About Deafness

About.com Deafness Facebook Fan Page

2010-02-09T12:01:04Z

While awaiting Son of Snowmaggedon, I created a Facebook fan page for About.com Deafness. It will showcase About.com Deafness present and past, and other things too. I'm looking forward to seeing what fans post!

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About.com Deafness Facebook Fan Page originally appeared on About.com Deafness on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 at 12:01:04.

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New to Being Hard of Hearing - and Embarrassed

2010-02-09T09:42:13Z

"New to HOH" on the forum wrote that they did not realize how loud their television was until they went to a neighbor's house. Apparently, the television could still be heard inside the neighbor's house! New to HOH wants to know if there are any gadgets that can help. I've heard of something called TV Ears. Have you had experience with TV Ears or anything similar? Reply to New to HOH on the forum.

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New to Being Hard of Hearing - and Embarrassed originally appeared on About.com Deafness on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 at 09:42:13.

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Hearing Aids, Cochlear Implants Should Be Treated Equal

2010-02-07T08:27:03Z

That's the point of Karen Meyer's article (she is deaf herself, BTW) on ABC7 Chicago. Illinois has a bill pending that would require hearing aids to be covered by insurance the same way cochlear implants are. As Karen points out, it is about "lack of choices."

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Hearing Aids, Cochlear Implants Should Be Treated Equal originally appeared on About.com Deafness on Sunday, February 7th, 2010 at 08:27:03.

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Four-Year-Old Has Interpreter Taken Away, and More

2010-02-06T09:10:01Z

Are there any American parents who can identify with this one? In Canada, a deaf four year old child had his school interpreter taken away. The reason given? "...He does not initiate conversation." Come on, this is a four-year-old deaf child!

Another interpreting story in the news is that in Minnesota, a hospital settled a lawsuit over interpreters not being provided to a husband and his wife while his wife was dying. The reader comments show a lot of ignorance from readers. How ignorant? Consider this snippet:

There is also something called personal responsibility in your health and if you have issues as this, bring a friend to your visits, not just another family member with the same handicap.

And that one was LIKED by 8 people! We can't let our need for interpreters and other accommodations be used as a scapegoat by people angry over health care costs!

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Four-Year-Old Has Interpreter Taken Away, and More originally appeared on About.com Deafness on Saturday, February 6th, 2010 at 09:10:01.

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New York City Mayor Wears Hearing Aids Temporarily

2010-02-05T08:36:42Z

Sometimes I don't understand the media. They think it is a big deal for the mayor of New York City to wear hearing aids. Then the media reported that the mayor's hearing aids "were gone." Was he discouraged from using his hearing aids by the burst of media attention? It even got the attention of the Huffington Post.

Sources:

Mayor Bloomberg Sports New Hearing Aid in Public - New York City Daily News (has photo of the hearing aid in his ear)

NY Mayor: I can't hear question about hearing aids - WCAX

Bloomberg Mum on Wearing Hearing Aid - NBC New York

Bloomberg Hearing Aid Question Gets Testy Response - Huffington Post

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New York City Mayor Wears Hearing Aids Temporarily originally appeared on About.com Deafness on Friday, February 5th, 2010 at 08:36:42.

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Will Kentucky Lead the Way for Movie Access?

2010-02-02T19:44:00Z

As movie theaters become more and more technologically advanced, more states are introducing bills to require movie theater access for deaf and hard of hearing people. A state Senator in Kentucky just introduced a bill to require all movie theaters in Kentucky with 5 or more screens to provide access on at least one screen. It is only a matter of time before one of these state bills passes, because the state officials are beginning to see the ludicrousness of not providing access in the face of expensive movie theater technology being installed everywhere. Will Kentucky be the first?

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Will Kentucky Lead the Way for Movie Access? originally appeared on About.com Deafness on Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 at 19:44:00.

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A Mother's Appreciation of Baby Signing

2010-02-01T21:20:09Z

An About.com reader wrote to share her appreciation of baby sign language:

My 15 month old son, who isn't deaf, really enjoys his WOW first words board book.

Photo Courtesy of Pricegrabber

My inlaws got it for him at 9 months old. He loves to sit on my or my husbands lap and read books together. This board book is simple with only 5 signs. The illustrations are exciting for him. We've been handed this book by him so many times that I've lost count. He knows "play", is working on mommy and daddy. He brought it to me on monday and randomly did "cuddle". He had never done it before. I even asked my husband if he's seen him do it. He said no. It just blew me away! Now he's doing it when anyone asks him. It's a great window of learning and entertainment before a tantrum happens. Plus I love listening and learning with my beautiful boy.

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A Mother's Appreciation of Baby Signing originally appeared on About.com Deafness on Monday, February 1st, 2010 at 21:20:09.

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How Can Deaf and Hard of Hearing American Expatriates Get Hearing Aids?

2010-01-31T06:39:03Z

Crlady on the forum is an American citizen living in Costa Rica who faces the challenge of obtaining decent hearing aids. According to Crlady, in Costa Rica the hearing aids available are limited, and very expensive. So Crlady is turning to the Internet to buy hearing aids, and wants some advice and suggestions.

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How Can Deaf and Hard of Hearing American Expatriates Get Hearing Aids? originally appeared on About.com Deafness on Sunday, January 31st, 2010 at 06:39:03.

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Registration Requirements Won't Stop Scammers

2010-01-29T18:15:18Z

Stories about scammers using the relay service are nothing new. What got my attention in this relay service scam story was this:

"scam artists are registering with false names and different emails and are nearly impossible to track down."

The new requirement to register as a relay service user was supposed to cut down on scammers. Surprise, surprise..the scammers are just using fake names and different real email addresses. So not only do we deaf and hard of hearing have the burden of registering to use relay services, the scammers have found a way to continue their scams.

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Registration Requirements Won't Stop Scammers originally appeared on About.com Deafness on Friday, January 29th, 2010 at 18:15:18.

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Handheld Theatre Captioning in the UK

2010-01-26T20:05:33Z

If you saw "Big River" at Ford's Theatre years ago or recently attended a Broadway play, you may have experienced using a handheld captioning device, the I-Caption. (I-Caption is from Sound Associates, Inc.) Now, there is a similar device in the United Kingdom. The British version is called AirScript, and it was not developed to help people with hearing loss in the first place. It was actually developed to help people speaking other languages, but then they discovered it could help people with hearing loss.

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Handheld Theatre Captioning in the UK originally appeared on About.com Deafness on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010 at 20:05:33.

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