Volume 36 Issue 13

HOH-LD-News
Vol. 36, Issue 13
September 27, 2008

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Table of Contents
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- Article 1: HLAA Business Meeting - Part Three

- Article 2: The Portis Parking Lot Adventure

- Article 3: OHSU Grows Hair Cells Involved in Hearing

- 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:
YOUR AD HERE
Second Premium Placement:
Special Offer from TV Ears and Harris Communications
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 Call for Papers, and two Employment Opportunities

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Contact information and disclaimers are at the end of this newsletter.
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- Article 1: HLAA Business Meeting - Part Three
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Editor: The Business Meeting at the HLAA Convention is a great place to find out what's going on with the organization. If you were not able to attend, our coverage should give you a good idea of the flavor of the meeting.

This is part three of three parts.

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HLAA will also be undertaking an effort to bring HLAA into the 21st century. SHHH started as local organizations that conducted regular physical meetings to which everyone came. That's not how a lot of younger people and baby boomers do things these days, and HLAA will have to adapt to that. Using web technology for things like chats, online meetings, etc. will be part of that. HLAA will be working towards a more interactive website with social networking and message boards.

She also pointed out the need for a future leaders program. It would be nice if HLAA could cover every aspect of hearing loss, from cradle to grave. But the organization isn't capable of that right now. So she has to set more realistic goals.

One thing Brenda thinks HLAA can and should do is focus on the teen transition from high school to college. This is a very difficult transition, because suddenly the teen is much more responsible for obtaining accommodations than she was in high school, and that can be very difficult. Programs that facilitate peer mentoring and teach technology can make a big difference at this crucial time in the lives of teens with hearing loss. HLAA will also be partnering with Gallaudet and NTID to assist teens with this transition.

Other efforts Brenda would like to see include more advocacy training, an exhibit at the national AARP convention, and an Access America program that promotes assistive technology, CART, etc.

Q. There's a huge hearing loss problem among returning servicemen. Will HLAA be addressing that?
A. The status now is that nothing is happening. It's hard to get these programs going. A former HLAA Board member was head of audiology for the Veterans Administration, and Brenda is trying to get a meeting set up with her. But right now HLAA doesn't have anything. If any of the state or local organizations can do something in this area, that would be great.

Q. You've noted the declining National membership as an issue, and so many members of local chapters are not members of National. Is there a way to have a combined membership that will get people involved at both levels?
A. Many ideas have been floating around for years and we definitely need to come up with something. But there's no current consensus on what that solution might be.

Q. Have you thought about partnering with the music industry? There's so much technology out there these days, and our convention will be in Nashville next year, so that seems like a good fit.
A. Yes, that sounds like a good idea. The people in California are planning their state convention for next year with a Hollywood theme, so that might get us some good contacts.

Q. There has been an organized effort in Washington state to attract more young and middle aged people to HLAA. ALDA seems to do this much better than we do. Is HLAA working with ALDA?
A. ALDA is a member of DHHCAN, and they do their advocacy through that organization. HLAA is not a DHHCAN member, but we do work with them on various advocacy issues. So we do have an indirect working relationship with them. ALDA isn't a very large organization, so they don't do advocacy on their own.

Q. We have local programs to promote assistive technology, doing things like displaying at various conventions. We make the point that assistive technology provides functional equivalence for people with hearing loss, just as ramps provide functional equivalence for people in wheelchairs. Does National have a similar effort?
A. That's a very effective analogy and we use it often.

C. I have three comments. First, the Diablo Valley Chapter in CA has worked with the local VA hospital and will soon have a one-day hearing loss program at the hospital. Second we have the best chapter in the world in the LA chapter. They came over from ALDA and they already have all the social networking, young people, etc. And finally I'd like to survey the audience about the proposal to have all future HLAA conventions on the East Coast. How many in the audience are in favor of that? How many opposed. [Almost unanimous opposition]. I just thought the Board should see that!

Q. We need to update our image to become the premiere organization on the planet for hearing loss. One way to do that is to really focus on current web technology. The current website looks like something from the 1990s. We need a much more participatory site, on which users can write much of the content.
A. I agree, but we have pretty severe resource constraints.

C. The VA really does need our help. They have a trained social worker attached to every hospital and clinic. Each of us should find that person at our local VA facility and work with them on outreach. Something simple like leaving copies of our magazine in the waiting room can make a big difference.

Following the Q&A session, Anne Pope remarked on how well she thought the audience received Brenda's presentation. She then thanked departing Board members Winnie Hargas and Paul Hammerschlag, both of whom have been on the Board since 1999. She presented both with gifts.

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- Article 2: The Portis Parking Lot Adventure
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Editor: You've seen a lot of Denise Portis' stories in these pages, and you may think from the title that this is another. But you'd be wrong. This story was written by Denise's 18-year-old daughter Kyersten, who clearly inherited her mom's writing skills. (Although Terry could turn a phrase pretty well too, as I recall! ;-) Anyway, here's Kyersten's perspective on the Parking Lot Adventure, with a brief introduction by Denise. Oh, and you should know that Chloe is Denise's hearing/balance dog.

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My daughter is a regular contributor at my hearing loss blog. She is currently writing a murder/mystery about a woman with a cochlear implant. She is far more gifted than her little "blurbs" to my blog give evidence of, and I expect she will have a book out one day! Her latest blog entry:

Complete story and pictures at http://hearingelmo.wordpress.com/

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Mom and I came out of the pet store with two huge dog food bags, a huge bag of litter, and three new litterboxes. It was starting to sprinkle rain, so Mom took her "ears" (her cochlear implant and hearing aid), out and carefully stored them in her purse. We made a plan: she and Chloe would make a break to the van and open it. I would push the heavy cart to the van. Sounds deceptively simple right?

Mom and Chloe ran out into the rain. I pushed the cart and ran into the parking lot... in front of a car (don't worry, they had stopped for me). Suddenly, the three litterboxes fell from my cart, into the exact middle of the road.

"Uh oh! MOM! THEY FELL! COME BACK!!!" I yelled, momentarily forgetting Mom couldn't hear me without her "ears". She continued to run into the distance. A woman standing on the sidewalk stared after her.

"Yeah! YOU GO GET THE CAR, I'LL STAY HERE!!" I yelled, as if that was our plan all along... in case anyone thought my mom had abandoned me... to be hit by a car... as I dragged my litterboxes and cart to the sidewalk.

Well, technically she had! But... she didn't mean to. I am a CODA - child of a deaf adult - and I was used to having to say, "Oh, she can't hear me, I'm on my own for this one."

Mom turned around when she reached the car and realized what happened. She stored Chloe in the van and raced back to help me.

I was howling with laughter at this point. I have a strange sense of humor.

Mom was laughing too. I probably looked ridiculous trying to drag everything out of the way. And so we laughed in the rain, as we smiled apologies to cars and people. We finally dragged our cartload to the van.

"What are you - deaf??" I teased when we reached the van.

Being a CODA has taught me a certain level of independence, learning to think for myself. When household accidents, parking lot accidents, losing someone in a store, etc. happen, I learned to calmly handle the situation myself or to walk to my mom. I can't always call for my mommy...she can't hear me. It's something I learned and accepted.

Just like I know I can't stand behind my mom and talk to her. Because 99% of the time, after pouring my heart out to her back, she'll turn around and give a piercing scream, all because she didn't know I was there!

Having a mom with a hearing loss isn't a trial, it's just different. My brother and I adjusted just like my mom had to adjust to her hearing loss. It affects the whole family, but it doesn't have to be negative. We adapt and change along with her.

And it does give us extremely amusing moments...or extremely scary, because having your mom scream loudly when she turns to see you usually causes you to scream in return. Trust me. Ask Chloe.

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Kyersten Portis (18-years-old)
Kyersten's mom lost her hearing when Kyersten was only two-years-old. Kyersten has only known her "mom" as a person with hearing loss. Kyersten and her family live in Maryland with a menagerie of animals.

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- Article 3: OHSU Grows Hair Cells Involved in Hearing
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Editor: For a while it seemed like we were seeing frequent breakthroughs in the haircell regeneration quest, but then we went for quite a long time with little news. Today we learn that scientists at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) have successfully grown haircells in the developing inner ears of prenatal mice by inserting a gene called Atoh1. It sounds to me like we're still a bunch of breakthroughs away from commercial haircell generation, but we are a bit closer!

Here's the notice from OHSU.

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Successful production of functional sensory hair cells in the inner ears of mice suggests that a new therapy to regain hearing may be possible.

Oregon Health & Science University scientists have successfully produced functional auditory hair cells in the cochlea of the mouse inner ear. The breakthrough suggests that a new therapy may be developed in the future to successfully treat hearing loss. The results of this research will be published online this week by the journal Nature.

"One approach to restore auditory function is to replace defective cells with healthy new cells," said John Brigande, Ph.D., an assistant professor of otolaryngology at the Oregon Hearing Research Center in the OHSU School of Medicine. "Our work shows that it is possible to produce functional auditory hair cells in the mammalian cochlea."

The researchers specifically focused on the tiny hair cells located in a portion of the ear's cochlea called the organ of Corti. It has long been understood that as these hair cells die, hearing loss occurs. Throughout a person's life, a certain number of these cells malfunction or die naturally leading to gradual hearing loss often witnessed in aging persons. Those who are exposed to loud noises for a prolonged period or suffer from certain diseases lose more sensory hair cells than average and therefore suffer from more pronounced hearing loss.

Brigande and his colleagues were able to produce hair cells by transferring a key gene, called Atoh1, into the developing inner ears of mice. The gene was inserted along with green florescent protein (GFP) which is the molecule that makes a species of jellyfish glow. GFP is often used in research as a "marker" that a scientist can use to determine, in this case, the exact location of the Atoh1 expression. Remarkably, the gene transfer technique resulted in Atoh1 expression in the organ of Corti, where the sensory hair cells form.

Using this method, the researchers were able to trace how the inserted genetic material successfully led to hair cell production resulting in the appearance of more hair cells than are typically located in the ears of early postnatal mice. Crucially, Dr. Anthony Ricci, associate professor of otolaryngology at the Stanford University School of Medicine, demonstrated that the hair cells have electrophysiological properties consistent with wild type or endogenous hair cells, meaning that the hair cells appear to be functional. Based on these data, the scientists concluded that Atoh1 expression generates functional auditory hair cells in the inner ear of newborn mammals.

"It remains to be determined whether gene transfer into a deaf mouse will lead to the production of healthy cells that enable hearing. However, we have made an important step toward defining an approach that may lead to therapeutic intervention for hearing loss," Brigande said.

About the Oregon Hearing Research Center at OHSU

The Oregon Hearing Research Center at the Oregon Health & Science University is comprised of over 50 scientists and support staff engaged in basic and applied research into the causes and treatment of hearing disorders. Established in 1966 by Jack Vernon, Ph.D., the Center is currently under the direction of Alfred Nuttall, Ph.D. Sources of research support come from the National Institutes of Health and private hearing research organizations.

About OHSU

Oregon Health & Science University is the state's only health and research university, and Oregon's only academic health center. OHSU is Portland's largest employer and the fourth largest in Oregon (excluding government), with 12,400 employees. OHSU's size contributes to its ability to provide many services and community support activities not found anywhere else in the state. It serves patients from every corner of the state, and is a conduit for learning for more than 3,400 students and trainees. OHSU is the source of more than 200 community outreach programs that bring health and education services to every county in the state.

As a leader in research, OHSU earned $307 million in research funding in fiscal year 2007. OHSU serves as a catalyst for the region's bioscience industry and is an incubator of discovery, averaging one new breakthrough or innovation every three days, with more than 4,100 research projects currently under way. OHSU disclosed 132 inventions in 2007 alone, and OHSU research resulted in 33 new spinoff companies since 2000, most of which are based in Oregon.

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- Article 4: - 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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House vs. House: Vicodin Addiction and Hearing Loss

But now I have discovered that there is another popular "Dr. House," TV's Dr. Gregory House on Fox's "House, M.D." The show's popularity is not to be denied, but I have a very real concern about a message and theme that runs through each episode. It is not his poor bedside manner. It is not his mistreatment of residents. It is his addiction to Vicodin (acetaminophen/ hydrocodone) that is the problem. Here at the House Clinic, my colleagues and I have seen a significant number of patients who have become addicted to Vicodin and have gone completely deaf. They have been taking 15 to 75 tablets per day and in a short period of time have developed a rapidly progressive hearing loss, which leads to permanent total deafness. New research released this week by the Kaiser Family Foundation indicates that people are receiving important health information from prime-time television shows. Although the study looked at the storyline of another medical drama and not "House, M.D.," the important finding is that 45.6 percent of the audience surveyed remembered the key medical information six weeks later.

http://a.abcnews.com/Health/PainNews/story?id=5841784&page=1

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Listener's Brain Predicts Speaker's Words

Scientists at the University of Rochester in New York have shown for the first time that our brains automatically consider many possible words and their meanings before we've even heard the final sound of the word. Previous theories have proposed that listeners can only keep pace with the rapid rate of spoken language - up to five syllables per second - by anticipating a small subset of all words known by the listener, much like Google search anticipates words and phrases as you type. This subset consists of all words that begin with the same sounds, such as "candle," "candy," and "cantaloupe," and makes the task of understanding the specific word more efficient than waiting until all the sounds of the word have been presented. But until now, researchers had no way to know if the brain also considers the meanings of these possible words. The new findings are the first time that scientists, using an MRI scanner, have been able to actually see this split-second brain activity. The study was a team effort among former Rochester graduate student Kathleen Pirog Revill, now a postdoctoral researcher at Georgia Tech, and three faculty members in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the University of Rochester.

http://www.hearingreview.com/insider/2008-09-18_13.asp

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The Cocktail Party Effect

Researchers study animal behavior to help humans better cut through the chatter. The next time you attend a cocktail party, notice how quickly everyone instinctively raises their voice as the room begins to fill with many speakers, each focused on different conversational partners. Thanks to the so-called "cocktail party effect," most of us are able to filter out the background chatter and pick out that particular voice of greatest interest. This ability to selectively respond even as infants to auditory stimuli embedded in noise is not unique to humans. Many animals, such as penguins, fish and frogs, share with us this remarkable skill.

http://audiology.advanceweb.com/Article/The-Cocktail-Party-Effect.aspx

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- Classifieds
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One Online Store, one Call for Papers, and two Employment Opportunities appear in this issue. (Ads appear after this brief table of contents.)

WCI. Providing Solutions for People with Hearing Loss.
NEW COMFORT DUETT AND SERENE INNOVATION WATCH 10% OFF!
http://www.weitbrecht.com

Call for Speakers & Sessions
HEAR2008
Hosted by Hearing Loss Association of California
www.HEAR2009.com

Employment Opportunity 1
Various Positions
GLAD
Various Southern California Locations

Employment Opportunity 2
Various Employment Opportunities
Georgia School for the Deaf
Cave Spring, GA

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NEW COMFORT DUETT AND SERENE INNOVATION WATCH 10% OFF!
http://www.weitbrecht.com
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Call for Speakers & Sessions
HEAR2008
Hosted by Hearing Loss Association of California
www.HEAR2009.com
-------------------

HEAR2009, the regional conference hosted by the Hearing Loss Association of California, will take place February 13 - 15 in Anaheim, CA, and we are soliciting speakers and presentations!

The four tracks:

1. Hearing - This track focuses on the various medical, economic and psychological aspects of hearing loss, and how individuals can best maximize their potential regardless of their hearing.

2. Entertainment - From our Southern California base, a look at how Hollywood deals with - and often ignores - those with hearing loss. Includes captioning, access to and participation in the arts.

3. Advocacy - What can we do to advance the agenda of hearing loss? For that matter, what is the "agenda"? Includes how to effectively fight for equal access individually and collectively.

4. Research - The cutting-edge science conducted at universities, labs and corporate offices. We hope to give attendees a glimpse at the treatments, products and technologies that may soon emerge.

Deadline for submissions is Friday October 3, 2008.

Additional information, including the complete Call for Papers, may be accessed at www.HEAR2009.com

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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, Crenshaw, Norwalk, and Pacoima, CA
* Community Interpreter - Bakersfield, Los Angeles, Riverside, CA
* Community Advocate - Ventura, Los Angeles, CA
* Community Health Educator - Los Angeles, CA
* Administrative Assistant - Los Angeles, CA
* Administrative Assistant - Riverside, 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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Employment Opportunity 2
Various Employment Opportunities
Georgia School for the Deaf
Cave Spring, GA
-------------------

Currently accepting applications for the following positions:

Middle School Science Teacher (10 mth. position)*
Literacy Content Specialist - Pre K-12 (10 mth. position)*
Reading Content Specialist - Pre K-12 (10 mth. position)*
Graduation Coach (10 mth. position)*
Paraprofessional - Classroom (10 mth. positions)*
Paraprofessional - Residential Services (Two 10 mth. positions)*
Residential Advisor (Two 10 mth. positions)*
Speech Language Pathologist (10 mth. position)*
Substitute Teachers (hourly paid, based on credentials)
Occupational Therapist (hourly paid)
Physical Therapist (hourly paid)

*10 month employees work 200 days (10 months) but receive payroll checks during each of the 12 months of the year.

For more information about these positions, visit the Georgia Department of Education web site at http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/pea_hr_jobsearch.aspx

Download Job Applications at:
http://www.spa.ga.gov/word/jobinfo/stateapp-emp.doc

Completed applications may be mailed, e-mailed, or faxed to:

Denise Clark
Georgia School for the Deaf
232 Perry Farm Rd. SW
Cave Spring, Georgia 30124
denise.clark@doe.k12.ga.us
Fax: (706) 777-2240

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