What is the Association of Late Deafened Adults?

ALDA was formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1987. Most of those that gathered there were total strangers who had never met or talked to another deafened person, yet they found themselves wonderfully comfortable with one another. There was an unspoken feeling of understanding and patience with each other's communication difficulties. The marvelous sense of fellowship lasted and led to more social gatherings and self help support groups, which swiftly evolved into the Association of Late Deafened Adults (ALDA). Today, ALDA's membership is international in scope. ALDA works collaboratively with other organizations around the world serving the needs of late-deafened people and extends a welcome to everyone, late deafened or not, who supports our goals. 

More information here.

ALDA Meetings

We have regular monthly meetings which are held at the Clairemont Friendship Center in Clairemont. We generally meet the third Saturday of each month from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM. We have a variety of activities at our meetings, including speakers, holiday celebrations, social activities, and technology demonstrations. Our meetings are held held jointly with Hearing Loss Network, a San Diego based service agency for people with hearing loss.

More information here (including directions and schedule) 

We gratefully acknowledge Karri Olson for providing realtime captioning (CART) for our meetings. Here's Karri's contact information.

Who Can I Talk To?

Maybe you just need someone to talk to about your hearing loss. Or maybe you're a little nervous about coming to your first meeting when you don't know anyone. Whatever the case, if you want to talk to someone, any of our officers would love to hear from you!

Char Sivertson, President

My progressive hearing loss started around the age of 14.   I started wearing aids when I turned 22.  I still get great benefit from the hearing aids, but I expect the loss to continue and am considering a cochlear implant.   My husband Larry and I  have two grown sons.  I am a Publications Manager for a defense contractor and supervise 6 (hearing) people.   I am the only profoundly hearing impaired person in my company.  When my hearing took its latest dive, ALDA gave me the support and encouragement to cope.  The people in ALDA SD and nationwide are a great inspiration and my saving grace!

email Char

Joan Padilla, Vice-President

I became hearing impaired at the age of 9. My hearing continued to fade slowly throughout the years. I was able to function in the hearing world through high school and most of my working career with the most powerful hearing aids. In 1997 I was no longer getting benefit from hearing aids. I read about the Cochlear Implant (CI) and heard about ALDA. 

I decided to attend my first meeting in February 1998. I was introduced to the ALDA group and explained why I was there. I asked if those with CIs could talk to me about their CI experience. I had a handful of people around me who wanted to share. They embraced me with open arms and haven’t let go of me. 

I had my CI operation in February 1999 and I am hearing better than I have in years. It is such a miracle that I have found the most loving, supporting and caring group of people with ALDA. They understand me like no others. Today I have great confidence and a high self-esteem and I am forever grateful to our ALDA group for accepting me and guiding me. I am proud to be President of ALDA San Diego.

email Joan

Larry Sivertson, Secretary/Treasurer

I became involved with ALDA because of my wife's hearing loss. When her hearing took a big drop in the late '90s we really struggled with communications, and we searched for someone who could provide information and support. We were so fortunate to find ALDA; I can't tell you the difference it has made in our lives.

I was always sort of an "honorary" ALDA member, because I had normal hearing, though Char has always claimed that I'm "hard of listening". Then in 2002 I noticed that I was starting to ask people to repeat, so after the obligatory delay in dealing with hearing loss, I had my hearing tested. Sure enough, I have a moderate to severe high frequency hearing loss.

email Larry