Fox Valley Chapter Leadership Board: L to R : Front : Jane, Julie, Rhonda, Michelle.
Back: Mary, Dale, Christine, Kay.
Back: Mary, Dale, Christine, Kay.
July Meeting Monday
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July 2026 Chapter NewsletterHighlights from the National HLAA ConventionThe General Session:
⭐Inside Hearing Innovation included insights from audiologists and hearing care professionals from the leading hearing aid manufacturers. They emphasized how AI will benefit hearing device users by providing automatic settings -“fit it and forget it“ implying they’ll “be more like normal hearing”. I personally don’t care for the current automatic scan program options for my devices though, and prefer the manual/open programs. I believe it will take some time before those automatic features are perfected. They discussed how efforts are being made to try to improve understanding speech in noise, ie “De-noising” - that type of programming significantly drains the battery, so it’s a challenging task. ⭐I attended The Future of Assistive Listening with Juliette Sterkens, where she discussed the assistive listening systems (ALS)’s available today, and the future potential for Auracast. There aren’t many places where Auracast has been installed in WI (yet). There are still hurdles, since the IEC standards haven’t been finalized yet (expected in 2027), and devices are not yet Auracast enabled. Dr Sterkens shared methods and documentation from the Center for Hearing Access to advocate for assistive listening in our communities. Click below for further information: https://centerforhearingaccess.org/ ⭐During the Listening Through Time workshop, 3 generations shared their hereditary family story, and what technologies they used on their journeys. From TDD’s (telecommunication devices for the deaf) and captions first introduced in the 80s, to FM systems and captioned telephones, to college note taking via Live Scribe and speech to text apps, their family is grateful to live in a time when so many technologies have enabled them to live well with hearing loss. There will be a similar panel at the WI State Conference this fall; see the registration link in this month’s HLAAWI email. The middle generation family member, Kristel, is an assistant professor at the University of Kentucky, who is integrating social work into hearing healthcare to address the mental health of people with hearing loss. There are only 9 states that have positions like Kristel’s. Wisconsin is not one of them unfortunately. ⭐In the Building Access workshop the Kentucky (KY) Department of Behavioral Heath Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities, expanded the work of the HLAA Communication Access in Healthcare program to breakdown barriers in health settings. They are building a training program for social workers to be trained on mental health issues relating to hearing loss, and are working to integrate mental health into hearing healthcare. The KY HLAA advocates and state employees worked to get the KY mental health clinics to customize their software program to include CAP forms and alert providers to them when first opening a patient’s EHR (electronic health record). ⭐This year’s Research symposium was cutting edge, about the AI (artificial intelligence) Revolution in Hearing Health, where AI is poised to impact nearly every aspect of hearing health care, from screening and diagnosis to treatment and rehabilitation. In addition to discussions about how AI is being used to improve hearing aid technology and outcomes, the experts discussed how AI is streamlining audiology processes so they should have more time for patient centered care. They explained that AI is a tool for identifying patterns in complex data, but the “ garbage in garbage out” theory applies, so it’s imperative to import/train the system with good data. AI has the potential to separate sounds into those we want to amplify & those we don’t, thus improving the signal to noise ratio. So there’s potential for future AI in hearing devices to train the device to pick out a desired voice (eg spouse) in the crowd. I’ll “believe it when I see/experience it”, but Wow! What a wonderful time to be alive with such amazing technology potential! -Michelle Frisbie |
Thank you for joining us at our Holiday Social at the Appleton Yacht Club! You helped make this event truly special! Happy Holidays!!
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About HLAA Fox Valley Chapter
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HLAA FVC, one of the oldest chapters in the country, has been meeting since 1983. We have touched the lives of thousands of hard of hearing people of all ages. Meetings are open to anyone interested in learning. We encourage those who learn to volunteer to help us reach out to others who can benefit from receiving unbiased, firsthand, experiential information and support. The help one can get from learning they are not alone with the frustrations, fears, and fatigue that hearing loss brings is amazing.
The chapter meets at The Bordini Center at 5 Systems Drive in Appleton Wisconsin. Meetings draw people from a large geographical region in northeastern and central Wisconsin. Meetings and/or social events are held on the 2nd Monday evening of most months. Social events may or may not be held at the Bordini location. Subscribe to our monthly newsletter/meeting notice to keep up to date on all of the chapters events. It can be received in print by regular mail or by e-mail. Let us know your preference at [email protected]. We invite people to join us to share their personal experiences and learn what’s happening in the world of hearing loss for people who choose to remain in the hearing mainstream with technology such as hearing aids, cochlear implants and products that work with our personal devices to enhance sound and our ability to hear. Family members and friends are always encouraged to join us. FVC has 2 subgroups; one called H.O.P.E. gathers after chapter meetings on the evenings that meetings are held at Bordini Center. H.O.P.E. is about Hearing Other People’s Experiences. This support group is a perfect place for newcomers to ask questions and learn. The other group is for Cochlear Implant (CI) recipients and those who want more information about them. The ‘CI Group’ meets via Zoom videoconferencing on the 3rd Tuesday evening of odd months at 6 PM. The majority of the chapter’s regular meetings feature educational presentations and presenters. We are always looking for ideas and potential presenters. Please share your ideas with us. [email protected] HLAA FVC is organized and supported by volunteers. We need more of them. Currently, we are seeking volunteer assistance with hybrid technology during chapter meetings, publicity and advertising; including outreach speaking engagements to the many people in the region who could benefit from the information we have to share. We’d like very much to change the ‘best kept secret’ image that follows us. Please let us know if you can help us get the word out. HLAA FVC also has volunteers available to present to outside groups on request. We can also provide in service training in professional settings. Feel free to call on us. [email protected] We encourage you to join the national HLAA organization. However, membership is not required for chapter participation. www.hearingloss.org |
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