"We used to say it goes in one ear and out the other, but actually it doesn't go in the ear at all," said Morse, whose fund-raising efforts made the captioning a reality. "It just stops because the speaker is using technical terms, which they have to, or we're telling them things that they really do not understand and so they lose the gist of what we're saying. While they are very polite and they'll sit very quietly, they do not hear what we're saying. Reading what somebody is saying sticks in their heads."

Morse wrote letters to members of the group and others who are hard of hearing. She was able to raise $1,200, which was matched by the employer of one member. The group has enough in its budget to cover the cost of captioning for at least one year's meetings, and she continues to try to raise money, Morse said.

In addition to the Boca Raton chapter, the Delray Beach and Boynton Beach communities share a chapter, which is the largest in South Florida with 140 members, according to outgoing President Jerry Tamber. Although that chapter does not offer real-time captioning, it provides other technology, he said.

"We have tape recorders, cameras and screens to help our members better see what is going on," said Tamber, who lives in Boynton Beach.

Regina Weiss, treasurer for the Boca Raton chapter, was one of the members who started a push for the captioning.

"When the speakers came, I didn't understand what they were saying, and quite a few of the people there also did not understand," said Weiss, 84, who lives west of Boca Raton. "It was a wonderful thing that we pushed through, because now I enjoy the meetings far more because I know what they are talking about. I hated saying to my neighbor, `What did they say? What did they say?' This is a blessing."

Real-time captioning uses a court reporter with a steno machine to send messages to software, which translates the information to text on a screen at a near verbatim rate.

The captioning has gotten great reviews from members and has boosted attendance at the monthly meetings, said chapter President Geri Young. The chapter has 49 members. "People who are really hard of hearing are glad to go somewhere where they can read the words on the screen," said Young, who lives west of Boca Raton and who founded the group in 1993 after she and her husband moved from Ann Arbor, Mich. "It's made our members happier, they are more comfortable in our meetings. It's a very big strain to read lips all the time. Even when you're very, very good at it, it's a lot easier to sit back and read the screen than to try to figure out what someone is saying."

SHHH is an important resource for the hard of hearing, not only for information, but also for socialization and support, Young said. It is a national organization with 250 chapters, which empowers the hard of hearing to communicate better through education, information, advocacy and support.

"We have different programs every month telling them about new technology, hearing aids, assisted listening devices. We tell them what's available, but we also address psychological, legal and family issues," she said.

Morse has been involved in the organization for 15 years. She joined the Boca Raton chapter after being involved in a chapter in Long Island, N.Y.

"Most people who come to a SHHH meeting are in denial. They don't even want to admit that they don't hear well. The most important part about SHHH is not the captioning; it's the education that you can get by attending meetings, and the socialization you can have," she said. "It's important that new people come to find out that it's not a shameful thing to be hard of hearing. It is more noticeable that you are hard of hearing when you do not use your hearing aid."

The meetings at the Boca Raton chapter also feature an audio loop, an assisted listening device for those who don't have profound hearing loss.

"I think that we who are hearing impaired now in the 21st century are the luckiest hearing-impaired people who have ever lived on this earth," Young said.

By Lottie Nilsen, Sun-Sentinel