June 2020 ALDA Program

Juneteenth “Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Note that this was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation – which had become official January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation had little impact on the Texans due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive Order. However, …

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Hearing Loss Tips during COVID19

Nicole Laffan, Au.D., M.S., CCC-A/SLP, Assistant Clinical Professor, Northeastern University | Bouvé College of Health Sciences writes: I’ve created the attached presentation to help individuals with hearing loss communicate during COVID-19. It contains information about advocating for oneself, phones with captioning, apps to add captioning to smart phone conversations, speech-to-text apps, video conferencing platforms that use captioning, resources for purchasing clear shields and masks, suggestions for wearing masks with hearing aids or cochlear implants, and info on the free aural rehabilitation sessions. I hope you find it helpful. Please feel free to share it with your members.

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Collection of Information about Face Masks and Health Care Communication

From: HLAA Central MA <hlaacentralma@gmail.com> Date: Thu, Jun 18, 2020 at 10:48 AM Subject: Collection of Information about Face Masks and Health Care Communication To: HLAA Central MA <hlaacentralma@gmail.com> During the COVID-19 pandemic, people with hearing loss are frustrated by masks and face coverings.  Being able to lipread is critical to our communication, especially when navigating the healthcare system.  HLAA CM has collected some information related to this topic to share. Guide for Effective Communication in Health Care HLAA has a website dedicated to this topic with resources on how to communicate with medical professionals, recommendations for medical facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic, …

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These Transparent Face Masks Might Make You Feel Normal Again

From HLAA Central Massachusetts Chapter: The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) and the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) have devised a transparent surgical face mask that will “soon be produced on an industrial scale.” To fabricate them, researchers had to come up with an all-new polymer material. They say the ability to see facial expressions will lead to more empathic health care providers. [Full story]

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Experience HLAA Virtual Convention, June 18-19, 2020

From Hearingloss.org: While HLAA2020 is cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our community is demanding more online content. In response to that, we are offering an online experience open to everyone, free of charge, with aspects of an HLAA Convention and a look to HLAA2021 in San Diego. HLAA is excited about the opportunity to present highlights from HLAA2020 Convention in a new online format. While we will miss the networking, personal connections, and sense of support we gain from attending an HLAA Convention, by joining us on your devices remotely on Thursday, June 18 and Friday, June 19, we …

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The Future of Hearing Loss and the Search for a Cure

Sue Schy writes on hearatboston@googlegroups.com: Today’s presentation on “The Future of Hearing Loss and the Search for a Cure” was a real eye-opener for me.  As much as I’ve heard about hearing research and gene therapy, I never really knew exactly what it involved or who might benefit from it.  Well, I was enlightened and this cutting edge research sounds like it is on the horizon for countless future generations to benefit from. Thank you to Akouos and Frequency Therapeutics! The real purpose of this email, however, is to give you a few websites and links that were mentioned in …

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Upcoming Events

Sue Schy writes on hearatboston@googlegroups.com: The group from central MA collated all the meetings for the rest of the year culminating with the virtual convention. Don’t forget to mark your calendars. Saturday June 6, 2020: HLAA National Virtual Meeting 2-3:30 pm Topic: Advocacy & Impact: Effective Communication in Health Care Settings https://www.hearingloss.org/event/hlaa-national-virtual-meeting-6-6-20/?instance_id=902 Saturday June 13, 2020: HLAA Boston Chapter Virtual Meeting 2-4 pm Topic: Boston Biotech Hearing Research Akouos and Frequency Therapeutics Featured in a February Boston Globe article: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/02/02/metro/boston-area-startups-making-slow-progress-fight-against-hearing-loss/ Thursday June 18 and Friday June 19, 2020: Experience HLAA! Online “Convention” experience https://web.archive.org/web/20200608045400/https://www.hearingloss.org/programs-events/convention/schedule/ Topics include ·       Opening session …

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