Ingrao: Hello Karen. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to speak with me. I know you from the Greater Boston Chapter of the Hearing Loss Association of America, but you're also very active in another consumer organization.
Karen Keefe: Thank you, Dr, Ingrao for interviewing me for Healthy Hearing. I am delighted that you asked. My roots are here in Greater Boston as a longtime member of the Association of Late-Deafened Adults, Boston Chapter (ALDA-Boston). I still hold the office of Treasurer in ALDA-Boston and attend as many functions as time permits. My duties as President of the parent organization, ALDA, Inc. currently occupies the lions share of my time.
Ingrao: Before we talk about the Association of Late-Deafened Adults (ALDA), can you tell our readers a little about your own history with hearing loss?
Keefe: My hearing loss was the result of my mother contracting Rubella while I was in-utero. I was born deaf. My hearing loss was diagnosed at Northwestern Medical Center in Illinois where I was fitted with hearing aids and began speech therapy from the age of twenty-two months. I attended a deaf school early on then I was later mainstreamed beginning in fifth grade. Back in those days, there were no services provided for the deaf and hard of hearing. School was difficult and the social scene was a familiar mix, to those of us who are deaf, of marginalization and ostracism.
Ingrao: What technologies for you use to help compensate for your hearing loss ?
Keefe: At first, I used a combination of lipreading which I learned over many years with speech therapists, and powerful hearing aids. One of my favorite and memorable hearing aids was from Oticon. In April of 1995, I experienced a drastic drop in my hearing and gained tinnitus which impeded my ability to understand speech. At first, I was evaluated for cochlear implant by a doctor at Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary. I was accepted for the device but I decided to wait to see if my hearing would improve. It did at times but kept dropping back down. The doctor called it a very sick ear. Finally after five years, I decided to move forward with an implant. I was surgically implanted at New England Medical Center in Boston with an Advanced Bionics CII device. To this day, nearly five years later, I do not regret a moment of this decision. I am doing extremely well with it. I can use the phone, hear speech very well with very little lipreading and my speech has improved by leaps and bounds.
Ingrao: Aside from technology, what else helps you communicate with people?
Keefe: Whatever works! Which by the way is ALDAs motto. So I listen, do a little lipreading, use sign language, write notes and sometimes jump up and down if need be. The most important strategy, however, especially when I am speaking with other deaf and hard of hearing people is to let them know that I am listening and that they can take their time.
Ingrao: Can we talk about ALDA now? How did ALDA come to be?
Keefe: In Chicago, two newly deafened people, Kathy Herring and Bill Graham, found each other by accident but perhaps by fate in 1987. They both discovered that they have a hearing loss and have never met another deaf person before, let alone a late-deafened person. The two started meeting regularly and soon formed the first chapter, ALDA-Chicago. They were surprised to discover that a full 75% of deaf people in this country were deafened after the age of 19. They have special needs which would not have been met. The organization, they founded, would go on to provide education, advocacy, role-models and support (EARS). Most important, however, was that they had created a second family in which instant acceptance replaced ostracism. First and foremost, ALDA was a place where you belonged.
Ingrao: I will be attending my first ALDA convention this year. Can you tell our readers what to expect?
Keefe: The first thing you can expect is a very warm welcome. The ALDAcon Planning Committee works hard to provide an inviting atmosphere. You can expect to meet folks who will become friends. The convention itself will present an array of workshops, exhibits and plenary sessions of guest speakers and some seminars. We will also provide a suggested list of activities outside the 'con to allow members to experience activities in and around St. Louis. You will not have to look far for the famous Gateway Arch, however. The Adams Mark Hotel, site of the convention, is across the street from it. You will not lack for photo ops. Finally, you can expect to have a great time. ALDAcon is our gathering of the clans and it may well become yours too.
Ingrao: Well, you've certainly got me excited to get to ALDAcon! Thank you so much for talking with us Karen. I look forward to seeing you at ALDAcon.
Keefe: Me too!
Related Content:
Tinnitus
Rubella and Cochlear Implants
Late Deafened
