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The Comox Valley Hard of Hearing Support Group is a friendly, encouraging group of people, brought together either by the change in their own hearing abilities, or by the changes in the hearing abilities of someone they care about. Everyone is welcome.
The two-hour, monthly meetings offer opportunities to bring together people who can understand and appreciate what ‘hearing loss’ entails – allowing all to share experiences, successes and failures; to find new ideas to try and, most importantly, to enjoy the ‘funny side’ of living with hearing loss.
Programs for the meetings vary. Sometimes we have a speaker who will help us learn more about the latest technology available. Other times, our speaker may be discussing community programs helpful for everyday living – with an emphasis on the needs of the hard of hearing. Or, we may agree to gather primarily to exchange ideas on issues in our lives - and what we are doing about them.
Education, service (primarily offering peer support as well as speech reading classes) and increasing public awareness have been the primary goals of the Comox Valley support group for the past few years. The goal of the support group is to overcome barriers created by this ‘silent disability’ by sharing experiences and successful ways of coping.
For further information about the support group, or details relating to the next speech reading (lip reading) course to be offered in October, contact Mary McLennan at (250) 339-4706 or Glenda Gentleman by email at sheltiewink@shaw.ca.