Hearing Vibes – Coming soon! SaddleBrooke’s first Hearing Night Out!

Maria Menconi

Many SaddleBrooke residents have joined us in the past year for our peer discussion group for better hearing, which meets the second Thursday of every month at MountainView. We are delighted and excited to have met so many of you, and now we are bringing you SaddleBrooke’s first Hearing Night Out. Please mark your calendars for Tuesday, Feb. 4, at 7 p.m. in the MountainView Ballroom East. Our featured speaker is Dr. Fadyeh Barakat, an audiologist and clinical instructor at the University of Arizona Hearing Clinic.

Fadyeh Barakat completed her Bachelors in Psychology, Masters in Rehabilitation Counseling, and Doctorate in Audiology from the University of Arizona. She has worked as a child and family therapist and rehabilitation counselor for both nonprofit and private practices. For the last six years, Dr. Barakat has and continues to provide audiologic services to veterans at the Southern Arizona Veteran’s Hospital.

She has acted as a preceptor for audiology doctoral students in the past and is currently a clinical instructor at the University Hearing Clinic. She also facilitates a student-run adult aural rehabilitation group, Living Well with Hearing Loss, which provides education and support for individuals with hearing loss and their communication partners.

Nationally, we know that as many as one in three people between the ages of 65 and 74 have some degree of hearing loss, and that one out of two individuals over the age of 75 are affected with a hearing loss of some kind. These statistics have enormous implications for us here in SaddleBrooke and the peer discussion group for better hearing is working hard to reach out with helpful information.

Dr. Barakat’s talk will be informative and helpful not only to those with a hearing loss, but to family and friends who want to assist that person. We sincerely hope to see you on Feb. 4.

Prior to our Hearing Night Out, please plan to join us if you can, for one of our peer discussion groups for better hearing meetings. This is an open and caring environment where people can ask questions and share information about hearing loss, as well as offer solutions they have found for themselves. All are welcome, and many of our participants with hearing loss have attended with family members or friends who support them. The meetings are held monthly, from 10 a.m. to noon, at the MountainView Bistro Building in SaddleBrooke. On Nov. 14, the meeting will be held in Ballroom West, and on Dec. 12, it will be held in the Saguaro Room.

In 2020, meetings will remain on the second Thursday of the month. Times and locations coming soon.

If you have questions or would like more information, contact Jennifer Jefferis at [email protected] or 360-909-6212, or Dick and Judy Kroese at [email protected] or 520-360-5789. If you happen to be a retired hearing professional, an audiologist or an ear, nose and throat specialist, living in SaddleBrooke, we would love to invite you to join and support us with your professional knowledge and ideas.