At the next meeting, Nov 10^th at Ashford Senior Housing (across the street from the Town Hall), we will have a discussion of hearing problems we all face. Our scheduled speaker canceled and we could not fine a replacement in time. The meeting starts at 10:30 AM and ends at noon.

Harriet and Norman discussed how they obtained their cochlear implants and some of the problems they faced with them.

In talks with National we found out we have to start our name with ‘Hearing Loss Association’. The board voted to change our name to ‘Hearing Loss Association-Quiet Corner. This is now in compliance with nationals requirements. Our old name will still be our mailing address, until we have time to change everything.

Erica Bolanes gave us an update on the problem of contacting AAA in case of an emergency for those who can’t hear on the phone. She asked AAA if they could handle Text Messages for those who can’t hear on the phone. As we are going to publish the answer, they said their national organization must provide the answer. It may take a few weeks before we get the answer.

Just a reminder, to cover increasing costs the dues were increased to $15/person and $25/family.

Closed captioning is something that's embedded within the signal of a television program; your television has a device inside it that allows it to unlock and read the signal, and put the words on the screen.

For recorded programs and DVDs, the dialogue is inserted ahead of time. But for live programs, such as news shows, people trained as court reporters are typing the dialogue as they hear it.

That's why you may have noticed that in recorded programs you'll sometimes see the dialogue on the screen before the actors have spoken it, but in live programs, the words are always a little behind.

And you also may have noticed that the written dialogue on recorded shows is pristine -- no misspelled words, no garble. In live programs, the court reporters are using their shorthand machines, which are connected to computers that translate the keystrokes into words and transmit them unedited. And sometimes, that results in some unintentional bloopers.

AMERICANS WITH

DISABILITY ACT

Seventeen years ago, Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with overwhelming bipartisan support. However, in recent years, a number of Supreme Court decisions have significantly reduced the protections available to people with disabilities in employment settings. 

Courts are quick to side with businesses and employers, deciding against people with disabilities who challenge employment discrimination 97% of the time, often before the person has even had a chance to show that the employer treated them unfairly. 

Indeed, courts have created an absurd Catch-22 by allowing employers to say a person is "too disabled" to do the job but not "disabled enough" to be protected by the ADA. People with conditions like epilepsy, diabetes, HIV, cancer, hearing loss, and mental illness that manage their disabilities with medication, prosthetics, hearing aids, etc. -- or "mitigating measures" -- are viewed as "too functional" to have a disability and are denied the ADA’s protection from employment discrimination. 

ADA Watch and the National Coalition for Disability Rights

1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20004

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Customer: Yes, I'm sure. I saw my colleague do it.
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Vice President Nancy Paulhus 860-423-4784

Gerald Boone (860) 774-5575

Trudy Carr (860) 877-5069

David Kovarovics (860) 429-4690

Kathy Rivers (860) 202-5297