Toolkit Idea Topic 18-Support Organizations

Hi All. This is the 18th of 27 Idea topics
I listed on three sheets of paper called:
"A Toolkit of Ideas for People With A Hearing Loss"
Sheet 1 Introduction Ideas 4 topics
Sheet 2 Toolkit Ideas 18 topics
Sheet 3 Closing Ideas 5 topics

18 Support Organizations: There are quite a few
support organizations available to help people
with a hearing loss. Cochlear America lists 16
of them on their website. Here we will list a
few key ones that are most likely to be of
interest to those of us who have a hearing loss.
Check their website for more detailed information.

1 HLAA/SHHH: Hearing Loss Association of America
previouly called Self Help for Hard of Hearing
People is located in Bethesda, MD. It is the
nation's largest organization for people with a
hearing loss and has about 10,000 members plus
about 7-10,000 members at the local level that
participate but do not pay national dues. The
organization exists to open the world of
communications for people with a hearing loss
through information, education, advocacy and
support.
It has 12 state organizations in CA, FL, GA,
MI, NC, NJ, NY, OR, PA, TX, WA and WI as well
as about 200 local support groups in the
country. A click on your state of the US map
on their website will provide information
about support groups in your state.Membership
dues are $25 per year that includes a bimonthly
publication called "Hearing Loss" as well as
special rates for attending their national
convention which will be held in Reno, NV
June 12-15, 2008. Attendance varies from
800-1500 per year depending on location which
changes each year.

2 ALDA: Association of Late Deafened Adults is
located in Rockford, IL. Most of it's members
share the common experience of having been
raised in the hearing world and becoming deaf
rather than being born deaf. They are unable
to understand speech without visual aids such
as speech-reading, sign language and/or CART
(Communications Access Real-time Translation).
Their motto is "whatever works". It has chapters
in CA,FL,GA,IL,IN,MA,ME,NJ and OH. Membership
is $25 ($20 for Seniors) per year and includes
their quarterly publication "ALDA News" as well
as special rates for attending their annual
convention in Chicago,IL October 8-12, 2008.
Attendance varies from 150-300 people.

3 SWC: Say What Club is a non-profit Internet
based organization run by volunteers for people
with a hearing loss or late desfened adults or
people interested in hearing loss issues. It
has about 400 members and eight lists of which
one is for people interested in or have cochlear
implants. Each list has it's own personality and
includes every day people like artists, writers,
engineers,lawyers, librarians, psychologists,
cat & dog lovers, teachers and others who have
had experiences with hearing loss. There are no
dues but donations are cheerfully accepted to help
offset annual expenses of about $7,600 per year.
It has an annual convention which usually includes
about 40-50 people. This year's convention will
be held in Philadelphia, PA July 9-12, 2008.

4 CHHA: Canadian Hard of Hearing Association is
based in Ottawa, Canada and is the equivalent of
the HLAA/SHHH organization for hard of hearing
people in Canada. It has local support groups
and an annual convention. If you attend a HLAA
convention you may meet pople from Canada who
attend and run excellent workshops especially
in speech-reading. They also have many
interesting publications and pamphlets on
hearing loss.

5 Other Organizations Of Interest:
a CHS: Canadian Hearing Society in Toronto, Ontario.
b League For Hard of Hearing in NY City & Florida.
c American Tinnitus Assoc in Portland, Or.
d Cochlear Implant Assoc in Washington, DC.
e Natl Cued Speech Assoc in Cleveland.OH.
f NAD: Natl Assoc of the Deaf in Silver Springs, MD.
g A G Bell Assoc of the Deaf in Washington, DC.
h Telecommunications for the Deaf in Silver Spring,MD.

Sharing your experiences with the above and other
organizations not mentioned above may be of help to
those of us with a hearing loss who are interested
in those groups.

Best regards Paul in New Jeresey