Staunton Senior Center: Two Wonderful Programs Make for Full Day at SSC

On May 25 Karen Klotz and Nicole Corbin, Hearing Instrument Specialists and owners of Virginia Hearing Group, presented a program on hearing health to ten SSC members.

Karen said that statistics show that 99% of hearing loss is induced by noise such as lawn mowing and power equipment. She stressed that people must protect their hearing! Fortunately hearing aids can help even with loss due to this damage, and most hearing aids now are self-adjusting and automatic, making them easy to use.

She also stated that the brain has to adjust to hearing again if a person is getting a hearing aid for the first time. Karen and Nicole performed a quick hearing test on four members.

Also on that day, the Center was delighted to have as guest speaker, Martha Sheridan, Licensed Professional Counselor with Augusta Behavioral Health. Martha’s encouraging topic was “Finding Joy in Every Day”.

The key to our happiness, according to Martha, is the fact that we have a lot of control over our happiness, in fact, 40% of our happiness is based on how we choose to deal with our circumstances. If we can simply accept the fact that life is hard for everyone at times, it actually makes it easier to handle the stressful situations.

She noted that we should focus on the positive and good in our lives. Using humor throughout her presentation, Martha encouraged us, taught us about self-soothing skills using our senses, and made us laugh, especially with the crazy monkey and the silly walking props! Other Centers are encouraged to to schedule Martha to find out about these!