HLAA Colorado Member Awards

HLAA Colorado Members Receive National Awards

Terri Shirley, HLAA Boulder Chapter Vice President, was surprised to be presented the ABLE ALDA award at the 2025 ALDA Denver Convention. She was instrumental in securing hotel alliances and Convention speakers, and coordinated Convention vendors. Her husband, Dan, said, "The shock on her face when it was announced is priceless. It was a great deal of hard work." Terri is a tireless and vocal advocate for people with hearing loss in Colorado, and, as ALDA said, "She exemplifies what the boots on the ground looks like." Congratulations, Terri!

HLAA Boulder Vice President, Terri Shirley, volunteer film judge, theater host, and festival planner, advocated for Open Captions (OC) or Subtitled with LIVE filmmaker talkbacks and Q&A sessions with LIVE CART (captioning) Read More

Marcia Dugan Advocacy Award
This award recognizes the outstanding efforts of an HLAA member who serves as an advocate with decision-makers and others about laws and other crucial issues affecting people with hearing loss.

Terri Shirley, a tireless advocate for open captions in movies and live theater, is driven by a personal experience with a failed closed caption device. She has worked with Colorado legislators to support a bill for open captions in movie theaters. Although the bill did not pass, her efforts led several theaters to offer open captions voluntarily. She maintains a state list of open caption movies and collaborates with a local film festival to ensure that all films have open captions. Her advocacy and dedication to improving accessibility has made a significant impact on the hearing loss community. Watch video presentation (2.5 mins) here (be sure to turn captions on)

2023 HLAA National Community Access Award
Wynne Whyman (on right), HLAA Denver Chapter and
Peggy Bell (HLAA New York and Florida Chapters

This award is presented to HLAA individuals who have created awareness about hearing loss and promoted communication access. Awardees are
dedicated core members of the HLAA Get in The Hearing Loop Committee, who helped develop the Hearing Loop Accessibility feature on the Google Maps platform and created tools to promote it. Over several years, they have built supportive, ongoing relationships with accessibility team members at Google, as well as with hearing loop installers and manufacturers. In addition, Wynne developed a database of looped venues—perhaps the largest such database in the world.

Vickie Pacheco (left), HLAA Colorado Springs Chapter -
2018 Chapter Newsletter Editor Award for excellence in creating a publication for people with hearing loss

Dr. Nichole Kovel (right), HLAA Colorado Springs Chapter
2018

HLAA 2025 Convention Highlights

There were 27 individual sessions,such as:

mental health (impact on relationships, social isolation, managing emotions),
technology (Auracast, AI in hearing devices, cybersecurity and hearing loss
comprehensive medical approach to hearing loss,\
Early intervention in children
situational management (health care, elder care, employment, parenting),
communities resources (libraries, state grants), the arts ( dance, yoga, accessibility in cultural spaces),

A research symposium (Stigma: Making the Invisible Visible.) with keynnote speakers sharing their personal stories of the challenge of dealing with the emotional challenges of hearing loss, i.e, former NBA basketball player, Lance Allred, the first player in NBA history with a hearing loss, who is an author of 5 books, TedX Star and international inspirational speaker. He talked about his hearing loss, and challenging upbringing, and overcoming to be where he is today.
And... THE social outing of the convention - a night at the ballgame at Victory Field!

Auracast bluetooth - Everyone is anxiously awaiting this technology which will allow anyone with the auracast capability in their hearing aids/cochlear implant processor to connect to any publicly broadcast auracast signal. In large public spaces such as meetings, theaters, airports, restaurants/bars with tvs, etc. an auracast system will allow anyone with a device equipped with the auracast Bluetooth to connect like they would today with a telecoil or headset to a hearing loop, FM System, or Infrared. The transition period for auracast to become fully functional is an indeterminate amount of time. The takeaway message is that we still need the traditional systems, along with a telecoil in our hearing aids/cochlear implant processors to access public broadcasts, until Auracast Bluetooth is universally available to everyone with a hearing loss. It will take years for everyone to upgrade to capable devices.

Stigma: Making the Invisible Visible. Too often, we hide our hearing loss because of the perceptions that people have about hearing loss and hearing aids or cochlear implants. The stigma can cause hearing loss to go untreated, or break relationships, cause depression, etc. Even perceptions that someone with a hearing loss is not smart, or somehow less than a hearing person, can create bad situations with those around us, at home, work, socially, and organizations. It’s important to learn about your hearing loss, to learn how to cope with it, avail ourselves of technology, and help other people with hearing loss to do the same.

HLAA 2026 Convention will be Louisville, KY

June 10-12, 2026