Board member, John Wodele, was highlighted in this article covering MNCDHH's partnership with the UMN on age-related hearing loss education, "UMN, state pair up for hearing loss education."

"John Wodele’s hearing loss went undiagnosed for nearly 15 years. His difficulty hearing impacted his everyday life and caused tension within his family, but doctors repeatedly told Wodele that he simply had too much earwax. 

"Finally, a University of Minnesota specialist correctly diagnosed Wodele with a treatable condition called otosclerosis. This experience motivated Wodele to join the Commission of Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing Minnesotans because he felt the medical community wasn’t doing enough to accommodate individuals with hearing loss."