Listen Up!

March, 2011

Inside this Issue

“Improving the Quality of Life for Persons with Hearing Loss”

Since its beginning in 1986. we have provided services and support for thousands of people in Warren, Washington, Saratoga counties, and beyond. The money raised from this event allows us to continue our mission for the deaf and hard of hearing children and adults within the community, as well as their families, friends, and co-workers. Our services include:

• Loan out program of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Assistive Equipment
• Monthly Newsletter
• Information/Referrals/Advocacy
• Sign Language and Lip Reading Classes
• Scholarships for Summer Camp
• Fabulous Friends with Flying Fingers
  

You can Be a Sponsor!

Can we count on your support this year? Each Sponsor will be acknowledged in publicity materials, the event program, in our monthly newsletter Listen Up!, which is read by more than 1,000 households and on our website.

• Platinum Sponsor $2,000 Complimentary space ad in Listen Up! for 8 months
  (two complimentary tickets to the event)
• Gold Sponsor $1,000 Complimentary space ad in Listen Up! for 6 months
• Silver Sponsor $500 Complimentary space ad in Listen Up! for 4 months
• Bronze Sponsor $250 Complimentary space ad in Listen Up! for 2 months
• Copper Sponsor $100 Complimentary space ad in Listen Up! for a month

You can Donate an Auction Item!

The Silent Auction is an exciting and major part of this Annual Event. Will you please help us by donating an Item or a Service to the Silent Auction?

Your contribution is greatly appreciated, and will be recognized in promotional materials, in our monthly newsletter and on our website. We thank you in advance for your support. We would also love to have you join us for this evening of fun. If you have any questions or would like to arrange for the Association to pick up your donation, please call or email the Association at (518) 761-0554.

You can Come and Have a Great Evening!

• 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM Hors d’oeuvres & Gourmet Food Stations
• 6:00 PM to 11:00PM cash bar
• Music by The Marcabes, 8:00 PM To 11:00 PM
• Silent Auction, 6:00 PM To 9:00 PM
• Only $35 per person!

Call us or register online!

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1st Annual Hearing Health Forum

Friday, April 1, 2011 at Six Flags Great Escape Lodge, Queensbury, NY.

• 8am Registration/Continental Breakfast
• 9am - 1pm Workshop

Price - $15.00 RSVP: by March 27, 2011

Topics:

• What I need to know about Hearing Aids
• Programs & Services: Rights & Responsibilities of Deaf & Hard of Hearing Students at Preschool—12th grade & College Age Students
• Cochlear Implants
• Taking Care of its Employees & Customers: What Every Business Needs to Know
• Assistive Equipment Demonstration & Hearing Loss Prevention Presentation
• Introduction to American Sign Language

Contact AFTHI for more information and to register 761-0554, or register online.

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Programs Offered

Don’t Miss Out!!!

Hearing Loss Association of America and The New York State Board and Albany Chapter Presents Advocacy in Education: Resources for Parents of Children with Hearing Loss

• DATE: Saturday, February 26, 2011
• TIME: 1pm—5pm
• WHERE: Hotel Indigo , 254 Wolf Road , Latham NY (across from the Desmond)

Expert will discuss: Individual Educational Plans, Advocacy in Education, and Post Secondary Education Planning with PEPNET representative. CART (real-time captioning) and sign language interpreters will be available.

NO COST and refreshments will be served. Contact Pat by e-mail pattyjean118@yahoo.com or Joanne by phone 518-452-0005 with any questions.

Hearing Evaluations and Realistic Expectations Presented by Saratoga Hard of Hearing and The Association for the Hearing Impaired

Tuesday, March 8 @ 10:30am Woodlawn Commons
OR
Wednesday, March 23 @ 7:00pm Saratoga Springs Public Library

An Audiologist from Saratoga Hearing will be guiding our discussion of hearing evaluation, how to determine the type of help necessary and what are realistic expectations for better hearing. There will be time for questions and all hard of hearing, spouses, friends and interested parties are welcome to attend. Ben and/or Kassey will be present at both sessions.

More Information contact Grady Aronstamm, Saratoga Springs Lions Club at 518-587-3675 or AFTHI 518-761-0554.

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Will Aubrey Shares Life Experience

My grandmother was a teacher for 65 years. My father taught as a professor for 35 years. My aunt taught 35 years, my step-mother- 10 years, my sister- 23 years and counting, and another sister works in a daycare center. After teaching the most severely socially and emotionally challenged, and challenging, students in the capital region for thirty-five years I retired in 2003. It’s what my family does. Imagine my feelings recently sitting in a classroom setting in the Glens Falls Hospital, learning ASL from Kassey Granger- and the last time I was in this hospital was the day I was born, 64 years ago!

My grandmother, my aunt, and my father all had late onset hearing difficulties and found some improvement with the use of
hearing aids. While my hearing problems may have been hereditary to some extent, other events initiated problems earlier, and as I look back I see signs that I didn’t connect as related to hearing difficulties. When I was a toddler I had an accident in which my face hit a wall. To the best of my recollection when my mother took me to the doctor it was diagnosed as a broken nose, nothing more. Later in my childhood I was taken to a doctor for ‘granulated eyelids’, given a greasy ointment to apply, and sent home. My mother also consulted an ENT specialist about my face and was told not to pursue corrective surgery ‘until I was finished with my athletic career’- meaning basketball, football, soccer goalie, etc. My mother passed away the summer I graduated from high school, I married my high school sweetheart, and I started a family. I started a teaching career and forgot about the surgery. Most people were kind about my face and the shape of my nose. I do have a recollection during my teenage years of having difficulty hearing the lyrics to the new music at the time-Rock and Roll. I just thought it was the volume and that everyone had the same problem. I still don’t know the words to many of the ‘Golden Oldies’. I remember taking guitar lessons and putting my front teeth on the upper bout of the guitar as I played so I could get a better sound. I later gave that guitar to a cousin who played it for years and she then passed it on to someone else. What a happy surprise to discover that same guitar, with my very teeth marks on it, in a l ocal guitar shop in Clifton Park just a couple of years ago! Regrettably, I didn’t grab it. Maybe next time.

Fast forward about forty years of life. During that time I endured repeated sinus and respiratory infections, and courses of antibiotic treatment each year. I was probably respiratory compromised and on antibiotics more than I was off. Gradually the medications began to lose their effectiveness and the doctors and I became increasingly concerned about antibiotic resistance and having to use stronger and stronger medications. In 1996, in response to medication problems and in an effort to breath better through my nose and alleviate my sinus problems I decided to have my nose fixed; corrective rhinoplasty. Not knowing the extent of my injury I went to plastic surgeon rather than an ENT doctor for the procedure. The insurance company considered it ‘cosmetic surgery’ despite the doctor’s evaluation to the contrary. So I had to pay for the operation myself. The procedure lasted a great deal longer than expected. My entire nose was chiseled out, reshaped, and re-inserted, backwards. As I remember I was one of the first patients in and the last one out that day. As I was being discharged they were turning out the hospital lights in that wing. When the doctor completed the surgery he came out to talk to my partner, and all he said was “the damage was extensive”- like I had been in a car wreck and gone through the windshield. I had always wondered when I ran my fingers over my face why the bones felt chipped and uneven.
The recovery went well. I even ended up with the ‘family nose’, despite the doctor not ever having seen a picture of any other family members! I was very happy. Sinus problems were reduced and with fewer sinus problems I was able to handle the ones I did get with the medications I was used to. Gradually, that has changed. I’ve had more infections and my hearing has significantly decreased. I’ve talked to several different doctors and been to an audiologist for hearing aids. The diagnosis has been congenital/hereditary hearing loss. While the two issues don’t appear to be directly related I do notice a definite improvement in my hearing when I go high up in the Adirondack Mts. As I approach a certain elevation my ears often ‘pop’ and I can hear more clearly. I used to joke to my lady when this happened, ‘Okay, so what have you been saying for the last three months?’ She was kind. Usually, though, it feels like I’m under water. I hear sounds but can’t make out the words. Captioned TV is a God-send.

As I now look back I connect the granulated eyelids with tear duct/nasal/sinus interactions. I see my teenage hearing difficulties as something I probably should have spoken up about, but I think I doubted I would have gotten a supportive response if I had said “Hey, I can’t hear the Rock and Roll.” I also probably shouldn’t have stood with my head next to the big booming speaker at that ‘Who’ concert at SPAC in the 1970’s. I think I wanted to feel the music I couldn’t hear.

During my teaching career I was certified to teach virtually every handicapping condition. While my class was labeled ‘severely socially and emotionally challenged ‘at the time, I often had students with multiple difficulties. Early in my career I had a student who was born with fetal alcohol syndrome, and exhibited some characteristics of cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy. When his mother passed away he appeared unaware of the loss. He was very withdrawn in his own little world and spent most of the day rocking back and forth, muttering to himself in unintelligible speech, and fidgeting with his hands and repeating a hand-clasping gesture.

One day, somehow in a flash of insight, I seated Gregory across from me at a table. I asked my assistant to stand behind him. I said to Gregory, “Make an ‘a’.” I waited. “Make a ‘b’.” I watched as my assistant’s eyes widened in astonishment. Gregory proceeded through the alphabet, each time producing his rendition of that letter. He concluded with the numbers 1-10 and a few graphic representations for entire words. His signs for ‘a, e, g, m, n, 2, and 3’ are memorable. Some signs were single-handed. Some used both hands. Many times he had more than one way to express a letter, number or word. He spelled his name different ways, but you could always see the letters if you looked from his point of view. I’ll never forget his two ways of showing the word ‘moon’. I immediately grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to the door of every classroom in the school. I wanted the students and teachers who had seen this withdrawn self-absorbed, uncommunicative individual before now to see him as an intelligent, purposeful student whose mind was ever alert and had taught himself how to communicate. I called his previous teacher to ask if hehad ever been exposed to sign language or speech services. She said, ‘No, he was too disabled.’ When I asked what they had done in response to his hand gestures and body language I was told aversion therapy- slaps and water spray. I hung up the phone. I didn’t think she would understand even if I explained. From then on Gregory taught the class. He stood taller. He smiled more. I can still remember his guffaw sort of gleeful laugh. He still didn’t verbally communicate but at least we knew enough to give him the opportunity to express himself and it was easier to understand him now that he looked us in the face. And the repetitive hand clasping gesture? That was Gregory’s sign for the end of each word. He had even invented his own punctuation! I went on to expand Gregory’s vocabulary with ASL. I got a book, took a class, and began communicating with the entire class in sign. Sometimes we would have ‘Silent Day’- no talking. Signing or writing only. The kids loved having their own communication language. It was especially useful in the lunchroom or auditorium. I could communicate with my students and not disrupt what was going on. ‘Sit’, ’stand’, ‘line up’, and bookmarks with the ASL alphabet gave us a whole new vocabulary. I still think people who learn American Sign Language should be given credit for having learned a second language. Little did I know that later in life I’d be learning for myself what Gregory invented on his own.

My daughter and I still part with ‘the airplane sign’ – I love you. (She works for American Airlines!)

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2011 Class Enrollments Are Still Open!

If you have any questions about any of these classes, please feel free to contact us at (518) 761-0554 or E-Mail us at office@afthi.org.

American Sign Language Levels 1 and 2

Classes start the week of February 28th, 6:30 - 8:00pm. Classes are 10 weeks. Classes will be held at AFTHI Office, 71 Glenwood Avenue, Queensbury.

• MONDAY - 2/28/11 - 5/2/11 Level II Intermediate Class
• WEDNESDAY - 3/2/11 - 5/4/11 Level I Beginners Class/Refreshers

Class fee is $40—Non Members $25—Members , & Book fee is $31.00

Also, you now can sign up for ASL Levels 1 and 2 online!

Fabulous Friends with Flying Fingers

The “Fabulous Friends with Flying Fingers” sign language troupe is open to all children agee 7-14 that are willing to learn a variety of Patriotic & Popular Songs in sign language to perform at various events throughout the Tri-County community, ex: Be-A-Hear-O (AFTHI fund raiser), Lions Clubs Meetings, Memorial Day Parade, etc. The performance schedule will be finalized and distributed to the participants soon after the classes begin.

The goal of the troupe is to learn basic sign language and promote deaf culture awareness within the community.

• WHEN: Wednesday, March 2 – May 11, 2011 no class on April 20th
• TIME: 6:00pm – 7:30pm
• WHERE: Association office, 71 Glenwood Ave., Queensbury
• COST: $40 non-members $30 members
  Second Child from same family $35 non-members $25 members
  New children to the group will need to purchase uniform at an addition cost.

This is a 10 week program plus performances. Sign up online or by contacting our offices.

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The Show Must Go On!

FM receivers will be available at the following shows at the Wood Theater in downtown Glens Falls. Thank you to
Rose Ora Stewart and her corps of volunteers.

• February 24 –26 @ 8:00pm
  Meshuggah-Nuns
• February 27 @ 3:00pm
  Meshuggah-Nuns
• March 26 @8:00pm & March 27 @ 2:00pm
  On Golden Pond
  

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AFTHI On-The-Go

The Association for the Hearing Impaired, Inc. believes that community outreach is an integral part of service to the community. In each edition of Listen Up! we will list and describe opportunities that the AFTHI has had to present to community organizations, participate in special events such as Health Fairs, and/or discuss and share information about our programs and services with large groups of people. We will list outreaches that will take place during the next month/four weeks, as well as activities/events we have already confirmed our attendance at:

• 02/25 Silent Chat @ Pine Knolls Church 7-9pm
• 02/26 Advocacy in Education: Resources for Parents with Hearing Loss in Latham
• 02/28 ASL Intermediate/Level II Class begins (02/28— 05/02) - Kassey Granger, Instructor
• 03/02 ASL Beginner/Level I Class begins (03/02—05/04) - Marcie Johnson, Instructor
• 03/02 Fabulous Friends with Flying Fingers Class begins (03/02—05/11) - Sandie Clark & Connie Fuller, Instructors with assistance from Rose Stewart & Kassey Granger
• 03/04-05 34th Annual South High Marathon Dance
• 03/07 Be A Hear-O planning Meeting 5pm
• 03/08 Hearing Evaluation Realistic Expectations@Woodlawn Commons in Saratoga Springs 10:30am
• 03/10 Warren Washington Inter Aging Meeting 8:30 at SAIL
• 03/14 AFTHI Board of Directors Meeting 12pm
• 03/15 Presentation at Pleasant Valley in Argyle
• 03/16 Saratoga Inter Aging Day at Skidmore College 9am-2pm
• 03/21 Be A Hear O Planning Meeting 5pm
• 03/23 Hearing Evaluation Realistic Expectations Saratoga Springs Public Library 7pm
• 03/25 Presentation at Queensbury Senior Center 12:30pm
• 03/30 Kassey Granger, Program Coordinator Birthday
• 04/01 BAHO Hearing Health Forum
• 04/02 Be A Hear-O Dinner Dance & Silent Auction

Kassey and I would welcome the opportunity to meet with representatives from school districts from throughout the Tri-County Region to discuss ways in which we can assist them. Also, we are available for class presentations and to help teachers set up sign language programs for their students.

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Listen Up! is the newsletter of the Association for the Hearing Impaired, Inc., Bennet F. Driscoll, Jr., Executive Director. Listen Up! is published monthly and made available in print and on-line editions. If you wish to change your subscription, please visit the links provided below, or call the Association's office at 518-761-0554.