A History of Hear Here Hartford

Co-Founded by Terry Bedard and Ari Shell in 2007

2010-2011

HHH led a historic event – the first Walk4Hearing brought to Connecticut on June 4, 2011 at the Great River Park in East Hartford. Jim & Terry Bedard co-chaired this Walk and worked with Committee Leaders Cristi Alberino, Julie LePore, Diane Marques, Maura McGuire, Kelly O’Connell, and Jim Ryan. The theme was “Unity in the Community” bringing together over 500 walkers and raising over $65,000 – the most from any Spring Walk in this year. Alliances were made with Soundbridge, the American School for the Deaf, and the CT Children’s Medical Center. Our Kickoff Event for the Walk4Hearing was extremely well attended on March 31, 2011 at the CT Science Center and united the hearing loss community regardless of their mode of communication. Although most of the year was focused on this historic event, HHH had other exciting meetings. The 2nd highly successful Youth Leadership Program sponsored by Toastmasters International took place during a six-week period in the early Spring. Teens developed their communication and leadership skills ultimately leading to greater self-confidence and competence speaking in front of others. Our annual Holiday Party was a huge hit with Bob Abramowitz of Entertainment Unlimited playing music and games with the dozens of teens who attended. Our “Pizza, Panel & Prizes” meeting was successful with adult and teen panelists fielding questions about hearing loss followed by “Minute to Win It” games. Finally, inspirational speaker Catharine McNally shared her story about starting her own business, “Keen Guides” with the goal to gain accessible tours at museums and other public places through video captioning.

2009-2010

Speakers included Jan Melnik, Certified Professional Resume Writer and Career Coach of Absolute Advantage, Inc. who started off the Chapter year with a presentation on how to successfully write a college essay and complete a college application.  She came back in the Spring to lead a resume writing workshop where adult mentors worked with small groups of teens to develop their personal resumes.  Representatives from accessibility offices at Eastern, Southern, and Western CT State Universities spoke about advocating for college accommodations.  Deborah Fairchild, Coordinator of the Southern CT State University Disability Office, also came back in the Spring to present various hypotheticals of different college scenarios.  Games / activities included a Family Feud theme where preteen and teen “families” answered questions related to self-advocacy and social situations. Also, a “break down the walls” activity with teen mentors and preteens allowed everyone to learn different strategies about how to manage and overcome many of the challenges of hearing loss.  A teen panel of college students shared advice about college life for a hearing impaired student.  Socials included a holiday party, bowling social and finished with an end of the year picnic.  Several HHH teen members who participated in the 2008 HHH Youth Leadership Program spoke at the AG Bell National Convention in Orlando on June 26th along with HHH President, Terry Bedard.

2008-2009

Our Chapter year began in September with a Technology & Service Symposium with several vendors and organizations providing valuable information about technology and services available to the hearing impaired.  Workshops included a Youth Leadership Program sponsored by Toastmasters with the goal to develop communication and leadership skills over a period of six weeks.  Games / activities included a self-advocacy multiple choice game based on the game show, “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” using interactive keypads.  Teens also enjoyed a Wii tournament in the Spring.  Panels of teen and adult mentors shared their life experiences and advice based on questions from the audience.  Inspirational speakers were numerous and included Kathy Buckley, comedienne and author, who entertained our audience while sharing her views on overcoming the challenges of hearing loss.  Patrick Holkins, a Harvard student, discussed his road to acceptance of his hearing loss and how he developed self-advocacy skills.  Miss International, Jayna Altman, inspired our teen members with her message of positive empowerment.  Our Chapter year ended with speakers, Dr. Marc Eisen, medical director of Hartford Hospital’s Hearing and Balance Center;  Heather Carter, audiologist; and Jill Eckerly, a hearing impaired audiologist from Advanced Bionics who collectively shared information on the newest advancements involving hearing loss.

2007-2008

Hear Here Hartford of HLAA kicked off its first Chapter meeting in September with an ice breaker for the teens led by co-founder, Ari Shell while parents, teachers, and mentors listened to a presentation of the Chapter’s mission and goals by co-founder, Terry Bedard.  A panel of adult hearing impaired mentors fielded questions about hearing loss.  Activities included a “break down the walls” activity with adult mentors and teens which allowed everyone to learn different strategies about how to manage and overcome many of the challenges of hearing loss.  A representative from Cochlear Americas discussed the latest advancements in technology with parents during this activity.  A newsletter committee was formed to inform members and others in the hearing loss community about HHH happenings through a quarterly newsletter.  Workshops included an interactive program led by mentor, Attorney Marc Anthony Gallucci who presented hypotheticals illustrating how to self-advocate under the Americans with Disabilities Act.   Speakers included Dr. Patricia Chute, Professor and former cochlear implant director at Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital, who spoke about how to get into and stay in college.  Inspirational speakers included Josh Swiller – a Yale graduate who wrote the book, The Unheard: A Memoir of Deafness and Africa.  Finally, Angus McCusker inspired our Chapter members when he shared his life experiences as a cross country ski racer in the Deaflympics.  Socials included the first annual holiday party with a DJ, games and dancing.