August 5, 2008
2 cops suspended for raping deaf girl
She was handed to the law saviours in khaki for tracing her parents but they not only shattered her faith but also treated her as an object to satisfy their lust.
Crossing all limits of dignity two cops of the Moga police raped a deaf, dumb and mentally challenged 20-year-old on the night of July 28. The two, a constable and a sepoy, were finally nailed after 60 hours on Thursday.
Posted @ 3:36 AM
August 2, 2008
Malawi needs more sign language interpreters
Malawi National Association of the Deaf (MANAD) says the country needs more sign language interpreters to abate challenges deaf and speech impaired persons are facing in their day to day livelihood.
Speaking to Nyasa Times, officials from the deaf community in the country disclosed that currently, estimates show that Malawi has over 50,000 hearing impaired people against only eleven sign language interpreters.
Posted @ 2:29 AM
July 29, 2008
Signing, speech debate hinders recruitment of deaf teachers
School boards across Alberta say they need more teachers who are deaf to help the province's students with hearing impairments but the community is divided over what they should be learning.
There are about 200 deaf teachers working in Canada, but only six in Alberta.
"These deaf kids are our future. We need to be able to give them what they need," said Norma Jean Taylor, system principal for the deaf and hard of hearing at the Calgary Board of Education.
Posted @ 5:44 AM
China updates Olympic website to serve blind, deaf
China has improved its official Olympic website to serve the blind and deaf, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) announced here on Wednesday.
Both the BOCOG website and the China Disabled Person's Federation (CDPF) website were updated to enable the blind, those with low vision and the deaf to get information.
Posted @ 5:41 AM
Deaf rugby team a first for University
Simon Mahony and his rugby union team won't hear the applause as they take the field tomorrow.
But the Lismore man will no doubt sport a smile of satisfaction as he leads the Southern Cross Deaf Rugby Union team out for their first ever match.
Posted @ 5:41 AM
Implanted Computer Chip Helps Deaf to Hear
A five-year-old girl who has been unable to hear sounds since she was born has been helped by a team of Korean and Italian researchers.
The girl's brain functions normally but what has been damaged is the nerve that transmits sound signals from the ear to a part of the brain called the aural centrum.
Posted @ 5:38 AM
July 21, 2008
Deaf woman sues over McDonald's snub
A deaf woman is suing McDonald's - because she reckons workers refused to let her order at a drive-through window.
Karen Tumeh of Lincoln, Nebraska, says workers insisted she either order at the electronic speaker along the drive-through lane or come inside to get her grub.
Tumeh wears a hearing aid but still cannot hear while using the drive-through ordering box.
Posted @ 11:54 PM
Students learn sign language for hi-tech link with deaf school
They've already mastered French, Spanish, German and even Mandarin. And now pupils at an Exeter school are using their skills to speak in sign language.
Students at St Peter's Church of England School are using video conferencing to communicate with youngsters from the Royal Academy for the Deaf, in Topsham Road.
The scheme started this term and teachers say it has benefited children from both schools.
Pupils at St Peter's, a specialist language college, already use video conferencing to speak to students in Germany.
Posted @ 11:53 PM
Briton Rosanna Mazzocchio wins Miss Deaf World 2008 in Prague
Rosanna Mazzocchio, 19, from Britain became Miss Deaf World 2008 at a beauty contest staged in Prague Saturday, followed by Czech Michaela Theimerova, 21, and Yulina Arslan, 19, from Russia, contest director Josef Uhlir has said.
Sixteen young women from various countries competed in the finals for the eighth Miss Deaf title in history.
German Jasmin Katzberg, 22, was voted Miss Sympathy.
Posted @ 11:50 PM
Solar Sound Support
When Howard Weinstein went to Botswana in 2001, his goal was to build a company that could produce affordable hearing aids for Africans. Talk about chutzpah.
"I didn't know a decibel from Tinkerbell," jokes Weinstein 57. But he knew his life needed a new direction.
In the 1990s, Weinstein was one of those king-of-the-hill business execs in Montreal. He had sold his plumbing manufacturing business to a multinational firm, which retained him as president. He had a fancy home in the city, and a gorgeous lakefront retreat in the country.
Posted @ 11:47 PM
July 8, 2008
Musical frequencies turned into tactile sensations for deaf
For Ellen Hibbard music has never really meant very much.
Deaf from birth, she would only be able to experience a tune by placing her hands on a flat wooden surface near the stereo or radio, or directly on the amplifier.
But now that's all changed. And for the first time she has an understanding of why people love music - be it rock and roll, jazz or classical.
Posted @ 8:57 AM
Mum cleared of beating deaf tot
A 34-year-old mum from Tilehurst who denied assaulting her deaf toddler by beating him has been acquitted.
The mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was accused of dragging her three-year-old son across a road and then kicking him three times after a row with her ex-boyfriend – the boy’s father – outside his flat, Reading Magistrates’ Court heard on Friday, May 23.
Posted @ 8:54 AM
June 30, 2008
Why we won't let our disabilities get in the way of our modelling dreams
At first glance, Debbie Van der Putten's portfolio looks like that of any aspiring young model.
She seems to have both the face and figure to make it in such a competitive world, and it's easy to imagine her catching the eye of casting directors and magazine editors.
But look more closely and it becomes clear that Debbie, 22, is not your average jobbing model. In most of her pictures, only one arm is visible - and this is not because the other is somehow obscured.
Posted @ 7:27 AM
Why we won't let our disabilities get in the way of our modelling dreams
At first glance, Debbie Van der Putten's portfolio looks like that of any aspiring young model.
She seems to have both the face and figure to make it in such a competitive world, and it's easy to imagine her catching the eye of casting directors and magazine editors.
But look more closely and it becomes clear that Debbie, 22, is not your average jobbing model. In most of her pictures, only one arm is visible - and this is not because the other is somehow obscured.
Posted @ 7:27 AM
June 12, 2008
Blind, deaf professor to be awarded doctorate
A blind and deaf associate professor at Tokyo University Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology will be granted a doctoral degree, it has been learned.
Satoshi Fukushima, 45, will become the first blind deaf person to receive a doctorate in Japan. An award ceremony will be held for him at Tokyo University's Komaba campus Wednesday.
Posted @ 9:43 AM
June 7, 2008
Man jailed for stealing from deaf parents
A 31-year-old man who stole more than £8,000 from his profoundly deaf parents was branded “despicable” by a judge today.
Cardiff Crown Court heard father-to-be Gareth Gunning acted as a carer and interpreter for parents Glenda and Ernest, and looked after their financial affairs.
Steve Harmes, prosecuting, told the court Mr and Mrs Gunning’s banks became concerned last year at the number of transactions between their two accounts and one set up by their son.
Posted @ 4:45 AM
May 29, 2008
Deafening Call for New Toy Law
Health Canada is examining the way it tests noisy toys to make sure they aren't damaging childrens' tender ears.
Many toys seem to sing, shout, beep and wail at deafening decibels.
And the current testing method -- holding a toy at an adult arm's length -- doesn't reflect the reality that kids hold toys close to their ears, audiologists warn.
Noise-induced hearing loss is growing. Studies in the U.S. show 12.5% of children have hearing problems caused by noise in one or both ears.
Posted @ 4:11 AM
Deaf Groups Warn of TV Complaints
Commercial television networks face the possibility of potentially embarrassing discrimination lawsuits by the deaf after failing to renew an agreement that covers the captioning of programs.
Under a five-year deal signed with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission in 2003, the networks committed to increase the captioning of their content to 70per cent in exchange for an exemption from claims of discrimination.
Posted @ 4:09 AM
Deaf woman in landmark legal battle to lift jury ban
A DEAF mother of two barred from jury service because she cannot hear is to launch a landmark legal action aimed at quashing the ban.
Joan Clarke, a former factory worker from Galway who has been deaf since birth, will claim she is entitled to serve on a jury by means of a sign-language interpreter.
Ms Clarke, who wants to perform "this important civic duty", is seeking to have a decision to exclude her from jury service set aside, claiming that the blanket ban on deaf people carrying out jury duty is a breach of her rights under the Constitution and the European Convention of Human Rights.
Posted @ 4:02 AM
May 18, 2008
Graduate offers hope to tinnitus sufferers
Paul Waldon knows quite a bit about overcoming adversity.
The Manukau Institute of Technology Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) graduate overcome a broken neck and damaged hearing to achieve his degree and undertake research for a solution for other tinnitus sufferers.
Mr Waldon fell off scaffolding in 2001 he severely damaged his cervical spine. His doctor gave him two options: continue scaffolding and have another operation in five years time or find a job that doesn’t involve heavy lifting.
Posted @ 1:32 AM
Phone service lures away deaf interpreters
A new U.S.-based service helping deaf people with telephone communication is contributing to a critical shortage of sign language interpreters in B.C. because it offers better pay and flexible hours, the president of a B.C. interpreters group says.
The new technology, called video relay service, allows individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing to contact an operator through a video phone hooked up to the Internet. Operators are sign-language interpreters, so they can communicate with the deaf person and then relay the conversation to a third party over the phone.
Posted @ 1:15 AM
March 13, 2008
Deaf boxer Kalucza overcomes odds to book Olympic ticket
A young Hungarian boxer, who was born deaf, has against the odds booked his ticket to the Beijing Olympics.
Norbert Kalucza, 21, one of seven children born into a poor gypsy family from Debrecen, eastern Hungary, will compete along with the world's best in the flyweight category this summer.
Suffering from congenital deafness like most of his family members, Kalucza did not learn to speak until the age of 10.
Posted @ 8:47 AM
Class action for deaf students allegedly abused at schools
A Saskatchewan-based law firm that specializes in class actions is moving ahead with a claim on behalf of deaf students who say they were physically and sexually abused at boarding schools across Canada over four decades beginning in the mid-1950s.
The first of what lawyer Tony Merchant promises will be several claims against provincial governments was filed Tuesday in Edmonton on behalf of students who stayed at the Alberta School for the Deaf between 1955 and 1996.
Posted @ 8:44 AM
Thugs left man deaf in one ear
Thugs left a man deaf in one ear after attacking him when he confronted them for messing about with a shopping trolley.
David Haslam, aged 56, from Farnworth, smashed his head on a pavement after falling to the ground when one of the two attackers punched him in the face.
The fall caused a six-centimetre fracture to his skull and the trauma of the fall has resulted in him losing his hearing in one ear.
Posted @ 8:40 AM
Record Medical Negligence Lawsuit Over Deaf Child
The parents of a three-year-old girl who became deaf after a series of antibiotic injections at Thinadhoo Regional Hospital are suing the Ministry of Health for a record Rf 7.1 million.
A Malé doctor and several overseas paediatricians have told them the antibiotic was inappropriate in her case and was probably the cause of her hearing loss.
Posted @ 8:38 AM
Dancer provides inspiration for all
Dressed in black and sitting in the corner of the room, Tai Lihua strikes an inconspicuous pose.
The one thing that would draw people's attention to the 22-year-old is the intent of her gaze, at the gestures of the sign-language interpreter beside her.
For some, the very idea of a deaf person attending a CPPCC group discussion seems incredible, but for Tai, one of the country's most acclaimed dancers, it was just another opportunity for the voice of her heart to be heard.
Posted @ 8:37 AM
February 6, 2008
World of noise proves too much for deaf teen to bear
Nanthaporn referred to the world she entered after receiving cochlea implants three years ago.
Born profoundly deaf, Nanthaporn lived in a world with no voices until she was 16 when a public hospital doctor agreed to implant her with an artificial cochlea. Unfortunately, she didn't believe she belonged to the new world of noise introduced to her which cost her parents almost Bt1 million. "I heard all the voices but did not know their meaning," she reasoned as to why she prefers not to use an electronic device that assists her hearing.
Cochlea implantation is regarded as a safe and effective treatment for the profoundly deaf. Besides an artificial cochlea that is implanted inside the patient's ear, there is an external electronic device that sends sound-generated impulses directly to the brain and bypasses the flawed part of the inner ear.
Posted @ 2:28 AM
Human Rights Settlement Wins Hotel Visual Fire Alarms for Deaf
The Ontario Human Rights Commission has reached a settlement between the Days Hotel and Conference Centre, Toronto Airport East and hotel guest Barbara Dodd.
The settlement will see the establishment of new fire safety practices for the hotel and sets a positive example for the use of visual strobe light fire alarms for deaf, deafened and hard of hearing individuals in Ontario hotel accommodations as an important practice to be followed by the hospitality industry province-wide.
Posted @ 2:23 AM
Firm fails to give deaf man a chance
An electronics company has been ordered to pay compensation to an East Molesey man who was denied a job interview because he is deaf.
In a scathing judgment, South London Employment Tribunal said Woking-based Multipulse Electronics' decision to cancel an interview with 45-year-old Keith Wynn was "founded on the worst type of stereotypical assumptions".
Posted @ 2:18 AM
UOG professors helping to aide Guam's deaf community
Imagine this: what if you weren't able to hear the sounds around you? No music, no laughter and you probably couldn't even hear, say, a newscast either. Well, the University of Guam is trying to bring common technology used across the globe to our island in hopes of helping both the young and old open their ears through the development of a Guam cochlear implant center.
Richard Fe, an associate professor of special education at UOG, says hearing aids are a thing of the past in comparison to today's cochlear implants. Unlike a hearing aid that amplifies sound to make it loud enough for an impaired ear, a cochlear implant bypasses the damaged part of the ear and sends sound signals directly into the hearing nerve.
Posted @ 2:17 AM
January 16, 2008
Deaf driver with glass eye banned
A deaf 83-year-old motorist with a glass eye has been banned from driving for 45 days after he was caught speeding on the A9 in his new car.
Maurice Hollyfield was doing 88mph while towing a trailer on a single carriageway with a 50mph limit.
Perth Sheriff Court heard it was the second time in less than a year that the pensioner had been caught speeding.
Posted @ 7:09 AM
Japanese pop singer Ayumi Hamasaki deaf in left ear
Japanese pop icon Ayumi Hamasaki wrote on her fan club website on Friday that she would continue singing despite losing her hearing in her left ear.
Hamasaki said an ear examination last year confirmed her hearing loss.
"Despite this news, I still wish to be a singer," she wrote.
Posted @ 7:04 AM
December 28, 2007
Signing up to aid deaf
Emergency services are helping to break down the barriers experienced by members of the deaf community on Teesside.
Police, ambulance and firefighters have combined forces in a bid to boost the service they provide to people with impaired hearing.
Posters and leaflets which bear the alphabet and simple messages in sign language will be issued to staff and displayed in custody and reception areas.
Posted @ 8:34 AM
December 17, 2007
VCC offers free sign language sessions to help families communicate
Family members who want to communicate better
with a deaf adult relative can learn the skills and subtle body language of
American Sign Language (ASL) at Vancouver Community College for free. The
course will be offered on Wednesday evenings for 15 weeks, beginning Jan. 16.
Vincent Chauvet, VCC department head of ASL and deaf studies, says fully
90 per cent of adults with deaf children never learn to sign. As children
become adults and families become larger, the need for a course designed
specifically to help families improve communication becomes greater.
Posted @ 9:38 PM
A musical miracle: the deaf flautists of Sivas
Against all odds a group of deaf students, under the baton of teacher Umut Yaymak, have formed a flute ensemble.
Students at the Buruciye Primary School for the Hearing Impaired in Sivas are getting flute lessons with the help of a special technique developed by Yaymak.
Although actually on the staff of the Ahmet Kutsi Tecer Primary School, Yaymak was assigned to Buruciye to give extra lessons there. He developed an exclusive system for the deaf students, teaching them notes and technique. He also plans to teach them other instruments such as the organ and bağlama.
Posted @ 9:36 PM
November 28, 2007
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
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
'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
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
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
November 6, 2007
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
November 5, 2007
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
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
October 27, 2007
Not Enough Being Done To Treat Tinnitus
Cliff Weale of Iver in Buckinghamshire has suffered from the same ‘high pitched rushing sound’ for ten years. Like many other sufferers of tinnitus, he says it has affected everything in his life and feels that little is done to alleviate the problem. Cliff can only hope that one day there will be enough research funding to end the nightmare once and for all.
Cliff, 60, said, “The tinnitus is mostly in my left ear, but often in both ears, and is much worse at night. It becomes even more unbearable when I wake first thing or if I wake in the night, like someone trying to bore into my skull. Sleep seems to exacerbate my tinnitus.”
Posted @ 3:57 PM
Blind, deaf and fearless
Organizers of the current United Way Campaign were looking for inspirational speakers and turned to Penny Leclair, who at first demurred, and then decide: What the heck? "Life doesn't scare me anymore. Whatever it is, I'll cope with it."
Penny is in her 50s, blind, deaf, and inspirational. Last week, she took her message to the Citizen's conference centre and gave the paper's staff a quick lesson in attitude. One of her listeners summed up the performance with one word. "Wow!"
Posted @ 3:36 PM
Man Left Deaf In One Ear After Nightclub Assault
A city nightclubber was left permanently deaf in one ear after he was punched in an unprovoked attack.
Richard Dalgleish was hit by another man while in the queue for the city's Timepiece nightclub in May.
He suffered a fracture to the base of his skull which has left him deaf in his left ear and suffering from tinnitus - a ringing noise in the ears.
Posted @ 3:31 PM
October 19, 2007
London young deaf riders project wins award
The London Cycling Campaign has named Ealing’s Signing In Deaf Club as the 2007 Best Cycling Initiative for Children in its annual awards. Signing In Deaf’s training sessions helped many deaf children ride a bike for the first time, and helped others improve their cycling skills.
It is one of four projects – out of 25 nominees - that have won London Cycling Awards, which recognise the best contributions to the increase in cycling in London. The awards were presented at LCC’s annual general meeting on Tuesday October 16.
Posted @ 8:49 AM
Israeli role model program for deaf-blind children draws worldwide attention
One of the most important therapeutic tools for helping children with Usher Syndrome - the leading cause of deaf-blindness in Israel - may be role models who have the same condition.
A unique program initiated, developed and run by the Center for Deaf-Blind Persons in Tel Aviv, pairs children who have Usher Syndrome with mentors in their twenties who have the same syndrome, which involves congenital hearing loss and a progressive, degenerative eye disease. By setting a positive example, the mentors help tens of children each year - both Jews and Arabs - build self-confidence and learn to cope with the obstacles of their situation.
Posted @ 8:46 AM
Health Manual for the deaf
Despite medical and technological advances, many communities in the world still lack access to comprehensive health information and medical care. This problem is even more pronounced for persons who have disabilities. Special needs communities are generally ignored by the mainstream HIV awareness . This include many deaf people who are ignored by traditional information sources such as radio and TV.
Posted @ 8:44 AM
October 15, 2007
Ever tried lipreading 'Happy Feet'?
If the Federal Government likes to live dangerously, there is a good example in the deal stitched up last month between the Democrats’ Senator Natasha Stott Despoja and Communications Minister Helen Coonan.
The deal came about after Senator Stott Despoja tabled a motion to call for an inquiry into the state of electronic media captioning for the millions of Australians who are deaf and hearing impaired.
Posted @ 6:13 AM
Husband hacks to death deaf and dumb wife, daughter
A 22-year-old deaf and dumb woman and her three-year-old daughter have been hacked to death allegedly by her husband at Kurumpatty village in this district.
The bodies of Anuradha and her daughter Deepa, with their throats cut open, were found last evening in a bushy ditch near the village following which her husband Chinnasamy(40) was arrested, police said.
Posted @ 6:10 AM
Deaf employee's qualification is a first in Surrey
A profoundly deaf electrician who has worked at Alexander Dennis Ltd in Guildford for the past 25 years has become the only deaf person in Surrey to achieve an advanced City and Guilds qualification in the requirements of electrical installations.
Mark Kelsey, who has been deaf since birth, joined the company, the largest bus builder in the UK, in 1983, making him one of the firm’s longest-serving disabled workers. Alexander Dennis also employs an amputee.
Posted @ 5:57 AM
Deaf Blind Dog Search Continues
The search for a deaf and blind dog of 18, which has fallen down a hole on a south Wales' hillside is continuing sporadically into the night.
Rescuers are using their hands, pick axes and shovels to try to reach Jack Russell cross Sprogget, who vanished under old mine workings in Torfaen.
Rescuers have heard him whimpering under the ground on British Hill between Pantygasseg and Varteg.
Posted @ 5:55 AM
October 9, 2007
Deaf people being left on the outer
A shortage of sign language interpreters means as many as 7700 deaf people are struggling to access services in their communities.
Deaf Association national services manager Tony Blackett said there was a "clear and definite" shortage of interpreters, and this meant that deaf people found it difficult to connect with their communities.
Posted @ 3:54 AM
Signing for deaf at meeting
In recognition of it being Deaf Awareness Week, the Rotary Club of Makino ensured the specially invited profoundly deaf in the audience at last week's Meet the Candidates meeting in Feilding were well-catered for.
Interpreter Tania Davidson and communicator Nichelle Hughes took turns to sign for each speaker. Ms Davidson said she tries to match the interpreter to the speaker but had no male interpreters available.
Posted @ 3:49 AM
Signs Look Good For A Deaf Thai Teenager Succeeding In Exeter
After moving thousands of miles from home to receive specialist education in Exeter, a deaf teenager has achieved one of the best grades in the country for her stunning photography.Sudarat Makeshine gave up the chance of going to university in her native Thailand so she could learn sign language in the UK.
The Exeter Royal Academy for Deaf Education student says moving to the city has helped her become independent.
Posted @ 3:47 AM
September 18, 2007
Hearing Aid Wait Up to 3 years
Patients are waiting between three weeks and three years for NHS hearing aids depending on where they live, according to a report.
The British Society of Hearing Aid Audiologists (BSHAA) said the average waiting time remained almost nine months, and a third of hospitals had even longer lists.
Although some hospitals reported no waiting list for those replacing analogue with digital aids, the wait was more than six months at over half of hospitals in the UK, the organisation said.
Posted @ 4:45 AM
Deaf teenager allegedly raped by father
The police need interpreters to help a 16-year-old girl, who is deaf and unable to speak, reportedly raped by her father and now pregnant, in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental.
Kabankalan police commander, Chief Inspector Calixto Mabugat yesterday said they will get people who know sign language so they can understand the testimony of the minor who was endorsed to them by her teachers Friday after being reportedly sexually-molested by her father in the last three years. The girl, whose name is being withheld, was repeatedly raped by her father since she was 13 years old, reports said.
Posted @ 4:22 AM
August 22, 2007
I'm not deaf, you're mumbling!
Have you ever been out somewhere that's a bit noisy, and found yourself having to yell at the person next to you, or resorting to hand gesture and signals to communicate?
It's Hearing Awareness Week, and Sue Ward, administrative officer with the Wimmera Hearing Society, says that hearing problems in western Victoria are 'very, very common.'
"During the last 12 months, we've screened over 4,000 people, and we've identified 1,200 who need to go to the doctor," she says.
Posted @ 8:16 AM
August 16, 2007
Health care plea for deaf people
The Royal National Institute for the Deaf said there were no specialist services for deaf people in Scotland. Currently, those with acute problems have to travel to Manchester for treatment.
The charity said deaf people are four times more likely to develop mental health problems than those with normal hearing.
The last time the Scottish government reviewed services for the deaf was in 2005.
Posted @ 2:53 AM
Emergency SMS service for the mute and deaf
The Mumbai Police launched an emergency SMS number for the mute and the deaf. The number – 9320200100 — will not be toll free like 100.
Speaking with DNA, Joint Commissioner Police (Administration), Hemant Karkare said, “We had a high-level meeting internally about how to reach all the sections of the society.
Posted @ 2:45 AM
July 26, 2007
Bringing footy gift to the deaf
Remember the great Frank Hyde? I think of Frank and hear "It's long enough, it's high enough, it's right between the posts''.
Frank's trademark description is rugby league legend, and he coined it because of a blind man, Len Hallett - who sold pencils in George Street. Len once told Frank "you are my eyes''.
Posted @ 10:55 AM
July 22, 2007
World's Largest Family With Inherited Hearing Loss
Hidden deep in China's Jiangsu Province, far off the beaten track, there is a small village with a very large family. The family, while known for its size, has instead become the subject of research because of a hearing loss passed down over its generations.
After more than 20 years of clinical and molecular genetic research, medical experts from Jiangsu Province have only recently straightened out the family's clinical characteristics, genetic phenotype, and the mutant factors causing the loss of hearing.
Posted @ 7:51 AM
Technology gives right signs for deaf people
A WELSH not-for-profit company has developed technology to help deaf people communicate with people in the hearing community.
The video telephony product was launched at BT’s data centre in Cardiff Bay yesterday by SignWales , a Cardiff-based social enterprise set up by the Deaf Association of Wales and Deaf Studies Trust.
It will allow deaf people to communicate with each other in sign language at a distance and also to talk with the hearing community through the use of online interpreters.
Posted @ 7:50 AM
Takoma Park woman chosen for World Deaf Volleyball Championships
Serve. Set. Spike. For Ludmila Mounty-Weinstock, the language of volleyball is universal, even for the deaf.
The Takoma Park resident and 21-year-old junior at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., was chosen along with 14 others — seven are current Gallaudet students — to make up the USA Deaf Volleyball Team, a group that uses American Sign Language to call plays and communicate with the coach and teammates.
That team, including Mounty-Weinstock, will participate in the World Deaf Volleyball Championships next summer in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and 12 of them will go on to play in the Summer Deaflympics in September 2009 in Taipei, Taiwan.
Posted @ 7:48 AM
July 19, 2007
New technology transforming life for the deaf
Multi-function phones, webcams and other new technological innovations have transformed the lives of the hard of hearing, delegates at an international congress of the deaf said on Tuesday.
"Technology is important for the deaf community. There's the Internet, webcams, email, SMS and chat systems," said Amparo Minguet, director of training at the institute for the deaf in the eastern city of Valencia.
Posted @ 6:52 AM
World without sound
I'd always taken my voice and hearing for granted. Whenever I needed a pen or someone to hold a door, I merely asked. However, as my group began its interactive tour of the newly opened Invitation to Silence exhibit at the Israel Children's Museum in Holon, I suddenly lost this luxury. Handing us headsets that would muffle all noise, the staff organizer explained that for the next 90 minutes we we'd be forbidden to speak - an intimidating thought. As our group of 12 journalists, some of whom had brought their children, was escorted into the introductory room, a loud clatter of screaming voices was our send-off into the world of silence. Our deaf guide, Alon Zino, then led us into the next room through a series of friendly hand gestures.
Posted @ 6:49 AM
July 16, 2007
Government agency funds adult content programming for the deaf
A government body has granted an adult broadcaster a subsidy to provide sign-language translations for a news program in which the presenter doubles as a stripper, stirring controversy among handicapped people and others.
The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), an affiliate of the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, provided about 150,000 yen in subsidies to Paradise Television Inc. to help pay for its sign-language translations for hearing-impaired viewers of "Hadaka no News Station" (Naked News Station) from October 2006 to March this year.
Posted @ 6:09 AM
Postman kicked deaf dog then fought owner
A postman has been sentenced for kicking a dog and fighting with its owner.
Michael Crowley, of New Road, in Anderton, faces a curfew after being found guilty of assault by beating and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.
The 33-year-old appeared at Vale Royal Magistrates' Court on Wednesday after the incident, which happened in December last year, and was convicted after an earlier trial.
Posted @ 6:06 AM
Chinese dancer crowned Miss Deaf World 2007
China's Bao Qingling, who superbly interpreted a tragic Chinese love story has been crowned Miss Deaf World 2007 held in Prague, the state press reported on Sunday.
Bao beat 18 other deaf girls from 18 countries that had competed in the annual pageant on Saturday.
Posted @ 6:03 AM
More can be done to engage the deaf
In order for the deaf to participate in building a better tomorrow, we must do more and better now. We must incorporate their perspectives, their ideas, their skills and energy. Not just as beneficiaries of programmes, but also as participants in defining and carrying out such programmes. We must confront the inequalities and social issues that fuel deaf stigmas.
The stigma associated with the deaf is sometimes so harsh; some parents have hidden deaf children at home to avoid embarrassment while other people think deaf people are dumb, abnormal or mad.
Posted @ 5:54 AM
EU project gives hope to the deaf and hard of hearing
EU-funded researchers are making great inroads into understanding the genetic causes of hearing loss, paving the way for new diagnostic tools and treatments for the 10% of the EU population that suffers from a hearing impairment.
The EuroHear project partners have identified half of the known genes for deafness, and their work is already having an impact on patients with the development of diagnostic tools to identify which gene is causing the problem in a particular individual.
Posted @ 5:51 AM
July 9, 2007
Deaf community to benefit from Freeview
Deaf community to benefit from Freeview functionality. Tens of thousands of hearing impaired people throughout the country stand to benefit from a Freeview approved set top box, which enables the recording of captions on either a VCR or a DVD recording device.
People can currently view captions via Teletext for many shows but are unable to record them, which prevents them from watching them later. Innovative technology within the Zinwell box, however, enables people to record both the show and captions at the same time.
Posted @ 4:33 AM
South Africa: Mixed Response to DSTV Deaf Plan
MULTICHOICE's decision to cater for deaf people by including subtitles in its bouquet, announced last week, has received mixed reactions from deaf personalities who are concerned that its reach will be limited to the rich.
A small group of deaf and hard of hearing people, nominated by DeafSA, is testing subtitling software on the DStv personal video recorder.
Posted @ 4:28 AM
A.V. Israel helps officials hear the demands of the deaf
The time has passed when a child was doomed to living an isolated existence because he or she is hearing impaired. Digital cochlear implants, which are now in the basket of health services even for qualified adults, have brought about a revolution.
And in Israel, their successful use is the result of 13 years of hard campaigning and fieldwork by A.V. Israel, a voluntary organization founded by Elaine Matlow Tal-El - the mother of twin daughters diagnosed as profoundly deaf at the age of two - along with other interested parents and friends. Today she is an active chairman of the organization, which has facilities in Jerusalem and Ra'anana.
Posted @ 4:27 AM
June 27, 2007
80% of Patients Stop Discomfort from Tinnitus
It is estimated that between 10 and 17% of the population has suffered tinnitus at some time in their lives, according to a number of international studies.
Tinnitus is understood as the perception of noise in the ears or inside the head although there is no external source of sound, without any vibratory cochlear activity taking place (which occurs when an external noise is produced). Depending on the intensity of the symptom, the patient may have their everyday life affected. In extreme cases the discomforts may make working routines impossible or negatively affect normal daily life.
Posted @ 8:14 PM
University experts come up with device for the deaf
Scientists at the University of York have helped a national hearing charity - by designing special phone boxes for dogs.
Experts from the university's department of electronics created the devices to be used during the training of dogs by Hearing Dogs For Deaf People, which has a training centre at Cliffe, near Selby.
The special phone boxes can be connected to ordinary household phones so dogs can learn to respond to the sound and alert deaf people.
Posted @ 8:05 PM
The growing importance of learning English
The Northern Ireland branch of The National Deaf Children's Society announces that, because of major renovation work at the Ulster Museum, the annual Young Authors and Artists Prize Day will be held next Wednesday at Belfast City Hall. The ceremony begins at 11am but refreshments will be available from 10.30am.
The old essay competition, as it used to be called, now involves most of the schools and hearing impaired units in the province and has been expanded to include prizes in art as well as writing for the 500 deaf and hearing impaired children in our schools.
Posted @ 8:02 PM
The deaf speak
The president of the Botswana Association of the Deaf (BOAD), Maggie Mapharing says she will raise the issue of communication breakdown at the up-coming conference on 'Deaf Women and HIV/AIDS in Africa' in South Africa.
Mapharing said that when the conference commences this week - June 21 to 23 - in Johannesburg, South Africa she would raise issues that affect them as deaf women in Botswana. She said that deaf women are marginalised because they are not able to communicate effectively with health care providers.
Posted @ 7:59 PM
June 19, 2007
Hearing loss gene identified
Scientists claim to have discovered the gene responsible for the most common form of hearing loss among white adults.
The discovery is said to be important as it could pave the way towards finding new treatments for hearing loss.
Known as otosclerosis, the condition affects about one in 250 people and is caused by an interaction of genetic and environmental factors.
Posted @ 9:52 AM
Deaf athlete John set to run for his country
A teenager who lost his hearing when he was a toddler is getting on his marks to sprint for Britain.
John Ruddy, 16, has been selected to run at the European Deaf Athletics Championships in Bulgaria next month.
The teenager has already won the UK title for deaf athletes over 200m and has been awarded 56 medals since he took up the sport at the age of 12.
Posted @ 9:50 AM
Deaf DJ Harcor Prepares to Make Some Noise
Following the hit movie It’s All Gone Pete Tong, a real life deaf DJs is about to rock the crowds by feeling the vibrations of the music...
Spencer Collins loves dance music, clubbing and DJing as much as any other aspiring DJ, with only one particular difference – he’s been deaf since birth.
But this hasn’t stopped him being on the verge of his first public gig under the name DJ Harcor. In fact, it may well have helped him get there.
Posted @ 9:45 AM
'For years, I refused to admit I was going deaf'
Stuck in a traffic jam, Jean Lawrence glanced up at her rear view mirror - and the strangest thing happened. "I heard the woman in the car behind me talking," says the 60-year-old, with a laugh.
"I knew I couldn't have; it was impossible. That's when I realised I'd lip read what she said - and my brain had added the sound. So what people had been telling me was right: I was losing my hearing. "For a long time I'd said 'No, no, that's not happening to me'. But that day, in the car, was the moment of truth."
Posted @ 9:44 AM
Deaf-mute but still a hero
A deaf and mute youth as a lead actor in a film? It sounds unreal since this has probably never happened in India's 94-year-old film industry.
But in a forthcoming Kannada movie, Snehanjali , 25-year-old Dhruv, congenitally impaired of speech and hearing abilities, has pulled off the unimaginable feat of acting in a lead role. Dhruv has lip-synced dialogues and songs with such ease and dexterity that viewers fail to realise that he has never spoken or heard a sound in his entire life.
Posted @ 9:44 AM
May 26, 2007
Deaf man's home is wrecked by burglars
A deaf Manton man returned home from a night out to find his house had been ransacked and flooded by burglars. Jamie Potts, who has been deaf since birth, has been left devastated after finding his home wrecked and his daughter’s toys stolen.
His uncle, John Potts, says his nephew has been to upset to speak about the matter and added that he didn’t deserve what happened.
Posted @ 7:28 AM
Child deaf-mutes sold to China pickpocket ring
Chinese police have detained the vice-principal of a school for deaf-mutes and other special needs children for selling 10 students to a ring that trained them to become pickpockets, the Guizhou Metropolitan Daily reported.
Police rescued the victims, the youngest of whom was 12, in Jiangxi and Henan provinces this month, the online edition of the newspaper said.
Posted @ 7:24 AM
Deaf people not well served by Liberals
The province is failing in its role in ensuring all citizens are treated equally by dismantling American Sign Language programs and support services for deaf and hard of hearing children. The erosion of these services - in favour of oral or auditory-verbal programs - flies in the face of a court decision in 1989 that extended the right to the deaf to have ASL taught in classrooms.
Posted @ 7:21 AM
Teachers Trained to Improve Education for the Deaf
Twenty-four teachers educating deaf learners have embarked on a five-day training course to support the development of inclusive education in South Africa.
The training workshop is an agreement between the Swedish and South African governments to support the Programme of Development of Inclusive Education in the country.
Posted @ 7:20 AM
March 27, 2007
Deaf robber jailed for targeting shops
A deaf man who robbed shops at knifepoint has been jailed for seven years.
The tough sentence comes just days after thousands of pounds was stolen from a building society by knife robbers.
Cash was scattered across the street as raiders fled from the Nationwide Building Society on Tuesday.
Posted @ 7:23 AM
Too deaf to face justice
An ailing 86-year-old charged with abducting a young girl will not face a trial - because he cannot hear the evidence.
Benjamin Fisher, who is profoundly deaf in one ear and has limited hearing in the other, also has little sight.
Now a Newcastle Crown Court judge has stopped the case as Fisher cannot give instructions to his defence team.
Posted @ 7:21 AM
Woman commits suicide with her deaf and dumb daughter in garden
A young woman set herself and her seven year old daughter afire in public garden in the Vastrapur area. She has left a long suicide note alleging harassment from her husband and in-laws.
The woman Praveena lived in Abhinandan apartment of Vadaj area. She went all the way to Vastrapur area late last night and committed suicide by pouring petrol over her body. She had her seven year old daughter Dhvani in her arms. Both died.
Posted @ 7:20 AM
NPO gives deaf chefs a hand
A nonprofit organization in Kagoshima has opened a workshop for people with hearing impairments so that they can produce and sell steamed buns and crepes.
"We hope to explore the untapped ability of each worker," said Rie Sawada, head of Deaf Net Kagoshima. "We also hope our customers realize they can communicate with hearing impaired people."
Posted @ 7:13 AM
Goonga Hotel — a rendezvous for the deaf and mute
LAHORE: The Goonga Hotel on Temple Road is a rendezvous for the physically and mentally challenged people.
People from various walks of life visit the hotel to enjoy hot tea and see the dumb and deaf communicating in sign language. The hotel was set up about 70 years ago. It gained popularity due to good quality of tea being offered here.
Posted @ 7:12 AM
February 24, 2007
Deaf boy robbed at gunpoint
A CALLOUS thug robbed a deaf boy and his teenaged brother at gunpoint in Stretford.
The deaf 12-year-old boy and his older brother were attacked as they walked home along Barton Road, near to the junction of Winster Avenue, at about 9.30pm on Tuesday.
Posted @ 5:42 AM
Tributes to sports fanatic who loved life
FRIENDS and family have paid tribute to a fun-loving sportsman who collapsed and died after playing in a football match.
Martyn Burton, aged 31, who was deaf, had been playing in a cup match for Manchester Deaf FC at Bridgend near Cardiff on February 4. But 90 minutes after the game ended, he collapsed.
Posted @ 5:36 AM
Signing row lands deaf man in court
A DEAF man arrested after police mistook sign language for an obscene gesture has lost his court battle for compensation.
Shaun Phuprate, of Town End Farm, was handcuffed and hauled before magistrates for making a two-finger salute at officers in Sunderland.
The now 26-year-old insisted he was making the sign for "I am deaf" and had not been rude.
Posted @ 5:35 AM
Big Brother’s a big bully says deaf man
A DEAF man has claimed he was unfairly discriminated against because of his disability at a Big Brother audition on Saturday.
Paul Cripps, 25, of Baker's Arms, Leyton, queued for more than four hours with thousands of other people at the ExCel Centre, in the Docklands, hoping to take part in the Channel 4 show.
Posted @ 5:25 AM
February 8, 2007
Films give hearing impaired chance to voice their problems
What started out as experimentation in film-making for a group of differently abled people, managed to achieve much more. Apart from ‘voicing their problems’, two films made by Vadodara-based 33-year old Rajesh Ketkar and his friends Virbahdrasinh Rathod and Kiran Kumar ‘Deaf Issues’ and `Family’_ were screened and awarded at the World Deaf Expo-2007, held in Coimbatore last month.
Posted @ 8:16 AM
Deaf studies centre launched
The country's first international centre of excellence in deaf studies is opened at the University of Central Lancashire today.
The International Centre for Sign Language and Deaf Studies (iSLanDS) will conduct research to document many global sign languages for the first time, as well as develop programmes to provide deaf students in developing countries with the same higher education opportunities as the UK deaf students it will engage with.
Posted @ 8:05 AM
January 29, 2007
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
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
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
January 17, 2007
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
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 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
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
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
December 26, 2006
Mobile phones aid for deaf children
Deaf children will now be able to communicate with their families by telephone, thanks to a donation by a telecom company.
MTC-Vodafone (Bahrain) donated 100 third generation (3G) video mobile telephones to hearing impaired children at the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Hearing and Speech Development Centre, Sanad, yesterday.
Posted @ 7:24 AM
Kinny brings theatre to life for the deaf
As a child, it was a puppet show that first fired Edinburgh-born actor Kinny Gardner's love of theatre and opera.
Now based in Brighton, where he runs the acclaimed children's theatre company, Krazy Kat, the 47-year-old recalls, "I remember getting the bus to the West End and going to see Purves Puppets. They were doing a production of an obscure Gilbert and Sullivan opera called Thespis, performed with glove puppets. That was what sparked my love of opera and theatre.
Posted @ 7:20 AM
Teeing off for the deaf
MORE than 100 golfers are expected to come together next month to raise money for special devices that will give the gift of hearing to eight deaf Bahraini children.
The Rotary Club of Adliya is hoping that through the Bahrain Golf Invitational (BGI) 2007 it will be able to raise BD80,000 for special devices known as cochlear implants, which sell for approximately BD10,000 each.
Posted @ 7:14 AM
December 12, 2006
Toys that make children go deaf
Noisy toys can harm children's hearing, it was claimed yesterday. Fourteen out of 15 tested by charity Deafness Research UK produced noise levels above the recommended safety limit of 85 decibels when close to the ear.
Posted @ 5:54 AM
Police in text-it deal to help deaf
The plan is part of a raft of measures being brought in by Hertfordshire Constabulary as part of a new disability equality scheme.
Other measures include ensuring new police stations, such as that planned for Hatfield, are fully accessible to both staff and the public who have disabilities.
Posted @ 5:50 AM
November 18, 2006
Housing association launches new service for deaf residents
With the support of the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID), ASRA Greater London Housing Association has launched a specialist telephone service for its deaf and speech impaired tenants.
Posted @ 3:12 AM
Breaking the seal of silence
The Rotary Club of East Nassau recently presented thirty hearing impaired children throughout the Bahamas with new hearing aids and hearing aid replacements. As the children gathered in Doctors Hospital's conference rooms to be fitted with molds for their new hearing aids, or replacement hearing aids, the excitement could be felt in the air.
Posted @ 3:05 AM
Suffolk's amazing haul
Deaf athlete Cristine Suffolk has continued her amazing medal winning performances, picking up five medals, including four gold at the 2006 Masters Games in Alice Springs.
Suffolk dominated the 35-39 year age group at the titles.
Posted @ 3:02 AM
Deaf and dumb cry foul in Sierra Leone
An eight-man delegation of deaf and dumb persons, led by Chairman of the Deaf Welfare Organization (DWO), Alhaji Lahai Vangahun, last week-end, stormed the Awareness Times offices in tears, complaining of an alleged act of injustice by police personnel at the Adelaide Street and Central Police Stations respectively, for refusing to grant bail to nine of their numbers who were recently arrested.
Posted @ 2:59 AM
November 13, 2006
Deaf author to be illuminated on stage
Australia’s only professional theatre company for the deaf is putting on a play about Australia’s most celebrated, if reclusive, deaf writer.
Crime thriller writer Patricia Carlon produced 14 crime novels between 1961-70 to widespread international acclaim. While relatively neglected in her home country, she won comparisons in the UK to the queens of the genre, like Patricia Highsmith and Ruth Rendell.
Posted @ 6:41 AM
Hearing-impaired force a hearing
Members of the National Association for the Deaf (NAD) held a demonstration outside the office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (CCPD) to protest against the denial of allotment of civil services to the three hearing impaired candidates who cleared the all-India civil services examination.
Posted @ 6:27 AM
Hijacking leaves deaf pre-schoolers stranded
Fifteen deaf pre-schoolers have been forced to miss out on school for the past two weeks after their school bus was hi-jacked in Mfuleni, minutes after the driver dropped off the last pupil.
Posted @ 6:27 AM
Cathryn speaks out for deaf people
Cathryn King is aiming to make life a little easier for deaf people by improving the services they receive.
The 33-year-old entrepreneur, who has a degree in deaf studies and linguistics, has launched her own business called Communication Station.
Posted @ 6:25 AM
SABC sign language interpreters criticised
The South African Human Rights Commission has opened an inquiry into the “incorrect” use of sign language by SABC interpreters after a complaint by DeafSA.
Posted @ 6:03 AM
November 5, 2006
Aid for the deaf is sign of times
On the retirement of our old doctor just over a year ago we decided it was time to move to a practice nearer home and are now enrolled at Kerrsland Surgery in Ballyhackamore, Belfast.
I was there the other day for a routine blood test and was struck again by the way reception and other staff are trying very hard to practise deaf awareness and help relieve the stress of getting medical help.
Posted @ 12:33 PM
October 26, 2006
Deaf musician's charity gig
Being deaf makes Alan Higgins an unlikely musician. However, the South Norwood guitarist is using his knowledge of music to organise a charity rock gig in aid of breast cancer sufferers.
Posted @ 5:46 AM
Deaf lawyer is denied interpreter in court
A deaf lawyer has won a landmark settlement against a Peterborough court which refused to allow him the use of a sign language interpreter.
Posted @ 5:45 AM
Global deaf fury hits London
British students join the global debate over heavy-handed US police treatment after more than a hundred students are arrested at a deaf institution, STEVE EMERY was on hand to witness the protest.
Posted @ 5:39 AM
Northern Irish scheme to boost deaf access to live shows
A scheme to increase access to live performances for the deaf and hearing-impaired has been launched in Northern Ireland by development agency Audiences NI.
Although theatre venues in the province regularly programme signed performances for the 219,000 people registered as deaf or hard of hearing in the region, which represents one in seven of the total population, the new initiative, In the Loop, will look at how those events are marketed to their target audiences.
Posted @ 5:38 AM
Speeding ticket for deaf and blind man
Stunned Martyn Styles has been sent a £60 speeding fine - even though he cannot drive because he is deaf and blind.
Police say Martyn, 42, who has never even sat behind the wheel of a car, was caught in a speed trap doing 36mph in a 30mph zone.
Posted @ 5:34 AM
October 19, 2006
RNID welcomes the increase of subtitling on BBC parliament
Leading charity RNID, welcomes yesterday's announcement from the BBC (Monday 16th October), that it is increasing subtitling provision on the BBC Parliament channel. An increase from 450 hours of output per year to 810 has been confirmed, meaning deaf and hard of hearing people will have greater access to important debates in Parliament.
Posted @ 8:03 AM
Cameras focus on city's deaf school
Pupils at Donaldson's school for the deaf are to be the stars of a fly-on-the-wall documentary. Camera crews will spend up to 18 months following pupils as they prepare for a move from the school's historic home in Edinburgh's West End to a new purpose-built facility in Linlithgow.
Posted @ 7:59 AM
October 16, 2006
York welfare woe for deaf student
A deaf student is launching an appeal against City of York Council after it suddenly stopped her housing benefit - and demanded she repay nearly £2,000.
Louise Moody, 25, also receives incapacity benefit because her disability means she needs extra cash for her university studies.
Posted @ 3:55 AM
October 12, 2006
New service is hear to help deaf people
Deaf rights were given a huge boost after Wakefield Council unveiled its new communication and interpreting service. This means deaf people from across the district will now have access to council sign language interpreters, who will attend pre-booked appointments with places such as banks, doctors and solicitors.
Posted @ 6:13 PM
No funds for deaf OVC, says school head
The Government of Swaziland’s effort to ensure every child gets education by paying school fees for orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) seems to be taken for granted.
Pupils of the School for the Deaf in Siteki were informed that their fees could not be paid for since they were benefiting a lot from government.
Posted @ 6:11 PM
Hearing Concern has adopted Text-Connect™ to aid communication between its help desk
Hearing Concern has adopted Text-Connect™ to aid communication between its Help desk and deaf and hard of hearing clients. Hearing Concern are a national charity dedicated to improving the quality of life for people who are deaf or hard of hearing by providing advice, information and support, promoting communication access and raising public and professional awareness of the issues associated with hearing loss.
Posted @ 5:58 PM
Hearing Concern has adopted Text-Connect™ to aid communication between its help desk
Hearing Concern has adopted Text-Connect™ to aid communication between its Help desk and deaf and hard of hearing clients. Hearing Concern are a national charity dedicated to improving the quality of life for people who are deaf or hard of hearing by providing advice, information and support, promoting communication access and raising public and professional awareness of the issues associated with hearing loss.
Posted @ 5:58 PM
Hearing Concern has adopted Text-Connect™ to aid communication between its help desk
Hearing Concern has adopted Text-Connect™ to aid communication between its Help desk and deaf and hard of hearing clients. Hearing Concern are a national charity dedicated to improving the quality of life for people who are deaf or hard of hearing by providing advice, information and support, promoting communication access and raising public and professional awareness of the issues associated with hearing loss.
Posted @ 5:58 PM
Sign of times
The Council is now offering a free British Sign Language (BSL) interpreting service on demand at Kensington Town Hall. The borough has installed a direct video link to skilled BSL interpreters enabling anyone to an effective three-way conversation with staff at Kensington Town Hall.
Posted @ 5:51 PM
Deaf burned by smoke alarm costs: hearing society
The Canadian Hearing Society's target for a special dart tournament in Ottawa is to raise awareness about a potential hazard: How people with hearing problems respond to smoke alarms.
Posted @ 5:49 PM
October 2, 2006
Soldier claims £40k for losing hearing
An ex-soldier who claims that firing guns has damaged his hearing is demanding £40,000 compensation. Barry Tamburrini, 32, insists ear protection provided was inadequate and the Ministry of Defence didn't warn him of possible harm.
Posted @ 10:12 AM
Phonak acquisition makes it world number one
Swiss hearing aid company Phonak is to buy the ReSound group from the Danish firm GN Store Nord for SFr3.3 billion ($2.63 billion).The deal will create a "global powerhouse" in hearing healthcare, Phonak said in a statement on Monday.
Posted @ 10:08 AM
Help your firm reach 9million deaf customers
You may not think your business needs deaf awareness training but it will soon be a legal requirement for many receptionists, shop assistants, supervisors and managers.
Posted @ 10:07 AM
Opera House unveils Grand improvements
The Grand Opera House's new programme of events and brochure design was unveiled in the Malmaison Hotel in Belfast last Thursday.
Theatre director John Botteley outlined all the additional facilities that visitors can enjoy when the building reopens in October: four additional bars, a new eaterie called Luciano's and improved access to all floors will complement a mouth-watering programme of events.
Posted @ 10:00 AM
September 27, 2006
She matches steps, without music
Self belief can make impossible things possible. An astonishing exemplar is 23-year-old Bhumika Pujari who matches steps; dances to Garba tunes much better than many trained dancers despite being deaf and dumb by birth.
Posted @ 6:39 AM
August 28, 2006
Role models help deaf kids build life skills
A groundbreaking Deaf Role Model Project organised by the National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS) will be launched next Wednesday, August 30, with an informal lunch session in the dining room at Wilton House, College Square, Belfast, from 12.30 to 1.30pm.
Posted @ 9:05 AM
Deaf June starts a pet project
A profoundly deaf woman has set up her own pet care service. June Crisp, who was born deaf, uses the text service on her mobile phone, email and fax to offer pet sitting, dog walking and small animal care.
Posted @ 9:02 AM
Ran back into fire to save deaf daughter
A pregnant woman has told how she dragged her deaf daughter through a window to safety from their burning home yesterday.
Tracy Pannell had escaped the home with five of her children when she realised Rebekah, 8, had been unable to hear the commotion of the early morning emergency. She was asleep in the 130-year-old Mannum home.
Posted @ 8:58 AM
Deaf Canadians to get interpreters for federal services
Deaf Canadians said they've scored a major victory in the courts over the issue of government services for the hearing-impaired.
Posted @ 8:56 AM
Bridging the gap for the deaf
Goh Soo Leng can communicate in four languages, but she only speaks in three. For the fourth she uses her hands. It is known as the Malaysian Sign Language or Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia.
Posted @ 8:56 AM
Deaf boy’s win is reel achievement
A Carshalton teenager has made it to the regional finals of the National Lottery Awards 2006 for making cinema-going accessible to thousands of hearing and visually impaired people.
Dean Rhodes Brandon, who lives in Green Wrythe Lane, is one of four finalists in the south east of England to be nominated for the awards, which recognise successful lottery-funded initiatives.
Posted @ 8:55 AM
Shayli meets fellow deaf children
Teisha Robinson thinks that the whole of Thursday Island probably knows about the recent conference she and husband Sean attended in Sydney.
For the first time, their little girl Shayli was able to meet other children just like her – children who are deaf and wear hearing aids.
Posted @ 8:50 AM
August 18, 2006
Celebration night ends in deaf man brutally attacked
A celebration for workers at Toys R Us ended in tragedy when a deaf man was brutally beaten in an apparently motiveless attack. The 35-year-old victim has been left in hospital with bleeding to his brain after being stamped unconscious by a gang of six men.
Posted @ 5:38 AM
ASBO the answer for disruptive deaf man?
A DISTRICT councillor has urged his counterparts to look at placing an ASBO on a 53-year-old man to stop him disrupting public meetings. John Parker, who is profoundly deaf, has abused councillors at Failsworth and Hollinwood area committee meetings and was spoken to informally by a police inspector for causing disruption at a recent gathering.
Posted @ 5:31 AM
Bihar girl wins British Open Deaf Tennis Championship
A 17-year old girl from Bihar has won the British Open Deaf Tennis Championship - a first by an Indian. Patna's Shilpi Jaiswal won the under-18 championship title Saturday at Nottingham, Britain. She defeated Sweden's Fatima Tebibel in straight sets 6-2, 6-1 in the final.
Posted @ 5:22 AM
Union head reacts to layoffs at school for deaf
The head of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees says the province must come up with early retirement packages for people being laid off at the School for the Deaf in St. John's.
Posted @ 5:21 AM
Polish four 'in churchyard gang rape' of deaf woman
A deaf woman was brutally gang raped in a cemetery by a group of four Polish men who had come to Yorkshire for work, a jury has heard.
The woman, aged 36, believed her last drink in a pub in York might have been spiked, affecting her before one of the men led her from the bar in the early hours.
Posted @ 5:19 AM
A dumb and deaf girl drowned in a river at Anyinasu
Zakina Dauda, 10, a deaf and dumb girl, got drowned in River Woromso at Anyinasu near Tepa in the Ahafo-Ano North District last Sunday. According to police source, the girl fell into the river that has become stagnant at Anyinasu on the 45- kilometre Tepa/Mankraso road because a culver designed to drain the river across the road has been choked with silt.
Posted @ 5:18 AM
More avenues being considered for deaf viewers
Officials at TV6 are examining the issue of closed captioning and live deaf interpretation for the evening news, says TV6 General Manager Shida Bolai.
In a Sunday Express interview Bolai said that the station, launched back in 1991, had previously introduced a closed captioning system for the news that gave main headlines and information from the Teleprompter, though not the details in the reporter's stories.
Posted @ 5:17 AM
July 6, 2006
Sonic boom damages deaf children society's facilities
Israeli Occupation Forces damaged the Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children's facilities in Gaza City during IOF's implementation of "Operation Summer Rain."
When Israeli warplanes caused massive sonic booms and nearby explosions in air strikes, the Palestinian NGO's building windows shattered. As a result, several deaf vocational trainees were injured from the shattered glass.
Posted @ 12:33 AM
Deaf community bonds at festival
Keg throwing. Mud wrestling. Pole climbing. Flying axes. No, not spring break. Those are all featured activities this weekend at the Eastern Deaf Timberfest at Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park Camp-Resorts in Natural Bridge. The biannual event drew about 500 adults and about 200 to 300 children from as far away as Poland and Japan, according to event organizers.
Posted @ 12:31 AM
Gory gangland murder left my life in tatters
A deaf and mute man who was wrongly charged with the murder of one of Wales' most dangerous gangsters was "fitted up", his solicitor claimed last night. Malcolm Martin always denied killing Cardiff career criminal Courtney Davies, whose badly burned body - stabbed 72 times in a frenzied attack - was found hidden in undergrowth in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire in December 2004.
Posted @ 12:27 AM
June 21, 2006
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
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 13, 2006
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
June 1, 2006
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 Lo