<%@LANGUAGE="JAVASCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> ODHHS News: Fall, 2006 - Winds of Change
Month Volume 1, Issue 2   Fall 2006

Interview with Cathy Sanders

Cathy Sanders is President of the Hearing Loss Association of Oregon

Tell about your involvement with Self Help for Hard of Hearing People (SHHH) and now Hearing Loss Association of Oregon, that culminated in your election to President of Hearing Loss Association of Oregon. 
I became involved in SHHH about five years ago.  Six years ago Karen Swezey did an in-service at Central Oregon Resource for Independent Living (CORIL) about hearing loss and I remember vigorously shaking my head in the affirmative to everything she said.  Wow, someone knew what I go through every day but I didn’t have a way to share it!  I started a local chapter in Bend at the suggestion of my vocational rehabilitation counselor.  I became involved with SHHH-OR about four years ago.  When we became an association, I was elected vice president in 2003.  I became president this year with encouragement from David Viers and several other board members. 

Why has SHHHOR changed its name to Hearing Loss Association of Oregon?
Self Help for Hard of Hearing People of Oregon (SHHH-OR) is in the process of changing its name to Hearing Loss Association of Oregon because our parent organization (SHHH) in Bethesda, Maryland, changed its name to Hearing Loss Association of America. 

Terry D. Portis, Ed. D., executive director of Hearing Loss of America said, “SHHH needs to position itself to meet the needs of a new generation of people with hearing loss while continuing to serve the constituents who rely on us today.  I believe that by updating our name and image we will be better able to communicate our message and fulfill our mission.”

We exist because there is a need.  People with hearing loss are often isolated, misunderstood and need advice on how to manage their hearing loss.  People struggle to pay for hearing aids when insurance should cover it.  Too often people are given incorrect information by ENTs and other hearing care professionals who tell them things like, “you must be completely stone cold deaf to get a cochlear implant.” 

Twenty-five years ago there was nothing for people caught in the gray light between hearing and deafness.  Because of Rocky Stone’s work we have an organization that has helped thousands of people.

It is time to make some fundamental changes to widen our circle and begin to affect millions of people now.  This is all about reaching and helping more people than ever before.  Hearing Loss Association of America’s mission is to open the world of communication for people with hearing loss through information, education, advocacy and support.  This has not changed.

Note: We would like to encourage folks to avoid the acronym version of our new name as much as possible.  We want to emphasize our whole name because that will help us become more visible.  We want to be known as Hearing Loss Association of Oregon—not HLAO. 

What are your plans and goals for Hearing Loss Association of Oregon?

  1. Support legislation of benefit to people who are hard of hearing, deaf and late- deafened.  This goal is more active during the year when the Oregon Legislature meets.  This year will focus on getting the candidates educated about our issues.
  2. Educate and inform Oregon health and hearing care professionals about the functions and availability of the Hearing Loss Association of Oregon and its resources.  Encourage them to inform and demonstrate to their clients the advantages and sources of assistive technology in addition to hearing aids.  Encourage them to make assistive devices available for us by their hard of hearing patients and clients. 
  3. Establish an assistive device demonstration program within all chapters. With this project, we will have available several assistive devices for the phone ring, doorbell and fire alarm, assistive listening devices and amplified telephones and or TTYs.  This equipment will be available for folks to try in their own environment and decide if they want to obtain their own. 
  4. Mentor students who are hard of hearing.  This is a pilot project in the Portland area.
  5. Organizational structure and process. This is where the board is trained on Robert’s Rules of Order and implementing a training by Mark Foster entitled “How to Have more effective meetings.”

How can the hearing loss community become involved with Hearing Loss Association of Oregon?
First of all, we welcome everyone at our local chapter meetings and we’d love to establish more active chapters throughout Oregon.  For more information on this, contact our chapter coordinator, Cindy Campbell (email: hqnw@charter.net) Phone: 877-271-7620, toll free or 503-922-1961.

Our quarterly meetings are open to the public and are accessible with real-time captioning and assistive listening systems. 

We have produced an excellent resource related to hearing loss called “Facing the Challenge: A Survivor’s Manual for Hard of Hearing People” which is full of excellent information related to hearing loss and ways to deal with it using technology and coping strategies. Many resources are listed.  The manual is available at local chapter meetings and on the Web site (www.shhhor.org) or by sending $3 (shipping and handling fee) to Hearing Loss Association of Oregon, PO Box 22501, Eugene, OR  97402.

Folks can also subscribe to our award winning quarterly “Hear It Is!” newsletter by sending contact information to the same address. 

What are the Hearing Loss Association of Oregon upcoming events for 2007?
Our next board meeting will be February 10, 2007.  We are hoping to be part of the Tri State Hearing Convention in Seattle on February 22-25, 2007.  The Annual Hearing Loss Association of Oregon statewide meeting will be held in the spring of 2007. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Please contact us with questions, comments or suggestions:

ODHHS
500 Summer St NE E06
Salem, OR 97301

800-358-3117 (Voice/TTY)
odhhs.info@state.or.us

 
 

ODHHS News is produced quarterly by the Department of Human Services, Oregon Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services.

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