Lois N. Maroney, LMHC, has a Master’s in Education and a Master’s in Rehabilitation Counseling.  Before becoming deaf, she was a high school foreign language teacher in upstate New York.  Losing her hearing was initially a very trying time in learning ways to restructure her life and to be able to communicate again with her family. She is now a Licensed Mental Health Counselor specializing in the emotional trauma caused by hearing loss and the impact it has on the individual as well as the family. Through her education and life experiences she has acquired skills to teach people how to effectively cope with adventitious hearing loss and develop new abilities in communication.  She was the recipient of the JC Penny Golden Rule Award (1998, Pinellas County) for recognizing a need in the community and responding to the need by initiating services for individuals who are late-deafened.  In 2009 she was the recipient of the I. King Jordan Award for Distinguished Achievement in the area of late-deafness.  She was the founding President of ALDA-Suncoast of Florida and a Past President of the Association of Late-Deafened Adults, Inc.