RELEASE: November 8, 2001

Previous Screen

The New Jersey Division of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DDHH) will host a forum for people who are deaf and hard-of-hearing, their families, educators, advocates and other interested people on Nov. 15 at Camden County Community College in Blackwood, Gloucester Township.

Through the forum, the Division hopes to learn how it can better serve the estimated 700,000 people in New Jersey who have some extent of hearing loss.

The forum will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. in CIM Auditorium at the college. Interpreters, realtime captioning and assistive listening devices will be provided.

"We hope this forum will provide a way for people who are deaf, deaf-blind, hard of hearing and late-deafened, regardless of when they first experienced the hearing loss, to come and tell us their concerns," said Division Director Brian C. Shomo. "We encourage people to come and tell us how they think we can do a better job of helping them receive more services."

Shomo, who has been deaf since birth, was a counselor at Camden County College before becoming director of DDHH in July. The Division advocates for the deaf and hard of hearing and serves as New Jersey's primary information and referral source on topics related to hearing loss. It is the state's primary interpreter-referral service and administers an equipment distribution program for qualified deaf and hard of hearing New Jersey residents.

For further information, call 609-984-7281 or 1-800-792-8339. Both lines are TTY-compatible.

###