This is the last in my series on conventions I attended this summer. Over this past summer I’ve come to realize how much I crave real-life interaction with other people with hearing loss. I hope to become more involved with the local HH/deaf activities in my area, as my work schedule allows. I want to stay connected to those I can support in the northwest, and who I might turn to for support, as well.

Day Five started out with our “last day” breakfast banquet in the hotel. Finally, Robyn remembered to bring her Marmite. I watched in anticipation as she spread the light brown gunk on a small sliver of my toast, while explaining it must be applied thinly for the true flavor to be appreciated. Americans, she said, have a habit of glopping too much on like they do with jam. Too much is not the way to eat it. As she scraped her knife over the toast, I couldn’t help thinking it literally looked like shit. Now– this is not the first time I’ve ever eaten something gross looking on toast. In fact, one of my favorite toast spreads is apple butter– which closely resembles Marmite in both color and consistency. It couldn’t be THAT bad I thought. So I took a bite. . . . . . . And it wasn’t bad at all, not nearly as bad as it looked or smelled.

After breakfast we had our annual town meeting to discuss where our next convention should be among other things. I fidgeted in excitement knowing Abbie was on her way to meet me for lunch. Tina Childress had also been invited and was taking the train over from Wash, DC. I looked forward to seeing her again, as we had had a nice lunch last year in Vegas. When Abbie arrived, she texted. I rushed out to hug her. I have to say Abbie is even more beautiful in person than on her blog. Sometimes when you meet people in real life who you’ve met on-line they’re nothing like their on-line personalities, but Abbie is genuine–kind, funny and intelligent. I adore her!

We went to the bar to wait for Tina, while I introduced her around to some of my other friends. Robyn came by, and was so sorry she couldn’t stay as she’d made arrangements for that day, but she hoped to catch up with us later. And she did!

We all left for the Reading Terminal, where the Amish apple dumplings were sold. On our way we almost got lost in an underground mall. If it wasn’t for Abbie’s hand-held GPS system, I think we might still be there, but we managed to surface in front of the entrance to the Reading Terminal. It was a Saturday and the Reading Terminal was packed. My hearing aids immediately went into noise overload. We walked around until we found a perfect quiet spot to eat away from the throngs of people, then chatted for hours. I thought we might need a diversion, so had planned a trip to the Mutter Museum, but we never made it. The afternoon flew by.

Then it was time to leave. We shopped a little in the mall on the way out. Just HAD to try on shoes. I debated buying a pair with a matching bag, then realized I would never fit them in my suitcase. Our Phlash ride took almost an hour back to the hotel. And it was SO HOT. By the time we walked into the hotel, I saw other SWC’ers all dressed up for the Silent Auction and banquet. Abbie stayed until it was time to serve dinner. I bid on several items, but didn’t get anything. Tina stayed for dinner. I felt badly I didn’t get a chance to say good-bye to her. She must have left early during the banquet entertainment put on by late-deafened musicians from the Association of Adult Musicians with Hearing Loss.

Then Paul had a party in his hotel room, which later moved down to the bar. I was so tired I could hardly stay awake, so went upstairs to bed. But Robyn and I ended up talking a long time and I didn’t actually sleep at all that night. I hated to leave knowing I wouldn’t be seeing her again for a long, long time. She asked that I wake her up when I left at 3am. I did. We hugged then it was time to go.

I didn’t realize until Sunday night that I was flying out in less than 24 hours. The plan had been to fly from Seattle to Philly together with Lorne Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning. Eric was going to drive us, and Lorne planned to leave his car at our house. We bought our tickets on-line at the same time using IM. But somehow I got mixed up and accidentally booked my flight a whole day early! I had a full day of work ahead on Monday, and little time to pack. **SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!**

The cost to change flights was $321. I know someone who actually MISSED his plane back to California from Philly and he was only charged $25 extra. Apparently it’s better to miss your flight than to let them know your change of plans ahead of time. I’ll remember this in the future. There were plenty of seats on the other flight! Anyway– I flew alone and so did Lorne, and I felt like a complete ditz for messing up.

Luckily my room was already pre-booked for that night. Since Robyn planned to fly in a day early, and we were rooming together, I had a bed. And boy did I need it by the time I dragged in at 4:00 pm!! By that point I had been awake over thirty hours.

Robyn was sound asleep in her bed when I walked in. Her ordeal from New Zealand had been worse. Two whole days of jets, airports, and not sleeping. She looked so peaceful, I couldn’t bear to wake her. I decided to shower before hitting the sack myself. But just as I was about to climb into my bed she awoke. We hugged and talked non-stop for the next hour or so while she got ready for a dinner date.

I’ll be honest. I had been afraid I wouldn’t understand her accent. I always get nervous meeting new people for the first time and I knew the accent would pose a huge challenge. Silly me. She had been concerned about the same thing. Out of habit we both tried signing to each other when words didn’t make sense, but New Zealand sign is waaaaay different from American sign. We laughed at each other’s signs– many similar, and others, well. . . very different meanings. After about the third repeat, we wrote on tablets. As the days progressed, writing became unnecessary. Her NZ accent is adorable.

She invited me along to her dinner, but I was way too tired. Though I hadn’t eaten since 6 that morning, all I could think of was sleep. Later, I mosied on down to the bar in hopes of finding a late-night snack and other SWC club members sure to be straggling in by that time.

I’ve been to enough of these events to know all you have to do is sit in the bar and wait for people with hearing aids or implants to walk by. Sure enough the second the elevator doors opened I saw a familiar face wearing hearing aids talking to a man I thought might be her partner. Turned out he was PAUL, my blogging buddy!! For some reason I hadn’t recognized him at first– maybe I was still too tired. We hugged, ordered drinks and food and sat down to chat. Paul made an SWC sign for the table, but it wasn’t large enough for passers-by to see. I tried to get him to wear it on his head, but it kept falling off. Eventually he talked a waiter into making up a larger sign so that club members would see us as soon as they arrived.

As the evening wore on we had to move to a bigger table to accommodate everyone. Then we had to start pushing tables together when SWC’ers continued to pour in. What a night! The next day a group of us planned to go to the zoo–the very first in America. Robyn was anxious to take pictures.

IFHOH Day Four

Day four started out like the other days– a long drive to the Wall Center, followed by coffee at Starbucks and attendance at workshops. Unlike the other days, I felt a little bit more harried than usual because I had to pack my bags early in the morning and take them with me to the hotel. The only thing I left behind was a package of Splenda.

The first workshop I attended was Become A Hero: Unleashing Your Potential by Michael Currie. Currie was downright entertaining and also motivational. He began his presentation with antidotes about his own heroes, relating story after story of his life interspersed with jokes. I loved the way he used humor to drive home the point that roadblocks shouldn’t stop you from anything. Be creative. Be positive. Think outside the box.

The next speaker of this session was Dean Olson who is well-known in the Seattle area. His workshop Hearing Loss in the Workplace and Beyond was about using modern technology to assist in the workplace. Again the topic of self-disclosure came up, and also how to present oneself so that co-workers see the entire person rather than just your hearing loss. I wish this session had been longer. It could have easily been a two-hour workshop. I felt we only skimmed the surface.

The final presentation of this session was Communication Bloopers and Hearing Loss: Suggestions for Improving Communication Outcomes by Debbie Quinn. I had been looking forward to this one. Her own bloopers weren’t as funny as some the participants shared, but she gave some great advice on how to deal with communication problems in the workplace. People shared a lot of funny stories. Sometimes being HH/deaf is hilarious.

After this session we had lunch. Since we were on our own that day, we walked to a little supermarket/deli across the street from the hotel. I was surprised by the variety of salads, sandwiches and soups. It was difficult to choose, but I finally settled on something that looked like tabbouleh with dill pickles in it. An odd combination, but not too bad. This was the only day it rained, and it literally poured on us as we walked back to the hotel. The Canadians were all apologizing, as if they could control the weather. I just smiled. Since I live in the Seattle area, I totally understood how they felt. It’s so embarrassing when it rains on out-of-town guests during the summer, but I happen to like summer rain.

The next workshop was Perspectives from a Hard of Hearing Audiologist by Jamie Grew. Like Currie’s presentation, he was funny, motivational and interesting. He grew up with hearing loss and he now works as an audiologist. In addition to relating his own personal story, he found time to share with us tidbits of info about Canadians and Canada. For example, Superman was created by a Canadian. As an HH audiologist, Grew said he can do anything except listen to someone’s hearing aid when it goes bad. Since he works in an office with other audiologists that isn’t a problem. The benefits of having an HH audiologist are many– mainly because he has actually tried out the hearing equipment he sells and he’s able to relate a lot of other information to his patients about ALD’s and support that most audiologists leave out– since they’ve never worn hearing aids. If you think about it, it’s like a car salesman who doesn’t drive. I was so impressed with Grew’s presentation I’ve actually googled to see if there was an HH audiologist in the Seattle area.

Finally, the last workshop of IFHOH was Hearing in Harmony- Life as a Deaf Audiologist by Tina Childress. I’ve met Tina before when she spoke at my Say What Club convention last year. She’s such a great speaker we had her back again this year. Her story is interesting and inspiring. She became deaf after becoming an audiologist. Talk about coincidence. In many ways she was more prepared than the average late-deafened adult. She had the audiology background and knew ASL. And yet she was shocked by how deafness affected her, even with all her knowledge. Whenever I hear her story I’m deeply moved. Like the others, she hasn’t allowed deafness to stop her. I had lunch with her the following week in Philadelphia. She’s an amazingly fun, motivated, intelligent person. I’m so glad I’ve had the opportunity to spend time with her.

Then it was time to go home, do laundry and repack. Next up– Philadelphia!

IFHOH– Day Three, Part II
IFHOH Day Three, Part I
IFHOH Day Two
International Federation of Hard of Hearing Congress — Part 1

Day three– part II

The first workshop we attended Friday was called Accessibility Awareness Collaboration and Hard-of-Hearing People given by Sami Virtanen from the Finnish Federation of Hard-of-Hearing People. Like the the real-time text workshop, I found it exceedingly difficult to pay attention. Tired of reading CART, and feeling full from the large lunch I nearly fell asleep. The late night, early morning routine was catching up with me. Virtanen spoke mainly about Finnish policies, especially with regard to required captioned television programming. The US has had that since 1990. I think the information presented was probably more useful to those in the political arena of policy change, because several representatives from HLAA, CHHA and various other HH/deaf organizations around the world stood up to comment.

I wanted to leave then, but Creating Consumer Awareness through Policy Change turned out to be a surprise. Sherri Collins was a firecracker from Arizona. After waking us all up by handing out prizes she detailed her personal hearing history, and drew a thought-provoking analogy between independence and accessibility. It was US Independence Day. I had forgotten.

Next, Sherri expanded on events leading up to a policy change requiring Arizona audiologists and hearing aid dispensers to provide information about the benefits of telecoils to consumers. Telecoils seemed to be a recurring theme at IFHOH.

Following her presentation, a few people commented they felt a law seemed unreasonably harsh. A man from Michigan spoke about how pressure had been placed on an airport to loop it without resorting to policy change. A woman from New Zealand detailed a sad story about an HH/deaf American tourist who was hit by a passenger train when he got off at the wrong stop after failing to hear an announcement. All NZ trains were looped for telecoil after that. Sadly, she said, it took a death to change policy.

One man remarked that telecoils should be called “accessibility coils” or a-coils since they were used for much, much more than the telephone. Discussion ensued about telecoil vs infrared and privacy concerns in courtrooms, federal buildings and other sensitive areas, since people with telecoils can sometimes hear outside looped rooms with the doors closed. Others protested that hearing aid manufacturers were making smaller, more attractive aids for the Baby-boom generation, dropping t-coil in the process. Two more concerns were voiced:

1) Policy to require telecoil induction loops in public buildings could become obsolete within a few years if hearing aid manufacturers stopped making hearing aids with telecoil capability.

2) Hearing aid manufacturers should be encouraged to include telecoil capability in their newer models because of the many, many benefits.

The final workshop of the day was Experience Working for and With Those With Meniere: A Non-Medical Perspective I attended this one mainly for my husband who was diagnosed with Menieres about six years ago. Dr. Henk de Graaf from the Netherlands reported on the results of a twenty-five year study of Menieres patients in his country. Then he led a discussion of alternative treatments for Meneires. One woman had some success with a chiropractic procedure where the feet were adjusted. Several people mentioned using vitamins, exercise, acupuncture, eating certain foods, not eating certain foods, reducing stress, yoga, marijuana– you name it. Someone else mentioned the Meniett device. Hoping to discover something new I could share with my husband, I came away feeling deflated. No one knows of a cure.

That night Lorne went to a football game. In the mood for something ethnic, Kate, Ann and I sniffed our way up Davie Street, and found a little Mongolian Grill.

IFHOH Day Three, Part I
IFHOH Day Two
International Federation of Hard of Hearing Congress — Part 1