Sylvia Bird - November 9th, 2009
Sylvia Bird is currently the part-time Tinnitus Coordinator at Deaf & Hard of Hearing Society (DHHS) in Calgary Alberta.
She has had tinnitus since she was 20 years old and in her mid 30's went from perfect hearing to severe hearing loss in a six month period due to an auto immune disease. In her quest to adjust, she discovered DHHS and took all three levels of Speechreading classes. She jokes that she is the Equipment Department's best customer.
Prior to joining DHHS she was a Registered Nurse with over 25 years of experience. She took her training at The University of Calgary and Foothills Hospital School of Nursing where she graduated in the first graduating class. She has diplomas in Speech and Drama from Mount Royal College in Calgary and Trinity College, London England. She was a speech instructor at Mount Royal College for five years.
Sylvia also has a strong interest in alternative healing. She has reached the practitioner level of several healing modalities and is a Shaklee products distributor.
Sylvia believes that education allows individuals to make informed decisions in their health and lives. She is pleased to have the opportunity to speak at the CHHA-Calgary meeting about tinnitus and some of the treatments available to help in managing this condition.
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:
- 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