« October 2007 | Main | December 2007 »
November 28, 2007
UVa Researchers Lend Aid to Future Hearing Studies
Researchers at the University of Virginia have developed a new method of growing inner-ear hair cells that will aid research to help people regain their hearing.
Dr. Jeffrey T. Corwin, a professor of neuroscience at the UVa Health System, and Dr. Zhengqing Hu, a neuroscience research assistant, have been growing cells from inner ears of chicken embryos. They hope to extend that knowledge to re-grow the inner-ear hair cells of humans.
Mammals grow inner-ear hair cells only before they are born, unlike amphibians and birds, which can re-grow damaged or lost cells. These unique structures are lost over time as mammals age, or if they contract certain infections or undergo trauma. The loss of inner-ear hair cells results in hearing loss and balance impairment.
Posted @ 7:14 AM
Music Therapy Shows Promise for Tinnitus Sufferers
Timothy Brown, a 55-year-old industrial electrician, didn't pay much attention to the ringing in his ears he heard occasionally last winter. But, come March, when the high-pitched noise turned nonstop and showed no sign of going away, he suddenly could think of nothing else.
"[After] the first few days, I went to the family doctor thinking it was an ear infection," he said. That was ruled out.
"It wasn't a problem, but it lingered two or three weeks and then it became traumatic," Mr. Brown said.
His sleep was disrupted; he could no longer tolerate the level of sound generated when his big family of siblings got together.
Posted @ 7:12 AM
America Hears Offers Free Demo Version of Software for Download
America Hears, the premier Internet distributor and manufacturer of digital hearing aids, has made available its Virtual Office 2.0 (VO 2.0) software for download on its website, www.americahears.com. Visitors to the site can download a full version of the hearing aid software to explore its features, although a user must own an America Hears hearing aid in order to fully utilize the program.
The exclusive VO 2.0 program enables owners of America Hears digital hearing aids to adjust the hearing aid programming themselves in their own home or to request a programming change via the Internet. Previously, customers were mailed a CD containing the hearing aid software with their free information kit, a process that could take several days. Now, the entire program can be downloaded directly from the America Hears site in less than 20 minutes (with a high-speed Internet connection).
Posted @ 7:10 AM
Bill Proposed to Have State Cover Cochlear Implant Surgery
About one year ago, the only thing Troy Nguyen would say to his school secretary was the word "fish." Now, with the help of a new hearing device, a formerly shy young boy has turned into a chatterbox.
Nguyen, an eight-year-old from Lowell, was born almost completely deaf and used a clunky hearing aid that precluded him from playing sports and participating in OTHER school activities.
Last year, just two weeks before Christmas, Nguyen got the gift of a lifetime, a cochlear implant from the Boston-based Gift of Hearing Foundation.
Posted @ 7:07 AM
Cochlear Ltd. Deploys PTC® Windchill® as a Key Element of Its Strategic Growth Agenda
PTC (Nasdaq: PMTC), the Product Development Company®, today announced that Cochlear Ltd., the global leader in implantable hearing solutions, has adopted Windchill® as a platform for strategic product lifecycle management (PLM). Cochlear has utilized PTC Pro/ENGINEER® as its primary design tool for the past ten years. The selection of Windchill, PTC’s content and process management solution, extends the company’s existing relationship with PTC and enables Cochlear to realize the value of an integral product development system.
Posted @ 7:05 AM
Are movies too loud?
After an Eyewitness News viewer contacted us because she's concerned about the volume coming out of theater speakers, we decided to go undercover for our latest investigation.
It's just another night out at the movies. But could you be in for more than a good time?
Marjorie Hopkins lives in Pinehurst. She wrote to us after she saw a movie with her grandson that she says was too loud.
"He almost immediately put his hands over his ears and a little while later started crying and said it hurt it hurt," says Hopkins. "We had to take him out of the movie," she continued, "We didn't even stay to see the end because it hurt his ears too badly."
Posted @ 7:03 AM
Sudden deafness leaves doctors at a loss
Question: I went to bed one Thursday evening, and, when I awoke that Friday morning, my hearing in my left ear was gone. I am a healthy person and have not had any injuries. I did, however, have some medical testing done within the two months prior to my hearing loss. The first was a CT scan, in which they injected me with dye to look at a joint in my clavicle. The other was a biopsy of my thyroid gland.
I went to the local urgent-care facility that day, and they found my ear to be normal except for the hearing loss. I do not have any vertigo or any other symptoms, only the hearing loss. The doctor ordered an MRI and put me on prednisone. I have since been referred to an ear-nose-and-throat specialist. He has performed numerous hearing tests. Yes, my hearing in the left ear is completely gone. He then put me on a stronger dose of prednisone that started with 60 milligrams per day and went down from there. Nothing has worked. I have an appointment with another ENT specialist in order to get a second opinion. Do you have any further ideas?
Posted @ 7:01 AM
Program checks babies for hearing problems
Student Cody Grassham wrapped a blanket tightly around a squirming newborn.
Within seconds, the baby quieted and Grassham went to work, attaching small sensors and earphones to the sleeping infant.
Grassham is a newborn-hearing screener at UNM Hospital, part of a team that tests every child born at the hospital for hearing problems.
"The earlier a hearing problem is diagnosed and treated, the better the chance that person will develop normally - physically and socially," Grassham said.
Alumnus Andre Roybal, also a hearing screener, said the hospital screens about 4,000 babies a year.
Posted @ 7:00 AM
Dog handler sues for hearing loss
A garda dog handler is suing the State for alleged hearing loss because of exposure to loud barking by dogs under his control.
Garda Thomas Donnelly has told the High Court that the dogs barked most of the time during routine daily patrols in garda transit vans around the city.
Garda Donnelly said up to four dogs could be in the van with him at any one time and would either continuously bark at each other or at anybody near the van.
Posted @ 6:59 AM
Genes Influence Age-related Hearing Loss
A new Brandeis University study of twins shows that genes play a significant role in the level of hearing loss that often appears in late middle age. The research, in the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, examined genetic and environmental factors affecting hearing loss in the frequency range of speech recognition.
"This research confirms the importance of genetic factors in age-associated hearing loss, and the need for vulnerable individuals and their families to take extra care to prevent further hearing damage," said lead author Brandeis neuroscientist Arthur Wingfield.
Posted @ 6:57 AM
Deaf Girl Expands Horizons Helping Make A Movie
A Deaf teenager has taken part in a special project to produce a gruesome horror film.
Lara Steward, from Melton Road, Wrawby, joined other talented, young deaf people from Northern Ireland to produce a five-minute horror flick - Murder on the Manor - and the film was so good, it was selected to be shown at the Belfast Festival last month.The 14 deaf teenagers were all aged between 14 and 19, and were able to learn filmmaking skills including directing, scriptwriting, acting for the camera, and costume and make-up design.
Posted @ 6:56 AM
Millville church reaches out to deaf
Jane Layton's hands flowed with movement as the Rev. Dan Gardner spoke.
Through scripture readings, hymns and even general conversation, Layton signed through the 11 a.m. service for the two people sitting in the front pew who would be lost without her help.
Open Bible Baptist Church, a small building turned church on a quieter part of Main Street, east of downtown Millville, started a deaf ministries service three weeks ago.
During the regular Sunday services, Layton or another signer will speak to the congregation through sign language so anyone who wants can learn the lessons Gardner preaches.
Posted @ 6:55 AM
Indiana Deaf seeks to build on best season
It was the greatest football season in the history of the Indiana School for the Deaf . . . and it wasn't enough for the players.
"Our boys took it really hard when we could not clinch the sectional title," coach Michael Paulone said in an e-mail after the 27-8 loss to Cardinal Ritter. "How long it will take for them to move on is something I can't tell you. Our boys were crushed but we believe that after the pain has gone, they will come to the realization that they had (the school's) best football season ever."
Posted @ 6:54 AM
Opening doors for deaf clients
Five years ago, the staff at Ken Gan's auto-repair shop told him they needed to find a better way of communicating with customers who were deaf.
"I said: 'Let me go shopping. I'll buy you whatever's out there,' " said Gan, of Rochester, N.Y., which has a significant community of deaf people.
For three months, Gan came up empty-handed. There wasn't anything in the market to facilitate face-to-face communication in a situation such as a shop or office.
Posted @ 6:54 AM
'Cheap and nasty' Camden council to shut deaf school
On Wednesday 21 November staff, parents and pupils will be marching to stop Camden council deciding to close Frank Barnes primary school for deaf children. Two weeks after prime minister Gordon Brown announced he would close 'bad' schools, Camden council could decide to close a good school with outstanding features.
The school provides its entire curriculum to mainly, but not exclusively, profoundly deaf students in British Sign Language.
Posted @ 6:53 AM
A deaf person's passion for cooking
Deafness has not deterred Chua Tick Seng from becoming an award-winning chef.
Looking relaxed and youthful, 25-year-old Chua Tick Seng is a far cry from the typical rotund chefs we see in movies.
No one would have guessed that this talented lad, who whipped up his first dish – fried eggs – at the age of nine, would win the Best Apprentice Award at this year’s Culinaire Malaysia cooking competition.
Posted @ 6:51 AM
Study examines healthcare for deaf
Deaf people are being invited to take part in the first UK survey to identify their general state of health and their access to medical care.
SignHealth, the national society for mental health and deafness, has commissioned a study similar to research carried out in Austria, which found there are higher incidents of diabetes, asthma and hypertension among deaf people.
Posted @ 6:51 AM
Anthology of gay deaf writers illuminates intriguing queer subculture
Jon A. Kastrup, a deaf gay man, has loved art since his youth in the 1970s. Yet, Kastrup became a mechanical engineer and a lawyer because he felt the need to prove himself in the hearing world. He later found happiness when he moved to San Francisco and became an artist. “Would I have been an artist if I were hearing?” Kastrup wrote in a recent essay, “I do not know. I could have stayed on as a lawyer … dealing with money-grubbing clients.”
Posted @ 6:50 AM
Footballers help deaf players get kick-start
Championship footballers have shown their support for deaf children by appearing in a DVD explaining how to coach them.
Charlton players Luke Varney, Izale McLeod, Chris Dickson, Dean Sinclair and coach and former player Mark Kinsella star in the DVD, which will be distributed among football coaches nationwide.
It was commissioned by the Deaf Friendly Football Club Project and has been approved by the FA as a tool to be used by coaches to make football fun and accessible to deaf children.
Posted @ 6:49 AM
Tennessee School for the Deaf faculty members are living legacy
For nearly three decades, Barry Swafford has been instructing, coaching and befriending students at the Tennessee School for the Deaf in South Knoxville.
It's an impressive tenure, made even more interesting by the fact he also grew up on campus. In fact, his family album is a virtual history book for the school.
"First, my grandfather came here in the early 1900s," says Swafford.
Posted @ 6:48 AM
Deaf Student Still Aims at Music Career
While he can hear only extremely loud noises and communicates by means of typing on a computer, Vichay Phommachan recently took advantage of an opportunity to fulfill his dream to be the next American Idol.
The 22-year-old living in Tecumseh says his goal is to become the first Asian-American deaf male artist and entertainer.
Although he was born able to hear, Phommachan became deaf after having a high fever when he was 3 years old.
He recently auditioned for the "American Idol" television show in Omaha.
Because Phommachan is unable to communicate verbally, his singing style during the 30-second audition consisted of him interpreting the lyrics of the song through sign language.
Posted @ 6:47 AM
Signs of Friendship
Lots of people make friends with their co-workers. Few go so far as to learn a second language to communicate with them.
That's the story of Timothy Lopez and Brandon Bearce.
The duo have been hauling away piles of discarded furniture, yard debris and other materials for three years as employees of 1-800-GOT- JUNK?, a junk removal service with a branch in Stanislaus County.
Posted @ 6:46 AM
National Deaf Academy Announces New CEO
The National Deaf Academy has announced a new CEO to continue to grow the vision of its founder, Alan Cohen, MD. Dr. Cohen founded NDA in 2000 and it continues to be the nation's only mental health facility to exclusively serve the needs of Deaf and Hard of Hearing clients as well as autistic individuals with communication disorders.
Steven Fahey was chosen to lead National Deaf Academy as CEO under new owners, Psychiatric Solutions Inc. Steve has been with NDA since July of 2007, and fully transitioned into the position of CEO, replacing Dr. Cohen, in October. Fahey said he is thrilled to be part of this special organization that offers a unique level of care to the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and autistic community.
Posted @ 6:45 AM
Deaf student fights for help
After a yearlong legal battle, a deaf student at Glendora High School won the right to have an in-class, real-time transcription service.
Now her younger brother, also deaf and a freshman at the high school, is fighting to get the same service.
The two teenagers, Samantha and Victor Solorzano, believe that almost-instantaneous transcription will let them better participate in discussions. But the Glendora Unified School District is continuing to fight against providing a personal transcriber for Victor.
Posted @ 6:44 AM
Deaf parishioners in tears after vandals smash pots
Deaf parishioners have been left devastated after their plant pots were destroyed by vandals.
The display was the pride and joy of pensioner Marilyn James who had worked on the flower beds and pots of flowers outside the Parish of St Philip Evans, in Llanedeyrn, Cardiff, which also houses the Archdiocese of Cardiff Deaf Service.
Posted @ 6:43 AM
Principal of hearing, deaf school bristles at school's failing grade
If you believe city educrats, the American Sign Language and English Dual Language secondary school is the single worst school in New York.
Of 1,224 schools given grades by the Education Department this month, the middle school at the former Public School 47 had the lowest score. The high school, which did only slightly better, also earned an F.
But the principal of the innovative Manhattan school that mixes deaf and hearing students in classes taught simultaneously in English and sign language says his school - or at least about a sixth of his students - should be judged by different criteria.
Posted @ 6:43 AM
Gallaudet Taken Off Probation, Putting It Closer to Reaccreditation
Gallaudet University is no longer on probation, its president, Robert Davila, announced last night.
"We are not finished, but we are on our way back," Davila said.
The school in Northeast Washington, known internationally as a center for deaf education, was put on probation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education this summer after a turbulent year. In October 2006, protesters angry over the choice of a new president shut the campus down for several days by blocking the entrances.
Posted @ 6:42 AM
November 6, 2007
A Lost Sense Sparked Scientific Quest
Brad Buran lost his hearing when he was 14 months old, after meningitis damaged the hair cells of his cochlea. He was still a baby, but he can remember a musical train that ran along the railing of his crib, and he remembers that the train made sounds, but he can't quite remember what those sounds were like.
He would like to.
Buran is careful when he says this. The 26-year-old hearing researcher knows that, in some circles of the deaf community, the desire to hear again is a wildly controversial idea, a backhanded affirmation that there is something wrong with being deaf, something to be cured.
Posted @ 6:11 AM
Early Hearing Test Gave My Lad the Best Start in Life
Around two million babies have now been screened as part an NHS bid to detect hearing problems early. Health reporter JANE PICKEN speaks to one Northumberland family who were one of the first to benefit
A SIMPLE and quick test was all it took for doctors to discover that little Jack Bowman had a severe hearing problem.
Jack was just a day old when medics working on a pilot NHS scheme tested his hearing and found neither of ears were working properly, diagnosing sensory neural hearing loss.
Posted @ 6:10 AM
MSSD Students Produce Video Presentations on Deaf Culture
Students at the Model Secondary School for the Deaf made a multimedia event of Deaf Awareness Week this year. While newspapers and websites wrote about it, these students created informative video presentations. The “Eagle News” class, taught by ASL/Deaf Studies Specialist Becky Gage and TV Production Teacher Wei Wang, produced eight television pieces highlighting deaf culture and prominent deaf and hard of hearing figures. The pieces began airing on MSSD’s TV network in the last week of September and continue to run weekly.
Posted @ 5:56 AM
November 5, 2007
How to Stop the Embarrassment of a Whistling Hearing Aid
If you or a family member wears a hearing aid that has a feedback problem, it can be a real frustration and an annoyance. Here are the secrets to understanding the causes and how to control it.
There are three types of feedback: Acoustical feedback is caused by the sound from the speaker traveling through the air and getting back to the microphone. Mechanical feedback is caused by physical vibrations, such as the hearing aid speaker touching the side of the hearing aid and allowing the vibrations to transfer through the shell or case back to the microphone. Electronic feedback occurs within the circuitry of the hearing instrument.
Posted @ 4:43 AM
Marlee Matlin steals the show during Texas Book Festival Gala
Substance mingled with frivolity during the opening-night gala of the Texas Book Festival on Friday. Authors read aloud from their books, entertainers entertained, and, for the first time, the festival, which raises money for Texas libraries, squeezed into the public rooms of the Four Seasons Hotel.
Actress and children's book author Marlee Matlin stole the show with deft jokes about deafness and a "life that is far from tragic." She related meeting President Reagan trying out a hearing aid. She was introduced to Reagan as the Oscar winner for "Children of a Lesser God."
Posted @ 4:42 AM
I Can't Hear You, Life is Too Loud
Honk if you hate peace and quiet. Noise is our most pervasive pollutant, but it rarely bothers the person producing the noise. The trouble is, that noise soon belongs to everyone — 10 million Americans experience permanent, noise-induced hearing loss.
It's an aural assault. Any noise over 65 decibels raises blood pressure, contributes to depression and is thought to cause heart damage.
Posted @ 4:41 AM
Deaf and dumb hawkers of Nairobi
It is in the dead of the night and the streets of Nairobi are alive with all manner of businesses both legal and illegal. Entertainment lovers of all shades and sizes, and night hawkers take over the brightly lit streets.
Men and women gyrate to the rhythm of the loud deafening sounds from the many entertainment joints as scantily dressed twilight girls shove one another for a prospective client’s attention. If only to wile the night away.
Posted @ 4:35 AM
School for deaf a work in progress
Gallaudet University President Robert Davila flashed a photo of a glass of water onto a screen last week to show how the school is doing and asked the students in the packed auditorium what they saw. "It's half-full!" students responded, and he laughed with them, nodding.
A year ago, protesters shut down the internationally known school for the deaf, throwing it into chaos, forcing out an incoming president and intensifying accreditation scrutiny. Things have calmed and the mood on campus is upbeat, but Gallaudet is at a crossroads. Accreditors have put the school on probation, and undergraduate enrollment has dropped by 120 students, or 10 percent, since admissions were tightened to boost academic quality.
Posted @ 4:34 AM
Passaic course teaches sign language
Some teachers might worry if their students are always silent in class. Not Alma Simakowicz, who teaches American Sign Language at Passaic High School. Talking is just not part of her lesson plan.
Simakowicz teaches five classes of sign language to about 57 students at the Paulison Avenue school. Unlike other languages that require mastering accents and communicating through letters -- written, spoken and read -- sign language students have to retrain their brains to think in images, not words, Simakowicz said. But for many of the students tackling that task this year, the challenge is a welcome one because it opens them not only to a new language but also to a new community as well.
Posted @ 4:32 AM
Signing of the cross
Brian Cross's hands and arms move quickly, his face etched with expression as he shares his views of Jesus' healing powers. He pauses often in front of his PowerPoint presentation for dramatic effect, catching the eyes and nods of the roughly 20 in attendance at his Wednesday night Bible study at Anchor Baptist Church.
The group is assembled in the church's basement choir room, and amid billowy white choir robes and shelves of black music hymnals, Cross doesn't speak a word. But his message of Jesus' authority to heal the paralyzed and the sick is soaked up by his rapt congregation.
Posted @ 4:31 AM
Deaf Students Face Alienation at Columbia
There’s a community within our community that you might not know about. It is a culture, but it’s not a religion, nationality, or ethnicity. In fact, many people consider those within the culture to be suffering from a disability. This culture is Deaf culture, and according to Keri Horowitz, a graduate student at Teachers College, “Deaf people can do anything that hearing people can, except hear.” Horowitz was born profoundly deaf, the cause of which is still unexplained.
She was “mainstreamed” since childhood—Horowitz has spent very little time in any specialized schooling for the deaf—but she learned American Sign Language at age 16 and identifies as part of the American Deaf community.
Posted @ 4:30 AM
Silent No More: Deaf Survivors Reveal Their Stories
To survive the Holocaust, the Jews had to battle near-impossible conditions -- hunger, filth, disease, ceaseless work, endless brutality. The fact that many made it until liberation was often a matter of sheer luck, as countless survivors have testified over the years since the end of World War II.
But if it was difficult for the majority of people, how many more obstacles must there have been for the deaf?
Posted @ 4:29 AM
November 1, 2007
Ears Ringing? Cells In Developing Ear May Explain Tinnitus
Brain scientists at Johns Hopkins have discovered how cells in the developing ear make their own noise, long before the ear is able to detect sound around them. The finding, reported in Nature, helps to explain how the developing auditory system generates brain activity in the absence of sound. It also may explain why people sometimes experience tinnitus and hear sounds that seem to come from nowhere.
The research team made their discovery while studying the properties of non-nerve cells in the ears of young rats. These so-called support cells were thought to be silent bystanders not directly involved in nerve communication. However, to the researchers' surprise, these cells showed robust electrical activity, similar to nerve cells. Further, this activity occurred spontaneously, without sound or any external stimulus.
Posted @ 4:02 AM
She leads walking team so others can hear
A Frederick woman who lost then regained her hearing headed up a team in the National Capital Area Walk4Hearing on Sunday in Damascus.
Denise Portis, 41, slowly lost her hearing over 10 years. She was completely deaf for five years. Today she can hear.
She received a cochlear implant in April 2005 and started to hear people's voices again. "Everybody sounded like Mickey Mouse at the beginning," she said. "It was like they had helium."
Posted @ 4:01 AM
Signing Chimp Washoe Broke Language Barrier
A world-famous chimpanzee believed to be the first animal to learn a human language died at Central Washington University in Ellensburg Tuesday night.
Washoe, who was 42 years old, could use about 250 distinctive American Sign Language signs, said Deborah Fouts, director of the university's Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute, where Washoe lived.
Fouts said Washoe was continuing to communicate on the day of her death.
Posted @ 4:01 AM
Deaf Patients Get Help
First, video on demand came to televisions with the touch of a remote; now, it's just as easy to connect to a communications specialist for the hearing-impaired at The Medical Center, Beaver.
Advertisement
The hospital in Brighton Township earlier this month installed Deaf Talk, a video conferencing system that allows two-way communications between a patient, a doctor and an off-site sign language interpreter.
Posted @ 4:00 AM
Interpreter Served as Lifeline to Deaf Community During Fires
For those who've watched fire coverage on television in San Diego this week, one woman's face was seen at every county press conference...but even though she was ever present, she never uttered a word. That woman is Joane Cosentino -- a sign language interpreter. KPBS Border Reporter Amy Isackson shares her story .
Joane Cosentino estimates she signed for at least twenty hours straight during the fires, translating emergency information for San Diego County's more than 35,000d deaf and hearing impaired.
Posted @ 3:58 AM
OHSU hearing loss preventative in final test phase
Adherex Technologies Inc. has begun the final phase of clinical testing of a treatment developed by Oregon Health & Science University to prevent hearing loss in children undergoing chemotherapy for liver cancer.
Preliminary studies by OHSU scientists suggest that sodium thiosulfate, or STS, can reduce the hearing loss associated with platinum-based chemotherapy. On Tuesday, Adherex said the phase III study will compare the outcomes of children treated with the cancer drug cisplatin alone or in combination with STS.
Posted @ 3:57 AM
Students sign awareness; Event focuses on sign language
Absolutely no talking was allowed during a recent event at Desert Ridge High School, 10045 E. Madero Ave.
The rule of silence was not aimed at keeping students under control, but offered them a real sense of what a deaf person goes through each day.
For the school’s fourth-annual “It’s a Deaf, Deaf World,” which was held Oct. 23 in the school’s gym, students in the American Sign Language II class set up mock stores that other students were required to visit.
Posted @ 3:56 AM
Skyway Adventures: Leaving from Amsterdam
So here I am, waiting at the Amsterdam Airport. I am about to fly to Miami harbor to meet the members of my team, including an Aroma Jockey, an Experience Jockey from Miami, 3 deaf dancers, 3 sign dancers from Canada, 2 instructors, 1 producer, and 2 assistants. Tomorrow we will board on one of the biggest cruise ships in the world. For 3 days we will entertain 4,000 deaf visitors on this cruise, the biggest event ever in deaf history.
How did I ever get here!?!
Posted @ 3:54 AM