Helpful links
for people with hearing loss

Local organizations and agencies

Chicago Hearing Society (CHS) (non-profit that assists people with hearing loss)
Illinois Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission (IDHHC) (state agency)
Midwest Center on Law and the Deaf (MCLD)
Hearing Loss Association of America, Lincoln Park Chapter (HLAA Lincoln Park)
HLAA Illinois Cochlear Implant Chapter
Center for Sight and Hearing (agency in Rockford, IL)
Northwest Indiana Deaf & Hard of Hearing Community

National and international organizations and agencies

AARP (national advocacy group for people over 50)
ALDA Inc. (national organization of which ALDA Chicago is a chapter)
A. G. Bell Association (resources and support network advocate for people with hearing loss)
American Tinnitus Association (ATA) (for people with ringing in the ears)
Better Hearing Institute (BHI) (trade group information for hard-of-hearing people)
Deafness Research Foundation (DRF) (supports research into causes of deafness, hearing loss, tinnitus)
Dogs for the Deaf Inc. (DFD)
File a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) about TV captioning
File a complaint with the FCC about cellphones, captioning, other access issues
Hard of Hearing Advocates (HHA)
Hearing Industries Association (trade group's site with information for hard-of-hearing people)
Hearing Loss Association of America ((HLAA, formerly SHHH), national advocacy and support organization for people with hearing loss
Healthy Hearing (audiology and hearing aid industry page)
International Federation of Hard of Hearing People (IFHOH)
National Association of the Deaf (NAD) (civil rights for the deaf and people with hearing loss)
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (federal research agency)
Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons
Social Security Disability Benefits
Telecommunications for the Deaf Inc. (TDI) (advocacy group on TV, cellphones and other technology issues)

Online support groups, blogs and web sites

Deaf Girl Amy (blog of the author of a book for people with late-onset hearing loss and the people who love them)
Barefoot in the 'Burbs (Blog of a longtime ALDA member on her deafness and other topics)
Glossary of terminology from HLAA-NC
HLAA Hearing Loss Survival Manual
LDA Chat (online support group for late-deafened adults; must join Yahoo Groups)
NF2 Crew (online support group for people with Neurofibromatosis Type 2)
Say What Club (online support group for people with hearing loss)
The Hearing Exchange (blog and resource site)
The Deafened People's Page
Hearing Loss Web
Speak Up Librarian (an ALDA member's blog about coping with hearing loss)  

Smart phone apps
The Best Apps for Captioning (article from Healthy Hearing)

Telephones and ways to make phone calls
(Relay has three forms: An operator converts speech to captions on a special phone; an operator converts speech to captions on your computer screen or live chat on a mobile device; or a live video is shown on your computer screen for signing or lip-reading. Relay services are free)

Cap-Tel (captioned telephones; may be free or subsidized)
Illinois Telecommunications Access Corp. (ITAC) (free amplified telephones for qualified Illinois residents with hearing loss)
AT&T Relay (provider)
Hamilton Relay (provider)
Hands On Video Relay (provider)
IP Relay (provider)
Sprint Relay (provider)
Sorenson Relay (provider)

 
Assistive devices to improve quality of life
(such as telephones, amplifiers, doorbell alerters, smoke alarms, etc.)

AbleData (assistive device database)
Harris Communications (vendor with online catalog)
Hi-Tec (vendor with online catalog)
Weitbrecht Technologies (vendor with online catalog)


Cochlear implants
HLAA Illinois Cochlear Implant Chapter
Cochlear Implant Association (industry-funded information and support group)
Advanced Bionics (manufacturer)
Cochlear Corp. (manufacturer)
MED-EL USA (manufacturer)
The Gift of Hearing Foundation (non-profit foundation that assists with cochlear implants)

Hearing aids

"How Hearing Aids Work" page from Discovery Health
"Guide to Hearing Aids" from Better Hearing Institute (includes info on buying & financial assistance)
"Hearing Aids 101"
HLAA resources on hearing aids


Lip Reading (Speech Reading)
"I See What You Say" (DVD course)
"Read My Lips" (videotape course)
"How to Lip-Read" (WikiHow article)
Lipreader 4 (teaching software)
"Seeing and Hearing Speech" CD-ROM course


Sign Language
ASL Browser (Michigan State University online dictionary of ASL signs, with videos)
ASL beginning and basic signs (online videos)
American Manual Alphabet (finger-spelling) entry from Wikipedia
Signing Exact English explanation from About.com
SEE Center on Signing Exact English
ListenUp Web explanations of ASL, SEE and PSE
PSE explanation from About.com


CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) live captioning for groups
CaptionFirst (provider)
LMH Certified Reporting (provider)
CART Provider Directory of the National Court Reporters Association

Hearing Loops
Scientific American article on hearing loops
Hearingloop.org (information on hearing loops for public places and homes)

Captioning for movies, TV and theater
Victory Gardens Theater Access Project (captioned and signed theater performances)
Described and Captioned Media Program of the NAD
National Open Captioning Initiative of the Theatre Development Fund (list of open-captioned stage theater performances nationwide)
Captionfish (search for captioned movie showings)
Fomdi (search for captioned movie showings)
How Stuff Works article on TV captioning
"How to get closed captioning on TV" eHow article
WGBH TV closed captions site
Caption This (Bill Graham's blog about captioning issues)

Children and families
Parent to Parent (HLAA site for parents of children with hearing loss)