Dacy Zacharias - March 8th, 2010
Hi! My name is Dacy Zacharias.
I also answer to "Mom", "Taxi" or "Cook" for those under 4 feet tall! I am the proud mother of seven-year-old "Callie" and six-year-old "Lexie". Callie's and Lexie's ears were damaged when they were born, but we found an amazing technology called cochlear implants that improve their hearing!!
Each of the girls received a cochlear implant in Calgary when they were 12 months old. Then they went together to Dallas, Texas for their second cochlear implant in October 2007.
Callie and Lexie have also had over 7 years of Auditory Verbal Therapy.
Dacy's passion lies in raising awareness about cochlear implants and BAHA (bone anchored hearing aids) in Canada. She volunteered with the Cochlear Awareness Network for three years and recently joined Cochlear as the full time Cochlear Awareness Network Manager - Canada. Her responsibilities include recipient liaison, volunteer management and consumer event coordination for Cochlear Canada.
Dacy will share her family's personal "CI Journey" and discuss how Nucleus Cochlear Implants can help children with hearing loss socially interact successfully in today's world as well as how Assistive Listening Devices can enhance the listening experience of Nucleus Cochlear Implant recipients by directly or indirectly connecting to the input of their sound processors.
Practical tips and resources will be given in an interactive format to participants to encourage and develop their everyday listening, learning and living with a Nucleus Cochlear Implant. Literature will be available to learn about options available for current Nucleus devices.
For more information about CHHA-Calgary Meetings and the location, please visit About CHHA.
To read about previous guest speakers, please choose one of the links below:
- February 2010 - Michael Brown shared his story of discovery and joy in receiving a Bone Anchored Hearing Aid and a new ear, and how others can benefit from technological advancements.
- November 2009 - Sylvia Bird, part-time Tinnitus Coordinator at Deaf & Hard of Hearing Society (DHHS) in Calgary, Alberta, spoke about tinnitus and some of the treatments available to help in managing this condition.
- September 2009 - Recap of the 2009 St. John's Conference from members who attended.
- June 2009 - Representatives from Phonak shared information about current technologies that help improve hearing for hard of hearing individuals in the presence of background noise and to connect to modern communication devices such as cell phones.
- April 2009 - Dave Evans, the Medical Base Manager and Flight Paramedic for STARS spoke about STARS services and about how knowing what to expect in an emergency situation requiring transportation by STARS will reduce the stress of a traumatic experience.
- February 2009 - Pauline Mathezer, a trained volunteer for the Canada Revenue Agency, spoke about completing income tax returns including the importance of filing and claiming all credits to which a person is entitled such as medical, transit, employment and the Disability Tax Credit.
- November 2008 - Stacie Tidlund, graduate of the Disability Studies program at Mount Royal College, spoke about her CHHA-Calgary sponsored practicum in Malaysia working with people with hearing loss.
- October 2008 - Stephen McKibbon, SeniorConnect Coordinator and services provided by Calgary Senior's Resource Society
- September 2008 - CHHA-Calgary members who attended the Canadian Hard of Hearing / International Federation of Hard of Hearing Congress held in Vancouver this summer presented information from the workshops they attended. The Congress attracted speakers and delegates from around the world and focused on hearing loss management in other countries.
- May 2008 - Pacific Assistance Dogs
- April 2008 - James Zackowski - Executive Director of Calgary Rotary Challenger Park
- March 2008 - Michael Lepitre - financial and tax education
- February 2008 - Dr. Carrie Scarff - researcher and private practice Doctor of Audiology
- January 2008 - No Meeting
- December 2007 - Christmas Party
- November 2007 - Pacific Assistance Dogs
- October 2007 - Marianne Flanagan, Speech/Language Pathologist