Meet The Board
Association of Late-Deafened Adults-Garden State
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Meet The Board
Association of Late-Deafened Adults-Garden State |
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2010 ALDA-GS Board:
President: Doreen Dougherty Doreen became deaf at the age of ten from spinal meningitis, but never met anyone else with hearing loss until she later attended Gallaudet University. She is currently a Management Analyst with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where she has been employed for nineteen years. She has served as her agency's Disability Emphasis Program Manager and also as a member of its Civil Rights Advisory Committee. In these capacities she worked with and for employees with disabilities, recruiting for open positions, fostering awareness among supervisors and co-workers, and assisting with on-the-job accommodation needs. She lives in Freehold and has two adult children.
Vice-President: Tony Yuppa Tony has been around since the inception of ALDA-NJ in the early 1990's. He felt what he missed most about hearing loss was the social aspect of it. He often volunteered to get people to the parties and also volunteered for the blind deaf in those "early years". He has profound hearing loss in both ears, with tinnitus and balance loss, since waking up deaf in 1987 from a rare illness called Cogan's syndrome. He received the I. King Jordan Award for recognition of his work helping develop a web site and support group for people with Cogan's. Prior to his hearing loss he graduated from Brookdale Community College in NJ with an associate degree in automotive technology. He has been employed as an auto mechanic for over 30 years. His past times include riding his motorcycle and offering rides to anyone he can convince to join him. He has been to many ALDA national conventions. He is familiar with sign language. In 1999 he received a cochlear implant. He's an old hand at helping and meeting late-deafened people throughout the state. For several years, he coordinated Great Adventure ticket sales. He's known most of the people involved with ALDA-GS, ALDA-NJ and other deaf organizations for half his life.
Past President: Lynn Osborne Lynn's background is in health care. She is a licensed practical nurse and Certified Living Assistant Administrator. That changed in September 2005,when she awoke with hearing loss in her left ear. She was diagnosed with an acute, complex case of Meniere's Diesease. She was assured by the professionals that the loss would not happen in the right ear, but it did. She again awoke with Sudden Hearing Loss in February 2007. It took her some time to find the support and understanding she needed at ALDA-GS, and wants to make sure that others in her position find us more easily. Lynn is studying to earn her Bachelor's degree in psychology, and is applying to Gallaudet for admission to its Peer Mentoring Program. Her goal is to become a grief counselor. Lynn has two grown children, Kevin, 20, and Jordan, 18. She and Kevin Sr. have been married for twenty-two years.
Treasurer: Diana Fanuel Diana Pease Fanuel, CODA, (Children of Deaf Adults) began losing her hearing at age 9. She attended Uppsala and Drake Colleges. She has retired after thirty-five years with the Star Ledger. Diana has three adult children. She has served as our Scholarship Chair for the past six years. She is active in CODA, ALDA and SWC (Say What Club)
Secretary: Joanne Sammer Joanne began losing her hearing around age 11 or 12, or at least that is when it began to show up during in-school hearing tests. She got her first hearing aid at age 18, just before going to college. She went binaural two years later. Joanne is a freelance business writer. She joined ALDA-GS about a year ago in order to give and receive support and to keep on top of new tools and technology. It was through the ALDA-GS Newsletter that Joanne learned about WebCapTel, which has become an indeispensable tool in her work and personal life. By serving as secretary to ALDA-GS, she hopes to help others with hearing loss get the support they need.
Member-at-Large: Deborah Erickson Deborah has a progressive hearing loss which began 15 years ago. She has been active raising 3 children, later returned to school and graduated from New York University with a Masters in Social Work in 2005. She currently works with children in a school for Classified Students.
Member-at-Large Sheila Shuford Sheila has been involved with ALDA-GS since its inception. Her progressive hearing loss left her profoundly deaf in her thirties. She founded and directed The Deaf Contact Center, (a telephone relay service before the state-mandated relay came into being.) She has long been an active advocate for the deaf community on both the state and county levels. She served on The Governor's Task Force for Disabled Persons, the NJ Committee on Alcoholism and the Hearing Impaired, the NJ State Independent Living Council, and the NJ Protection and Advocacy. In Morris County she serves or has served with the Parks Commission, Morris County Advisory Committee on Disabilities, Youth Services, Alcohol and Drug Abuse, 504 Task Force. She is a part-time chaplain for deaf patients at Greystone Psychiatric Hospital. In June, 2006, she was ordained as a Deacon in the Episcopal Church. She recently received the Beacon Award for excellence, presented by the Warren County Human Relations Committee. The commission recognized her as "an individual who has been involved in an extraordinary manner to advance and promote all facets of diversity."
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