Who We Are

HEAR! HERE! is your local chapter of the Hearing Loss Association of America [HLAA] serving Woodland, Davis and Yolo County. We offer informational programs throughout the year that are open to all. See this blog for times and dates of upcoming events.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Our e-mail address is: hearherewoodland@gmail.com

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Preschool Screening Update

The 2013 Preschool Screening Tests are almost completed!
So far we have tested 427 preschool aged children of which 21 did not pass the screening. We have one more school to test with about 40 preschoolers and so our final figures won't be in till the end of next week. Once again the two technicians from the Center for Hearing Health, Norma and Marta, have done a wonderful job with screening the children. They certainly help make this program run smoothly and efficiently. 
 
Marta with Norma in the background checking the screening results.


Follow Up
The new voucher system, allowing parents to take their children to Sutter ENT for a complete audiological examination by Dr. Sue Hodell, has been implemented and seems to be successful. We should have the final numbers for how many children received a follow up sometime in May. This is such a significant addition to the program that we really hope to be able to offer it again, funds permitting.

Friday, March 22, 2013


ENSURING CHILDREN HEAR

HEAR! HERE! SCHEDULES SCREENINGS...
 
So far, 9 children out of 175 have not passed the screenings

 

If a child cannot hear you they cannot; follow instructions correctly, respond appropriately, or communicate fully.  Children, especially young children, often are not aware that they missing words or sounds and therefore meaning.  As a result, children with even a slight hearing impediment experience difficulties not just with their listening skills but also their language skills, their relationships with family, teachers and friends and they often become socially withdrawn and sometimes are even labeled slow learners. These issues, if left undetected, may lead to long-term social, emotional, behavioral and learning issues for the child. Children with a hearing impediment often fall behind grade before they even start school.

As part of their mission to provide support to the hearing impaired of Yolo County, Hear! Here!, the Woodland Chapter of Hearing Loss Association of America, has scheduled over 475 children to be screened for possible hearing loss during the last two weeks of March. Testing will be done by trained personnel from the Center for Hearing Health, in specially equipped mobile vans.

 

  Preschoolers entering the mobile testing van


 

           Mel Russell, one of the coordinators of the program says “It is my believe that the earlier a child’s hearing loss is detected allowing for support to be provided; be it hearing aids, speech therapy, social or emotional guidance, the more chance that child has to lead a successful, well rounded life. If we identify even one preschool aged child that needs help with their hearing hopefully we have helped ensure that child a brighter future.”

Funds for the screening were raised with generous donations from the Soroptimists International of Davis and the Woodland Sunrise Rotary Foundation. A grant from First 5 Yolo and more efficient routing and beneficial pricing during our 2012 testing allowed us to add these additional schools to our schedule. In total we will have tested close to 1000 preschool children during the last year.

NEW THIS YEAR: This year, thanks to the staff at Sutter Medical Foundation, ENT department and audiologist, Sue Holdell, Hear! Here! is also offering a full audiology examination to the children that fail the basic screening test. We are excited to be able to ensure that families will be able to follow up the screening with a full diagnostic test. Not all children who fail the screenings have a permanent hearing loss; it is so important to identify those that do so they can get the help they need.

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

Monday, February 4, 2013

Does Hear! Here! fill a role in the community? Can we survivie?

Hi everyone,
Sorry for the late posting...I simply forgot!
 
 


As most of you know, Clare Childers has resigned from running Hear! Here! the Woodland Chapter of the Hearing Loss Ass. of America [HLAA] due to ill health.


On Feb. 4th we, the advisory board, are going to be meeting to discuss the future of the group. The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss, amongst others, the following questions:


1. Is there a need for Hear! Here! to continue to exist [i.e. what services, if any, do we provide to the hearing impaired]?

2. Are there people willing and able to take over the leadership roles as officers in the organization?

3. What should our next steps be? Would it be helpful to have an interim leadership assist in more fully developing the board and keep things going until that is in place?


Please invite anyone else that you know who might be interested in keeping this hearing loss support group going in the county.


The meeting will be held:


Feb. 4that 4pm

The Avalon Hearing Office

433 2ndStreet, # 104

Woodland


Because the meeting room has limited seating we are asking that non board members contact Mel at 530-756-5536 so we can ensure that we have enough room for everyone.


Thank you

Mel Russell

Hear! Here!

Advisory Board Member

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Change coming in 2013

The Woodland Chapter will be going through some changes in 2013. The chapter will be looking at new leadership and goals for the year when the Advisory Board meets in February. If anyone is interested in participating in this meeting please contact us by e-mail at: hearherewoodland@gmail.com and we will provide the time, location and other details of the meeting when they are finalised.

In the meantime, the chapter will hold its January meeting as usual...see side bar for details, and the Preschool Hearing Program is scheduling more screenings for preschoolers in March of this year. Watch the blogsite for more details.