11-3-2003
Subject: Hearing Impaired on Halloween
Well I must tell you I just had the best Halloween that I’ve experienced in YEARS! :-)No…I didn’t go trick or treating… as a matter of fact I sat at home on the porch while a neighbor took my kids with his kids. (Dad? Big meeting all night in town…) I wasn’t even in costume…However ——I sat on the porch with my big bowl of candy and Akita/Border Collie mix dog, Max. Now Max was trained for a short time to help me “hear”, however, he has since retired himself due to all the “gadgets” I’ve collected over the years. Ok, ok… truth be told I retired him, but he is a great pet too. Max was in costume though as a hearing assistance dog. Every kiddo who came up my sidewalk, of course wanted to pet my big, beautiful dog. I had the chance to explain that he was a retired “helper” dog and that he still helped me with many things. The little ones in costume wanted to see my hearing aid, and to hear a little bit of my story! I couldn’t believe the interest! (MAX couldn’t believe the interest!)Hey! I had several walk off before I could even give them candy because they wanted to run back down to the street to tell Mom or Dad about this hearing impaired lady with the great dog! LOL! Some of the children upon hearing my brief bio, immediately broke into the ABC’s in sign! It was as cute as CUTE can be!I had one mother tell me about this new phone her mom was using….called a “Captel”. I was able to tell her about our new local SHHH chapter and everything! I never thought that Halloween could be used to help get the word out! I can’t wait until next year! Grin! I’ll have to plan better and have little brochures for all the little goblins, action heroes, and ballerinas! (No ghosts…but they don’t have ears to hear anyway…)
Sincerely,
Denise P.
©2006 Hearing Loss Diary
Hearing Elmo 