HISTORY OF ICRA
The idea of an International Collegium of Rehabilitative Audiology was developed by Professor Herbert J. Oyer and a couple of colleagues in the U.S.A. and Europe in the late eighties of the last century. An ‘executive committee’ consisting of Professor Herbert J. Oyer, Dr John M. Bamford and Dr Jürgen Kiessling converted the concept into reality and the first meeting of the Collegium was organised by Dr Kiessling and held in Schloss Rauischholzhausen, near Giessen (Germany) in March 1988. Those fortunate enough to attend will testify to the success of that gathering of individuals interested and involved in all aspects of the rehabilitation (and habilitation) of the hearing impaired.
The theme of the first meeting of the collegium was “Current Trends in the Rehabilitation of Hearing Impaired Persons: Testing, Amplification and Special Interventions”. Formal presentations and discussions filled a crowded and highly informative programme. Following this stimulating activity consideration was given as to how best communication might be maintained between the members of the Collegium. As it was intended only to have meetings at intervals of two years some method for maintaining and developing discussion and co-operation was desirable. One suggestion was a newsletter.
So far 11 newsletters have been issued, most of them by Denzil Brooks as editor.
Meetings have been held in Giessen 1988, Tallahassee 1989, Zürich 1991, Cairo 1993, Gothenburg 1995, Amsterdam 1997, Vancouver 1999, Cardiff 2001, Elsinore 2003, Gainesville 2005, Leuven 2007, Oldenburg 2009, Toronto 2011, Helsingør 2013 and Berkeley 2015.
In between these regular meetings, informal meetings have been held by smaller groups in connection with other conferences. Furthermore, some working groups have been formed. Some of the work has resulted in products from ICRA. (For more information on these working groups and products, please use the menu above.)