2022 The Way We Hear It! Okanagan Exhibition

Okanagan Science Centre, Vernon BC

Made possible with some help:

Thank you to our 2022 sponsors: The City of Vernon, The Caldor Foundation, The Provincial Gaming Grant.
A special thank you to: The dedicated staff and team of the Okanagan Science Centre, who were an incredible support that made this very first exhibit showcase possible.
Thank you to our material contributors: WorkSafe BC, Science World Vancouver, Vernon Public Art Gallery, BC Early Hearing Program, Deaf Children’s Society, 3M, Phonak, Oticon, Cochlear America, Wavefront Centre for Communication and Accessibility.

Impact at a Glance

Total Visitors: 2,252 community members engaged
Duration: Full month of May 2022
Location: Okanagan Science Centre, Vernon BC
Highlights:
• Launch Day Special: Free hearing screenings by Interior Health audiologists 3
• Expert Talk: “Beyond Hearing Aids” presentation by Bowen Tang, Cochlear Americas
• Youth Program: Interactive ASL games & storytelling session led by Deaf educators Delallee Piper & Tara Dyck

The exhibit has completed its showcase for the entire month of May at the Okanagan Science Centre which engaged a total of 2252 members of the general public and our community of people with hearing loss. It was an incredible journey to make this dream a reality for CHHA-BC. Our goal is to make this a modular exhibit that will travel to different regions of the province each year in order to fulfill our mission of increasing awareness of hearing health.

“This is such an amazing exhibit, which includes lots of knowledge, great work and powerful presentations! Thank you Jessica and team also everyone at the Vernon Science Centre for making this happen! I will be back with my kids again!!

– Harwinder Sandhu, MLA, Vernon-Monashee

During the month of May...

May 1st: Opening day! Hearing screening was offered for the first week of May by Interior Health audiologists for those who wanted to learn more about their own hearing levels and where to receive audiology services.

May 2nd: Bowen Tang, Engagement Manager of Cochlear Americas hosted two talks at the science centre about “What to do when hearing aids are not enough,” which explored the use and candidacy criteria for cochlear implants.

May 12th: CHHA-BC and the Okanagan Science Centre celebrated the success of The Way We Hear It! in Vernon, BC, with dedicated volunteers and a community of people with hearing loss, community partners and organizations, professionals in the fields of audiology and speech pathology, ASL educators, and members of Vernon’s city council. We had an attendance of over 60 people. This special event
acknowledged the hard work of this innovative project and to come together to celebrate better language and communication month (also known as speech and hearing month). We heard from an exceptional group of guest speakers which include: Jessica Niemela, CHHA-BC-secretary, Victor Cumming-Vernon Mayor, Dione Chambers- Okanagan Science Centre executive director, and Dr. Ruth Warick CHHA-BC president. We also received an inspirational pre-recorded video message from The Honourable Carla Qualtrough-Minister of Employment, Workforce Development, and Disability Inclusion, which commended us on the importance of an exhibition of this caliber for the cause of hearing health awareness.

May 26th: The Honourable Harwinder Sandhu M.L.A., joined us for a private tour of The Way We Hear It! where we discussed issues related to hearing health, accessibility and our community of people with hearing loss.

May 28th: Deaf educators and community members Delallee Piper and Tara Dyck put on an incredible ASL games/storytime for a group of 14 children at the exhibit. Some children had hearing loss, while others had deaf/hard of hearing family members, or were simply eager to learn more about ASL.