Next meeting

Our next meeting is February 10, 2007 at 10:30 A.M.  We
                                    will be meeting in the first floor meeting room at Knowlton Hall, 25 Pompey Hollow Rd., Rt. 44, Ashford, CT. next door to Cumberland Farms.  It is the beautiful stone building that formerly held the Ashford
                                    Town offices. We meet in the first floor meeting room. Babcock Library
                                    is on the second floor. The building is handicapped accessible.  We are holding
                                    election of officers for the coming year.  Please come and vote for your choice
                                    of people to represent you or send in your proxy. 

 Do you want
                                    to be an officer or on our Board of Directors?

Our by-laws require that a person must be a member for a year before they are eligible to become an officer, Director or on our Board of Advisors. If you have been a member for over a year, please consider taking office and guiding Quiet Corner SHHH, Inc. into the future.  If you are a paid member and unable to attend our annual meeting, you may vote by completing the attached proxy. Please mail your proxy to Quiet Corner SHHH, Inc, P.O. Box 314, Ashford, CT 06278

 

March Meeting

Our speaker for the March meeting is Mrs. Joanne Rosenberg of the Starky Foundation of Eden Prairie Minnesota.  Mrs. Rosenberg will speak about the latest technology in Hearing Aids and hearing Devices.

 

It's time to pay your annual
                                    dues

Dues of $10 per person or $15 per family are due in January. You may pay your dues
                                    at a meeting or send your check to Quiet Corner SHHH, Inc., P.O. Box 314,
                                    Ashford, CT 06278.
                                    You must be a paid member to vote in elections. February is our annual meeting and the day we elect officers and directors.
                                    Donations are tax deductible. We are a 501c non-profit corporation. Any donations made to Quiet Corner SHHH, Inc. are tax
                                    deductible if you itemize on your income tax return. If you don't itemize, why not make a donation in the name of your son
                                    or daughter, niece or nephew, and let them take the tax deduction?

 Hearing Aid Program

We
                                    have been applying for grants to give out Hearing Aids to people that can’t afford them. 
                                    Nancy Pauhlus and Pat Rock have applied for many Grants and were successful in obtaining over $17,000 in grants from
                                    banks, religious groups, and individuals.  We also received funds from a concert.
                                    Pat Rock is still applying for more grants so that we can supply Hearing Aids to those that cannot afford them.

We
                                    started looking for Grants when the Lions supplied two of our members with a Hearing Aid. After looking for funds and finally
                                    getting some, it was difficult to find applicants.  Norm traveled extensively
                                    speeding the word that we had money for Hearing Aids but got very little response.  After
                                    many months of no one applying, an article appeared in the Norwich Bulletin about the program. 
                                    The skies opened up and we became flooded with applicants.  We have assisted
                                    24 people with Hearing Aids, hearing devices, and earmolds (if required) to date.  We
                                    have at least 16 additional applicants but have no more money. 

Pat
                                    Rock is still continuing to look for grants.  If you know of any organization
                                    that gives grants or other Financial resources, please let Pat (1-860-429-1756) or Norm (1-860-923-0171) know who they are
                                    and how to contact them.

 The Board of Directors of QCSHHH,
                                    reviews all applications and determines if they meet all of our financial requirements. 
                                    The hearing aid suppliers determine what type of hearing device is required. 
                                    We have three hearing aid suppliers that are working with us- 

        1) Hear Again

        2) New England
                                    Center for Hearing Rehabilitation (NECHR)

        3) RCI

To continue
                                    this effort we need more funds.

Travelers with Hearing Disabilities

If you need help from one of our Security Officers, tell him or her that you have a hearing disability and explain the best way to communicate with you. If the screening process is unclear to you, ask our Security Officer to write the information down.  If you can read lips or are hard of hearing, ask our Security Officer to look directly at you and repeat the information slowly. It is best if you wear your hearing device (hearing aid, cochlear implant or middle ear implant) while going through the metal detector.  Otolaryngologist and Otolaryngology surgeons say that none of our screening processes affect these devices.  If you are concerned or uncomfortable with going through the walk-through metal detector, or are uneasy with having your external component of your cochlear implant x-rayed, you can ask for a full body pat-down and a visual and physical inspection of the exterior component while you wear it.

If you use a hearing dog, you and the dog will remain together while you go through the security checkpoint.  See the "Service Animal" section for more tips on service animals in the screening process.

Above Information First Appeared in the HLAA National E-News, dated 12/18/06

                                    
                                    
                                    
                                    
NEW MEDICAL / TECHNICAL RESEARCH RELATING TO HEARING LOSS
                                            

        .

A NEW APPROACH TO COCHLEAR IMPLANT

NIDCD-funded researchers from Northwestern University are investigating the development of a cochlear implant that uses light, not electrodes, to stimulate the auditory nerve. Although their work is still being conducted on laboratory animals, the goal is to develop a more precise implant that helps people who have profound hearing loss to distinguish speech in noisy environments.
Cochlear implants are electronic devices that process sounds from the environment, bypassing damaged portions of the inner ear to directly stimulate the auditory nerve. While they do not restore normal hearing, cochlear implants can give a person with profound hearing loss a useful representation of sounds in the environment and help him or her to understand speech. Roughly 100,000 people worldwide have received implants. Today's cochlear implants convert sound into electrical signals that travel to electrodes surgically placed inside the cochlea, the snail-shaped part of the inner ear. Because the cochlea detects sounds on a gradient from high to low frequency, signals from high-pitched sounds are sent to electrodes at the cochlea's entrance while those from lower-pitched sounds are sent to electrodes inserted further into the cochlea. The electrodes, in turn, stimulate adjacent auditory nerve fibers, which send an electrical signal to the brain. Although the use of electrodes in cochlear implants has been very effective over the years, an ongoing limitation has been that the electrical current often spreads beyond the targeted cells, stimulating broad regions of nerve tissue and interfering with the signal that is relayed to the brain.

 

CRITICAL HEARING GENE HELPS SEND AUDITORY MESSAGES TO THE BRAIN

 

By studying a gene earlier linked to deafness in humans, researchers now have new insight into the molecular process by which components of the inner ear send messages to the brain. The team reports its findings in the October 20, 2006, issue of the journal Cell, published by Cell Press.

The researchers found that mice lacking the gene otoferlin are profoundly deaf. The animals' deafness results from an inability to translate sound stimulation into the release of a chemical nerve messenger, or neurotransmitter, that would usually pass that information to auditory nerves and on to the brain, they reported. The sensory structures within the mutant animals' ears otherwise appeared to develop normally.
“Study of the genes responsible for deafness can bring new insight into the molecular basis of how hearing works,” said Christine Petit of the Institut Pasteur in Paris

 

SOURCE: Medical News Today, October 2006]

The current study follows up a report by Petit’s team several years ago that people with a recessive form of deafness harbor two abnormal copies of the otoferlin gene. They also had some evidence hinting that the gene might act as a calcium sensor with an important role in neurotransmitter release by the inner hair cells. For example, otoferlin resembles a calcium-sensing protein involved in release of chemicals by sensory neurons elsewhere in the body. Their current study provides additional evidence to confirm that notion.

.

APPLICATION

NAME: _________________________________________ADDRESS: _________________________________________TELEPHONE: _________________________ (TTY: ___YES, ____NO) E-MAIL ADDRESS: _________________________________________ANNUAL ACTIVITY FEE (per Calendar year): SINGLE $10/YR _____ FAMILY $15/YR _____SPOUSE (if family participation): _________________________________DO YOU REQUIRE ANY ASSISTIVE LISTENING DEVICES FOR MEETINGS? YES___ NO___ IF YES, PLEASE SPECIFY:________________________________________________________________BRIEF HISTORY OF HEARING DIFFICULTY:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ARE YOU INTERESTED IN SERVING ON ANY CHAPTER COMMITTEES, SUCH AS MEMBERSHIP, PUBLICITY, NEWSLETTER, OUT REACH, FUND RAISING?

YES ____ NO ____. IF SO, PLEASE SPECIFY AREA OF INTEREST: ________________________________________________________________ARE YOU A MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL ORGANIZATION, SELF HELP FOR HARD OF HEARING PEOPLE, INC.? YES_____ NO _____

Please complete this form with your check payable to QUIET CORNER SHHH, INC., return to QC SHHH @ P. O. Box 314, Ashford CT 06278