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

I have heard of OSX hacking, Windows hacking, Linux hacking and Photoshop hacking. 

Hacking, in the good sense of making changes to make the device or software work faster and better.

But hearing aid hacking?!

Yup, there is such a thing. Here it is, for HA users, by HA users - tips, tricks and magic potions to optimise the use of your HAs.

All sorts of wonderous stuff awaits! Use bluetooth with your HA. Use DAI for direct audio input from teevees and MP3 players. Rechargers for HAs. And more. Wow!

Read on…

browneyed girl’s posts are always engaging, entertaining and.. well, she is well-informed and simply writes well. I like her essays. :)

Her post on cochlear implants is an example.

While a CI child may never be exposed to deaf culture when he’s younger, I would not point the finger at CI in this case; plenty of deaf children are kept isolated from deaf culture that never had CI’s (I am but one of many, many examples). The real issue is that 90% of deaf children have hearing parents. Such parents probably have no idea of deafness at all, have never dealt with anyone deaf until their own child. Parents do want the best for their children, but out of ignorance and well meaning determinations for their child to be as "normal" as possible.

Read on…

Check out her blog too:
What’s that you said? 

On the impact of CIs on Deaf culture.

One thing this article conveys, and which is very important - more so than the CI vs Deaf Culture debate - is the need to implant early.. very early, before age of one, to maximise chances of success.

Could the end of sign language for deaf children be in sight? A spate of new studies has shown that profoundly deaf babies who receive cochlear implants in their first year of life develop language and speech skills remarkably close to those of hearing children. Many of the children even learn to sing passably well and function almost flawlessly in the hearing world.

Read on…

Very nice website. It even has an online store selling handicrafts. This statement on the FAQ page says it all:

Helping The Deaf in the Gaza Strip… Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children is a Palestinian NGO which has been working in the field of deaf education and allied services since 1992. Literally thousands of deaf and hearing impaired persons and their families are served annually at Atfaluna through deaf education, audiology, speech language pathology, vocational training and better parenting programs. The Society regularly offers teachers’ training in deaf education and provides community awareness and hearing screening programs. 

Visit the site!

This article is an old one, written and published way back in 1994 by the New York Times. I had read it a few years ago, and came across it again recently.

Still as relevant, still as thought-provoking and still a tinderbox to spark debate.

It’s a few minutes before the class will start. Everyone’s fishing notebooks from knapsacks and sharpening pencils, and it’s all "What did you put for the last answer on the algebra?" and "Tomorrow’s the last day for yearbook money, right?" and "If we want to stay for the game, Toni says she can give us a ride." All of the eleventh-graders are speaking or listening, directly or indirectly. Except for one student, sitting down front. She is neither speaking nor listening; she is not involved; she is deaf.

Read on…