What matters deafness of the ears, when the mind hears?

One thing which may stand the deaf employee in good stead, but one which is also too often overlooked by employers, is the simple fact that the typical deaf worker (like Erin in her essay below) is usually more attentive and focussed during work. We have to, else we might miss out on information. 

Now in the real world, I still have to work harder than my peers. Not because I’m proving myself to them, but to myself. It’s interesting because I find myself working more than them because they’re able to talk while they work. Of course, I can’t really do that. I envy hearing workers because they can talk to one another without having to look at each other or talk on the phone instead of having to wait for an email from one of the executive directors. But you know we all still do the work, we all have to make sure it is done. The deadlines are no joke here.

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Ridor "Probably the most controversial Deaf blogger in America" argues that the driving force behind legislation providing for the needs and rights of the deaf/HOH community is the Deaf. And he is peeved about the term HOH. Rightfully so or otherwise? It’s your call.

If you look at the history within the Deaf Communities across the nation. It was Deaf people, mainly the ones with ASL users, who pushed for the changes in Deaf Education and living standards for all. It was us who pushed for the closed captioning on televisions, TDDs and yes, relay services. It was us who ultimately founded the NAD and state associations of the deaf across the nation when the companies and governments started to debate whether if we have the right to get insurance, driver’s license et al. It was us that pushed the state governments to set up the state commissions of the deaf across the nation in order to serve as information, referral and advocacy for all Deaf people.

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Here’s one inspiring Reader’s Digest-styled feel-good story of a deaf writer. As we grammar-deficient Singaporeans would say, I also want!

(Credit to Gerard for this post.)

I had long dreamed of writing a novel, but like others kept putting it off. As I began to lose more and more of my hearing, I thought that writing a novel would be the perfect hobby for me, as anyone can write regardless of whether they can hear. I was also determined to prove that my deafness would not hold me back.

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“What matters deafness of the ear, when the mind hears?  The only deafness, the real deafness, the incurable deafness, is that of the intellect.”

The title of this site is taken from Victor Hugo’s quote.  The following essay is an enlightening look at why Hugo wrote that and the historical context.

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I thought this tibit of information worthy of a post itself. Thanks, Banjo!

(See original article here.) 

Oh yeah, there are at least a couple thousand titles out there. Paramount seem to caption all of the special features and the main presentation. However, when MTV release their series (Jackass, Beavis and Butthead, Aeon Flux, etc)… they aren’t captioned at all. I think they have a different team handling these MTV series. But overall, Paramount and DreamWorks are pretty much the champs when it come to captioning the special features. Universal has been doing a lot of it lately with their new DVDs.

I personally find this one hilarious! 

See the comic…

The power and potential of the Internet seems limitless - video blogs are now a reality. The importance of this is staggering, because sign language is a purely visual, animated language.

And the only way to do justice to it is what they called in the old days "moving pictures". Impractical and an  overwhelmingly technical challenge in the past, very much possible and breezier now.

One website where you can see everything, deaf jokes, comics, and such and I find that entertaining! So, I contacted Grant and told him that we could do it together and set it up. It is now set up at www.deafjoke.tv The website is all set and ready to go. There are some videos there already! We are not focusing on videos only, but others such as comic strips, Asl poetry or anything you want to share with us at the website. It think it would be nice to have a website that is very visual!

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I don’t really watch much YouTube, Google Video, MetaCafe and the likes (much too busy these days), but this is great news still.

Go Google go! :) 

Although many of us are responsible for making this possible, it’s particularly meaningful to me because I’m not only an engineer fortunate enough to work on Google Video — I’m also deaf. In some ways this reminds me of when closed-captioning (CC) was first introduced; before that, little on TV made sense and the only movies worth paying for were foreign films, because those were the only ones with subtitles! I now have the same sense of hope that I did then, when you could finally see visible progress and knew for sure that however long it took to perfect things, we really were on the way.

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I’ve watched the film, and felt that the plot wasn’t the greatest. But Marlee, O Marlee! She shines! And still does.

It was 1986 when Marlee Matlin trotted up to the stage to accept an Oscar for her performance in Children of a Lesser God. She was the youngest performer to receive an Academy Award.

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A list of DVDs by Banjo which has the above features - priceless for the HI/deaf.

Yes, I do get frustrated when I want to watch the special features (such as cast and director interviews, making of doumentaries and such) and find that these, unlike the film itself, are not captioned. Augh! 

Banjo’s List of DVDs with Captioned/Subtitled Special Features

Sigh! Not singing anymore.

Et Tu, iTunes?

Okay, I have download iTunes 7.0 include new update QuickTime 7.1.3. So far, what I can look and take screenshot of movies. As you see this image, there is no Closed Caption or subtitle support on feature listing. I also look around on Preference or option as I play around. None in there. Sad?

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For Singaporeans only - to be more precise, Singaporean students and employed folks.

Anyway, something to cheer about!

As follows:

The Assistive Technology Fund (ATF) provides persons with disabilities with financial assistance in purchasing assistive technology (AT) devices, to pursue mainstream education or gain open employment.

AT can help to maintain or improve the functional capabilities of persons with disabilities. Examples of AT include hearing aids, computer-related devices, and synthesizer software.

Read on for more information.

A great introduction to HAs for the first-time HA users. It’s tough - I know, I’ve been there - but top-notch advice and tips abound (such as the article below).. so, hang in there! 

This is also good reading for HA veterans. I think I’ll try wearing my HAs more often, especially at home! :P  

Question: My audiologist did not adequately prepare me for the challenges I would face in adjusting to wearing my new hearing aids. What is the best way to adapt to wearing hearing aids?

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P/S: Thanks to Gerard "Not the Giraffe" for the link.

After reading this article, i was left awed and somewhat stunned. I bet if humanity ever pass on, our inheritors for the title of the most intelligent beings on Earth could possibly be the dolphins.

Anyway, how does this relate to the site theme? Well. :)

They developed a sign language to communicate with the dolphins, and the results were remarkable. Not only do the dolphins understand the meaning of individual words, they also understand the significance of word order in a sentence. (One of their star dolphins, Akeakamai, has learned a vocabulary of more than 60 words and can understand more than 2,000 sentences.)

Particularly impressive is the dolphins’ relaxed attitude when new sentences are introduced. For example, the dolphins generally responded correctly to "touch the frisbee with your tail and then jump over it". This has the characteristics of true understanding, not rigid training.

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A poignant account of growing up deaf, and the sweetness of the pieces falling into place in the end.

The extract below is one I can relate to - It echoes my own experience so well.

When I was five, I was diagnosed with a moderate to severe hearing loss. I muddled along in school, receiving a hearing aid in 4th grade and speech therapy. Because I “functioned” so well and was able to keep up my grades, I was pretty much lost in the system. Teachers lavished praise on the “girl with the hearing loss.” My loneliness was often overlooked.

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Interesting!

A series of "Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) pictures (which) show different areas of the brain that are used by Deaf and hearing individuals when processing langauge".

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Inspired by Joseph’s quirkiness, and in the artsy spirit of Singapore Biennale, I have also decided to name my hearing aids. (Those sitting at the back, stop shouting ‘copycat!’ and ‘lame!’ Darn. Where are the bouncers when I need them?)

The left aid is "Jesse" and the right one is "Celine".

I. Am. So. Cool. 

Jesse & Celine

P/S: I hope you, gentle reader, see the resemblance too.

Jesse & Celine

My previous pair of hearing aids lasted me about a decade. That must be some sort of durability record, but the sad fact is, I was simply too stingy to replace it. The cost was a real deterrence. So, for 10 years, I used the aids until they became - gross alert! - grimy, dirty and started to emit crackling sounds. And one of them failed entirely, so - sob story alert! - I had to hear out of only one ear for some time.

Joseph, who actually names his HA ("Chipper"), wrote an enjoyable piece on the hassle experienced when one’s HA breaks down and bemoans the necessity of wearing one. Something I can relate to - Yes, I hate wearing mine too; I only do so because I have to. 

How many of you hate when it conks out? Battery dies? Annoying tube snaps? Annoying little screw-tube bulb thingy on the end breaks off? Little useless door which is supposed to protect inner workings of hearing aid falls off?

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Thoughts and comments welcome! Me, I am happy!!!

Finally, I can watch the news for more than just the moving pictures and puzzling over their meaning. I thought this day would never come.

Am awaiting the official press release and media coverage.

Below is the one sent to SADeaf, I believe.

MEDIACORP IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT FROM 25 SEPTEMBER 2006, TV VIEWERS WILL BE ABLE TO READ WHAT THE NEWS PRESENTER IS SAYING.

The captions which are the scripts for prepared news stories, will appear at the same time as the presenter reads the news. We have introduced the captioning service, provided with the support of the Media Development Authority (MDA), in response to requests from the general public and the deaf community. English news will kick off the captioning service on 25 September with the 9:30pm news bulletin on Channel 5. Chinese news at 10pm on Channel 8 and Malay news at 8pm on Suria will introduce captions later in December 2006. We are still exploring options for captions on Tamil news.

I am one of the organisers of Deafinitely Boleh! - a 2-day deaf awareness festival to be held in December this year.

For this event, we’ve set up a website to generate publicity and provide useful and practical information for all Deaf/deaf/HI/HOH folks in coping with their disability/deafness/communication woes.

P/S: "Deafinitely" is, of course, a pun on those two words. (Don’t groan!) "Boleh" is Malay for "can". Yes, the deaf boleh!

Hilarious statement below, and I luv, luv, luv the video! Jon is so clear and explains so well what RSS is.

I think anyone who knows local sign language (SEE, PSE or NSL) will be able to understand the ASL used in the video. (It helps too, that I already know what RSS is. In fact, I use it!)

So, for some fun, knowledge and entertainment, and if you know sign, click on the link!

Now isn’t this ironic: usually we’re being told to make an effort so that deaf people are not excluded from conversations between hearing people, but with Jon’s ASL video about RSS it’s the other way around: it’s clear Jon is extremely proficient in ASL and I personally would so much like to know how he explains RSS to deaf people.

Read on…

The situation is much worse here, sad to say. When we have a government which re-defines ‘lame’ when it comes to excuses - for goodness’ sake, it claims that it’s not cost-effective, not practical to have close captioning on prime-time TV - we really have a long slog ahead.

There are 28 million deaf and hard-of-hearing people in the United States, according to the National Association of the Deaf.  There are virtually no Internet videos with closed captioning information.  The top online news video providers — including MSNBC.com and CNN.com — currently don’t provide captions.

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A short but learn-to-be-assertive post for all terps out there. 

Sometimes I have to remember to take care of myself and not interpret for people, organizations, or situations that I consider abusive.

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Finally! A film which respects and showcases deafness in the right light.

I’ll be sure to get the DVD, if it ever gets to Singapore ie.

The movie was wonderfully put together and wonderfully acted. It was a quirky story, yet it had elements that all of us could relate to. They did a fabulous job of weaving Thad’s deaf state into the story. Diane Keaton was perfect as the hearing mother who signs better than anyone in the family, even if that’s not saying much, and who tries to keep the deaf kid involved to an extent, all the while dropping signs and not signing many things she says out loud. Craig T. Nelson barely signed, which is so typical of most fathers of deaf children, and the few signs he did he clearly had difficulty with.

Read on…

Update: Apparently, this film was screened in Singapore over the last Christmas period. And needless to say - so why am I blabbering so much - I missed it. Thanks to Addy "Peanut Butter Reese" for the heads up.