Now known as :

HLAA

Howard E. Stone (Rocky) Developed to spread hard of hearing /deaf awareness and resources SHHH not to be a quieted organization; HLAA; scream it worldwide

 SHHH began in Bethesda Maryland, at Rockys home 1979

Help from: Family, Friends, and the American Speech-Language Association (ASHA)

Hearing loss can be physically and emotionally debilitating A mission to provide information, education, support and advocacy, to people with hearing loss

Hard of Hearing : frightening, and frustrating Without effective communication a person loses their identity H.H people are caught between a world they have always known: HEARINGand an unknown world : DEAF

The Deaf have not lost anything, they never did hear, they do not want to hear The Deaf fight to spread Deaf awareness and ASL Deaf have ASL, to lose ASL would be debilitating

Rocky experienced sudden hearing loss in WWII; resulting from a bomb at age 19

Blasted also into a new and unknown world: Silence

No available resources/ struggled within society Rockys words: to help fill the gap that still exists between the hearing and non-hearing individuals

1949; Graduated from the University of Southern California Degree in International Affairs He won a scholarship to John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies HOWEVER; his hearing loss precluded him from taking the oral exam Recruited to the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) for 25 years

Retired in 1975 Rocky strived for success yet struggled with his new H.H. identity in society He was denied his full potential due to oral exams

1980 ; 1st bimonthly SHHH Journal was published; Stone addressed congress 1982; SHHH had 25 chapters; adopted green and white colors
1983 faded SHHH letters; faded hearing.

1985; SHHH and Gallaudet join to address issues of H.H. in young adults By 1987; Rocky spread awareness internationally in Australia , Canada and the British Parliament
1988; SHHH influenced hotel/motel chains to provide alerting/alarm equipment for guests

1990 ; SHHH supported impact of ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) signed into law in July

1991:SHHH was active in legislation for captioning: President Bush signs the Decoder Circuitry Act required all TVs 13 inches or larger to have built in captioning after July 1993

1993 Rocky retired; published An Invisible

Condition; The Human Side of Hearing Loss

1995 improved cell phones for hearing aid wearers 1996 helped insure the Telecommunications Act; service and equipment be accessible to people with disabilities

1997; SHHH worked with Microsoft Corporation to improve accessible captioned software

2004 Rocky passed away pneumonia complications

2006; Name change to HLAA; Hearing Loss Association of America. The Walk4Hearing is launched; 6 walks in 4 states

Affordable health care services as well as equipment needed to aid H.H. and deaf individuals a hearing aid tax credit;

captioned movies in theaters, on airline flights, at live events and on the Internet;

continuation of the infant hearing screening law

access to 9-1-1 and emergency preparedness

Rocky ;deafened from a bomb and decided to rock the world with a boomed thunder of his own; his bomb was to explode SHHH, now known as HLAA worldwide. Indeed he did impact humanity.

SHHH was an organization not silenced, but shouted boldly worldwide HLAA!

Thank you