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June 21, 2006
Hearing aid centers tune in to success
When patients at any Beltone New England facility get a new hearing aid, the device isn’t just fitted to ensure it’s the right size and shape for the ear. It’s also tested in a room with a surround-sound system that simulates the noises in a busy restaurant, a church, a car, etc.
Posted @ 12:16 PM
Deaf children given DVD safety lesson
A DVD warning deaf youngsters about stranger danger in sign language was being launched today. Who is a Stranger? is the first DVD of its kind in the UK, and is a partnership between Bradford Deaf Club, based in Manningham and Bradford Council's youth service.
Posted @ 12:03 PM
Technology aids deaf-blind
For the deaf-blind community, today’s technology spells independence. At the American Association of the Deaf-Blind National Conference held at Towson University, several manufacturers displayed and promoted multiple products that bridge the communication gap between the deaf-blind and the general population.
Posted @ 12:02 PM
ICT for the silent minority
The drama was unfolding on television right before his eyes on Sept 11 in 2001, where two aircraft, one after another, crashed into the World Trade Center buildings in New York. But it was only hours later that Mohammad Sazali Shaari could actually understand what had happened.
Posted @ 11:57 AM
Deaf man abandoned by "friends" is home safe, thanks to cops
Timothy Beck, a 21-year-old Florida man, was determined to be independent from his parents and move to New Jersey with his new friends. Despite his mother's protests, Beck, who is deaf, traveled to Seaside Heights recently from Florida with a couple who befriended him and persuaded him to leave home. A day after arriving in the borough, he found himself abandoned by his friends.
Posted @ 11:55 AM
The blind-deaf tech wiz
Technology changes all of our lives every day, but, as CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller reports, it's hard to think of anyone who stands to gain more from technological innovation than those who have lost their hearing and sight.
Posted @ 11:54 AM
Interpreting the early signs of RSI
Repetitive strain injury is sweeping through the ranks of interpreters for the deaf. So common is the complaint and the risk of injury so great that interpreters now work in pairs as a preventative measure.
Posted @ 10:01 AM
Center fielder excels in silence
The crack of the bat. The ball popping a mitt. The umpire bellowing a third-strike call. Baseball has many unmistakable sounds. Norwell High School center fielder Scott Woodward wouldn't know. He is almost completely deaf.
Posted @ 10:00 AM
PSA Treasurer at deaf school allegedly mishandled funds
The former treasurer of the Parent Association of the Lexington School for the Deaf, a nonprofit charitable organization in Jackson Heights that has operated as the main hard-of-hearing school in the metropolitan area since 1864, has been charged with mishandling more than $10,800 in PSA funds.
Posted @ 9:58 AM
UMBC to phase out ASL courses in 2007
The Modern Languages and Linguistics (MLL) department recently announced their decision to cease all American Sign Language (ASL) instruction at UMBC. According to MLL department chair Dr. Judith Schneider, the faculty of the MLL department decided to phase out instruction in ASL classes over the summer 2006, fall 2006, and spring 2007 semesters.
Posted @ 9:58 AM
Deaf people get communication freedom with 'Ubi Duo'
A frustrating conversation transformed the way Jason and David Curry communicate with each other today. "One Saturday morning, we went to breakfast, and during breakfast, we were trying to have a face-to-face conversation," said Jason, who is deaf.
Posted @ 9:55 AM
Miss Deaf Texas to give sneak peek
Miss Deaf Texas Johanna Valenta will present a pre-pageant event from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at MacAllister Auditorium at San Antonio College at 1400 San Pedro Ave. Valenta will preview her platform speech and model outfits she will wear at the Miss Deaf America Pageant July 3 at the Desert Springs-J.W. Marriott Resort in Palm Desert, Calif.
Posted @ 9:53 AM
Moving school for blind raises safety fears
A proposal to move the Oregon School for the Blind from the Salem campus it has occupied since 1895 is stirring safety objections from parents of visually impaired students. They say the proposed relocation site in North Salem, the 52-acre campus of the Oregon School for the Deaf, is within a neighborhood that lacks adequate sidewalks for blind people.
Posted @ 9:45 AM
B.C. neglecting deaf children
Adrian Dix, the Opposition NDP critic for children and family development, has attacked the government’s approach to dealing with hearing-impaired children after a newly released report found serious problems with the province’s early intervention program.
Posted @ 9:43 AM
Deaf pet snatched and lashed to tree
Callous yobs snatched a 21-year-old cat from outside his home and left him tied to a tree with a length of washing line wrapped tightly around his neck. The elderly cat, named Fudge, who is completely deaf, was discovered abandoned on wasteland near his owner's house, more than a day after he went missing.
Posted @ 9:42 AM
Homeless deaf mute faces incarceration
A 47-year-old homeless deaf mute man has been charged with killing an unidentified Hispanic man by repeatedly striking him in the head with a brick during an apparent robbery in Long Island City this past weekend.
Posted @ 9:28 AM
Sessions will help deaf people
New drop-in sessions for deaf and hard-of-hearing people have begun in Salisbury. The monthly drop-in is a chance for deaf and hard-of-hearing people to discuss problems they might be experiencing in their daily lives as a result of their hearing loss. Specialist advice and support will also be available on a wide range of issues important to people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.
Posted @ 9:24 AM
Man arrested for raping deaf and dumb girl in Kashmir
Jammu, June 14: Police today a man for allegedly raping a deaf and dumb girl in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district, officials said here.
Posted @ 9:21 AM
June 18, 2006
Deaf and hard of hearing students look to the future through writing and art
The Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center has announced the winners of the annual Gallaudet National Essay and Art Contests for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students. Over 200 students throughout the country entered the contests. Through writing and drawing, the students envisioned their futures as they responded to this year’s contest questions: “What will I be doing when I’m 30 years old? How am I preparing for it today?”
Posted @ 9:22 AM
June 13, 2006
New drug for hearing loss enters clinical testing
Sound Pharmaceuticals has started a 32 patient Phase 1 study of SPI-1005 in normal healthy volunteers. SPI-1005 is an oral capsule, and contains as its active ingredient a selenium based small molecule mimic of the enzyme glutathione peroxidase. In multiple preclinical studies, low oral doses of SPI-1005 have been shown to be effective in preventing and treating noise induced hearing loss.
Posted @ 5:34 AM
New Jersey focuses on housing for deaf and hard of hearing
Special needs housing, whether for senior citizens, low income or the disabled, always appears to be an insurmountable problem. Put all three statistics together and you come up with a mind-boggling situation that, for all practical purposes, is impossible.
Posted @ 5:33 AM
If you can't hear this you're old
Did you know that your hearing can deteriorate by early middle age? No news there, right? But we're not talking about serious hearing loss but the ability to recognize some mosquito-pitched high noises.
Posted @ 5:32 AM
Ear buds are cool, but the price may be too steep
Ring. Ring. Ring. For most people, that's an incoming phone call. To me? That's life in my inner ear. A continuous, audible ring (or is it a whir?) pesters me every waking moment. The condition is called tinnitus. In the early 1980s, when I felt invincible, I didn't mind my temporary bouts with ringing in the ears, which followed about two hours of live rock and roll cacophony at an acoustically challenged venue. Van Halen at the old Hollywood Sportatorium (more than once) comes to mind.
Posted @ 5:27 AM
Longtime advocate for the deaf dies
Texana Faulk Conn, an advocate for Texas' deaf and disabled community, died of natural causes in her sleep Friday. She was 90. Conn was the youngest sister of Austinite John Henry Faulk, the entertainer and free-speech advocate.
Posted @ 5:26 AM
Uganda: The brain behind the Ugandan dictionary for the deaf
When he smiles at you, you cannot tell he is deaf. When I met Assistant Professor, Lars Willians at UNISE, Kyambogo, he only smiled when I greeted him. It was after I attended a workshop where he was a facilitator that I learnt of his impairment. Lars has an interpreter.
Posted @ 5:24 AM
Gallaudet President I. King Jordan garners national award
Gallaudet University President I. King Jordan is the recipient of the 2006 National Jefferson Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged. According to organizers, Dr. Jordan garnered the prestigious honor not only for his advocacy in support of deaf and disability issues, but also as a proponent of quality higher education.
Posted @ 5:23 AM
Cochlear implants changing park district's 'camp sign'
Historically, day camps for deaf kids are rather quiet places. When a soccer goal is scored, for example, the players don't applaud -- they wave their hands and wiggle their fingers. That's changing, though, as more deaf and hard of hearing children are being equipped with cochlear implants, a surgically implanted device that allows them to "hear" through electrical impulses.
Posted @ 5:20 AM
Gay deaf awareness presentation
Greenbow, the Gay Deaf Organisation will make a presentation highlighting the realities of the lives of Deaf LGBT people in Ireland on June 15. The presentation will provide an opportunity for Greenbow to network with hearing LGBT organisations in the future. Their presentation will focus on; what is Irish Sign Language?
Posted @ 5:19 AM
Students find ring tone adults can't hear
Students are using a new ring tone to receive messages in class -- and many teachers can't even hear the ring. Some students are downloading a ring tone off the Internet that is too high-pitched to be heard by most adults. With it, high schoolers can receive text message alerts on their cell phones without the teacher knowing.
Posted @ 5:18 AM
Pool named after famous alum
The Swimming Center at the Texas School for the Deaf now bears the name of a famous alum. Leroy Colombo became deaf and paralyzed at age seven. Through swimming he built up his strength and learned to walk again.
Posted @ 5:17 AM
Deaf student overcomes obstacles to graduate from CWU
Regina Beaulaurier has helped change the culture of diversity at Central Washington University. When the 23-year-old from Yakima transferred to Central about three years ago, she was the only deaf student on campus.
Posted @ 5:15 AM
Deaf boy wins $20,000 for discrimination
A boy, deaf since birth, has been awarded $20,000 for discrimination in the classroom. The Education Department was ordered to pay the money to compensate Dylan Beasley, 14, for discrimination during the three years he was a pupil at Pearcedale Primary School from 1999 to 2003.
Posted @ 5:14 AM
Fort Ogden teen graduates from Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind
Fort Ogden resident Randy William Reed, 18, was named salutatorian for the 2006 graduating class from the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind. Reed was among 84 graduates who participated in the school's 92nd graduation ceremony on May 19 in St. Augustine. He completed a vocational career education certification in the business support services field.
Posted @ 5:13 AM
One for yes, two for no
One person in every seven in the UK will experience some loss of hearing. And over 650,000 people in the country are severely or profoundly deaf. Much like guide dogs for the blind, hearing dogs for the deaf can be an essential life-line for those with the most significant hearing difficulties.
Posted @ 5:12 AM
State seeks comment on combining Salem-based schools for deaf, blind
The Oregon Department of Education is accepting public input on a proposal to relocate the Salem-based Oregon School for the Blind on to the campus of the Oregon School for the Deaf, located at 999 Locust St. NE.
Posted @ 5:10 AM
Register for benefit golf tourney held outside of North Myrtle Beach
Calling all North Myrtle Beach area golfers - here's your chance to hit the greens during the first official weekend of summer and help out a good cause at the same time. The South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind will host its 2nd Annual Benefit Golf Tournament on Saturday, June 24, at Eagle Nest Golf Club in Little River. The tourney begins at 9 a.m. with a shotgun start and will feature a captain's choice format.
Posted @ 5:09 AM
School for the Deaf puts land on market
The New York School for the Deaf is offering to sell 40 acres of property at its Greenburgh site, a deal that is expected to draw interest from residential developers looking for scarce land in central Westchester.
Posted @ 5:08 AM
Top accolade for 'life changing' dog
A deaf Windsor woman was today celebrating with her hearing dog after he was honoured for making an "immeasurable" difference to her life. Eight-year-old cavalier King Charles spaniel, Harry, has been named the Life-Changing Hearing Dog of the Year by the Hearing Dogs for the Deaf charity for making such a difference to 63-year-old Pat Preston's life.
Posted @ 5:05 AM
June 8, 2006
Provide coverage for hearing aids
Most people give little thought to their hearing. An alarm clock wakes them up. They can hear in restaurants, meetings, places of worship and theaters without effort. They can communicate easily with others. However, hard-of-hearing people are forced to ask people to repeat themselves; we must position ourselves in restaurants, meetings and places of worship in order to maximize our ability to hear.
Posted @ 7:50 AM
$10M music to UI's ears
Craig Watt was in his mid-20s when he first noticed he was losing his hearing. By the time he was 50, he could only recognize 20 to 30 percent of the words spoken to him. Today, Watt, 53, of Iowa City, has better than 90 percent word recognition, the result of a hybrid cochlear implant in his right ear that he received at University Hospitals in November 2004.
Posted @ 7:47 AM
Authority completes state compensation to school's abuse victims
Maine --A state panel that oversaw compensation of more than $17 million to victims of abuse at Maine's Baxter School for the Deaf has completed its job and will go out of business June 16.
Posted @ 7:46 AM
School for deaf celebrates year with annual water day
Students at Phoenix Day School for the Deaf ended their school year with a splash. The water day with Phoenix firefighters was among several special events held throughout the year at the school that serves deaf and hard-of-hearing students from kindergarten through 12th grade.
Posted @ 7:45 AM
Thug knifed deaf mute in pool table row
A thug stabbed a deaf mute and left him for dead in a sickening attack in a Glasgow pub toilet, a court was told. Peter Bradley, 45, followed Gordon Sellar and assaulted him after a dispute about whose turn it was to play pool at the Fat Cats pub in Craigpark.
Posted @ 7:44 AM
State board recognizes American Sign Language
The Nebraska State Board of Education adopted a policy Wednesday recognizing American Sign Language as a national language that can be offered in elementary through high school classes.
Posted @ 7:43 AM
California School for the Deaf to roll out Fizzy Fruit(TM) in lunch program
The Fizzy Fruit™ Company announced today that it will begin serving Fizzy Fruit™ branded fresh sparkling fruit -- Fizzy Fruit -- this fall to 450 students at The California School for the Deaf.
Posted @ 7:41 AM
Cabell woman sues school for deaf in fall
A Cabell County woman is suing the West Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind after breaking her leg during a fall on a set of concrete stairs, according to a lawsuit filed in Kanawha Circuit Court on Friday.
Posted @ 7:40 AM
Popular video relays for deaf raise some concerns
When Kris Frei wants to talk to a friend across the country, she simply sits in front of a Web camera and begins using sign language. Thousands of Americans who are deaf are finding video relay to be an easier and cheaper alternative to making calls via text telephones, or TTYs. Like many deaf people sold on video conversations, Frei doesn't have use for a telephone anymore.
Posted @ 7:38 AM
Students are a step ahead with a doorbell alert for deaf
A vibrating wrist band which alerts people who are deaf or hard of hearing when the front door-bell rings has been invented by a group of students at Heriot-Watt University. The 18 students produced the idea as part of their course in management studies. The device is activated by a signal triggered by the doorbell.
Posted @ 7:37 AM
June 5, 2006
The first free social network for the deaf on the web launched
The first free deaf social network on the Web was recently launched at www.TagDeaf.com. TagDeaf offers free registration and helps deaf, hard of hearing, and any interested hearing parties connect from all over the world.
Posted @ 5:15 AM
What is autism?
About 4.5 million Americans have developmental disabilities. That means they have severe physical or mental limitations that often require special attention at home and in school. One of the more common of these disabilities is autism (pronounced AWE-tizz-um), a condition in which the brain doesn't work properly. People who have it often have trouble communicating or being with others.
Posted @ 5:14 AM
Hearing aids are underused
Hearing loss can contribute to strained relationships with family and friends, depression and even a deterioration of basic well-being, but only one in five Americans who could benefit from a hearing aid has one – and just one-third of those who have hearing aids use them.
Posted @ 5:12 AM
Bringing theater to the hearing-impaired
An admirer of theater for many years, Delia Itanen had to give up her favorite pastime when she started to go deaf. “It’s not a matter of volume. I don’t hear certain frequencies,” she said. “I don’t know if they are saying ‘ball, tall or tell.’ ” Itanen said she tried using the headsets some theaters provided for the hearing-impaired, but instead of providing clarification, it only amplified the noise she was hearing.
Posted @ 5:11 AM
Study focuses on cochlear implant placement
Sequential placement of cochlear implants -- electronic devices that can help restore partial hearing to deaf people -- in both a child's ears may help improve speech perception in quiet and noisy settings, a U.S. study finds. The study included 30 children, aged 3 to 13, who received one cochlear implant and then a second in the other ear a minimum of six months later.
Posted @ 5:08 AM
No cure now for ringing in the ears
Q: Is tinnitus (head noise/ringing in the ears) always caused by exposure to loud noise or are some individuals born or genetically predisposed to suffer from tinnitus?
A: Certainly noise exposure is the most common cause. It also can be caused by head trauma and some medications.
Posted @ 5:05 AM
Summer activities can increase hearing loss
People tend to spend more time outdoors in the summer, and their exposure to loud noise increases. Whether the noise is from powerboats, firecrackers, lawnmowers or motorcycles, a University of Cincinnati otolaryngologist encourages people to take precautions to protect their ears.
Posted @ 5:03 AM
Blues signer translates for blues singers
Blues Fest regulars who attend the show year after year probably would recognize Nancy Verdier if she passed them on the street, but they might not immediately be able to place her. Unless, that is, she was moving her hands.
Posted @ 4:59 AM
New center is music to the hearing-impaired
There's an old folk song about four beggars having fun. The lame beggar dances, while the mute sings, the deaf listens and the blind watches. The joke, of course, is in having the four people doing what supposedly they are not capable of because of their handicap.
Posted @ 4:56 AM
Center for the deaf to close
After 31 years, the Forsyth Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing is closing. Some local advocates are worried that an estimated 27,500 people will be without necessary resources, services and referrals.
Posted @ 4:55 AM
Deaf man arested after alleged scuffle with cops
A deaf homeless man attacked a police officer who was trying to usher the man out of a Concord Street home on Tuesday, police said. Edward Mullholand, 41, hit an officer in the arm, despite his friends telling him to stop, Lt. Paul Shastany said.
Posted @ 4:53 AM
Golf: Strano now teaches game to the deaf
For 15 years, Rob Strano followed a path he hoped would lead him to a career on the PGA Tour. Three years ago, however, for reasons both physical and spiritual, Strano set out on a different course, one that takes him around the country teaching golf to deaf children. Strano is Executive Director of the Washington D.C.-based United States Deaf Golf Association. A Chesapeake Beach resident, Strano conducts clinics for deaf children, all done strictly in sign language.
Posted @ 4:51 AM
March of technology opens doors to deaf
Sign language is entering cyberspace, as a plethora of new technologies are expanding the abilities of deaf people to communicate - and not just by whipping out a handheld computer to type messages or flipping on the Internet to receive e-mails.
Posted @ 4:47 AM
National deaf soccer team out to win fans in Pensacola
Being a deaf athlete has been a challenge most of their lives, but the players on the U.S. Men's Deaf Soccer Team have a new, more difficult task at hand. Their goal now is to help convert America into a soccer nation.
Posted @ 4:46 AM
AIDS threatens deaf
The deaf people will be wiped out if no action is taken to increase their access to information about the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The Uganda National Association of the Deaf (UNAD) director, Alex Ndeezi, said 90% of the deaf population in the country cannot write or read and some people were taking advantage of their ignorance to sexually abuse them.
Posted @ 4:45 AM
Deaf boy's family gets deportation proceeding delay
A federal appeals court has temporarily halted the deportation of a severely deaf nine-year-old boy to allow his family time to make the case that he would be mistreated in his native Indonesia.
Posted @ 4:43 AM
Hands in Praise visits the Cayman Islands
The Hands in Praise team, from the Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf, located at Mandeville, Jamaica, visited the Cayman Islands for just over a week recently. They toured all three Islands, giving praise concerts in sign language, instead of singing. The group is usually invited here once a year by the Cayman based group, Friends of the Deaf.
Posted @ 4:42 AM
Orchestra reaches out to deaf community
Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra violist Colleen Green was not among her colleagues at the ensemble's season finale May 21. That's because her role in the concert was much larger than contributing to producing what the audience at the Berger Performing Arts Center at the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind heard.
Posted @ 4:41 AM
Ashley jetting off to US to do us proud
Ashley Abrahams will be one of five South Africans participating in the World Deaf Cycling Championship in Fremont, San Francisco, from June 18 to 24. Abrahams, 31, from Lansdowne, has been cycling since the age of 12 and has successfully completed nine Cape Argus Pick 'n Pay cycle tours, but has never left South Africa and is exhilarated at the idea of flying to the US and representing his country.
Posted @ 4:38 AM
June 1, 2006
Fourth-grader sees a bright future
Most 9-year-old children don’t have to worry about hearing loss and deteriorating eyesight, but Megan Lengel of Fairfax isn’t letting these disadvantages take away from her fruitful life. Megan was born with a rare condition called Usher syndrome, the most common condition involving both hearing and vision problems, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.
Posted @ 4:48 PM
Studios settle suit over DVD closed-captioning
Time Warner Inc., Walt Disney Co. and other movie distributors settled a lawsuit brought on behalf of hearing-impaired customers who bought DVDs containing bonus material that wasn't enhanced for people with hearing problems.
Posted @ 4:44 PM
Entire family gets the gift of hearing
Amazing advances in medical technology seem to touch families here in the Bay Area every day. Sometimes we hear so much about them that we don't pay much attention to what these advances mean to those they help. Today, three members of one family were the latest to have their lives changed. ABC7's Wayne Freedman has this very special story.
Posted @ 4:43 PM
New hearing aid is 'hybrid'
Tens of millions of americans today have some hearing loss, and with an aging population, this problem threatens to get worse. At UCSF Medical Center, Kathy Barger is hoping to get an earful - thanks to an experimental device.
Posted @ 4:40 PM
Tinnitus - High alert
The occasional ringing in your ear may be an all-too-familiar sound. It's called tinnitus, and doctors say it affects an estimated 50 million Americans. There's no real cure, but there is a treatment for those who really need it.
Posted @ 4:37 PM
FLA shows commitment to deaf and hard of hearing people
The FLA (Finance & Leasing Association), the principal representative of the asset, consumer and motor finance sector in the UK, has been awarded the Louder Than Words charter, which honours them for offering quality services to deaf and hard of hearing people.
Posted @ 4:36 PM
Technology helps partially deaf musician
Robert Morris is all smiles now that he's hearing better. Morris began experiencing hearing loss in the 1970s. By the 1980s, he had to wear a hearing aid. "All it did was amplify the sounds that I could already hear. It didn't help because I still couldn't hear the high-frequency notes," Morris said.
Posted @ 4:35 PM
Audiologist helps with hearing, confidence
Stacy Szymkowski clasped her hand over Thomas "T.J." Wisely's fingers as he held the yellow plastic spool next to his face. "Wait," she instructed him. Behind him, fellow audiologist Lindsey Turover cupped her hands over her mouth.
Posted @ 4:33 PM
Deaf inmate ran theft ring from prison cell
Shanghai police arrested 13 members of a pickpocket ring earlier this year that was allegedly run from behind bars by a deaf, mute inmate in Jiangxi Province, they announced yesterday. Police allege the gang members, all of whom are deaf mutes, were responsible for more than 73 thefts on public buses in Shanghai since last June.
Posted @ 4:29 PM
Do we understand the deaf?
Have you ever met a deaf person before? If you have, what was your immediate reaction? Undoubtedly, many people are bewildered on their first encounter with a deaf person partly because his handicap is not visible and partly because they know so little about the deaf.
Posted @ 4:28 PM
Where this deaf man will live remains unsettled
The judge scolded the lawyers, admonished a key witness for evading questions and cautioned Rusty Ackerman not to be argumentative when he accused an attorney of making up a "bull story" about him.
Posted @ 4:25 PM
Winner Matt’s bowled over
Matthew Forsyth became the youngest medal winner at the European Deaf Ten-Pin Bowling Championships in Switzerland. The 15-year-old (pictured) was up against adult competition but showed nerves of steel to bag a bronze in the singles event, where he was one of 109 competitors, and then take a silver in the trio section alongside Dominic Bates and Ray Lay.
Posted @ 4:24 PM