Michigan Group Helps Deaf and Hard Of Hearing Seniors Stay In Touch With Life
Deaf and Hearing Impaired Services of southeast Michigan has several satellite sites which offer deaf services geared toward socilaization and access to community-based services.
No doubt, today's seniors are more active than ever before, but who wouldn't like some support as they age—especially if the individual has a condition like deafness or substantial hearing loss?
Linda Booth understands. As president of Farmington Hills, Mich.-based, nonprofit Deaf and Hearing Impaired Services, Inc. (DHIS), Booth leads a region-wide group of community sites that provide deaf services and other help to seniors who are deaf or hard of hearing.
"It's really more than deaf services. All seniors crave company and our programs keep these folks involved with their lifelong friends and a familiar community," Booth says, noting that about half of deaf or hard of hearing individuals become so after the age of 64.
DHIS maintains senior programs at 15 sites in southeast Michigan, including in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, St. Clair, Livingston and Monroe counties. Activities and services include group education on topics like health care, nutrition and life planning, conducted as needed in American Sign Language (ASL), the native language of deaf persons; picnics, parties and field trips; and individual client assistance, conducted by specially trained case managers. Deaf, hard of hearing and non-hard of hearing seniors are all encouraged to attend.
How do you close on a house, establish a medical directive, file an insurance claim or challenge an incorrect bill if you are deaf? A DHIS senior program of deaf services will help.
A family tradition. The satellite programs of deaf services were begun by Linda Booth's mother, May Booth, the hearing daughter of deaf parents. First interpreting for her parents, May Booth became widely recognized for her sign language skills and as an advocate for the deaf and hard of hearing. The senior programs began in 1969 at the request of Michigan's Tri-County Deaf Senior Citizens (TCDSC) organization, the largest deaf older adult organization in the U.S.
To this day, the DHIS senior programs of deaf services receive support from the Area Agency on Aging 1-B, the Area Agency on Aging I-C and the Monroe Commission on Aging. More than 30 volunteers assist with the programs.
"We are here to advocate for all seniors in the deaf and hard of hearing community in order that they lead comfortable and fulfilling lives," Booth says.
For more information on senior deaf services at the DHIS satellite sites, please call (248) 473-1888 or look under the Contact tab on the DHIS web site: www.dhisonline.org.
No doubt, today's seniors are more active than ever before, but who wouldn't like some support as they age—especially if the individual has a condition like deafness or substantial hearing loss?
Linda Booth understands. As president of Farmington Hills, Mich.-based, nonprofit Deaf and Hearing Impaired Services, Inc. (DHIS), Booth leads a region-wide group of community sites that provide deaf services and other help to seniors who are deaf or hard of hearing.
"It's really more than deaf services. All seniors crave company and our programs keep these folks involved with their lifelong friends and a familiar community," Booth says, noting that about half of deaf or hard of hearing individuals become so after the age of 64.
DHIS maintains senior programs at 15 sites in southeast Michigan, including in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, St. Clair, Livingston and Monroe counties. Activities and services include group education on topics like health care, nutrition and life planning, conducted as needed in American Sign Language (ASL), the native language of deaf persons; picnics, parties and field trips; and individual client assistance, conducted by specially trained case managers. Deaf, hard of hearing and non-hard of hearing seniors are all encouraged to attend.
How do you close on a house, establish a medical directive, file an insurance claim or challenge an incorrect bill if you are deaf? A DHIS senior program of deaf services will help.
A family tradition. The satellite programs of deaf services were begun by Linda Booth's mother, May Booth, the hearing daughter of deaf parents. First interpreting for her parents, May Booth became widely recognized for her sign language skills and as an advocate for the deaf and hard of hearing. The senior programs began in 1969 at the request of Michigan's Tri-County Deaf Senior Citizens (TCDSC) organization, the largest deaf older adult organization in the U.S.
To this day, the DHIS senior programs of deaf services receive support from the Area Agency on Aging 1-B, the Area Agency on Aging I-C and the Monroe Commission on Aging. More than 30 volunteers assist with the programs.
"We are here to advocate for all seniors in the deaf and hard of hearing community in order that they lead comfortable and fulfilling lives," Booth says.
For more information on senior deaf services at the DHIS satellite sites, please call (248) 473-1888 or look under the Contact tab on the DHIS web site: www.dhisonline.org.
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