|
A new face at Deafness Research Foundation? Well, yes and no. The face you see to the left is mine and it's hardly new actually, it's been behind the scenes of these pages for the past nine years. I've just popped in to say "So long" and to introduce the real new face, Yishane Lee, who will be replacing me as editor beginning with the Winter 2011 issue. Congratulations, Yishane, and I hope you will enjoy interacting with our readers and writers as much as I have.
In my years with Hearing Health, fi ve as editor, this job has never failed to meet my two criteria for satisfying employment: I'm learning and helping. Each issue has been an education for me, and I fi rmly believe that the information we've provided has been helpful to our readers regardless of hearing status. In fact, I'm convinced that every family needs at least one person who is well read in Hearing Health. My own family is a great example of why this is so.
Just from what I've learned from Hearing Health, I was able to help my World War II veteran grandfather apply for hearing help from the Veteran's Administration; both he and my mother got hooked on an assistive listening device that makes watching television a joy again; I knew better than to rush my son to the doctor for antibiotics each time he contracted an ear infection; and when my sister began taking her granddaughter to stock car races, I was able to provide her with articles from Hearing Health to help her understand how detrimental that could be to the child's hearing. Nine years of learning and fi nally, with a recent achievement, I feel as though I have internalized DRF's mission of better hearing for all. My local church decided to construct a new sanctuary, and I strongly advocated that we include an induction loop so that our members with hearing loss could have better access to worship. In the old sanctuary, they were provided with written transcripts of the message. But now, thanks to a simple and inexpensive technology, sound is input directly into their hearing instruments and they can hear the preaching and music as well as anyone! I was so excited to see and hear the reactions of our members with hearing loss on September 5, our fi rst service in the new sanctuary. But it didn't end there. A statewide newspaper thought this new offering newsworthy, and now many Arkansans are better educated about induction loops. I've had numerous requests for reprints of the article "so I can show my pastor." See? Good things happen when you read Hearing Health! And so I hope you will continue to read and support DRF's research which has provided the foundation for so much of the good information in these pages.
A fond farewell,
Donna Lee Schillinger
Editor-in-Chief
p.s. Keep in touch! donna@onmyownnow.com
