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January 29, 2007
Did you hear about the deaf old man and his wife?
A deaf old man is having urinary problems so he takes his wife with him to the doctor so she can listen and tell him what the doctor says. The doctor comes in and says, "Hello, I'm Doctor Smith. What seems to be the problem?" The man looks at his wife and says, "What'd he say?" She shouts back "HE SAID WHAT'S THE PROBLEM DEAR!"
Posted @ 3:47 AM
Deaf ice climber falls to death
An ice climbing accident Sunday claimed the life of a Colorado Springs man who fell more than 200 feet. The 31-year-old man and a friend were working out their route down the ice at a popular climbing spot in the foothills near Colorado Springs.
Posted @ 3:43 AM
Guides to help parents of infants with hearing loss
Imagine your joy the day your baby is born. Now imagine the fear and uncertainty you'd experience if you learned that your baby cannot hear. Where would you turn for help? Who could give you the information you need? What options would you have?
Posted @ 3:40 AM
In a wired society, ears are in danger
In the age of Bluetooth cell phones, iPod ear buds and the PSP, it seems Americans are becoming less personal, less engaged with those around them and with the things that are going on around them.
People, myself sometimes included in this group, sometimes spend too much time in their own worlds with their music turned up and their personality turned down.
Posted @ 3:39 AM
Turn it down, save hearing
More young people are suffering hearing loss because of the overuse of portable listening devices, says Chip Hahn, director of clinical services at Cardinal Hill of Northern Kentucky in Florence.
Posted @ 3:37 AM
Summer camps for students with hearing loss
Three different camps for students with hearing loss combining career exploration, self awareness, and fun are available for middle and high school students at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y., this summer.
Posted @ 3:36 AM
Hearing loss often needless
Almost 10 percent of Americans, roughly 28 million, have some degree of hearing loss. But The Early Show medical correspondent Dr. Emily Senay says it could have been prevented in many cases.
On the show Tuesday, she explained what causes hearing loss, what the signs are that indicate it may be happening, and how you can head it off.
Posted @ 3:34 AM
Districts have options to help students with hearing problems
Two-year-old Rachel Ashton sat on the floor of her family’s living room in Palmview, carefully plugging colorful blocks into the correct holes on a flat, wooden toy.
Rachel’s mother, Salena, and Lynne Zagouris, an auditorially impaired itinerant teacher at McAllen’s Regional School for the Deaf, watched the toddler play.
Posted @ 3:33 AM
Ontario to further protect industrial workers from hearing loss
Ontario is improving the health and safety of the province's workers by protecting industrial workers from hearing loss, says Minister of Labour Steve Peters.
"Noise-induced hearing loss is a serious and preventable occupational illness that impacts many of Ontario's industrial workers," said Peters.
Posted @ 3:32 AM
Deaf youth finds salvation in sport
Helping lead a special school's football squad — mostly against hearing teams — provides direction, joy and pain.Silence. In the air was a symphony. Shoulder pads thumped and helmets cracked as Shawn McDonald and his teammates slammed into each other. But for Shawn, all was silence.
Posted @ 3:31 AM
Grants to fund home care for deaf
If you’re deaf and needing home health care, chances are you’re not going to find someone who can communicate well with you.
But thanks to $160,000 in state and local grants, people who know sign language will be trained to become certified home health aides.
Posted @ 3:30 AM
Let's take a walk for a good cause
Employees and volunteers at Central Point's Dogs for the Deaf are hoping their plea for dog owners to grab their best friend and head to Champoeg State Heritage Area on Saturday isn't a sound heard only by dogs.
Dog Walk '06, which raised about $9,000 at last year's event, is one of the group's biggest fundraisers, and it helps the world's oldest and largest hearing-dog center to continue offering hope to the hearing impaired, said Judi Rubert, a spokeswoman for Dogs for the Deaf.
Posted @ 3:29 AM
Study details transportation issues for deaf commuters
A recent study by Gallaudet University students found using public transportation was associated with lower reported stress levels for deaf commuters in the Washington metropolitan area.
The project, “A Pilot Study of Stress in Deaf Commuters,” was conducted by Leah Murphy, Nicolas Garfias, Silvia Herdicka, Brittney Kleinemas and Michael Higgins.
Posted @ 3:28 AM
Institute plans to integrate deaf, hearing students
To help its deaf students, the Heuser Hearing Institute is opening its doors to hearing children.
The new Louisville Language Academy, a preschool for 2-, 3- and 4-year-old hearing children, will help improve the communication skills of deaf students through side-by-side learning opportunities, officials said.
Posted @ 3:27 AM
Deaf skiers train in Reno for Olympic gold
Eliminate the wind as it screams past the ears at 50 mph, take away the crunch of the skis' metal edges cutting into the icy snow and turn off the calls of encouragement from coaches and crowds, and the skier is alone.
Alone with a pounding heart, tunnel-vision focus on the posts jutting up from the slope below and burning leg muscles as she tries to direct her body down the race course in as straight a line as possible.
Posted @ 3:26 AM
The only deaf comic in the country
There is only one deaf comedian in the UK, according to Steve Day, and if there are any others, he hasn't heard them. Steve has developed a career in writing and performing comedy which almost defies belief.
Posted @ 3:25 AM
Holiday ruined for deaf tourists
A brazen daytime theft of credit cards and airline tickets from a locked van on a busy Rotorua road has turned the holiday of two hearing impaired tourists upside down.
The van belonging to Irish visitor Stephen Gilligan and Korean friend Jong-Moon Kim was broken into opposite the shops on Tarewa Road between 10am and 12.15pm on Sunday.
Posted @ 3:25 AM
School for deaf celebrates 80th annual day
The 80th annual day celebrations of Little Flower Convent Higher Secondary School for the Deaf were held on Monday, with a variety programme by students.
Posted @ 3:23 AM
Castillo plans to increase safety at Oregon School for Deaf
A female teacher at the Oregon School for the Deaf lost her job after sending personal messages to a 14-year-old male student. A dorm counselor was disciplined for letting a 14-year-old girl living at the school leave campus on a weekend without parental permission.
Posted @ 3:23 AM
Health support for deaf people
A leading charity says it is to build four residential mental health units to provide specialist care for deaf people.
The Royal National Institute for Deaf people (RNID) wants to tackle what it calls "the crisis" in mental health provision.
Posted @ 3:22 AM
High-end curling nothing new for deaf woman
Brenda Davidson is carrying a torch for deaf curlers here this week.
The lead for Thompson's Denise Podolski is a two-time national Deaf Women's Curling champion and a two-time Canadian Mixed Deaf champ. But she is competing at this week's Scotties Tournament of Hearts for the first time.
Posted @ 3:21 AM
Deaf man indicted for murder
A 26-year-old hearing-impaired man who prosecutors believe stabbed a woman to death at Maurice View Plaza in Millville last year has been indicted for murder.
Dontay Milbourne, who was released on $150,000 cash bail last May, was charged last Wednesday with two counts of first-degree murder, third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and fourth-degree tampering with physical evidence, in connection with the April 1, 2006 stabbing death of 41-year-old Jackie Forman.
Posted @ 3:19 AM
January 17, 2007
Local residents sue Motorola over Bluetooth hearing loss
Three Hampton Roads residents have filed lawsuits accusing Motorola of selling Bluetooth headsets without warning that the devices might cause hearing loss.
The suits are similar to dozens filed by Bluetooth users across the country. They are seeking class-action status.
Posted @ 8:49 AM
Belleville toddler may be youngest with cochlear implants
When Liam Collins was born Dec. 15, 2005, at Memorial Hospital in Belleville, his parents Danny and Liz Collins of Belleville were overjoyed. Then a hearing screening showed Liam was profoundly deaf.
"Basically, if he was next to a jet engine, he couldn't hear it," said Danny Collins, 24, a Belleville police officer.
Posted @ 8:44 AM
Deaf students ask school: 'Why?'
Some parents and their deaf children are livid after the Elgin School District U46 decided to sever its contract with its hearing-impaired program, Northwestern Illinois Association.
"The majority of (deaf) kids at Streamwood have been in the NIA program since they were 2 or 3 years old. They have grown up together. They have become one big family," said Maryjane Comstock, the mother of a deaf teenager who attends Streamwood High School, part of the Elgin district.
Posted @ 8:39 AM
Deaf community slams school chief's firing
Members of the Oregon deaf community Monday repeatedly blasted the deputy state school superintendent for abruptly dismissing the director of the Oregon School for the Deaf without explaining why.
At a public forum Monday night, Deputy Superintendent Ed Dennis was asked again and again to explain why he fired Jane Mulholland last month without explanation or consultation with parents or school staff.
Posted @ 8:37 AM
Senator advises combining N.D. schools for blind, deaf
Merging the state’s schools for the blind and the deaf is something North Dakota “will do and has to do,” a state senator said Monday.
Sen. John Andrist, R-Crosby, is the prime sponsor of a bill proposing to consolidate the North Dakota Vision Services School for the Blind in Grand Forks with the North Dakota School for the Deaf in Devils Lake.
Posted @ 8:37 AM
DVD highlights deafness issues
A film made by Oxfordshire youngsters is to be shown across the country to highlight the challenges faced by deaf people.
The DVD, Deafness Matters, was premiered on Saturday at the Oxford Deaf and Hard of Hearing Centre in Littlegate Street.
Posted @ 8:36 AM
Israeli forces imprison deaf – mute man accused of involement with Islamic Jihad
Israeli soldiers did not believe that Farid Mahmoud Suleiman son was deaf – mute. Despite the protestations of fellow passengers in the car at the Nablus area checkpoint, he was bound, arrested, and taken to several detention centers before Jalameh Prison.
Posted @ 8:35 AM
Deaf children without barriers
If I were just a regular citizen reading Or Kashti's article "At Yehud high school, no exceptions for the deaf" (December 26, 2006), I would have been overwhelmed with emotion as to the plight of young deaf adults in Israel. How difficult their lives are! How lucky they are to go to a school like the Yehud Comprehensive High School that is so caring and supportive.
Posted @ 8:34 AM
Cuba creates language multimedia for the deaf
Special school´s teachers from the eastern province of Las Tunas created the first bilingual digital dictionary of the Cuban Sign Language (LSC), local press media highlighted Sunday.
Posted @ 8:33 AM
Questions about dismissal linger at School for the Deaf
Hundreds of parents are expected to attend a meeting tonight at the Oregon School for the Deaf to seek answers about the dismissal of a longtime director.
Two weeks ago, state education official Ed Dennis hosted a similar meeting attended by about 30 people. Few, however, left satisfied.
Posted @ 8:31 AM
NSF-sponsored project blazes new trail in visual language and visual learning
Gallaudet University has been chosen as the site of a national science of learning center devoted to cultivating better understanding of visual language and visual learning, thanks to a large grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Posted @ 8:30 AM
Deaf teenagers, from Belfast, shortlisted in mini oscars
Holywood actress Kate Winslet and director Alan Parker will be judging the horror movie - Lil' Red - for awards which are announced next month.
The movie was made by the young deaf people working with The National Deaf Children's Society.
Posted @ 8:28 AM
Deaf teenager dives to new feat
Tristan Butler is not your average 15-year-old.
Despite being born deaf, he has defied the odds to pass his PADI Open Water dive course with flying colours, which is believed to be a first in New Zealand.
Posted @ 8:27 AM
January 10, 2007
An MP3 player for the deaf
In a twist of fate, Sandy Mintz, an audiologist with medical device designer Advanced Bionics, lost her hearing about 10 years ago. Now, she is working with Samsung to help develop a wireless MP3 system so the deaf can enjoy music.
Posted @ 6:13 AM
Crank it up? Better not
Music lovers and musicians will tell you music is better when it's loud. The bass rattles your ribs and horn blasts resonate through your teeth. But all those good vibrations can destroy your hearing.
Mike Wyatt, 49, of Madison has played drums since he was 10 years old. "Part of the joy of playing the drums is hearing the crispness of the cymbals or the fatness of the toms," he said.
Posted @ 6:12 AM
How I struggled with tinnitus
First The Bill's Graham Cole struggled with the nightmare of tinnitus. Then the actor was told by his doctor: You will go totally deaf:
Late at night, actor Graham Cole was kept awake by a persistent, rhythmic and increasingly loud 'whooshing' sound in his ears. When his two young children were in the back of the car, their chatter was drowned out by the ever-present racket in his head.
Posted @ 6:10 AM
Noise-induced hearing loss escalating in U.S.
It's an argument most 50-years-olds can still remember having with their parents: attend loud rock concerts, they were warned, and risk damaging your hearing.
A generation later, young people across the world were asked to heed similar warnings about their Walkman headphones.
Posted @ 6:08 AM
School district explains ban on dog for deaf student
The parents of a deaf Westbury teenager "repeatedly rejected" efforts by officials to discuss the boy's wish to bring his service dog to school, the East Meadow schools chief said Tuesday.
Superintendent Robert Dillon released a four-paragraph statement late Tuesday, laying out for the first time the district's reasons for barring John Cave's service dog, Simba, from W. Tresper Clarke High School. He said the district has a blanket policy barring animals for safety and health reasons.
Posted @ 6:07 AM
Deaf-blind girl connects with life through pottery
Racha Turki is an elementary school student, she is deaf-blind, and she is a potter.
Racha began pottery at the Moshier Community Art Center in Burien in the fall of 2004, working with Donna Shaman and Meg Johnson, a pediatric occupational therapist and an orientation and mobility instructor respectively.
Posted @ 6:03 AM
A vision restored
New Mexico School for the Deaf students Monday lifted their hands into the air and wiggled their fingers -- silent applause to thank those who helped renovate their theater.
More than $77,000 of the $97,000 job already has been raised from private donations for new seats, new carpeting and other needs.
Posted @ 6:02 AM
Deaf Japanese student beats the odds
A JAPANESE student who overcame both the language barrier and deafness has been awarded a top degree in Manchester - despite not speaking a word of English.
Kenichiro Onishi - known as Ken - lost his hearing at the age of two. He came to study at the University of Manchester with only a working knowledge of English.
Posted @ 6:01 AM
Technology makes sign language interpreter easily available
Hospital emergency rooms, businesses, law enforcement and other social and health assistance agencies are frequently confounded by an inability to communicate with a hearing-impaired or deaf person.
Representatives of those agencies now have an alternative.
The Betty and Leonard Phillips Deaf Action Center of Louisiana, in Shreveport, recognizes the difficulty of learning sign language and the seemingly eternal shortage of interpreters.
Posted @ 5:59 AM
Woman goes deaf after 9-year wait for treatment
A 67-year-old woman lost 80 percent of her hearing after waiting nine years for treatment for an ear problem, it was reported on Monday.
The woman, from Madrid, was told in 1991 she should have an operation to stop the problem caused by a perforated eardrum.
Posted @ 5:57 AM
January 7, 2007
Hearing aid pledge 'may not work'
Moves to cut waiting lists for the hard of hearing could result in even longer queues for hearing aids, the Royal National Institute for the Deaf fears.
Research by Conservative MP Grant Shapps found waits of up to five years for new digital hearing aids.
Ministers admitted queues were too long and said they will shortly publish an "action plan" to tackle the problem.
Posted @ 5:04 AM
Device helps deaf communicate with others
A new device invented in Kansas City is opening up new worlds for people who are deaf, KMBC's Jere Gish reported.
Lynn Garretson, who is deaf, said a routine doctor visit for her daughter can be frustrating because she has to use an interpreter to talk to doctors and nurses.
Posted @ 5:01 AM
Should we cure the 'deaf gene'?
Genetic counselling is quite a new branch of medicine and many people may not know what is involved. A leaflet sent to me from Cardiff University explains in general terms what to expect at a genetic counselling appointment.
Some conditions, such as deafness, run in families and the genetic team can give people information about these conditions; how they are inherited and how likely they are to happen in a family. If appropriate, they can also discuss the medical management of a disorder and what choices members of the family have in facing this situation.
Posted @ 5:00 AM
First deaf basketball referee clinic in Sweden
The Deaf International Basketball Federation (DIBF) is arranging the first deaf referee clinic ever in any deaf sports. Dates are 16-18 March and is arranged in Stockholm, Sweden. Conductor and leader of the clinic is FIBA Commissioner mr Orjan Engberg, Stockholm, and coordinators of the event are DIBF Secretary General mr Kjell Gunna and mr Pelle Pilstrom, Stockholm. The clinic is supported economically and administratively by the Stockholm Basketball Organisation.
Posted @ 5:00 AM
Ex-workers to sue Jaguar plant over loss of hearing
A raft of legal claims are being brought against Merseyside's Jaguar car plant by former workers who claim they have been left with hearing problems.
The claims relate to 12 ex-employees, many of whom worked at the site when it was a Ford factory, and could be worth between £3,000 and £25,000.
Posted @ 4:57 AM
Folic acid may slow hearing loss
Folic acid, a member of the B vitamin family, may impede age-related hearing loss, a Dutch study finds.
Folic acid, already required to be added to flour in the United States, is also known as folate. Folic acid deficiency can cause birth defects and seems to contribute to heart disease and stroke, WebMD.com said.
Posted @ 4:56 AM
Living with hearing loss
About 28 million Americans live with hearing loss. As baby boomers continue to age, that number is expected to nearly double by 2030.
Trauma, infection, heredity, aging and exposure to loud sounds can cause hearing loss. It can be sudden or come with aging. According to the Hearing Loss Association of America, most hearing losses develop over a period of 25 to 30 years.
Posted @ 4:54 AM
More hearing loss in aging society
The numbers of elderly in Europe and the United States are increasing, and hearing loss is becoming more prevalent.
A study, the results of which were published in 2003 in the highly regarded American journal Archives of Otololaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, examined the hearing ability of almost 3,000 Americans aged between 48 and 92 years.
Posted @ 4:53 AM
Sound advice about tinnitus treatments
Question | I have a constant buzzing in my ears, which is very bothersome, especially when I'm trying to sleep. What causes it? And what can I do about it?
Answer | A buzzing or ringing sound that you can hear but other people can't is known as tinnitus (pronounced tin-NIGHT-us or TIN-it-us). We've all experienced this annoying sensation one time or another, usually after hearing a very loud noise. For example, using a snowmobile or lawn mower or attending a loud concert might trigger a brief bout of tinnitus. Ringing is common, but some people also experience relentless buzzing, cricket-like chirping, hissing or humming. Whatever the sound, the distinguishing feature is that it doesn't have an external cause.
Posted @ 4:52 AM
Man leaves $750,000 to school
A Cheyenne man, who attended the Central Institute for the Deaf in St. Louis, Mo., left more than $750,000 to the school when he died last year at age 80.
Edwin B. Slye was a member of the class of 1942, the school's executive director, Robin Feder, said in a news release.
Posted @ 4:51 AM
A sign of acceptance
You see the symbols and never have to think twice about their meaning.
From the restroom, to a handicapped parking spot to a bus stop; someone had to think up the universal signs which direct people to the appropriate places.
Posted @ 4:51 AM
Pioneering scheme helping deaf babies
Deaf babies are getting a better start in life thanks to a pioneering screening programme which is celebrating its first birthday.
A prime example of the work done at the Airedale Hospital unit is Adal Shakil.
The one-year-old was born profoundly deaf but, thanks to Airedale's screening initiative, the problems were quickly picked up and he was seen by a specialist before he was a month old.
Posted @ 4:50 AM
Ear implant success sparks culture war for deaf
Could the end of sign language for deaf children be in sight? A spate of new studies has shown that profoundly deaf babies who receive cochlear implants in their first year of life develop language and speech skills remarkably close to those of hearing children. Many of the children even learn to sing passably well and function almost flawlessly in the hearing world.
Posted @ 4:48 AM
Gallaudet student dies
A Columbus man died yesterday after the pickup in which he was a passenger struck a utility pole along I-270 in Dublin about 4:10 a.m.
Dublin police said Joshua R. Best, 22, of 80 Antelope Way, was taken to Riverside Methodist Hospital, where he died at 4:49 a.m.
Posted @ 4:46 AM