F eaturing - Canadian Hard of Hearing Association – BC Chapter

CHHA-BC Resource Centre
101-9300 Nowell Street
Chilliwack, BC V2P 4V7
The
Canadian Hard of Hearing Association-British Columbia Chapter
-A Success on September 22, 2012!
Walk2Hear Participants getting started...
WALK2HEAR VANCOUVER 2012 WALKATHON
It was a morning cool enough for jackets, but this did nothing to dampen the spirits of the
people who met to participate in BC’s second annual Walk2Hear walkathon on September
22nd. We met this year at the east end of Jericho Beach Park on a grassy lawn under spreading trees close to the seashore. Participants chose whether to walk 2km, 5 km, or 10 km, along
the seawall, past Locarno Beach and down the Spanish Banks. All ages and walk styles were
featured, from joggers through striders, strollers, canes and walkers. Besides the exercise, it
was an excellent time for socialization.
This year, instead of sponsor display tables, registered walkers, and volunteers each received
a gift bag containing a variety of useful items, and informative materials, all of which were
hugely appreciated.
Continued on page 2...
F
Issue 49 Fall/Winter 2012
eaturing:
Managing Hearing Loss by Leslee Scott ...page 5
Diary of a Cochlear Implant by Flo Spratt ...pages 10-11
President’s Report
CHHA-BC has moved into the new office space
across the hall in the same building. An open
house was held on Sept 15th for visitors and
members to peek at the new CHHA-BC office.
I would like to thank all the staff, volunteers
and CHHA BC members who assisted with
the move.
The Walk2Hear Walkathon was held at Jericho
Beach Park in Vancouver on September 22nd,
2012. I would like to thank Marilyn Dahl for
organizing the Walkathon and Miron Gazda, Sarah Farid, Rodney
George, CHHA-BC staff, CHHA-Vancouver, CHHA-National, and
volunteers. I wanted to encourage other branches around the province
to walk in their own communities. Two board members, Leslee Scott
and Deborah Scott walked in Kelowna. They reported a successful walk,
having new people joining them, as they wanted to learn more about
CHHA-BC and Hearing Loss.
The National Educational Association for Disabled Students (NEADS)
presented its 26th workshop called, “The Vancouver Strategies
to Employment”. This event was held on November 9th, 2012, 8:30 am
to 4:30 pm at Hilton Metro Town in Burnaby. I provided the Keynote
address "Steps to Success: The Key to Gaining Access." The purpose
of the workshop is to offer practical job search strategies that can help
post-secondary students and recent graduates with disabilities pursue
their career goals, new perspectives, best practices, and making
new contacts.
CHHA National Conference is going to be on May 23-25, 2013 at
Fantasy Land Hotel, located in West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton,
Alberta. The theme is “Here We Go Again … the fun continues with
a young at heart.” I hope to see everyone there.
A call for nominations is announced for all positions on the CHHA-BC
Executive Committee (aka the Board) to serve a three-year term starting
on May 2013. Positions on the Board include the President,
Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, and two Members-at-Large.
Nominations may be submitted in writing to Ruth Warick, chairperson
of the Selection Committee, at least 30 days before the Annual General
Meeting to be held in May 2013. Each nomination shall indicate which
office the candidate wishes to fill, include a brief biographical sketch of,
and a brief statement by the candidate. Both candidates and their nominators must be Regular Members. By signing the nomination paper, a
candidate expressly indicates willingness to serve in the indicated
position, to participate in meetings by email, Skype and in person, and
to promote the aims of CHHA-BC Chapter in an active manner. Please
complete the application form for Nominees for Election and send back
to Ruth Warick, Chair of the Selection committee, care of the CHHABC Resource Centre or email her at: nominations@chha-bc.org
Sincerely,
Nora McKellin
CHHA-BC President
CHHA-BC
1
Fall/Winter 2012
The Loop Newsletter is published
by The Canadian Hard of Hearing
Association, BC Chapter.
Editor: Colleen N. Güntner
Submissions may be sent to:
CHHA-BC Resource Centre
#101-9300 Nowell Street
Chilliwack, BC V2P 4V7
Toll Free: 1-866-888-2442
Local: 604-795-9238
Toll Free Fax: 1-866-888-2443
Local Fax: 604-795-9628
Email: info@chha-bc.org
·The Loop is distributed through
CHHA BC’s Resource Centre to all
BC members of the Canadian Hard of
Hearing Association.
·Submissions are used according to
available space and may be edited.
·Opinions expressed in The Loop are
those of the contributors and should
not be attributed to CHHA-BC.
·For a large print copy of The Loop
please contact the Resource Centre
·Membership with CHHA includes:
The Loop (provincial publication)
Listen/Ecoute (national publication)
Membership fee: $25.00 per year
·We appreciate donations towards the
publishing costs of The Loop. A tax
receipt will be issued for donations
$10.00 and over.
·If you would like to receive future
editions of The Loop via email, please
contact the Resource Centre.
Donations, Memorials, Bequests to
the Hard of Hearing/Late Deafened
Fund assist CHHA-BC in its activities. Please send donations to the
Vancouver Foundation
Suite 1200-555 Hastings St.
Box 12132, Harbour Centre
Vancouver, BC V6B 4N6
The Vancouver Foundation will
issue receipts for all gifts. Interest
from the capital is used in perpetuity
for CHHA-BC.
The capital remains intact.
WALK2HEAR VANCOUVER 2012 WALKATHON continued from front page
The purpose of the walkathon
was to raise awareness about
hearing loss and hearing protection, as well as raise funds for
programs and projects which
CHHA provides locally and
provincially. Pledges raised by
the 99 registered walkers, and
donations by sponsors, raised
approximately $10,000. And
let’s not forget the generous
supply of door prizes from other
corporate and individual
sponsors.
Funds raised, after
expenses, will be allotted to the
various Branches who participated their pledge monies will go
to the individual Branches. The
BC Chapter and Vancouver
Branch co-hosted the event; the
Young Adult Network, BC
Parents Branch, and Hear Branch
walked.
At the same time, that morning,
Leslee Scott and Deborah Scott,
walked in Kelowna, registered
as part of our Vancouver based
walk. They set a great example to
others around the province, who
cannot get into the primary walk
site, to consider doing something
similar next year. Some friends
and relatives also joined them on
the morning walk. We greatly
appreciated the participation of
our professionals and service
providers – the UBC School of
Audiology; representatives from
BCASLPA, BC Family Hearing
Resource Centre, St. Paul’s Hospital Cochlear Implant Clinic,
Mainland Hearing, UBC School
of Engineering walked with us.
Events like this succeed only
because of the volunteer commitment and time donated. Thanks
are due to all of these
individuals – the
members of the organizing committee from
Branch and Chapter for
hours involved, and for
all those additional persons who helped on the
morning of the walk.
Special appreciation
also to the two young
women, Sara and
Mahin, who worked
(Cont’d on page 3)
Miron Gazda ( Rep for
Air Canada) presented
Hielga Enns-Grand Prize
Winner, Air Canada tickets.
Walk2Hear
Volunteers
Ruth Warick and
Marilyn Dahl
announcing prizes.
Stephanie Bryant and
Sharon Davis collecting
new registrations.
CHHA-BC
2
Fall/Winter 2012
WALK2HEAR VANCOUVER 2012 WALKATHON continued from page 2
part time as our ambassadors, and their friends who volunteered to
help on the morning of the walk. We could not have done it without
you! Thanks!
Dr. Warick, Stephanie Bryant
along with Nora McKellin and
her two nieces.
GET TO KNOW OUR SPONSORS
Our Walk2Hear Vancouver 2012 was fortunate to have
some generous and supportive sponsors. If you want to see a great
many smiling faces...
Please do go to the websites:
www.chha-bc.org and www.chhavancouver.wordpress.com
click on the Walk2HEAR2012 name in the header, and then
learn more about each of our sponsors clicking on each
logo in turn. This will take you to their web pages were you can
read about their work and service opportunities
to hard of hearing people.
Marilyn Dahl, Facilitator,
Organizing Committee, Walk2Hear
More participants...
Volunteers handing out the
Walk2HearT-Shirts.
L to R: Stephanie Bryant, Sara Farid, Miron Gazda,
Rodney George,, Marilyn Dahl, & Mahin Torki.
CHHA-BC
3
Dr. Charles Laszlo and his wife receive a prize.
Fall/Winter 2012
Resource Centre Report – July1-November 13, 2012 Submitted by Sharon Perry
Since we moved to our new
office we have been very busy.
The second Managing Hearing
Loss Speech-reading Instructors
Course was held at Simon Fraser
University from July 30th to
August 3rd. Leslee Scott and
Sharon Perry Linda Scarlett-Hauck facilitated
the Course. Six Instructors are
newly certified, including
Stephanie Bryant from our office.
Our Open House was held September 15th with
about 25 visitors.
The CHHA-BC Walkathon was held September
22nd with the Resource Centre being very
involved with the planning and execution of the
very successful event.
a movie about the Science of Sound. Also on
October 10th we participated in a webinair regarding
advertising. We held Strategy Planning Meetings here
October 2nd and again October 30th. On October 24th
CHHA–BC Vice-President Rodney George met with
the staff to talk about our future direction.Stephanie
attended the Council for Service Providers meeting in
Burnaby on November 2nd.
In response to a request from CHHA-BC Treasurer
Sharon Davis, we have been provided with several
student volunteers from Chilliwack Schools who will
be helping us by making Hospital Kits, creating databases, cleaning and testing equipment and performing
other duties as required.
Stephanie Bryant and Sharon Davis will be attending
the Not for Profit and Charity Forum November 16th
at the Harrison Hot Springs Resort and Spa.
On September 27th Sharon Perry attended the
annual Chilliwack Community Services Peer
Counsellors Education Day on behalf of CHHA.
The BC Board meeting will be held here at the
Resource Centre on Saturday, November 24th.
Remote CART will be provided.
Starting October 5th for 8 weeks, Sharon Perry is
presenting the Managing Hearing Loss Speechreading Course to a class of Seniors at Primrose
Independent Living (part of the Menno Campus of
Care) in Abbotsford.
A call is out for nominations to the CHHA-BC Board.
The Annual General Meeting will be held in the
Spring of 2013. Ruth Warick is chair. Ruth can be
reached through our CHHA-BC office at
info@chha-bc.org or nominations@chha-bc.org
On October 10th we met with the principals of the
new company called Advanced Listening Systems.
Their mandate is to ‘Loop BC’ and are currently
installing Loop Systems at select VanCity Credit
Unions as a pilot project. They are also producing
Submitted by Sharon Perry
Administrator
Nomination forms are posted on the website
and the hard copy will be in the next newsletter.
Editor’s Message Submitted by Colleen Güntner
Things are moving along at a fast pace...our new volunteer-Courtney is organizing the library,
A.J. is helping Stephanie with donations from the Christmas Campaign, Ron keeping up with
the mail-outs, and we have 4 students from different schools around Chilliwack helping out with
data input and completing hospital kits. We are grateful for all the work and help! Thank you.
Please join us for coffee time on Thursdays from 10:30 am to noon...we are enjoying our time
chatting with one another about solutions, and ideas along with coffee and treats.
Thank you to all who have submitted their articles. This newsletter would not be as
successful without your help and content. Feel free to send in articles or ideas to me anytime.
Email: cguntner@chha-bc.org
I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
CHHA-BC
4
Fall/Winter 2012
Colleen
Güntner
Managing Hearing Loss Program Submitted by Leslee Scott
Two classes are currently being held, one in
Kelowna and one in Abbotsford.
a senior’s facility in order to run their classes.
In Kelowna, there is a group of 6 hard of
hearing seniors and 3 spouses that regularly
Sharon Perry is holding her Friday morning
attend the MHL classes. The spouses attend
classes for 8 weeks within a Seniors
to support their husbands/wives but also to
Independent Living facility in Abbotsford.
learn. They have found it a challenge to
They were invited to run the classes after
speech-read especially because two have
she and Marlene Witzke did a presentation.
acute hearing. One brings earplugs. We hold
They average 8 – 10 students.
The
these classes on Thursday afternoons for 10
challenge is that it is a Mennonite facility
weeks. It is a lively group with good discuswhere most students are Dutch or
Leslee Scott
sions during the speech-reading practice
German. So they are the ones with the
sessions and during the
coping strategy
accents which is a challenge for a hard of hearing
sessions.
The
classes
are
held
within
the building
instructor! She says “The words look different on my
where
WIDHH
Okanagan
office
is.
The
funding for
lips than they do on theirs so I have them help me by
this program is provided through the Central
asking them to repeat some of the words or phrases
Okanagan Foundation for which WIDHH is
after me. It is such a positive experience because
grateful. The instructor, Leslee Scott, is setting up
they all really participate and they have a great
two classes starting in January, another day class
attitude.” She is invited to join the group for lunch
and an evening class with hopes of attracting people
after every class and she finds it very rewarding to
who are employed and experiencing hearing loss.
see their enthusiasm.
The MHL instructors meet once a month on Skype
to share experiences and to encourage each other to
hold classes so as not to lose their skills they
learned this past year. Several have indicated that
classes will be held in the New Year. Some plans to
team teach are in the works in the Lower mainland.
We look forward to more classes being held
throughout the Lower Mainland. There is a demand
on CHHA BC to hold classes and they are
struggling to meet these needs. There is a need for
more instructors. If people are interested, please
contact the CHHA BC Resource office to express
your interest. We can obtain funding to hold speech
instructor training again in Chilliwack.
What was so special with this whole thing was in
February CHHA-BC was invited to host a table at a
one day Trade Show and Seminar sponsored by
Sysco Systems which is a huge food services
company supplying institutions (hospitals, nursing
homes, assisted living and independent living
residences etc.). Sharon Davis and Sharon Perry went
to Langley for this Trade show. They talked to a lot
of Professionals in the industry. They were asked if
they would do presentations which was how they met
the rep. from Menno Campus of Care in Abbotsford,
a group of facilities with over 700 residents. Sharon
P and Marlene presented to them June 8 (26 people)
and again Sept. 29 (37 people). She feels it is important that MHL instructors try to get sponsored by
CHHA-BC Living with Hearing Loss Course Submitted by Linda
"The first and introductory class of the CHHA-BC Living with Hearing Loss Course
(Instructor: Linda Scarlett-Hauck) was held at the Brinkworthy Clubhouse on Salt Spring
Island on Friday morning, October 26, 2012. Because no fees are charged and all Park
residents are invited, we have the Clubhouse rent– free. Five people attended. Everyone
was interested in continuing into December as they felt this was interesting and useful
information and practice.
We will all continue to talk to others to see if we can increase attendance."
Linda ScarlettHauck
CHHA-BC
5
Fall/Winter 2012
Deaf Access Office Heads to Kelowna! Submitted by Paige Thombs
Greetings, Loop Readers!
My name is Paige Thombs and I’m with the Deaf
Access Office in Burnaby, BC. The Deaf Access Office (a program of
Provincial Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services) works with professionals
and service providers across the province promoting accessibility for
people who are Deaf, Deaf-Blind and Hard of Hearing.
This November, DAO is excited to be heading to Kelowna. The DAO is
thrilled to announce that we have been invited by the RCMP in the interior to do two workshops to all officers during their annual training days.
Over the course of two days, DAO will have the opportunity to talk to
over 200 officers about working with Deaf, Deaf-Blind and Hard of
Hearing people. We will cover things such as communicating with Hard of
Hearing people, working with interpreters and available technology.
As well, I will have time to meet with clients to hear about the challenges
they face when utilizing services. I will be available to meet with people
on November 5th, 6th and 7th. If you’d like to meet to discuss a specific
issue or just learn more about DAO, please contact me at
paige.thombs@gov.bc.ca or 604 775 1364.
“Great presen­
tation! As offi­
cers we all need to learn and be aware of every person that we serve so we can treat them with respect and re­
fer them to the services that they need. ~Nicole, West Vancouver Police Officer I hope to hear from you,
Paige
The Canadian Hard of Hearing Association Scholarship Program
Applications are now being accepted for 2013. All applications must be received by
February 28, 2013. Late, unsigned or incomplete applications will not be considered
nor will applications be accepted by e-mail or fax.
Please mail your completed application to:
Canadian Hard of Hearing Association Scholarship Program
2415 Holly Lane, Suite 205, Ottawa, ON K1V 7P2
Voice: (613) 526-1584 Toll Free: 800-263-8068
Fax: (613) 526-4718 TTY: (613) 526-2692
Applications are attached or available on our website: www.chha.ca
Here is an interesting website-CCAC means captioning advocacy.
Captioning (subtitles) is our Language too-Don’t Leave us Out!http://ccacaptioning.org
Another website of interest: Dr. Neil Bauman
http://www.hearinglosshelp.com
HEARING LOSS HELP e-Zine "The premier e-Zine for people with hearing loss"
CHHA-BC
6
Fall/Winter 2012
A Tribute to an Amazing Woman
CHHA-BC extends our deepest condolences to the family of
Carol Suggitt. Carol passed away suddenly on August 28th, 2012.
Carol Suggitt was a valuable member of the community who generously
gave her life experiences and knowledge to help Deaf, Hearing, and
Hard of Hearing people. Carol was a long-time member of CHHA,
a huge supporter and extremely instrumental with all our events.
She always found solutions, always giving, and always had a
“never give up attitude”.
Carol Suggitt will be missed but not forgotten.
Remembrance Day-November 11, 2012
On Remembrance Day Alex Zytaruk (from the CHHA
Chilliwack Branch, Volunteer, and speaker at the AGM in
Surrey in May 2012) and Sharon Perry (our own CHHA-BC
Administrator and member of Legion #280) lay a wreath.
Alex had 5 brothers in the army during wartime and
Alex was in the RCAF in 1950.
CHHA-BC
7
Fall/Winter 2012
The Vancouver Aquarium will be
celebrating accessibility on
December 1, 2012.
For more details, you can visit
our website at the following
link:
We will have all of our usual
accessible services offered and
the following additions:
http://www.vanaqua.org/
experience/events/annual-andupcoming-events/celebrateaccessibility
* American Sign Language interpreters will be at all of
our marine mammal and dive
shows, including one of our
holiday favourites, Scuba Claus.
* The Wet Lab will be
open every hour so guests can
experience our aquatic world
through touch.
* Volunteers will be available upon request to assist visitors
who are blind or have low vision
for a more descriptive tour.
* Extra volunteers will be
onsite to interact with guests and
showcase a variety of props in the
galleries.
The Vancouver Aquarium
is a non-profit society
dedicated to the
conservation of aquatic life.
www.vanaqua.org
UBC School of Audiology and Speech Sciences is Looking for Hearing Aid Users
be measured. You will also be asked to listen to
about 20 hours of audio books of your choice
processed with the new technology. You may
listen to these books on your own time between visits 2 and 3 in the lab.
No new hearing aids will be given to you as part of
this study. The new technology being tested
will not improve your hearing or your current
hearing aids. It is being evaluated for its
benefit in future models of hearing aids.
There is nothing to buy, and you do not have to pay
for study visits or tests that are part of the
study. Costs of travel to the testing facility will
be reimbursed. You will receive $200 for
participating in the study.
If you are interested in participating in this study, or
would like more information, contact: Lindsay
or Heather (regarding the “Hearing Aids and
Noise study”)
lab phone: 604-827-3338
Email: AmpLab@audiospeech.ubc.ca
Hearing aid users are invited to take part in a
research study to investigate a new method for
improving the effectiveness of hearing aids in noisy
environments. The new technology removes the
background noise from the sound amplified by
hearing aids, allowing wearers to more clearly hear
spoken words. This study is being done to determine
what improvement this provides over existing
hearing aid noise reduction programs.
You qualify if you:
Are over 19 years old, and
Wear two hearing aids that are less than 4 years
old, and
Have worn your present hearing aids for at least
6 months, and
Have not been diagnosed with a cognitive impairment (e.g. Alzheimer’s disease)
If you agree to take part in this study, it will
involve about 3 visits to a testing facility at
the University of British Columbia to take
hearing tests. Each visit will be about 2
hours long.
At each visit you will listen to recorded sentences
spoken with varying levels of background
noise, and your ability to hear the words will
Principal Investigator:
Dr. Lorienne Jenstad, PhD
UBC School of Audiology and Speech Sciences
Phone: 604-822-4716
The next copy deadline is: January 31, 2013
CHHA-BC
8
Fall/Winter 2012
Thursday Morning Coffee Time
MEMBERS:
Have you renewed
your membership?
When you pay membership
fees, you indicate your belief in
what we are doing and shows us
that you continue to support our
efforts. Thank you.
CHHA-BC does not receive any
government funding. Yet, we
work hard to provide programs
and services that are needed in
our region. But there is a cost
that is attached to it all. A cost
that is covered by our own
internal fund-raiding campaigns
which run throughout the
fiscal year.
By joining our membership you
not only contribute much
needed funds to us and our
National office but it benefits
you in return. Keep in the loop
with the latest technical
advances; learn about workshops planned in your area;
keep in touch with what’s
happening in the “hearing”
industry and learn how you can
help by volunteering your time
and wisdom.
CHHA-BC Resource Centre
#101-9300 Nowell Street
Chilliwack, BC V2P 4V7
604-795-9238
We extend an Invitation to join us every
Thursday morning for coffee/tea,
friendship, discussions, ideas, and much more!
Bring along your concerns and needs to help us help you.
10:30 am-Noon ...See you then...
CHHA Vancouver Branch News
Two of CHHAVAN Branch members were recently honoured in their
respective fields. Congratulations, Ruth and Charles!
Dr. Ruth Warick: Senior Diversity Advisor, Disability, with Access
and Disability at UBC was one of nine staff who received the
President Staff Awards.
Ruth was recognized for her work in promoting accessibility for
diverse populations, particularly in disability services. She is a widely
respected authority on disability services and education, and has
worked to bring broader notions of diversity to disability services
at the international level.
Dr. Charles Laszlo: Formerly the Dean of Biomedical Engineering at
UBC, received the Faculty of Applied Engineering Outstanding
Emeritus Award.
Dr. Laszlo was recognized for his dedication to academia; the transfer
of his research into the industrial domain, and his passion to the service
of the hard of hearing community.
For more information on
membership call the CHHA-BC
Chapter: (604) 795-9238
Toll Free: 1-866-888-2442 or by
email: info@chha-bc.org
Happy Holiday Season
Got A Penny?
Wondering what to do with all
those extra pennies? They will
soon be a thing of the past, so
please consider donating them
to your favourite charity.
Peace
CHHA-BC
Joy
9
Fall/Winter 2012
Hope
Diary of a Cochlear Implant Submitted by Flo Spratt
“I Want to Hear
Just like You”
A number of people who knew
me before my CI (cochlear implant) surgery continue to remark
how impressed they are with my
ability to hear with very little
effort. In fact, some of my HOH
friends who were once reluctant
to even consider applying for a CI
are now hoping to become CI
recipients. They too want to
enjoy the world of sounds and
speech as I do. They have seen
the change in me and others with
CIs, and realize they too may
have that gift, should they be
eligible for this technology.
Recently two of these friends
visited me to ask questions about
the process of eligibility for the
surgery and the rehabilitation that
one undergoes after the implant is
turned on (6 weeks later). I did
my best to answer their questions
that afternoon. However, I realized that, given the 3 years since I
had my surgery, there could well
be some more up-to-date information regarding the issues that
concern them. So, after the visit,
I asked my audiologist; Jowan, at
St. Paul’s, to give me more
current information. Once again
he was very helpful .
In this
article I will respond to the
questions my friends asked by
giving combined responses from
both Jowan’s expertise and my
own experiences.
Question: When is someone too
old to apply for a CI?
Answer:
Age is not a
factor. The clinic looks primarily
at one’s medical/surgical candidacy along with the audiological
criteria. This means Dr. Westerberg, the surgeon, needs to determine if the person is healthy
enough to undergo the surgery,
and will assess this by your
medical records and current
health status. There have been
cases of younger applicants who
met the audiological criteria for
CI, but were not healthy enough
to undergo surgery safely. If you
desire to pursue the CI surgery,
you must ask for a referral to the
program and get assessed (see
below on the referral
process).
Your capacity to
undergo surgery is the decision of
the surgeon.
Question: What if I’m doing
"OK" in quiet situations because
I use a huge variety of coping
strategies with a variety of grammar/semantics skills, to figure out
what is being discussed and how
to work my way in conversations,
but I am not coping well in the
real world where noise and
constant unpredictable sounds
interfere with my interactions
with others? How can the clinic
assess that aspect of my eligibility
for a CI when I would be assessed
in the quiet environment of the
sound booth?
CHHA-BC
10
Answer:
The
current candidacy
criteria are based
on sentences in
quiet.
This is
consistent across
all clinics in North Flo Spratt
America and the
criteria have been approved by
Health Canada and FDA. The
candidacy criteria are supported
by research which indicates that
it is safe and reliable to implant
that group of patients. There is
continued research to evaluate
the candidacy criteria for implantation. St. Paul’s clinic has been
and continues to be involved
in this research. If the person
is not deemed a candidate, it
means that there should be
reasonable amounts of residual
speech understanding that would
allow him/her to benefit from
ALDs like FM technology. Also,
the tests results indicate that he or
she is doing better than every
other CI recipient who was
deemed to be a candidate at the
time of their assessment.
I can’t underestimate the use of
ALDs (Assistive Listening
Devices) and other means that
technology offers to the hard of
hearing in addition to hearing
aids. For me, prior to my CI,
I used the FM system almost
continuously, even in quiet situations; I also used the Voice Carry
Over telephone (by Ameriphone)
and email exclusively to keep in
touch with the people in my life.
Because they were my life line,
I became comfortable using them.
Question: What will the clinic
tell me if I fail the candidacy
process?
Fall/Winter 2012
Continued on page 11
Diary of a Cochlear Implant Submitted by Flo Spratt (continued from page 10)
Answer: If you are not YET
deemed to be a candidate for a CI,
you will be encouraged to pursue
options that are available for
improving your quality of
life. The clinic will explain your
current level of hearing and
whether your hearing aids are fitting you appropriately. They will
show how your results compare
with what could be acquired,
given your hearing levels and
what could be provided, given
your aids’ power or stronger
hearing aids that are available. The clinic will encourage
you to work with your hearing aid
person to increase settings to get
optimal hearing and will encourage you to have a good trial with
FM technology. The clinic will
discuss the value of speech reading courses to augment your
hearing and to contact community
resources such as CHHA
to provide further supports to
you and your family. Finally, you
will be made aware that none of
their recommendations will
restore hearing to normal, but
rather that you are to maximize
the use of your residual hearing. An important point to remember is that a small 10-20%
increase in speech access is a
bigger deal for people coming in
for CI assessments than for normal hearing people. I think we
all, as hard of hearing persons,
understand this fact: for example,
just having background music
turned down or off is a tremendous benefit to our efforts in
hearing others, even though our
hearing loss does not change.
Question: What can the clinic
recommend in the unfortunate
case of someone who meets the
audiological criteria but is
deemed physically unable to
undergo the surgery due
to a critical condition (e.g., a
terminal disease)?
Answer: In the cases where a
HOH person can’t have the
surgery and is without sound
or only can access limited sound,
the clinic will discuss things like
Vancouver Community College’s
speech reading course, support
services by CHHA, consideration
for use of ALDS, as well as other
technologies like Dragon Dictation software which can be used
on computers or as an app on
iPhones. If necessary, they will
also discuss the possibility of
using sign language if that is
something the person is willing
Kelsie Grazier sent in an
interesting story (that isn’t captioned).
Kelsie wrote: “I thought I would pass on this story about
an 8 year old girl from New York that wrote a little book on
hearing loss that I came across. So great and inspiring!”
The link:
http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/14/8-year-oldwrites-book-on-hearing-loss/
CHHA-BC 11
to consider. Jowan emphasized to
me that, fortunately, it is
extremely rare to have someone
turned down permanently.
Question: Who makes the referral to St. Paul’s clinic for my
application for a CI?
Answer: Audiologists, Hearing
Aid Practitioners, ENTs, GPs can
all make referrals now. By opening up the referral sources, the
clinic at St. Paul’s is trying to
make the CI program more accessible to those that need it. Once
the clinic reviews all of the materials that you need to send in, they
do an intake on the information.
If the information indicates that
you might be a candidate, then
they will contact you and book
you for an assessment. If you are
clearly not a candidate then the
clinic will also contact you and
recommend that you work with
your hearing aid provider by
exploring ALDs and support from
your local CHHA branch.
As a long standing member of
CHHA, I can’t say enough for the
support I have received from our
CHHA branch. I have been
challenged many times to try yet
one more coping strategy, to learn
pleasing and assertive ways to
understand what others are saying, and to not give up. I have
received encouragement and
understanding by others with
hearing loss that enabled me to
feel less alone and hopeless in my
circumstances. Most of all,
I learned that, even with a hearing
loss, I have much to offer others
and that life is about
focusing on what we
can give.
Fall/Winter 2012