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New England HLAA Chapters Turn Out for All-Day Workshop

Central Massachusetts Leader Beth Wilson warms up the audience.

May 17, 2019: People came from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Vermont for a day of learning and dialog. HLAA Central Massachusetts Chapter Leader Beth Wilson, Ph.D., and members of that chapter organized the event at the Northborough (MA) Public Library.

Kevin Franck, Ph.D., HLAA Board of Trustees member and director of audiology at the Mass. Eye and Ear Institute, talked about Over-the-Counter hearing devices. He walked the audience through how the new law for OTC came about, why, and what the future might look like.

HLAA Executive Director Barbara Kelley spoke in the afternoon about HLAA and reflected on the last 40 years of the organization. She also enthusiastically talked about the work of HLAA now and what we can look forward to in the future.

Stephen A. Florio, the new commissioner of the Massachusetts Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing attended and encouraged HLAA Chapter members to get involved in advocacy and make their voices heard. He cited the recent Maryland hearing loop law that Governor Hogan signed as an example of what people can do in their states.

Peggy Ellertsen, Newton resident and member of the HLAA Board of Trustees, said, “I noticed on all of the faces of people in the room what I think was a sense of great pride in the quality of what our association continues to accomplish.”

Thank you to all the HLAA members and guests who came out for the day.

HLAA Board of Trustee Members Nancy Sonnabend (Boston) and Peggy Ellertson (Newton) enjoy the New England Chapters meeting.

 

Membership Benefits

NEW Membership Benefit (U.S. memberships only)
hearOclub is a hearing aid and cochlear implant battery subscription service which delivers DieHard brand batteries on a set schedule (with free shipping!). New HLAA members sign up for hearOclub using a coupon code online at hearoclub.com or by calling 833.LISTEN-2 (833.547.8362). Look for the coupon code in the email confirmation when you join or renew, or in the New Member Packet which will arrive in your mailbox. Current members, sign up todayusing the coupon code HLAAmember at hearoclub.com.

Sign up for a hearOclub subscription and receive $30 worth of free batteries plus a battery tester keychain – a total value of $40, exclusive to HLAA members!

Attention cochlear implant users! hearOclub now offers a 675P battery. See more information at hearOclub.com/cochlear.

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For more information click on

https://www.hearingloss.org/make-an-impact/become-a-memberrenew/

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HLAA members have the knowledge that they are an active participant in a highly-respected organization that is a force for change working on behalf of people with hearing loss.

Individual/Couple/Student Member Benefits

• Hearing Life – the bimonthly magazine about the latest technology, products and information about how to live well with hearing loss. Read stories from people who have hearing loss as well as articles from leading professionals in the field. HLAA members have access to the online version of Hearing Life before it arrives in the mail.
• Discounted rate to the annual HLAA Convention held in various cities across the country (discount also applies to all members in the Couple/Family membership)
• Discounts on certain products and services.HLAA does not endorse the product or service discounts offered on this page, nor does exclusion suggest disapproval. 
• The support found in our extensive network of chapters
• Online activities such as HLAA Webinars (captioned), forums, groups for young adults, parents, surveys, Hearing Life e-News, and more
• Participation in advocacy campaigns

NEW Membership Benefit (U.S. memberships only)
hearOclub is a hearing aid and cochlear implant battery subscription service which delivers DieHard brand batteries on a set schedule (with free shipping!). New HLAA members sign up for hearOclub using a coupon code online at hearoclub.com or by calling 833.LISTEN-2 (833.547.8362). Look for the coupon code in the email confirmation when you join or renew, or in the New Member Packet which will arrive in your mailbox. Current members, sign up todayusing the coupon code HLAAmember at hearoclub.com.

Sign up for a hearOclub subscription and receive $30 worth of free batteries plus a battery tester keychain – a total value of $40, exclusive to HLAA members!

Attention cochlear implant users! hearOclub now offers a 675P battery. See more information at hearOclub.com/cochlear.

Over-the-Counter Hearing Aids

Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) Central MA Chapter Program

May 18, 2019 at the Northborough Public Library

Kevin Franck: Over the Counter Hearing Aids (10 am to noon)

Barbara Kelley: Saying Yes to the Future (1 to 3 pm)

Kevin Franck, HLAA Board of Trustees member and Director of Audiology at MA Eye and Ear Institute, will present information on Over-the-Counter hearing aids during the morning presentation.  Barbara Kelley, HLAA Executive Director, will provide insights from the national perspective on a range of topics related to hearing loss during the afternoon presentation.   CART (Computer Aided Real Time captioning) will be provided.

From 10:00 am – 12 noon “Over the Counter Hearing Aids”

Please come to this informative session about the new, soon-to-be-available over-the-counter hearing aids.  What are “Over the Counter (OTC) hearing aids” and how are they different from traditional hearing aids? Who would likely be able to benefit from these?  How might this affect hearing aid prices?  The presenter will be Kevin Franck, HLAA Board of Trustees member and Director of Audiology at MA Eye and Ear Institute.  Kevin will fill us in on this topic and answer our questions.  Come join us to learn more about OTC hearing aids.

From 1:00 – 3:00 pm “Saying Yes to the Future”

In addition to the morning presentation, there will be a special afternoon presentation from 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm.  HLAA Executive Director Barbara Kelley will visit us from Bethesda, MD to provide insights from a national perspective. This is an exciting opportunity to learn what is happening across our organization and what HLAA is doing to impact our future.  HLAA has been a source of significant impact in promoting hearing access since it started 40 years ago.  Come join us to learn where HLAA is going next.

Those who will attend both sessions are invited to a simple lunch which will be served from 12:30 to 1:00. RSVP is required in order to assist us in the head count. Please respond by email (HLAACentralMA@gmail.com). 

The Northborough Library parking lot is accessed by Patty Lane.

There is ample free parking at the Northborough Library.   However, your GPS will bring you to the front of the library, where there is no parking. The parking lot is behind the library, accessed via Patty Lane. For more information please visit http://www.northboroughlibrary.org/hours.asp

 

First Look at the Bose Hearing Aid

Self-Fitting Bose “Hearing Aid” Resembles Bose Hearphones Hearing Tracker has gotten a first look at the FDA’s documentation for the much-anticipated Bose Hearing Aid. The product’s physical form factor looks nearly identical to the consumer-electronic giant’s last hearing-assistive product, the Bose “Hearphones”. But the Bose Hearing Aid is the first FDA-approved hearing aid in a newly-minted category of products known as “self-fitting air-conduction hearing aids.” Read more. Read Article

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Andy Meek @aemeek

February 4th, 2019 at 11:07 PM

Google is starting to roll out two new features for Android phones today that are meant to help the some 900 million people around the world who the World Health Organization says will be suffering from hearing loss by the year 2055. The features are actually two apps for Android called Live Transcribe and Sound Amplifier, both of which do exactly what the names imply.

The Live Transcribe app, for example, takes real-world speech and turns it into real-time captions using the phone’s microphone, while Sound Amplifier helps filter, augment and amplify sounds in the environment around the user. It increases quiet sounds while not over-boosting loud sounds, and it can also be customized, with sliders and toggles that can be used for noise reduction to minimize distractions in the background.

DON’T MISSAnyone with a phone that supports wireless charging would be crazy to pass up this deal

Sound Amplifier will be in the Play Store today for Android users, while Google says Live Transcribe will start rolling out in a limited beta today via the Play Store. It will also come pre-installed on Pixel 3 devices, and you can sign up here to be notified when it’s more widely available. Sound Amplifier will likewise come pre-installed on Pixel 3’s.

In a company blog post today, Google shows how the apps can be used by spotlighting the work of Dimitri Kanevsky, a research scientist at the company who’s worked on speech recognition and communications technology for 30 years. “Through his work, Dimitri — who has been deaf since early childhood — has helped shape the accessibility technologies he relies on. One of them is CART: A service where a captioner virtually joins a meeting to listen and create a transcription of spoken dialogue, which then displays on a computer screen. Dimitri’s teammate, Chet Gnegy, saw the challenges Dimitri faced using CART: He always carried multiple devices, it was costly and each meeting required a lot of preparation. This meant Dimitri could only use CART for formal business meetings or events, and not everyday conversations.”

That, the Google post continues, inspired Chet to work with the company’s Accessibility team to build a tool that could reduce Dimitri’s effort spent preparing for conversations. “We thought: What if we used cloud-based automatic speech recognition to display spoken words on a screen? A prototype was built and Googlers across a bunch of our offices — from Mountain View to Taipei — got involved. The result is Live Transcribe, an app that takes real-world speech and turns it into real-time captions using just the phone’s microphone.”

The app gives people who are deaf or hard of hearing, Google says, greater independence in their everyday interactions. People like Dimitri, who’s now closer to his loved ones and able to easily communicate with his young granddaughters without the help of family members.

https://youtu.be/jLCwjIaPXwA

Image Source: Google

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Preview YouTube video Android Accessibility: Live Transcribe

Android Accessibility: Live Transcribe

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Center for Living & Working, Inc.’s  Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program invites you to attend a Meet and Greet with MCDHH Commissioner Steven Florio.

Please come to meet and talk with Commissioner Florio Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Learn about his goals and vision for the future of MCDHH.

WHEN: Wednesday, June 26th, 2019
TIME: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
WHERE: Center for Living & Working, Inc.
484 Main Street, Suite 345
Denholm Building
Worcester, MA 01608

There will also be time to ask questions!  Refreshments will be provided.

Please RSVP by June 19th  RSVP to Joan Philip at JPhilip@centerlw.org or please call
508-762-1164.

ASL/English Interpreters will be provided. FM systems will be available.

Please contact Joan Philip for any other Communication Access requests.