We are pleased to announce that we are resuming some in-person meetings in September 2022. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there are changes to the format of each meeting. Please check below for “instructions” for the meeting you would like to attend. Please bear with us as these changes are ever evolving. If you provide us with your email address, we will be able to send you reminders of the meetings and notices about any changes.
What it’s all about
Sound Advice is a monthly 1 hour meeting sponsored by the North Shore branch of the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association. Its purpose is to provide a platform for people to discuss issues arising from hearing loss.
- We provide information about the basics of dealing with hearing loss: how do I know when it is time to get a hearing aid?
- Who do I go to see about it?
- How do I choose a hearing aid?
- How do I know the hearing aid is working for me?
- We talk about features of hearing aids that will help an individual benefit as much as possible from his/her hearing aid. Often these are features that an audiologist or hearing instrument practitioner ( HIP) doesn’t have time to talk about or hasn’t wanted to overwhelm us with too much info.
- We encourage people to be self aware and communicate their needs.
- What questions can we ask their audiologist/HIP on the next visit?
- What tweaks does the hearing aid need?
- We go beyond that to discuss the newest advances in technology and how those help an individual and when they are absolutely necessary.
We also go beyond the hearing aids and provide information about gadgets and assistive devices that aid our hearing aids. We answer technical questions about hearing aids. We talk about the “mechanics” of hearing loss: information about how we hear things, sound frequencies and the audiogram. An important issue is the connection between the brain and our hearing loss. Most people don’t connect their hearing loss and bouts of depression. We talk a lot about coping strategies: what we do in a situation where we can’t hear; how to deal with the stress of not hearing; how to make changes in our lives so that we can live to our fullest; how to get our friends and family on board with our hearing loss. Hearing loss is an emotional issue and we reach out to support those who feel separate from the real world.
The group can consist of people who are just starting to lose their hearing to those who have been wearing hearing aids for several years to those where hearing aids aren’t helping anymore. It also can include people who have a family member who is dealing with hearing loss. The group is open to people of all ages. The group consists of new people looking for answers to specific answers, regulars who have their own stories to share, and people who come on a semi regular basis who want to give feedback on their progress. We are hard of hearing people helping other people with hearing loss. We listen to others with similar problems and share our solutions. Since 2002 the meeting has been hosted by 2 volunteers, Flo Spratt and Hugh Hetherington. Flo has had hearing loss most of her life and has a cochlear implant; she’s our coping strategy expert. Flo has recently moved to the USA but she will join our Zoom meetings whenever possible. Her position will be filled by various volunteers. We cannot thank Flo enough for all her work and dedication and info in our meetings. Hugh has had hearing loss for several years and is our technical support guy. Perfect hearing aids doesn’t necessarily mean perfect hearing but we want to do as much as we can to make the world user friendly for people with hearing loss. We want to inform, advise, educate and support people dealing with hearing loss.
Sound Advice: West Vancouver
The West Vancouver Seniors’ Activity Centre 695-21st , West Vancouver, is planning to hold hybrid meetings to accommodate in-person as well as Zoom participants on the first Friday of the month except July and August. The first 2023-24 meeting will be held on September 1 and will be a Zoom meeting. The rest of the 2023-2024 meetings will follow the hybrid format and will be held on October 6, November 3, December 1, January 12 (not January 5 as the Centre is closed that day), February 2, March 1, April 5, May 3, and June 7. from 10 am to 11:30 am. There is no restriction on the number of participants that can join the Zoom meeting. To attend the Zoom meeting please email us at chhansb475@gmail.com with the Subject “WVSAC Zoom Meeting”. In the email, please provide us with your email address. We will send you an invitation to join the meeting. Click on the invitation at the meeting time and you will be able to join us. For those unfamiliar with Zoom, give us a call and we will be happy to help. We will keep you posted about the number of participants allowed in-person.
Sound Advice: North Vancouver
Silver Harbour Senior’s Centre 144E 22nd ST, North Vancouver will hold meetings in person on the last Monday of the month from 10 am to 11:30 am. The 2023-24 meetings are scheduled for September 25, October 30, November 27, January 29, February 26, March 25, April 29, May 27, and June 24. There is no meeting in December since it falls on Christmas Day. At this point there is no restriction on the number of participants that can join the meeting but we will keep you posted. Please email us at chhansb475@gmail.com or call us at 604-926-5222 if you have any questions or concerns.
Posters to print (PDF): please feel free to print & post: Sound Advice Big Poster August 2023 Sound Advice poster 4 x 4 August 2023
Please also note that you do not have to be a resident of North or West Vancouver to participate. All are welcome! Please note that the meetings are conducted in English. Also “Live Transcription/Closed Captioning” will be enabled throughout all Zoom sessions.
rImage: Free photo 109516338 © creativecommonsstockphotos – Dreamstime.com