CHHA 2006 Annual Conference

Today has been a much needed "me" day, so I decided to take a few hours for a blog update. This time I'll write about the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association (CHHA) 2006 Annual Conference in Prince Edward Island.

But first, a thank you to the Edmonton Branch of the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association and the Alberta Public Interest Research Group for making my attendance possible.

I've been to more than a few of the CHHA conferences, (I've started to amass a small collection of chha conference bags) and this year I saw a real change within the youth movement. Whereas in Regina 2001 I seemed to be the only one under the age of 30, thanks to Heritage Canada this year we had more than 20 youth participating.

This is the second year now that Heritage Canada has given us support, so relationships are developing and we're really start to form a community now. I'm really looking forward to the good things that are on their way.

One of the highlights of the conference was playing ultimate frisbee after a day of sitting in the hotel. It was great to be barefoot on a green field, doing cartwheels and generally goofing around with the ocean in the background.

The ice cream in PEI is nearly as omniscient as starbucks in other cities - there are ice cream stores on nearly every block. And the potatoes - don't get me started! At a reception they served mashed sweet potatoes in wine glasses with an unlimited buffet of toppings! A very unique, and good meal.

The keynote speaker of the event was the real Sue Thomas, F.B. EYE who told us some pretty scary tails of discrimination and life as a deaf individual growing up in the 60s and 70s. A lot of the stories she told about speech therapy and her search for meaningful work really resonated with me personally.

Nearly everyone loved Sue Thomas. She gives a lot of inspirational talks but seemed to really feel at home with us. And she doesn't look anything like the actress that plays her on TV. I'm glad that I don't have a TV show about my life as who knows what they'd do to me.

One afternoon was set aside specifically for the youth to meet to discuss our goals etc, and we heard a lot of each others concerns... quality captioning is one of them.

There was also talk of having more youth retreats and conferences, setting up provincial representatives and a variety of other ideas.

We were all sure to enjoy each other's company after the official program of the conference. The picture above is of my buddy Yanik and his wife Jen - Yanik has a playoff beard and is a good person to have at a party as he usually has the guts to live up to a good dare.

It was nice to see old friends and make a few new ones as well.

A very large source of my personal entertainment over the weekend came from these blue elastic bracelets - you know, the "live strong" type bands that are supposed replace ribbons - that were intended to raise awareness of hearing loss.

I personally hate wearing those bracelets as they always make my wrists tired, so I decided to ensure that the bracelets spoke as loudly as possible by shooting them at people. It was nice to be in an environment that allowed for multiple battles, allowing me to refine my technique and exact revenge where necessary.

The last night no one really slept, as most people's flights were at 6 AM - I stayed up to see them off and then went for a walk down the boardwalk. Good times. We were staying at the 4.5 star Delta hotel that had the most comfortable beds and amazing staff.

At the Gahan House, a local micro-brewery I had a sample tray of a variety of beer that was fantastic. There was one with a carmel aftertaste that was to die for... definitely a recommended stop for fans of variety and those seeking cheap ways to try a lot of different kinds of beer.