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Hearing Loss Association of America
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February 27, 2011
1 person found this review helpful
When I first learned about HLAA (then SHHH) in 1995 I had already been struggling with my hearing loss for 30 years. I was amazed to find an organization that not only understood the many problems that hearing loss presents, but welcomed me and offered solutions to those problems. I joined the organization initially as a chapter member, but soon became involved in the state level, representing hard of hearing people on advisory boards. I also soon learned to overcome my initial nervousness in public speaking and shared my learnings with others who could benefit from the information. As my hearing continued to deteriorate I found the courage to have cochlear implant surgery after talking to HLAA members who had benefitted from the procedure.
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
helping hard of hearing people learn to live with their disability and participate fully in life.
Ways to make it better...
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
add staff to enableHLAA to better fulfill its mission of advocacy and support.
February 27, 2011
‘Life-changing’ is an expression that’s used frequently when people talk about their engagement with HLAA.
After living with moderate hearing loss for over 30 years, my hearing suddenly deteriorated to a level of profound deafness over a period of a few days. When I returned home from a weeklong stay in the hospital where efforts to reverse my deafness proved unsuccessful, I had no idea how I would begin to live my new life. Living with hearing loss had always been difficult, but profound deafness made me feel as if I’d landed on another planet.
I somehow found my way to an HLAA Manhattan Chapter meeting and the experience was indeed…‘life-changing’. First, because I was welcomed by a caring group of people, who immediately began jumping through hoops to learn about my communication needs and make sure they were met at the meeting. Secondly, it was the first time I’d heard an audiologist (the evening’s presenter) address the fact that hearing loss isn’t something that’s only treated in a medical setting. It encompasses every aspect of our lives, there are great variations in levels and types of hearing loss, and lifestyles and communication needs can widely differ. I was hooked. I knew I’d found the right place and it’s been a four-year whirlwind of learning, personal and professional growth, and positive experience ever since.
I believe HLAA is so effective because it addresses the varied needs of people with hearing loss, at every level. We have a relatively small number of paid staff at the national level that are highly effective in forming partnerships and impacting legislation for access and services. An extensive network of volunteers, benefiting from the training and support of our national office, are also truly effective in carrying out HLAA’s agenda at the local level. A perfect example is our HLAA Walk4Hearing. Supported by our national office staff, and organized and implemented by volunteers in 23 cities across the country, the Walks are one of the best opportunities to create awareness and raise funds for hearing loss.
One of my most valuable memories is the awards ceremony breakfast at my first HLAA Convention. As I sat and listened to the incredible accomplishments of so many HLAA members, I was really stunned at what this organization had inspired other to do. I was also encouraged to know that each and every one of us can accomplish great things, for ourselves, and others, by utilizing the support HLAA offers in moving forward with our lives. Life-changing indeed.
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
See above
Ways to make it better...
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
add paid staff to help support the many new members/volunteers (families, students, hearing health professionals) coming into the organization
February 26, 2011
HLAA's purpose is: education, advocacy and support for those with hearing loss and their families. The organization was started by Rocky Stone in 1979. It's originally named was "Self Help for the Hard of Hearing" (SHHH). My parents met Rocky and his wife, Alme, as the organization was beginning. It was the best thing that could have happened to my mom who suffered from profound hearing loss in both ears and had lost much self confidence. She ended up starting SHHH chapters in Winnetka, IL and Sarasota, FL and served on the SHHH national board for nine years. The organization has also been helpful to me. I am deaf in one ear and don't hear very well in my other ear even with the best hearing aid available. I have been told for many years by the doctors and audiologists, where I live, that I wasn't a candidate for a cochlear implant. Thanks to the recommendation of Brenda Battat and some of the HLAA board members I have gone to NYU and will have cochlear implant surgery there in the near future.
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
See above review
Ways to make it better...
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
I find the home page of the web site to be a visual nightmare -I'd simplify it. The organization is great - I wouldn't change it.
February 26, 2011
HLAA is the premier organization that provides education to those with wide varieties of hearing loss in addition to advocating to influence governmental policies as they pertains to persons with hearing loss. HLAA accomplishes an ambitious agenda with a small but extremely high quality national staff. In addition HLAA supports a large number of local and state chapters that do advocacy at a state level and also provide personal support to persons with hearing loss and their families. HLAA also provides on its website and in its publications a wide variety of objective information about hearing aids, cochlear implants and assistive equipment.
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
As a person with a cochlear implant, I am grateful for the what HLAA has accomplished to change in FCC policy concerning cellphones, TVs and closed captioning.
Ways to make it better...
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
Considering the number of persons with hearing loss, HLAA needs to be a larger organization.
More feedback...
Will you volunteer or donate to this organization beyond what is required of board members?
Definitely
How much of an impact do you think this organization has?
Life-changing
Will you tell others about this organization?
Definitely
How did you learn about this organization?
Started with local involvement.
What is this organization's top short-term priority?
Advocacy for policy affecting those with hearing loss.
What is its top priority in the long run?
Providing more resources to those with hearing loss.
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2011
February 26, 2011
I discovered HLAA in 1988 (back when it was called SHHH). I lived in a rural area where information and resources were scarce and I felt very isolated. HLAA/SHHH became my lifeline. I eagerly awaited the arrival of the Journal and scoured it from cover to cover as soon as it arrived. I have saved every copy.
It was such a relief to discover that I was not alone with my hearing loss. I realized there were lots of people out there who understood exactly the hurdles and frustrations I was dealing with everyday. The writers had great ideas, suggestions and insights. I learned effective communication strategies and techniques. I also became knowledgeable about helpful technology and assistive listening devices which I never even dreamed existed.
But, HLAA taught me so much more than just coping skills and technology. Within those Journal pages, I found a distinctly different and refreshing attitude for relating to my hearing loss in an informed, healthy and empowered way.
Rocky Stone and the other people I "met" in those pages were not only warm and supportive, but their energy and enthusiasm infused each issue. They were not talking about merely surviving hearing loss, but living full, connected lives and actually thriving (?!?) with hearing loss. I felt that I had been given an extraordinary gift, a gift I then wanted to share.
I went on to a fulfilling career of helping other people with hearing loss improve their communication skills and knowledge so they too could find satisfaction in their jobs and lives.
A unique strength of this organization is that it gives each member many opportunities to be both student and mentor. I credit HLAA for giving me the tools, encouragement and support to pursue my dreams and achieve far more than I ever could have imagined when I started out.
HLAA has changed innumerable lives for the better, including mine.
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
HLAA gave me communication tools and confidence to go out and participate in local, regional and national activities.
Ways to make it better...
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
More people need to learn about HLAA and the kinds of help that is available not only for people with hearing loss, but for their families and friends, co-workers and employers. Hearing loss affects far more than just the person with the loss.
February 24, 2011
HLAA is an organization for people with hearing loss, started by a very special person, Rocky Stone in 1979. HLAA's philosophy is three-pronged: education, advocacy and support. We begin by finding out everything we can about our hearing loss - what causes it, what to do about it, how to understand the changes it brings to our lives. Secondly, by becoming educated consumers, we begin to pinpoint the things that are lacking in society for people with hearing loss and we learn how to advocate for ourselves and others. Third, we realize that if it weren't for HLAA, we would be lost in self-pity and frustration about our hearing loss, and we begin to reach out to others. We pay it forward. HLAA is truly vital to the 36 million people with hearing loss in the United States. Hearing loss affects everyone.
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
every aspect of my daily life.
Ways to make it better...
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
It would have more members so they could accomplish more good.
February 24, 2011
I have been an active member of HLAA for four years, from the time I became a bilateral Cochlear Implant user. I have been profoundly deaf since birth and wore hearing-aids for 49 years I felt very isolated and lost in my world before receiving Cochlear implants in both ears. My Cochlear implants opened the doors to a new and much more rewarding life for me. But it wasn't enough until I found HLAA that I was able to begin to fully participate in this new world. HLAA helped me to learn how to cope in the hearing world through attendance at many chapter meetings and listening to representations from great speakers every month. I also learned good strategies to overcome my fears and improve communication skills with family, friends, and in normal every day transactions. But most of all to help build up my confidence in hearing so many new and different sounds that my hearing aids either weren't able to pick up or differentiate or were just not the actual sounds that one hears with normal hearing. Speakers at HLAA meetings also gave me lots of information about the use of advanced technologies such as Captel phones, closed captions in movies and theatres, Cart, Looping, and many others. I have also met wonderful people who have been very helpful, friendly, and supportive. I no longer feel alone since being around people with hearing impairements who can share their stories with similar experiences and to learn from one another. Now that I know there is an organziation for those of us with hearing loss at all level, it has become a very sociable and enjoyable experience. But there is still so much more to learn. . I look forward to every meeting!
Overall, HLAA's mission is to open the world of communication to people with hearing loss through information, education, advocacy and support. HLAA is working very hard to build up, expand, and improve services for hearing-impaired people by providing open captions and loops in all areas, through education and advocacy to the public, and by supporting so many other hearing-related activities. HLAA has been a life changer for me! I have helped to raise funds and actively participated in our our annual NYC Walk4Hearing for the past three years. I also serve as a member of the NYC Walk and Manhattan chapter Planning Committees. It has been a pleasure to share my story with all of you.
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
Helped me to adapt to my Cochlear implants and meet other hearing-impaired people with similar stories and problems; understand that I am not alone in my own non-hearing world and that there is an organization that can help people like me. Also helped me to became more aware of the problems of hearing-impaired people all over the country and what we can do to help.
Ways to make it better...
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
Nothing that I would change. We need to increase the awareness of hearing-impaired and normal hearing people about HLAA and the problems of deafness and attract more support from both sectors.
February 23, 2011
Hearing loss is invisible and no one dies of it, hence it has not captured the media attention of the more obvious disabilities. Along came Self Help for Hard of Hearing People in 1979, the first organization to recognize the needs of people with a hearing loss. Now named Hearing Loss Association of America the organization that started in the founder's (Rocky Stone's) basement is a thriving and growing national organization devoted to educating people with hearing loss, advocating for their rights, and providing reams of information to help them live successfully with a hearing loss. This organization now as 250 chapters throughout country dedicated to helping people learn and cope with their loss. I found the organization as a graduate student in 1982 when I was writing my thesis on Self Help for people with hearing loss. There was a glaring lack of information about hearing loss in libraries. There also was no internet to google information. A small article in a local newspaper inviting people to attend a meeting of Self Help for Hard of Hearing People caught my attention. i was amazed at what the people were learning about their hearing loss but especially about how to cope with it. A few days after this meeting I wrote to the founder and within days a large box of information about hearing loss arrived. My thesis was a success and I was hooked on the organization. Almost 30 years later I am still involved and still learning. The advocacy of the staff and members throught the country helped to ensure that all of the technology being developed would find its way into the hands of the people who needed it. This organization has helped thousands of us learn to deal with hearing loss in a positive way and has hastened the development of technology for all people with hearing loss.We also learned to laugh at ourselves. What a blessing we were given!
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
Meeting hundreds of people who learned to cope with hearing loss and taught others how to do so. It gave me confidence in my ability to function successfully in my job, in the hearing world!
Ways to make it better...
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
like it to have the resources to reach out to the millions of hard of hearing people who are still denying their hearing loss and to have the financial resources to develop a national program to educate teenagers about noise induced hearing loss.
My Role: Volunteer & I have been a volunteer in this organization since 1984, and have served on the chapter, state and national boards. While serving as president of the national board of trustees, I initiated the development of position papers that more clearly identified .
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February 22, 2011
1 person found this review helpful
The Hearing Loss Association of America has grown from a small grassroots organization called Self Help for Hard of Hearing People, Inc. (SHHH) to become 'The Nation's Voice for People with Hearing Loss', as The Hearing Loss Association of America, Inc. (HLAA) today. No other consumer based organization had reached out to people with partial deafness prior to SHHH. A major achievement of SHHH was to identify the much larger hard of hearing population as being separate from the better known population that embraces Deafness as a culture. By so doing, medical research has increased remarkably in the field of deafness, in spite of the fact that Deaf Culture advocates (Less than 1% of the whole 32 million Americans with hearing loss) continue to oppose curing the disability to preserve the culture. Without the force of SHHH/HLAA the advancements in cochlear implants, hearing instruments and other hearing assistive technologies would likely be way behind where they are today. Against many odds, HLAA has made a positive difference in the way the public perceives people with hearing loss. And, I believe the organization can achieve much more than it has already if it has more resources.
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
I learned about SHHH in 1983, and knew I needed to be involved. I was 40 years old. Hearing loss had cut my career short & was pushing me towards social isolation. SHHH changed my life. Through active involvement, I regained self confidence & learned how to cope more positively with my progressive hearing loss. I have had the opportunity to watch others grow as I did. I sincerely recommend membership in HLAA to anyone who wants to live well with hearing loss; theirs or someone else’s.
Ways to make it better...
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
HLAA is wonderful the way it is, but must find the financial resources that will allow it to reach more of the 32 million Americans who can benefit from the education, information, advocacy and support the organization is capable of providing.
My Role: Volunteer & My efforts, in coordination with HLAA professional staff, enabled the local HLAA chapter and the local Lions Club International organization provide education to children and adults with hearing loss, essential support, counseling, coping skills, and conn.
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February 22, 2011
As a professional learning to live in a hearing world, I have spent all of my life quietly struggling to lip-read my family members, teachers, employers and friends. Having been born with a severe hearing loss in both ears, my parents began working early on with educators and administrators to enable me to move out of the special education classroom and into the main-streamed classrooms with other hearing students. Hence began a life of sitting in the front row to lip-read, speech and language classes, after learning to speak at the U of Illinois at 3 1/2 years of age. The Hearing Loss Assn. of America provides advocacy, education, training, support for parents and family members, and educators to let more little children make enormous strides to live, and someday, work in a hearing world. They provide the life-changing keys to success for America's children. As a volunteer, giving back to my community, I have gone into classrooms and worked with students, parents, and teachers to share HLAA-learned skills and support in Maryland and Idaho. As a professional accountant, I have volunteered in work places to teach employers the skills needed to work with the deaf and hard of hearing. HLAA is ready to take America into the next century!
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
The impact of HLAA has been simply moving. My experiences with HLAA began in 1988, by a visit to Frederick, Maryland's local chapter whose volunteers welcomed a profoundly hard of hearing person to his first life changing meeting. I spent an exhilarating hour learning how HLAA provides support for individuals with counseling, guidance, education, and hearing loss skills training. The skills they began teaching me in 1988 are used by me each and every day.
Ways to make it better...
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
Allow knowledge of HLAA to reach every corner of our vast country. Its quiet support for the large numbers of America's citizens with hearin loss and its work with other community support organizations, like Lions Club International, should be heard from sea to shining sea. The more that this organization is known, the more skills that we will all have access to for dealing with the most invisible of challenges, that of hearing loss.
More feedback...
Would you volunteer for this group again?
Definitely
For the time you spent, how much of an impact did you feel your work or activity had?
Life-changing
Did the organization use your time wisely?
Very Well
Would you recommend this group to a friend?
Definitely
What one change could this group make that would improve your volunteer experience?
Enable HLAA to have chapters in all 50 states and territories in a number sufficient to allow people with hearing loss to be assisted by their volunteers and staff where ever they live and work.
Did your volunteer experience have an effect on you? (teaching you a new skill, or introducing new friends, etc.)
It taught me that I was not alone with my invisible hearing loss handicap. They taught me skills for use at home, work and at play. More importantly, the skills they teach and their support systems are instrumental to my enjoyment of the challenges and joys of living in America today. I can freely help others, not as fortunate as myself, with life changing skills.
How did this volunteer experience make you feel?
Like a new person with a voice, a part to play in life, and that one person can truly make a significant impact in today's busy and ever-changing world. My sincere thanks to the beautiful people of HLAA.
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2011
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