Lions Club offers a free Hearing Seminar in the Fireside Room Saturday

The Rossmoor Lions Club will hold its 26th annual Hearing Seminar this Saturday, Sept. 15, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the Gateway Fireside Room. The seminar will be both informative and inspirational, focusing on the theme of how to cope with age-related hearing loss. It is open to all residents and other guests concerned with hearing problems.

The seminar will consist of three parts: an overview of the debilitating condition of hearing loss and its solutions; a demonstration of the SPCA Hearing Dog Program; and a presentation of the California Telephone Access Program.

It will begin with a talk on the topic of “Hearing Loss: the Invisible Condition,” given by Mark Sanford, a clinical audiologist with CSG Better Hearing Center of Walnut Creek. The talk will cover the anatomy and physiology of the ear, the auditory deprivation due to aging and solutions for hearing loss, including the use of the variety of hearing aids and assistive listening devices.

Sanford has a master's degree in audiology from the University of Texas. He has been associated with the CSG Hearing Center as a partner since 1994 and is now its owner. He and his staff audiologists have worked closely with the Rossmoor Lions Club as volunteers for its annual hearing screenings project in recent years.

In his capacity as the evaluator of the screening results, Sanford has observed firsthand the condition of hearing deficiencies among Rossmoor residents and he will speak from that experience to dwell upon effective solutions to the problems of the aging ear.

The second part of the seminar on the subject of hearing dogs will be presented by Martha Hoffman, author of the book “Lend Me an Ear.” Hoffman will talk from her longtime experience as a researcher and trainer at the San Francisco SPCA Hearing Dog Program. Under the program, dogs are trained to alert a hearing-impaired person to sounds of doorbell, telephone ring, teakettle whistle, alarm clock etc. and, more importantly, to signals of danger, such as smoke alarm and the noise of a prowler.

The audience will be able to see one of Hoffman's hearing dogs in action. Under her direction, the dog will go through the paces to react to various sounds and signals. It can show how a hearing dog can help a hearing-impaired companion to lead a more independent life free from feelings of isolation and vulnerability.

Any adult resident of California with a severe loss of hearing may be eligible to receive a hearing dog at no cost. Hoffman will explain the requirements and conditions under which a hearing dog may be adopted.

The third part of the seminar will be a presentation of the California Telephone Access Program (CTAP). CTAP is a statewide organization that is mandated by state legislation to provide, at no charge, specialized telephone equipment and accessories to hearing-impaired users in California. The program is supported by a small amount of surcharge levied on every telephone bill in California.

The featured speaker will be Sharif Frink, an outreach specialist from CTAP. He will explain and demonstrate the state-of-art equipment and devices that are available to persons who have difficulty using the telephone for reasons of defective hearing, poor vision, speech impediment or physical handicap. He will also provide information on how to apply for such free telephone equipment and accessories.

Frink will then talk about the California Relay Service (CRS) as a part of the CTAP system. CRS provides free service for relaying telephone calls to and from users who cannot hear or speak over the telephone. Such users are furnished with a TTY machine (a telecommunication device with keyboard and visual display), on which they can send or receive telephone messages in typed version on the visual display.

By dialing 711, TTY users and non-TTY users can have access to a CRS operator who will relay, back and forth, the telephone conversation by spoken words or by typed versions, as the case may be.

To demonstrate how the system works, a caption specialist from CTAP will type out the speech from the podium and show it, instantaneously and almost word by word, on a projection screen. This will also enable the audience to read the speech, which they may not be able to hear clearly.

Barbara Betzner, chairwoman of the Lions Hearing Committee, will be the seminar moderator. There will be a question and answer period following each presentation. At the end of the meeting, light refreshments will be served and participants will have a chance to inspect the display of specialized telephone sets and accessories that are available for free from CTAP.

Lions Club offers a free Hearing Seminar in the Fireside Room Saturday

The Rossmoor Lions Club will hold its 26th annual Hearing Seminar this Saturday, Sept. 15, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the Gateway Fireside Room. The seminar will be both informative and inspirational, focusing on the theme of how to cope with age-related hearing loss. It is open to all residents and other guests concerned with hearing problems.

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Aquatics supervisor to speak to Activities Council

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FORE Flea Market is Sept. 29 at Gateway

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Learn the ins and outs of riding County Connection

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Meeting dates

BOARD, MUTUAL AND COMMITTEE MEETING DATES

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