Association of Late-Deafened Adults (ALDA) is an organization for people who become deaf after childhood. ALDA was founded in 1987 by Bill Graham and Kathie Hering of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. Within a few years, the organization had chapters in over 15 regions across the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The primary growth vehicle was ALDA News, a monthly newsletter. By 1989 ALDA had begun holding annual conventions, known as ALDAcons. People from throughout the world have attended these conventions, which feature workshops, an exhibit hall, and social activities. The climax of the conventions is a Saturday night party featuring

karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music is ...

I. King Jordan Irving King Jordan (born June 16, 1943) is an American educator who became the first hearing loss, deaf president of Gallaudet University in 1988 after the ''Deaf President Now'' protest. Gallaudet is the world's only university with all program ...

, president emeritus of

Gallaudet University Gallaudet University ( ) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing. It was founded in 1864 as a grammar school for both deaf and blind children. It was the first sc ...

, is one of the most famous ALDAn members and has spoken frequently at the conventions. The Association presents a yearly award in his name to a member who has shown outstanding achievement as a role model for late-deafened adults. The former president of Gallaudet, Alan Hurwitz, is also a regular convention attendee. Most recently, the Association of Late-Deafened Adults has been involved in Congressional hearings for technological improvements, such as movie theater captioning devices for theaters, and working with the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

for a text conversion program for

Google Glass Google Glass, or simply Glass, is a brand of smart glasses developed and sold by Google. It was developed by X (previously Google X), with the mission of producing an ubiquitous computer. Google Glass displays information to the wearer using ...

References

{{Reflist, refs = {{cite news, last1=CIEPLY, first1=MICHAEL, title=Theater Owners Join Effort to Add Captioning to Films, url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/22/business/media/theater-owners-join-effort-to-add-captioning-to-films.html?_r=0, accessdate=22 August 2015, newspaper=

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

, date=21 November 2014 {{cite news, last1=Loudon, first1=Bennett J., title=Feds planning new rules on movie captions, url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/12/03/feds-planning-new-rules-on-movie-captions/19820607/, accessdate=22 August 2015, newspaper=

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

, date=3 December 2014 {{cite news, title=New software for Google Glass provides captions for hard-of-hearing users, url=http://phys.org/news/2014-10-software-google-glass-captions-hard-of-hearing.html, accessdate=22 August 2015, issue=2 October 2014, publisher=Phys.org, date=2 October 2014, quote=Foley and the students are working with the Association of Late Deafened Adults in Atlanta to improve the program. {{cite news, last1=Seibel, first1=Tom, title=Conference tackles problems of adults who lose hearing, url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4023744.html, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924193744/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4023744.html, url-status=dead, archive-date=24 September 2015, accessdate=22 August 2015, newspaper=

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

, date=27 October 1990

External links

* http://www.alda.org/
Sudden Deafness
Deafness organizations Disability organizations based in the United States Organizations established in 1987 1987 establishments in Illinois