praise, the reality is that we have one of the smallest budgets of any national organization, less than the yearly CEO salaries of some of the larger organizations. The fact that we received the bulk of media coverage in the year prior to this deal leaves us wondering what might have been had there been the will to fund either our campaign or another centralized effort to compete against the well-organized campaign of our opponents. While we often say that we are a poor community and that we can never compete with the well-funded corporate lobbyists, the reality is that while our constituency is poor there are billions of dollars being raised annually in the name of disability. Isn't it time that a larger share of those funds went to publicly promote the ADA and disability rights not as charity, not as sympathy, not just as research or cure but as fundamental civil and human rights?

As we learned in traveling around the country, and as you surely know, we are not winning in the media. More times than not, the ADA is covered as "big government putting 'mom and Pop' stores out of business."(Never mind that this is fiction and that, more times than not, we are talking about multinational corporations!) These stories are generated directly from the news releases from corporate lobbying groups and associations. When the original ADA Restoration Act was introduced these groups took aim, even declaring that individuals with a "hangnail" were now going to be covered by the ADA! Outrageous as they sound, they have been very effective.

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- Article 3: Chemical Combo May Prevent Hearing Loss
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Editor: We've seen several companies report that certain drugs and chemicals are effective in preventing noise-induced hearing loss. Here's another promising candidate from the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, the Hough Ear Institute, and INTEGRIS Health.

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In today's military, soldiers can be hurt by more than just bullets, and one very sensitive area has been under constant attack-the ears. Even with external hearing protection, the sounds of warfare can damage the sensitive inner ear, or cochlea, and severely reduce hearing.

But a new drug combination, developed through a collaboration of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation and the Hough Ear along with support from INTEGRIS Health, has shown promise in reducing hearing loss. The treatment could have both military and civilian applications.

OMRF's Robert Floyd, Ph.D., working with Hough CEO and retired Army ear surgeon Richard Kopke, M.D., found that a combination of two compounds-4-OHPBN nitrone and the drug n-acetyl-cysteine-could stop damage to the inner ear caused by acute acoustic trauma.

"This is a very exciting finding," said Floyd, who holds the Merrick Foundation Chair in Aging Research at OMRF. "The research is still at a pre-clinical stage, but we're hopeful that we soon can begin testing in humans."

According to a 2003 study by the Institute of Medicine, "Noise and Military Service: Implications for Hearing Loss and Tinnitus," hearing loss is the second most common type of disability among veterans, accounting for more than 75,000 cases of disability. "Hearing loss costs the U.S. Department of Defense about $1 billion a year," Kopke said. "It's the most common injury for which people are evacuated from a war zone. I've known some 30-year-olds who come out of the service with the hearing of a 70-year-old."

If medics are equipped with the drug combination, he said, they could administer it in the field, immediately after an explosion or other combat situation causes noise damage.

Without the medication, prolonged exposure to loud noise can damage and kill hair cells that register sound, causing hearing loss. But in laboratory animals, the hearing loss was almost completely prevented if the drug combination was given within four hours of exposure to noise levels that would otherwise cause acoustic trauma. Significant decreases were also seen if the combination was administration within 24 hours of exposure.

Current tests are being performed on chinchillas because their hearing range is similar to humans. Electric impulses in the brain are measured to gauge how well the animals hear after taking the drugs.

"If this therapy ultimately proves effective," said Floyd, "it could also have many civilian applications, including combating age-related hearing loss." According to a National Health Interview Survey Core, 1 in 3 Americans over the age of 70 reported that they had trouble hearing. And the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health reports that approximately 30 million Americans are exposed to hazardous noise levels on the job.

The discovery is the product of a four-year collaboration between Floyd and Kopke, whose work was funded by the U.S. Department of Defense Office of Naval Research.

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- Article 4: Short Takes
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Editor: Here are our picks of some additional stories that you may find interesting. For more, please point your browser to: http://www.hearinglossweb.com/news/curr.htm

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Changes in Central Auditory Pathway for Tinnitus Sufferers?

A research team led by Helga M. Kehrle, MD, MSc, of the Hospital de Base de Brasília examined 37 people with tinnitus and 38 without tinnitus (ages 20-45) who had puretone thresholds better than 25 dB at 500-8000 Hz. A total of 16 (43%) of the tinnitus group showed abnormalities in the 8 ABR parameters analyzed, with prolonged latencies in waves I, III, and V, as well as a significantly enlarged interpeak III-V. Although the V/I amplitude ratio found in the tinnitus group was within normal limits, a significant difference was found when the two groups were compared. The researchers conclude that "although the averages obtained in several analyzed parameters were within normal limits, the ABR results from the patients with and without tinnitus and normal hearing are different, suggesting that ABR might contribute to the workup of these patients." The data indicates there are changes in the central pathways of the tinnitus group that suggest a need for further investigation.

http://www.hearingreview.com/insider/2008-06-26_16.asp

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Deaf Coalition Protests Cochlear Implants at AGBell Conference

"We aren't concerned about implants per se," said Ella Mae Lentz of Hayward, Calif., a member of the coalition, who will join in protests outside the Midwest Airlines Center, where the AG Bell Conference will take place. "We're concerned about the audism behind the implants - this belief that hearing is more advantageous than being deaf. It's the same as racism," she said . . . . The coalition decries what it sees as AG Bell's oppression of deaf culture. They blame the organization's vast influence for a shift in the medical community away from promoting sign language and toward expensive hearing- and speaking-based therapies that discourage families from learning sign language. "We really believe that deaf babies have a right to have access to ASL," said Karla Gunn of Milton, a teacher at the Wisconsin School for the Deaf in Delavan who is attending the coalition's conference.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=766249

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Implants moving up the neurological chain

You've almost certainly heard of the cochlear implant, a device that stimulates the auditory nerve at the cochlea and has restored "hearing" to tens of thousands of people worldwide. You may have also heard of the auditory brainstem implant (ABI), which is used for people whose auditory nerves aren't intact, particularly for people whose auditory nerves have been severed during tumor removal. But you probably haven't heard of auditory midbrain implants, which are implanted in the midbrain, which is farther up the neurological chain than the brainstem. This implant is being investigated as an improvement for folks who would otherwise get the ABI. And initial results look promising!

http://tinyurl.com/6fero6

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- Classifieds
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One Online Store, one Poker Tournament and one Employment Opportunity appear in this issue. (Ads appear after this brief table of contents.)

WCI. Providing Solutions for People with Hearing Loss.
TAKE 10% OFF ALL WIRELESS HEADSETS
http://www.weitbrecht.com

Poker Tournament
Las Vegas, NV
Saturday, October 11, 2008
http://www.lasvegasdeaf.org/poker

Employment Opportunity 1
Various Positions
GLAD
Various Southern California Locations

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WCI. Providing Solutions for People with Hearing Loss.
TAKE 10% OFF ALL WIRELESS HEADSETS
http://www.weitbrecht.com
-------------------

WCI recognizes the benefits of a wireless headset not only as a convenience but for your safety while driving. That's why we're offering a savings of 10% off any wireless headset throughout the entire month of July. For increased quality and sound clarity, the NoizFree Bluetooth Headset is a great choice. The sleek thin ear hook easily slips over behind-the-ear Hearing Aids and the unit clips to your shirt connecting to your Bluetooth cell phone without wires. To see all our headsets and much more go to our website at http://www.weitbrecht.com or call 1-800-233-9130 for more details and place your order. (use code WCIH708 when ordering).

For a copy of our new WCI catalog, email your request to sales@weitbrecht.com.

WCI. Providing Solutions for People with Hearing Loss.

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Poker Tournament
Las Vegas, NV
Saturday, October 11, 2008
http://www.lasvegasdeaf.org/poker
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Attention - Deaf Poker Players

The 4th Annual Las Vegas World Deaf Poker Tournament will be held on Saturday, October 11, 2008, 10 AM at the world famous and historical Binion's Gambling Hall and Casino.

This tournament will be the popular "no limit Texas hold'em".

Binion's Gambling Hall started the well known World Series of Poker many years ago. They have two floors of poker tables available which indicates they are the world's best in what they do.

Lately they have installed the state of the arts TV monitors and other features. Our past tournaments were held at the Palms Casino/Hotel.

Ask any of the previous players and fans from the last 3 years how they enjoyed the experience? They will tell you how exciting it became.

This year will be better. For example - based on 300 entries, 1st place winner will receive $27,000.

Las Vegas is designated as the Poker Capital of the world. There is no place in the world like it.

Southern Nevada Silver Knights is a non-profit 501-C3 organization and all of the volunteers are serving without pay. All the net proceeds will go to the aid and welfare of the deaf communities in need.

To access our web site for the flyer, registration forms and other information, go to http://www.lasvegasdeaf.org/poker

Doors for pre-paid and at site payments registration will be open on Friday at 6 PM and Saturday at 6 AM. Tournament will start at 10 AM Saturday, October 11, 2008.

We are looking forward to see all of you in Las Vegas for another year of exciting poker experience.

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Employment Opportunity 1
Various Positions
GLAD
Various Southern California Locations
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GLAD is an Affirmative Action Employer with equal opportunity for men, women and people with disabilities. For more information on the following positions, please go to: www.gladinc.org. The status of all positions is: Regular, Full-time, Non-Exempt, Full Fringe Benefits unless otherwise noted. All positions are open until filled.

* Job Developer/Interpreter - Anaheim, Norwalk, Pacoima, and West Covina, CA
* Community Interpreter - Bakersfield, Los Angeles, Riverside, CA
* Community Advocate - Bakersfield, Ventura, Los Angeles, Riverside, CA
* Placement Coordinator (Temporary) - Crenshaw, CA

If interested for any of these positions then please submit resume and application to:

Jeff Fetterman
Human Resources Specialist
Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness, Inc.
2222 Laverna Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90041
V/TDD: (323) 550-4207
Fax #: (323)550-4204
E-mail: jfetterman@gladinc.org

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- Contact Information and Disclaimers
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