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April 15, 2005

League aids those with hearing loss

From: Sun-Sentinel.com, FL - Apr 15, 2005

By Toni Marshall
Staff Writer

April 15, 2005

Lauderdale Lakes Born with hearing loss, Evan Goldman knows that someday things will be better for children born with such problems.

"The technology has increased so tremendously in terms of the assistance that's available to young people. When I was younger, it wasn't available," he said.

The League for the Hard of Hearing is one organization aiding those with hearing problems. "The League helps put children and seniors in touch with this new technology, particularly those from low-income families," said Goldman, 35.

The League for the Hard of Hearing, a private, not-for-profit agency, provides social and hearing services to infants, children and adults with all degrees of hearing loss.

The agency is at 2800 W. Oakland Park Blvd., Oakland Park. The hard of hearing can go there for tests and counseling on hearing aids, said Kim Schur, director of the agency.

In 1910, the League for the Hard of Hearing was founded in New York. Broward's United Hearing and Deaf Services merged with it to expand into a Broward County branch of the organization.

"Many times, if you cannot afford a hearing aid, we somehow find the money to fund you," Schur told commissioners at a recent Lauderdale Lakes meeting .

The funding for the agency has been cut over the years. As a result, people are encouraged to drop off old hearing aids to be redone for others, she said. One hearing aid can cost more than $3,000. About 8,000 people walk through the agency's door annually.

The center has case managers and psychologists on staff to help people negotiate the hearing world.

"Some are deaf and speak other languages. Many times when they are saying, 'I can't hear you,' they are really saying, 'I can't understand you,'" Schur said.

The league also serves as a distribution center for specialized phone equipment for the deaf, hard of hearing, speech and visually impaired. In 1991, the Florida Legislature passed the equal access phone law, allowing for telecommunications relay. Floridians pay a surcharge, which ranges from 8 to 25 cents, which goes toward specialized equipment and relay services. Using the system, someone who is hard of hearing or deaf goes through another person who communicates for him or her.

Goldman sits on the Governor's Coordinating Council for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and works as a senior government and public affairs specialist for the Children's Services Council, one of the funding arms of the league.

The Broward County Human Services Department, local municipalities, private donations and the United Way also provide dollars to the League for the Hard of Hearing. The organization's operating budget is roughly $760,000 a year. But with funding cuts from major donors like the United Way, the agency's 13 employees try to make do during a time when the center is seeing an increase in need.

"Medicaid would provide hearing aids for all those people who teeter as far as income," Schur said. The Florida Legislature did away with that benefit for those 21 and older in 2001, she said.

So, they're making their way to the league.

"I'm surprised at how many of our seniors are living below the poverty level," Schur said.

Also, schoolchildren fall between the cracks, especially those who are in school and not citizens. "It's difficult to say no to them," she said.

To contact the League for the Hard of Hearing, call 954-731-7200.

Toni Marshall can be reached at tmarshall@sun-sentinel.com or 954-572-2004.

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