Deaf Resource Library
The Deaf Resource Library has information about deaf education, culture, and other related topics. Very nice and detailed library.
« January 2006 | Main | March 2006 »
The Deaf Resource Library has information about deaf education, culture, and other related topics. Very nice and detailed library.
From Deafnetwork:
“On March 2, the Captioned Media Program (CMP) is launching a nationwide Read Captions Across America (RCAA) event as a part of the National Education Association’s (NEA) ‘Read Across America.’ RCAA is the first national reading event that puts emphasis on the importance of captioned media as a reading tool for children with or without a hearing loss. Federal law mandates the captioning of television programming, but no law requires the captioning of educational media (DVD, video, CD-ROM, etc.). The goal of the CMP is to encourage teachers and librarians to think about the benefits of captioning for everyone!
“By participating in or passing the word on about Read Captions Across America, you are helping to break new ground in improving literacy and generating interest in reading in your state or region. Furthermore, you are doing so with the support of both the CMP and the NEA. With your participation, the CMP hopes that Read Captions Across America will make the NEA’s ‘Read Across America’ event an even greater success than ever before! To learn more about this event and the CMP, click on the following links:”
Visit our Read Captions Across America edition of the CMP Client E-Zine
More Read Captions Across America (RCAA) Links:
Captioned Media Program (CMP):
Article: “Read Captions Across America!” [pdf file]
Article: “Reading Captions Wakes Up the Brain Cells!” [pdf file]
I remember in high school that I went to a school dance, but I took someone home afterwards and couldn’t call my parents. I didn’t think much of it; a big mistake. It was the first and only time my parents worried about me while I was out. This wouldn’t have happened if I had a Sidekick then. But of course, cell phones weren’t as common then — certainly not for teens. I imagine texting makes a world of a difference in deaf teens’ lives.
Four family members from one family received cochlear implants during the same week in 2004. Can’t believe they did that because some people don’t recover well from the surgery (me).
The parents had their surgeries one week apart, but it took me over a week to recover from the side effects. Nonetheless, it’s an interesting story and interview. Not the first time a family has undergone cochlear implants together. I know there was a husband and wife that also went through it.
Deaf bloggers have “been using the Internet to keep track of developments in the case and dispel stereotypes about deaf people.” The case involves the murder of Darlene VanderGiesen, a deaf woman in Sioux Falls, where the suspect is another deaf person. Whoa. According to the article and the bloggers who are quoted, people believe that deaf people don’t have the capability to kill someone.
Well, obviously murdering is wrong… no matter who you are. I’d like for all of us not to have the ability to murder, but deaf people can certainly do it just like anyone else of any race, age, or gender. What a topic to debate.
Bloggers mentioned: Kokonut Pundits, Jamie Berke of About.com, and Ricky Taylor.
Whenever I meet someone who learns I’m deaf, I often get “I’ve taken ASL classes” or “I want to learn ASL.” I think it’s great and it’s obviously a growing language as this article reports the study of sign language drastically increasing.
I loved taking Spanish and French in high school. It’s a shame so few high schools offer much more than that. Mine had German, Latin, and Russian. A friend of mine’s daughters are taking Japanese. Many people from countries other than the U.S. are fluent in at least two languages. How many Americans are not counting those whose family members speak another language?
What do you do when you get sick of the politics in the hotel business?Open your own restaurant. What makes this one different is that it proactively hires people who are deaf to work there. One of its owners is deaf.
I often wonder how different my teen years would’ve been if I had the same opportunities as the Deaf and hearing students of today with the technology available to them.
From Deafnetwork:
Some CapTel (captioned telephone) users have complained that it is not fair that they have to pay for their long distance calls while VRS (video relay service) calls remain free. Comparing these two types of relay service is confusing because currently they are billed differently. CapTel is more akin to traditional relay because it is run through the phone line and therefore it is possible to know where a call originated and whether or not it is a LD or local call. Whereas VRS is Internet based like IP relay and there is no way to know where the call is coming from. Because of this, charges for Internet based relay calls, IP and VRS, are currently waived due to the billing issue.
In July, the FCC issued a ruling that any long distance calls made using CapTel phones should be charged as long distance calls made through any other traditional relay service. All TRS (VCO, HCO, speech to speech and TTY) have to pay for long distance calls. Internet based services (Internet Relay and VRS) have their charges waived.
The FCC ruling about charging for LD calls gave CapTel until January 12 to notify state administrators and customers of this ruling. Some states received advance notice as intended but others did not receive notification until the day before the deadline. This gave consumers who use the service a big surprise without any time to plan for incurring LD charges.
If anyone is still upset by the situation you can send your comments electronically to the FCC on their website.
New Cochlear Implant using ribbon technology from University of Michigan might help improve hearing for profound deaf people and make the surgery less invasive.
Here’s another article on the University of Michigan research.
A student from UC Berkeley who is blind is suing Target because its Web site isn’t usable for those who can’t see. The student says the site is missing the alt attribute and uses image maps to go to other parts of the site that people with sight impairments can’t use.
This could be the lawsuit that I had in my 2005 predictions… that there would be a major lawsuit related to lack of accessibility. I was one year too late, but I’m not happy about that. You’d think by now companies would get the message about building accessible sites. Even the Torino Olympics site remembered the alt attribute this time and used “” anytime it wasn’t needed.
The good thing about this lawsuit is that Target is a big company and it may be a way to send a message to other companies.
In the UK, Real-time texting for deaf people says that there is software that allows deaf people to have real-time text conversations using a mobile phone, but the organization that created the service has not fulfilled a legal obligation to make the services accessible.
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders (NIDCD) has published statistics that provide insight into who has a hearing disorder. Here is what the organization has reported:
Nice to read a happy story from the Telegraph. Deaf dog learns new tricks to find a home. The dog learned sign language in hopes that someone will adopt him. He sounds like a sweet dog.
Why screaming doesn’t make you deaf is an interesting story that explains how your auditory system behaves when you cheer for your favorite team. Be warned that this doesn’t apply when the person sitting next to you screams when you stop. The concept might also explain why we can’t tickle ourselves.