The Loop, Summer 2008

8/6/2019 The Loop, Summer 2008

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THE LOOPCanadian Hard of Hearing Association

British Columbia ChapterIssue 36 Summer 2008==============================================================================

October 3 5

Family Weekend

at Zajac Ranch.

To learn moreabout the Ranch go

www.zajacranch.

comOut here we raise

spirits.

On July 2, at the voice of the Musqueam drums

and the chanting, the welcome by Elder Mary

Charles and other dignatories, and the thrill of youth

carrying flags of all the countries, this Congress burst

into life.The reception which followed rippled with excitement as

delegates searched out friends not seen since a previous suchgathering, and wondered if they would learn of something

that would help with their own hearing loss journey.Next morning began three days of information and understanding, with so many workshops t

choose from that it was very difficult to have to miss one that seemed vitally important. Social events and specifgatherings and meetings were squeezed in when the daily workshops were ended.

So much information was disseminated through workshops, plenaries, and just plain old discussion between friendthat by the last day, when the drums and the dancers came to bid farewell, many people felt their heads had actuallexpanded physically to accommodate everything they had seen and heard.

As Helga Enns said, It was a wonderful Congress. Jessie Ellis

Our three featured volunteersare outstanding examples of peoplewho keep CHHA going and whoinspire others :

Hugh Hetherington,

CHHA, North Shore

Betty MacGillivray,

HEAR (CHHA), Coquitlam

Sharon Perry,

CHHA,Chilliwack

See pages 6 and 7for their stories.

by Helga Enns

The IFHOH-CHHA Congress 2008 opening ceremonies and the reception gav

me a wonderful opportunity to meet friends from CHHA-BC and across Canada.In my role as Ambassador, I had been given the name of a delegate from

Finland, and it was a pleasure to meet Maria Kannamen. It is always nice to be ithe company of other people with hearing loss. We understand and forgive eacother our difficulties in communicating.

The Muqueam welcoming ceremony at the opening of the Congress emphasizefor me how important welcoming friends is, and the drumming reminded me ththere are quiet places inside of us where we can go to bring us peace.

See MANY OPPORTUNITIES, p.

Nations meet together

Elder Mary Charles

A Gathering of CI Recipients at the Congress


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THE LOOP is distributed throughCHAA-BCs Resource Centre to all B.C.members of the Canadian Hard ofHearing Association. For a large-printcopy ofTHE LOOP please contact:

CHHA-BC Resource Centre,

#102 9300 Nowell Street

Chilliwack, BC, V2P 4V7.

Phone: 1-866-888-2442

(local 604-795-9238)

Fax: 1-866-888-2443

(local 604-795-9628)

THE LOOP is published by The CanadianHard of Hearing Association, BC Chapter.SUBMISSIONS may be sent to:Jessie Ellis, Editor,C/o 15418 - 98 Ave, Surrey, BC, V3R 7G4.Tel/Fax: (604) 581-6759E-mail: [email protected] are used according toavailable space and may be edited.OPINIONS EXPRESSED in THE LOOP

are those of the contributors and should notbe attributed to CHHA-BC.

Membership in CHHA includes: THE LOOP (Provincial publication)LISTEN/COUTE (National publication)CHHA Membership fee: $25 p.a.

All donations towards publishing costsare greatly appreciated. A tax receipt will beissued for donations $10 and over.

to the HARD OF HEARING/

LATE DEAFENED FUND

an arm of CHHA-BC

assist CHHA in its activities

in this province

Please send to the VancouverFoundation, Suite 1200, 555 HastingsStreet, Box 12132, Harbour Centre,Vancouver, BC, V6B 4N6. TheVancouver Foundation will issuereceipts for all gifts.

Interest from capital is used in

perpetuity for CHHA-BC Chapter.

The capital remains intact.

!

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We had over 500 delegates from across Canada,various US states, Britain, Ireland, Scotland, Holland,Finland, Sweden, Russia, Israel, Iceland, Japan, Italy,etc. I couldnt keep up with them all.

There were approximately 28 young adults fromvarious countries as well, with the majority beingfrom Canada due to the high travel costs.

There were many presenters from all over, and people seemed very impressed with the range of topics to choose from.

While the accents were always a challenge among us, we were all in thsame boat and had patience with one another. If all else failed, we asked someone to help! It was wonderful! I was most impressed with our internationdelegates on their grasp of English, as I certainly could not reciprocate in the

languages.

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In this issue, you will find articles summarizing some of the workshopattended by fellow CHHA members. This might make up for those unable tattend two workshops at a time, or any of you who were unable to attend thCongress at all.

The silent Auction raised over $4,000, and the CHHA-BC Board agreed tdonate these funds to CHHA National to help offset the costs of the CongresCHHA-BC also donated $15,000 for Access costs.

Thanks to ALL who contributed towards this Congress and to the staff anvolunteers who did the preliminary work on the Silent Auction and ran it durinthree very busy days.

Now that the Congress is over and I do not have any CHHA Conferences twork on, I look forward to focusing on CHHA-BC and the needs of the Hard oHearing/Deafened adults, members and non members.

I have taken a one-year leave of absence from the CHHA National directorship, because my workplace has a contract for the Kelowna office to develoand run a pilot project on an employment program for hard of hearing persons.

This pilot program is funded through the Opportunities Fund. Four communities Kelowna, Edmonton, Ottawa and St John Newfoundland will btaking part.

I wish everyone a good summer.Keep safe and cool!

Leslee Scott

From the President . . .

President, CHHA-B


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There were many opportunities to meet and speakwith Congress participants, especially at the plenarysessions and workshops as people gathered to hear thepresentations. It was easy to introduce ourselves justby showing our name tags to each other. The tagsalso identified our communities and so we knew atonce if our seat-mate was our geographical neighbourfrom British Columbia, from other parts of Canada, orfrom another country.

While hearing loss was aproblem for most people at theCongress, we were a tech savvygroup, well equipped with hearingaids, cochlear implants and assistivelistening devices, and well versed inspeech reading.

Captioning was available in allworkshops, plenary sessions,

opening ceremonies and eveningevents. In the Grand Ballroom,there was captioning in Japanese.

Occasionally, communicationswere still a challenge; thebackground noise during breaks andon the trade show floor could beformidable.

Congress participants from othercountries were amazingly fluent inEnglish, but, as always, accents cancomplicate communicat ions .

F o r t u n a t e l y , w a r m t h a n dfriendliness can be communicatedby more than words. Smiles,interest, having someone take timeto understand, all warmed ourhearts.

What did I learn at this

wonderful Congress?

The plenary presentationsreminded me of how much can beaccomplished by committed anddetermined individuals, that thebrain plays an important role inhearing, and that working togetheron an international level benefits usall. I also learned some smallerpersonal lessons. I learned that I andother people with hearing loss canbe insensitive toward each other.

Most of my life is spent withhearing people. At the Congress, I

was reminded that I was not theonly one who could claim the bestseat because of my hearing loss.

I found that people with ahearing loss sometimes addneedlessly to the background noisebecause they are unaware of howmuch noise they make. In oneworkshop, persistent whispering

made concentrating on the speakervery difficult.

I learned that I need to useassistive listening devices wheneverthey are available. I am over-estimating my ability to hear andunderstand. The whispering in theworkshop would not have been aproblem if I had been using the FMsystem that was available to me.

I would not have had to takerefuge in a quiet corner of the

coffee shop to recover myequanimity after another workshopwhere the speaker had an accent,spoke in a quiet, unmodulatedvoice, and presented a great deal ofinteresting information.

The workshop was captioned,but the captioning screen and hischarts were on opposite sides of theroom, so it was a challenge to takeeverything in. To make mattersworse the sound system and thespeaker in the adjoining room wereaudible. Again the FM systemwould have helped overcome theseproblems.

A frequent theme at theCongress was that we can onlybenefit from technology if we use it.Personal experience reinforced thismessage. Helga Enns

Helga Enns

A very successful meeting tookplace at the Kelowna Branch last April,on Saturday the 19th at the SouthOkanagan Health Centre on EllisStreet.

Guest speakers were Val andMurray Bedard from Hear WellServices, Vernon, B.C. They broughtassistive listening devices to show tothose in attendance.

As there are everywhere, there aremany hard of hearing people inKelowna, and they were interested inlearning what is available to help them.

Some had complaints about theirhearing aides, and they were advised to

keep going back to their audiologistsuntil they were satisfied.Thirty people came to hear this

most interesting presentation, and wehope that some of these will becomenew members for our Branch.

Hello,

My name is Paige Thombs and I am

the Community Liaison Worker at the

Deaf Access Office (DAO).

Many people think that the Deaf Ac-cess Office is only for Deaf sign lan-

guage users. Not true! The DAO serves

anyone with a hearing loss, no matter

what the degree of loss.

If anyone feels they cannot access

places like ICBC, the medical system,

their place of employment, etc., contact

the DAO.

If you have any questions about how

the Deaf Access Office works, or how

the DAO can help you, please contact

me .Paige Thombs, Community Liaison Worker,Deaf Access Office

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The goal ofthe two pre-senters of thisC o n g r e s s

workshop was to help people withhearing loss develop a positive self-

image by recognizing some of theways to protect themselves against thenegative effects of stigmatization.

Kenneth Southall has normalhearing and is working on his Ph.D.His doctoral study examined factorsthat influence the use of assistivelistening devices by older adults,which led him to a study of howstigma affects the hard of hearingpersons willingness to use technicalaids.

He defined stigma as belief thatone possesses an attribute that issocially devalued.

Kenneth spoke about the prevailingstereotype of a hard of hearing person(old, lower intelligence, poorcommunicator, etc.) and how when we

cover up a hearing loss we actuallyperpetuate the stereotype, because weperform less well, we feel ashamedand shamed, and we feel less valuedthan the other person.

We are uniquely qualified to help

others who are hard of hearing, anddoing so helps us overcome thestigma.

Gael Hannan is a writer, actor andpublic speaker who grew up with aprogressive hearing loss that is nowsevere-to-profound. She spoke fromexperience as a hard of hearing childwith no role model or good practicaladvice. She did have a strong supportnetwork in her family and friends, andhas an outgoing personality with no

sense of being disabled.Improved access to education and

role models in the last 10 years hasgiven Gael a strong sense of validationand triumph.

A major step for her was learningto stop giving permission for people to

talk over her. She hates it whepeople prompt others to speak up foher; and now, when she is in meeting and needs to have a commenrepeated, she addresses the wholgroup with her request, to lessen thchance she will be told Ill tell yo

later.Gaels take-away message wa

Overcoming the stigma lies withi

us. Advocating is the key.This session was a valuable mix o

academic perspective and personaexperience. Dailaan Shaffe

J e n n i k aKullman, Proj-ect Secretary

for the Anti-Depp Project of Fin-land, spoke at a Congress workshop ofhow hearing loss affects the overallhealth of a person.

Problems with communication andsocial relations affect the quality oflife, leading to depression and mentalillness (including anxiety disorders andalcohol-related disorders). Also, men-

tal illness issues can actually lead tohearing loss and tinnitus.

The Anti-Depp is a four-yearresearch project formed through thecooperation of The Finnish Federationof Swedish Speaking Hard of Hearingand Finland's Swedish SpeakingNational Psychosocial Central Asso-ciation, to study the connectionbetween hearing loss and mental

health. The project also seeks tocreate a model for preventing socialisolation among the hard of hearingand those with mental illness.

Hearing loss and mental illness areboth hidden, functional disabilities,therefore they are hard to discover.Usually symptoms are pretty severebefore the person will get help.

Preliminary results of the projectfound:

In the hard of hearing group:61% felt isolated; 63% experienced

restrictions in their life; almost 70%seek help; 88% have family or friendsto entrust.

In the mental illness group:66% had tinnitus twice as much

as the hearing loss group, thought to bedue to low serotonin

The purpose of this project iultimately to find the right place anthe right time to get help for those withearing loss and mental illness.

An audience member asked if thmental health professionals in Finlanare trained to deal with hard of hearinissues? The answer is no, but it something to consider for the succesof the treatment plan at the end of thstudy.

Terri Walke

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Kenneth Southall and Gael Hannan

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Niels-HenrikM. Hansen began

his presentation by stating that mosthearing loss research has focussed onchildren and the elderly. The focushas also been on audiological, medicaland technical issues and not on socialissues.

Very little research has looked atthe effect of hearing loss on youngpeople, and in particular has notconsidered the social implications fora population that is in the process offorming their identity.

He said Denmark was a good placeto study these issues as the

government covers the costs ofhearing aid technology, and so it iseasier to look at the socialimplications.

Niels-Henrik also said that, whilegood hearing aid technology is readily

available, technical solutions haveside effects.

Even though we live in a societythat is used to seeing people with avariety of devices in their ears, youngpeople had the perception that whenthey wore their hearing aids they wereimmediately noticed and an invisibledisability was made visible. Also,there was a perception that the moreassistive listening devices they used,for example a special alarm clock inaddition to their hearing aids, thegreater their disability.

As a young person, he said, youneed to define your identity, and in

this process you need to understandwhat is communicated by the media,and you need to have the benefit ofunderstanding the people you areinteracting with.

It takes extra energy to understand

when you have a hearing loss. Smatalk is particularly hard to understandand it is this part of human interactiothat creates energy, gives us pleasurand creates friendships.

Small talk is especially importanin the interactions that men have witeach other. Often these activities takplace in groups and in noisy publiplaces such as restaurants achallenging hearing environments.

As human beings we are designeto respond to each other, and there arcosts and benefits to whatevestrategies a young person uses wheunderstanding is difficult, whether it i

asking for a repeat or pretending tunderstand.There is always the fear that yo

will be judged to be stupid if yocannot follow what was said.

Helga Enn

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Rolf Erd-mann, Head of

T e c h n o l o g y ,Germany Hard of Hearing Associa-tion, said manufacturers have minia-turized hearing aids over the years,until now they are almost invisible.

There are some advantages to this,with the smaller aids being lighter inthe ear. However, this trend is viewedwith growing skepticism.

There are many disadvantages tominiaturized hearing aids, includingthat they don't have the room to put T-

coils or audio-entrants, thus reducingthe assistive technology capabilities.

Also, the miniaturized aids do nothelp those with more profound hear-ing losses. The biggest disadvantage,however, is that the miniaturized hear-ing aids contribute to the stigma ofhearing loss.

Manufacturers advertising increas-ingly shows the invisible aids

promoting the idea that the hard ofhearing user will be happy, but this

advertising only promotes the stigma of hearing loss, and that hard of

hearing people have deficits, and

negative feelings.

Manufacturers are gearing all theiradvertising and products to thefeelings of the first time users, ratherthan promoting hearing aids that aresuitable for all levels of hearing loss.

As a result of this advertising, thehearing world believes in theinvisible aids and in the stigma.

They also believe that all hearing aidsshould fix the hearing problem,much like putting on a pair of glasses.

The hearing world also believesthat hearing aids are so good, thatthere doesn't need to be any moneydevoted to assistive systems for thehard of hearing.

The only way to eliminate this

stigma is for all hard of hearing

people to speak out about their hear

ing loss, and openly wear hearin

aids to become role models.

Only then will

manufacturers

focus on

creating

hearing aids

suitable for all

levels of losses.

61

17

Terri Walker

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!!

A letter came for Sharon Perry from the Royal Bank of Canada, saying, I am pleased to enclos

a cheque in the amount of $500 so that you can present it, in person, to the charity at which you sgenerously give your valuable time.

Until her retirement, Sharon worked for the bank for 26 years, so she knew of the EmployeVolunteer Grants, from where the money came. The charity of her choice which received the giwas CHHA.

After a few months enjoying retirement, spare time finally got to her so she took a course otaxation, and worked for H & R Block for six years. But Sharon wanted something more to do th

would contribute to some cause and make a difference, so she looked on www.volweb.ca, found CHHA, and contacteStephanie at the Resource Centre.

CHHA was the perfect fit, since both she and her husband wear hearing aids.She volunteered to do office work at the CHHA Resource Centre, and is now the Treasurer of CHHA, Chilliwack.She recently wrote to the Weather Network regarding the poor quality of closed captioning, and received the followin

reply: The new closed captioning program on the Weather Network is a system which uses voice recognition to captionthe broadcast. Our broadcast is not scripted, with the exception of the newscast twice an hour. As the system learns thvoice of each presenter, the captioning will become more accurate.

Her activities with CHHA and hard of hearing issues keep her busy, but not busy enough. She also belongs to thRoyal Canadian Legion and marches with the colour party carrying a flag on parades. She is a member of the LegioLadies Auxiliary, Secretary-Treasurer of the New Horizon Dance Club at the Army, Navy and Air Force Veterans Cluba member of the Order of the Eastern Star, belongs to the Donor-For-Life Program through the Canadian Blood Serviceand takes time to go bowling once a week.

In addition to all this activity she continues to work seasonally doing Income Tax returns.CHHA is proud to feature Sharon Perry. Kevan van Herd

+,)!)

On Thursday, May 1, Hugh Hetherington received an award in recognition of his CHHAvolunteer work on the North Shore.

The award ceremony, which was part of National Volunteer Week 2008, took place at th

Holiday Inn in North Vancouver. Marlene Witzke from CHHA-BC joined several CHHA membersHughs son Paul and his girlfriend to celebrate the event.

Over the past 12 years, Hugh has cheerfully given much of his time and energy to our hard ohearing community. He has shared his knowledge of hearing loss and hearing technology thundreds of people who attend our meetings, seek advice for their issues on hearing loss, or requesat-home visits because they are less mobile.

Hugh assisted various organizations such as churches and theatres to get loop systems into their meeting rooms, oftemaking follow-up visits.

For several years Hugh has worked on the North Shore Advisory Committee on Disability Issues for the North Shormunicipalities.

He speaks regularly for groups, and co-facilitates a monthly support group on hearing loss issues.This past year, Hugh worked many hours to edit a booklet by Neil Bauman, Talking with Hard of Hearing People

Heres How to do it Right, Eh?. This booklet is free for our community, thanks to assistance from the West VancouveKiwanis Club. He also untiringly publishes our newsletter,Mountain Ear, four times a year.

On many occasions Hugh has explained his perspective on volunteering: When one gives, he receives so much ireturn. Hugh has found that giving of himself to help others is a truly satisfying endeavour.

Our North Shore community has been truly enriched with Hughs gifts.Thank you, Hugh! Flo Spratt, Presiden

North Shore Branc

."/

Hugh Hetherington

Sharon Perry


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Betty MacGillivray was honoured by the City of Coquitlams Dogwood Pavilion for 25 years oservice with HEAR, the Coquitlam branch of CHHA.

Her name was inscribed on the Honour Roll, and she was a guest at the Recognition Tea.Betty, together with Marilyn Dahl and Audrey Buell, were the original founding members wh

worked to establish HEAR, which actually preceded the formation of CHHA, and later became thfirst Branch.

She has held various offices within the Branch, and has worked tirelessly for hard of hearinpeople through all the 25 years, and some of them were very difficult years.

She has gone to conventions to educate herself, and then brought that knowledge back to the group, sharing what shlearned, and increasing everyones skills and knowledge.

She was instrumental in getting a grant for a program on Seeing and Hearing Speech, and has taught others tspeechread.

She has participated in Open House and special events, setting up an information table and equipment to share theiknowledge with others in the community who may be experiencing hearing loss.

Bettys superb example makes her a great role model for all of us, and for our young adults especially.

Our gratitude goes to her. Jessie Ellis

." (contd)

Betty MacGillivray

S a m iVirtanen worksas a planning

officer for theFinnish Federation of Hard of Hearing(FFHH).

Sami began the workshop by

explaining that Finland is the fourthlargest country in the EuropeanUnion, with a population of 5 million.

The FFHH is working on greateraccessibility for people with hearingloss; however, as in many developednations, it is difficult to arrive at aclear consensus with participation ofthose with hearing loss.

Following from Martin LutherKings famous slogan, I have adream, Sami invited delegates to

share his dream Dream 2020 and his vision of life in Finland for thehard of hearing in the year 2020: howeasily information systems and mediacan be used to improve the ease oftravel; how the participation andenhanced social roles of people withhearing loss can bring about a deeperchange and conviction; howdemocratic involvement can create

equality and enhancement of humanrights; how to use the experience ofhearing loss to support the interactionbetween individuals and theenvironment; and how the end resultwill create a more welcomingcommunity.

In order for accessibility to moveforward, the hard of hearing need tohave the political will and need to finda way to bridge the public and privatesectors perspective on barrier-freepolicies.

Sami suggested using a design fora l l f r a m e w o r k o f s o c i a lresponsibility, whereby the endproduct serves everyone and is viewedas having a greater potential value.

The roadmap forward involves

participation from a broad spectrum ofpeople with hearing loss, not justthose people who live in centralizedurban areas.

Sami also advocated for thecollaboration between the hard ofhearing and experts to ensure barrier-free accessibility.

As he pointed out, It is essential to develop a dream what

accessibility looks like for the hard o

hearing and to work with t

experts to make that dream real.

Hard of hearing people need tbecome morep o l i t i c a l l yinvolved and

build strongernetworks toensure a moreaccessible worldfor hard ofhearing people,and all people.

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Kurt Lynn isthe president ofthe Ontario

Chapter of CHHA and the founder ofListenUP! Canada, one of thelargest hearing health care providersin Canada.

His topic was a really necessaryone for many it made you think, not

only of how far we people who arehard of hearing have progressed insociety, but also how we could domore for ourselves and our commu-nity. He stressed that we must be self-advocates if we want to get our needsmet.

What is Self-Advocacy?

* speaking up for support from others* being in control of our own re-sources, how they are used or direc-

ted, without undue control from others

Why is This Necessary?

* for people with disabilities, it is anapplication of basic human rights* it enables better access to learning inschool* if people havent learned to do this,more likely common in older people,it can be due to the stigma of beinghard of hearing, which is largely self-

imposed. This can have the oppositeeffect of being a self-advocate.

This concept became popular in the60s, with Ralph Nader and the idea ofconsumers having self-advocacy.John F. Kennedy put forward the fourbasic consumer rights:

- right to safety

- right to be informed- right to choose- right to be heard

It was also in the 60s that the ideaof independent living arose, and inthe 70s the popular phrase power tothe people morphed into PeopleFirst.

Today, a broad body of accessibil-ity legislation now exists, and therewill be more, with new standardsemerging, and self-advocacy willbecome easier.

Now, with approximately 10% ofthe population having a hearing loss,and with the aging demographics,hearing loss is opening into newdimensions.

Unfortunately, the hard of hearingare notoriously poor at self-advocacy,due to the previously mentionedstigma of having a hearing loss.

This is often a vanity issue, anhearing aid retailers and providers oten play into this (no one will knoyoure wearing it).

What Needs to Be Taught?

5 Steps

- know our own needs- know our own remediation, de

vices, and coping strategies- know our own responsibilities- know our own rights- know what to do if our rights ardenied (i.e., how to bring it to a headpush to management if not satisfied)

Often people with hearing loss feefrustrated, isolated and helpless. will help to apply the five steps listeabove, and to know their owequipment and their rights as consumer.

A good motto:

!-./.,+

Further information on this can b

obtained by contacting Kurt Lynn [email protected]

Lynda Hepwort

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Donna Sorkin, MA, Vice Presi-dent, Consumer Affairs, CochlearAmericas, spoke on rehabilitation for

adults after cochlear implantation.She concentrated on training cochlear implant recipients

about how to make the most of their processors and assis-tive listening devices (including the use of telephones), andhow to choose which cell phone is best suited to peoplewith hearing aids and cochlear implants, and she explainedhow best to get help to discover how to make the most ofthese wonderful devices in connection with your cochlearprocessor.

Rehabilitation is widely used for children after implan-tation, but it is not often promoted for adults, nor made useof by many adults.

Cochlears HOPE program for education professional

(www.cochlear.com/HOPE ) has a wealth of self-helinformation for those cochlear users who use computers.

Those who dont have acomputer should contact their CI

clinic and they will refer you to aCI Advocate who will connect youwith help.

The important message is not

to stop at just getting the implant,

but to go forward and learn all the

ways to maximize the new

hearing.


9/12

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Attending this year's conference was an amazingexperience for me. It felt great to be able to get to knowdelegates from other parts of the world, such as Italy, theNetherlands, Finland, Sweden, and Switzerland.

I attended a workshop called, Identifying and ExploringCanadian and Global Issues Relevant to Hard of Hearing

Youth and Young Adults with Respect to Post-SecondaryEducation.

This workshop focussed on the challenges that hard ofhearing young adults face when they are studying at a post-secondary institution.

Four speakers who are attending, or who have recentlygraduated from post-secondary education, discussed thesechallenges, in particular what challenges each speakerexperienced.

Note-taking was considered to be the most commondifficulty that a hard-of-hearing student deals with becauseit's hard to retrieve notes from a lecture, and it's hard to

read another student's notes.Another challenge is the use of the FM system in the

classroom. One or two speakers said that their FM systemallows them to hear the university instructor clearly, but itdoesn't allow them to hear another student's input. Besidesstruggling to understand another student's input, the FMsystem has another disadvantage some instructors

choose not to wear the FM system.As a result, the hard of hearingstudent must arrange a meeting withthe Disability Counselor and theInstructor to explain why the FMsystem is important.

The education system in Canadaand overseas was also discussed inthis workshop. I found this issue most interesting, becauseach country, including Canada, has a different educatiosystem. In this country, the system is quitstraightforward, but the system overseas is very different.

When the international speakers, Lianne De Jonge fromthe Netherlands and Noora Penttinen from Finland, spokabout their countries education systems, I was surprised thear how different their education system is from ours.

During this time, I was asked by an Italian young adulGiacomo Pirelli, to interpret to the audience the educatio

system in Italy.I enjoyed this workshop, because I wanted to learn how

other young adults deal with and overcome their challengein post-secondary education. I also liked how the audienccontributed by giving their opinions, asking questions, andmost importantly, giving the young adults suggestions tmake their education lifestyle easier. Sophie Palle

Sophie Paller

One of thethings I was mostlooking forwardto at the Congresswas, as ana m b a s s a d o r ,m e e t i n g m yD u t c hc o n n e c t i o n ,Lianne de Jonge,a student from

Holland with whom Id exchanged afew e-mails.

Happily anticipating meeting her, Iattended the opening ceremonies onthe Wednesday night, but there wereso many people there I had no ideahow I was going to find her. If therewas an announcement about arendezvous room I had missed it!

I asked at the Congress registration

desk if she had arrived, and was toldshe had. I strode up to several twenty-something females and asked forLianne, but I had no luck. Well, Isaid, if you do meet Lianne, pleasetell her Dailaan is looking for her.

Work commitments kept me fromattending on Thursday, but on Friday Irenewed my search still no luck.

Finally, at the banquet, I foundmyself at a table next to MoniqueGuterres, the Young Adult BoardMember for CHHA-BC. On a hunch,

I asked her if she had met Lianne andshe said she had! Monique pointedout her table to me, and off I went tomeet my new friend and take a photoof her and her friends.

I was sorry we had met at the endof the Congress, but she had obviouslymade friends her own age and accli-

matized to Vancouver very well, so was happy for that.

A couple of days later, I downloaded the photos I had taken ovethose several days and, lo and beholdin addition to the photo of Lianne athe table with her friends, I had another photo of her as well. Yes, thdid look like Lianne. Izoomed in on hername tag. It was her!

Serendipidously, Ihad snapped a photo

of Lianne on Wednes-day night while sheand a group of otherdignitaries and youngadult participants recessed out of thballroom at the conclusion of thopening ceremony.

Dailaan Shaffe

Dailaan Shaffer

Lianne de Jong


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This program was a new concept for many CHHA members, and I was really impressed with the attitude of thosewho quickly responded to the request to become ambassadors and offered themselves as a host or buddy tosomeone visiting Vancouver and, for that matter, Canada, for the first time.

I hope the experience was beneficial to both parties, and I would like to comment that all those who wereambassadors, as well as some of you who I observed being very hospitable to any visitor, made me proud of ourorganization. Well done everyone!

Lynda Hepworth

Peter Billings, Vice President-General Manager Cochlear Canadaspoke words of greeting and intro-duced the feature speaker, Mark Dosh-ier of Cochlear America, who has bi-lateral implants.

In all, six staff from CochlearAmerica attended. They decorated thetables with magnetic coloured twinklelights which many of the implanteesattached to their telecoils, so it wasgreat to see all these heads lighted upand being identified.

The evening began with a Straw-berry Tea, and later, in the ballroom,most people were in their seats whenthe Pijls entered. They were greetedwith a standing ovation. Adding tothe surprise for the honoured guests,their son from Parksville and theirdaughter from Lethbridge arrived.

Lois was honoured with the Winni-fred Corey Award from CHHA, pre-sented by CHHA President, CaroleWillans. This award recognizes out-standing contribution by a CHHAmember through community service to

people with hearing loss. It recog-nized Lois unique service inproducing the B.C. Cochlear ImplantNewsletter, and in organizing CIreunions every four years for thepeople implanted at Saint Pauls

Hospital since 1982. Lois was alsopresented with a beautiful bouquet offlowers by Carol Suggitt, as a thankyou from her faithful readers.

On behalf of all of Dr. Pijlsgrateful patients, some of whom wereunable to be present, Charles Laszlopresented Sipke and Lois with acheque for $5,000, with the provisionthat they use it for something whichwould be fun.

In his reply, Dr. Pijl said that theywould use it to take a trip to Leipziegto visit the birthplace of JohanSebastian Bach, as he and Lois areardent Bach fans. Dr. Pijl went on toreview his years working in the Coch-lear Implant Clinic at Saint PaulsHospital, which made for veryinteresting hearing.

Peter Billings presented Dr. Pijl

with an exquisite glass sculpture fromCochlear Americas, and aautographed book by Dr. GraemClark of Australia, the inventor of thcochlear implant.

Later, lots of time for minglin

gave guests opportunities to each talwith the Pijls.

Over 300 of B.C. cochlear implanrecipients attended, including familieand friends, as well as many of thnational and international Congresdelegates.

Candid photos of the evenincluding a group picture of the B.CImplantees, were taken by DaviSuggitt and may be accessed on hiweb site. Contact [email protected] details.

The reception was moderated bMarilyn Dahl and registration coordnated by Carol Suggitt. Many thankto the friendly welcomers at thregistration table: Dorothy MoorKathleen Cook and Marleen Scoutenand Sibyl Collett from the CI clinic

Carol Suggi

Dr. Sipke Pjil, Mrs. Lois Pjil, and Charles Laszlo

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The CHHA/IFHOH Congress2008 is truly one of

the best conferences I have ever goneto. It offered so much meaning toyoung adults, allowing them to deeply

explore themselves and realize theirpotential after seeing the astonishingaccomplishments of the speakers.

Around the World with HearingLoss was certainly a great way to startthe Congress, as the experiences of thespeaker Johan Hammarstrom aresimply extraordinary.

I find it difficult to imagine howmany obstacles he had to overcome inorder to fulfill his dreams of being apilot. It must have taken a lot of effortand determination to get to where heis today, and these are qualities weyoung adults need to have to make adifference in our communities.

I have always thought that it wasalmost impossible for a deaf and hardof hearing person to become a pilot.Johan has not only proved me wrongby being a living proof, he has alsohelped me to get rid of the stigma Ihave.

I had let myself believe that being ateacher for the deaf is the top I can getto, but now I understand there is nolimit, despite my hearing loss. I canreach for the higher heights: becomean audiologist or a speech-languagepathologist.

To quote Johan, Live your dreams despite your hearing loss,

and never give up.

The opening plenary of the Con-gress has already boosted my self-

esteem, and I am sure it has done thesame for most young adults as well.

Johan Hammarstrom is only one ofthe many people who can serve asmentors to young adults, and that wasthe main focus of the Young AdultSessions.4-40(

We are bound to hit a rough bumpin our lives and may get lost.

It is strongly recommended to havea mentor who is in a similar field asyou are. These mentors are there forus, and they can share their life ex-periences and strategies in dealingwith certain situations.

For instance, I have a strong inter-est in being a teacher for the deaf, andmy mentor is my itinerant teacher.She offers much good advice to me onhow to be successful in my ambitions.

More importantly, interacting withmentors also allows us to improve ourskills in self-advocacy, which is abso-lutely critical. Our mentors can helpus through the bumps but it is we whocan make a significant difference forourselves, because we are the onlyones who know what is best for us.

Power Me Up! by Erika Breen andOlivia Heaney really speaks to mebecause there were tons of ideas aboutself-advocacy that I had never thoughtof before.

For instance, it never occurred tome that I would not have to listenwhen I am doing the talking.

This is all part of the self-exploration and self-realization. I also

believe that any stigma needs to bediscarded before a person can trulyself-advocate. If the person looksdown on himself, then how effectivewill he be when he is advocating?

This quote is perhaps my favourite

quote of the whole Congress: You

need to know yourself to be able to

advocate for yourself properly.

Overall, this Congress has givenme quite a lot to think about regardingmy future. It has given me the

confidence I need to better preparemyself for post-secondary education,and the skills to get the proper supportI need by self-advocating.

I think I can say that I wouldnot have changed the way I was if Ihad not attended this Congress,been part of a global community,and been influenced by otherextra-ordinary people.

To all the young adults, I stronglrecommend that you attend thesconferences, because the speakers antheir presentations can really changyour outlook on life.

The next CHHA Conference wi

be held in St. Johns NewfoundlandIt will be a great way to make newfriends and expand the Young AduNetwork.

See you there next year!Bowen Tan

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About 40 of the Congress delegates traveled on thCelebrity Cruise Ship, Mercury, immediately after thCongress, July 6 to 13th.

There were six of us from CHHA, Vancouver Branch, anseveral members from across Canada, as well as IFHOHdelegates. Leslee Scotts beautiful hearing dog was mad

welcome, and a plot of grass was provided.Ports visited were the interesting towns of KetchikanJuneau, and Sitka, and, of course, the Hubbard Glacier.

Jodi Pallan from Marine Travel Planners traveled with ussmoothing our holiday queries so nicely. She arranged witthe cruise ship line to install assistive listening devices such aa strobe light in our state rooms (in case of emergencies), anwe had closed captioning and a loop system for informatiosessions, as well as the loop device which we had the use of alduring the cruise.

Hans Roesler of ELT Design installed all the enhancelistening devices. His company installed a system for anothe

cruise ship line with great success when an entire ship wapopulated by American hard of hearing people, and that cruisship line subsequently distributed those devices for all of itships. Celebrity Cruise Line will be installing devices for harof hearing travelers when requested. Accessibility spreads.

About the trip? Well it was just great. Everyone had a verenjoyable time excellent and wide variety of foodentertainment, movies, nature talks, two formal dinners, niccabins and comfortable beds, and especially nice CHHAIFHOH company. And I, personally, was really impressed witthe cleanliness of everything, even hand sanitizers wheentering the eating areas.

Carol Suggi

!

It is impossible to report on a Congress of thismagnitude. There is so much information deliveredand received that by the last day we are drunk withknowledge.

The Loop had a superb group of correspondentswho sent in reports on as many events as they couldcover, and our grateful thanks are extended to them:

Helga EnnsLynda HepworthMargaret HomerDailaan ShafferCarol SuggittTerri Walker

We hope you enjoy their articles which appear inthis issue of The Loop. Other articles will bepublished in later issues, as is convenient.

Also writing for us were Sophie Paller, Presidentof the Young Adults Group; and Bowen Tang whowrote from the notes of Tasha Cox, Tasha beingbooked to leave on vacation right after the Congress.

Then there were the photographers, HughHetherington being the chief photographer. Ourgrateful thanks are extended to them also.

CHHA has always been an organisation made upof people helping people. Naturally, the sameprinciple applies to The Loop.

We can do anything with great success, if we all

do it together.

Jessie Ellis

The Counselling department of the WesternInstitute for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing isdeveloping new programs and services based onneeds identified by the communities they serve.

Learning for Life is a new project that isinnovative in addressing gaps in employment-relatedservices for Deaf and Hard of Hearing persons inBritish Columbia.

Karen Foot has been hired as the Learning forLife Project Coordinator, and the first project, theemployer DVD, Its Easier Than you Think, wasshown on May 22nd, at Vancouver Public Library.

The event was well attended by employers, Deaf

and Hard of Hearing community members, and

service provider partners.

The Loop, Summer 2008

Documents

Transcript of The Loop, Summer 2008