GPCIA News #6, April 27, 2005
CONTENTS:
1. Family Retreat beckons for June 10-12
2. Parents and Kids have fun while learning
3. For a better quality of life
4. Driving to Cohutta Lodge
5. Showcasing the exhibits
6. Bring your camera
7. Mentors to assist you
8. Silent Auction, Battery Contest will be popular
9. New web site address
10. GPCIA is now an affiliate of SHHH
Family Retreat beckons for June 10-12
Gazebo on back lawn of Cohutta Lodge frames distant mountains.
Family Retreat applications have been mailed and e-mailed to the GPCIA mailing list. Additional mailings and notification will be made by the cochlear implant manufacturers. All forms are available on the GPCIA web site (www.gpcia.org), and the national Self Help for Hard of Hearing People has a retreat link on its web site. So, mail your reservation now to assure space at Cohutta Lodge; don’t wait for the May 27 deadline to creep up on you.
Parents and Kids have fun while learning
Three-story Valley View facility has 36 rooms adjacent to the main lodge.
We are honored to have Mary Rugg of the University of Georgia (UGA) as a presenter. Mary will give an overview of her portfolio project, Take A Look At Me, to parents and follow with a very interactive session for parents and children. Materials to start a portfolio will be furnished to participants, courtesy of GPCIA.
A strengths-based portfolio provides a visual representation of a person’s strengths, interests, hopes, and dreams. The portfolio presents a positive view of a person (child or adult), building on what they can do and enjoy doing as opposed to focusing on individual weaknesses. It promotes early literacy and self-awareness, helps determine natural learning opportunities, and is a great tool to use as a child transitions to new places and learning environments.
To date, the portfolios have been used in early intervention programs, preschools, elementary classrooms, high school partner programs, self-advocacy initiatives, employment efforts for adults, and by individuals and their families.
Parents are encouraged to bring family photos or other keepsakes to include in making a portfolio, which will be started in the interactive session at the retreat. The photos may show a child’s school or activity involvement, family members and friends to help form a positive record for the portfolio theme: Take A Look At Me. Using the portfolio completed by the family conforms with IDEA mandates to include parental input in establishing intervention and educational programs.
Mary has worked nearly 30 years as an early interventionist. The portfolio program had origins in Mary’s work at UGA’s McPhaul laboratory school. She has presented the portfolio program nationally, at Georgia’s Better All Together transition conference, and in many other learning environments.
For a better quality of life
Pictured above is our president, Richard Bowman and his wife.
How couples strive for a better quality of life, when one has a hearing loss and the other has normal hearing, will be the focus of two sessions at the retreat. Gerald and Sheila Adams faced Sheila’s declining hearing loss as a team, developing methods and equipment that improved communication between them. Now that Sheila has a cochlear implant, they look back and report how they coped before the CI and what works best with the CI.
In a Sunday presentation, Kerry Payne will tell how his CI led to love and marriage – to his audiologist. It’s a story of information and humor; he titles it: To Love, Honor, and Program.
Driving Directions to the Cohutta Lodge
Cohutta's main lodge:
The first level will house the exhibit
and social areas for the retreat;
the second level dining room
has picturesque mountain view.
Cohutta Lodge is at an elevation of 2900 feet on Fort Mountain in northwest Georgia. This elevation is no match for Brasstown Bald’s 4784 feet, the highest point in the state, but it offers interesting vistas and a cool, fresh breeze.
We offer two driving routes.
1. When arriving south from Chattanooga and points north of Chattanooga on I-75,
go to Rt. 52 (Walnut Ave.) at Dalton and
take Rt. 52 east through Chatsworth.
About 8 miles past Chatsworth you will pass Fort Mountain State Park on the left.
Continue two or three miles to Cohutta Lodge, which will be on your right. Follow the signs that point to the Lodge.
2. When driving north from Atlanta on I-75,
turn north at the US 411 exit, drive to Chatsworth, and
then turn right (east) onto Rt. 52.
Take Rt. 52 past Fort Mountain State Park to the Lodge, which will be on your right.
As Rt. 52 climbs to Fort Mountain, the road becomes winding and scenic.
There are several overlooks where you can turn off and admire the view.
One can also approach the Lodge from the east on Rt. 52, through Ellijay, though this direction has more numerous twists and turns than approaching from Chatsworth.
For additional information about the area, refer to the web site for Cohutta Lodge (www.cohuttalodge.com) and Fort Mountain State Park (www.gastateparks.org).
Showcasing the exhibits
Dining room of main lodge overlooks gazebo on back lawn and mountain range.
Exhibits will be in the Wilderness room on the ground floor of the main lodge. This room has direct access to the Lodge’s back lawn and gazebo – the site for many retreat gatherings. The room includes a “social” area where retreat participants can mingle and share experiences about implant usage.
Bring your camera
Parents! Pack your camera when you come to the retreat. Miss America 1995, Heather Whitestone McCallum, will be glad to pose with your child for the camera. (Save some film – or digital file – to also photograph the great Georgia mountain scenery.)
Mentors to assist you
Attending your first GPCIA retreat?
Want help with questions on CI usage, retreat procedures, and Cohutta Lodge facilities?
Experienced CI users (mentors) will be assigned to assist you. Advise retreat registration personal of your needs, and attend the Friday afternoon session titled Meet Your Mentor, to simplify the transition from retreat novice to retreat veteran.
Silent Auction, Battery Contest will be popular
A number of valuable, unique items will be offered in the retreat’s Silent Auction. Participants can bid on their favorites, which will be on display in the Cherokee Room. Results of bidding will be announced on Saturday evening.
We will repeat our Battery Contest. A large jug will be filled with used CI and hearing aid batteries. Guess the total and win a cash award.
New Web Site Address
GPCIA now has its own Web domain and a simplified address. Check it out at www.gpcia.org. The site is still maintained by our Webmaster, Brad Tucker. The site has retreat and membership forms, past and current newsletters, officers and contact information.
GPCIA is now an Affiliate Member of SHHH
Self Help for Hard of Hearing People, Inc. (SHHH) is the largest self-help advocacy group in the nation for people with hearing loss. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, and has some 250 affiliates coast to coast. Now, GPCIA is one of the affiliates. This came about when the Cochlear Implant Association International (CIAI), of which GPCIA was an affiliate, closed its national office. SHHH extended affiliate status to us now that the CIAI is in the process of becoming a division of SHHH.
SHHH affiliation means we can benefit from cochlear implant advocacy performed by SHHH, use the SHHH’s 501(c)(3) tax exempt status for donations, have liability coverage (for a small fee) of our events, have our events listed on the SHHH web site (www.hearingloss.org) and many more benefits. SHHH publishes a quarterly magazine (Hearing Loss) and conducts an annual convention. And to highlight SHHH’s broad reach, note that their web site receives some 2 million hits per month.
Check out the SHHH exhibit at our Cochlear Family Retreat.
Georgia Peach Cochlear Implant Association
PO Box 1172, Tucker, GA 30085-1172
Web Site: www.gpcia.org
E-Mail: rbowman@alltel.net