Need for More consistent BSL Access approaches in Education...

British Sign Language – Proposals But no change or re-assement/amendments to present access.

Part 4: Specified measures:

4.40 In order to promote public confidence, it may be preferable in the longer term to move towards a more consistent approach to the use of BSL in English and Foreign Language qualifications. However, there are clear reasons for the current different approaches which relate directly to assessment objectives contained within subject criteria.

4.41 It is difficult to amend existing practices in relation to the use of BSL as a reasonable adjustment to English and Foreign Language qualifications whilst current subject criteria are in place. To do so would risk undermining the reliability of such qualifications to indicate the knowledge, skills and understanding of a candidate.

The current use of exemptions means that hearing impaired candidates who cannot access other reasonable adjustments such as lip reading, live voice or sign supported English, are still able to access English and Foreign Language qualifications, thus minimising the extent to which disabled candidates are disadvantaged.

Lip-reading V Sign language V communication.

Continuing to explore why sign language and lip-reading classes consistently fail late-deafened people. In response why Lip-reading is predominantly for those with no profoundly deaf issues, and why sign language classes are only for hearing interested. An response to my criticisism of lip-reading classes, in that tutors either did not want late deafened in their classes, or sidelined them until they left in frustration. These classes were fiercly defended by hard of hearing people, who in due respect didn't really appreciate the late deafened were being actively excluded by default from the same help.

COMMENT:

All communication classes after deafness are difficult. I did say I appreciate HoH need support too, but it seemed to be that the whole system of lip-reading was geared to no-one else. The tutors can't hack it because the teaching intensity needed for people with an sudden or relatively sudden total hearing loss, (Or even that sector that hangs on to the final and last decibel who ignored the whole thing till too late), would not allow an class of e.g. 10 other people with late deaf issues to even function.

What I am saying is the reality is these classes are simply NOT for people with acquired deafness and an alternative system needs to be in place. Such an system would suit the rest too, since in a number of cases profound or severe deafness can affect many more. There is no transitional support from partial/severe loss to the total loss.

Personally I have spent 25 years advocating an end to Lip-Reading and BSL classes that operate apart, and got constant attacks for so doing, but I am convinced there is no other way, my approach is entirely non-cultural, as I am late-deafened it is irrelevant if the history of the communication is to be part of the teaching. It's an annoying an time-wasting aside that probably suits those who never heard anyway.

Would I advocate less choice in some cases ? probably ! This is because we know no single system of understanding speech works on its own, and people's abilities vary. You need to find out WHICH system suits best, you don't just think, OK I will lip-read, not sign, or sign and not lip-read. It doesn't work that way unless you have the ability to learn either or both. Given many late-deafened are older people then the means to acquire another communication form is more difficult anyway.

It's accepted via 'awareness' universally but the classes operate blithely against. I'd want lip-reading and sign integrated with other means to promote an holistic approach to communication, which I personally believe is the only sensible and logical approach, and given the statistics prove themselves as to the utter failure of sign and LR classes to include the late deafened, indeed the tutors receive the barest training to include anyway as they do not expect late-deafened to turn up. They do say statistically 78% failure rate of lip-reading pupils success, via classes is near the norm, this may be down to tuition, may be down to people not getting a grip to it and leaving etc...another depressing statistic comes from the Lip-reading teachers themselves, in that the best lip-reader gets only 30% anyway.

Who ELSE would approach ANY class on life skills that boasts such an dire success rate ? We don't have a choice in that. Perhaps higher if one on one, or with a lot less people there, and taking it in turns to speak, or total failure if half a dozen people talk over each other, all this would mean lip reading just won't work at all. LR classes do not tell you how to utilise the skill when the people you are with do not care to include. How do we MAKE people aware without bluntly telling them they are plain rude and not inclusive, without getting attacked for it ? Late-deafened have their confidence shot to pieces as it is, they would be more likely to just withdraw.

Categorise ? To Include severely deaf with profound and late-deafened as an single sector ? Separate by decibel those who can effectively manage an lip-reading class with aids etc from those who simply can't ? If only to get an alternative communication format on stream and not a bit of this bit of that. The present system adopts the naive or amateurish approach of some sort of hobby class,like flower arranging ! It's hard to believe such an life changing class system is approached this way... like a coffee morning....

There is an lack of realities taught and how you can counter them. Many LR classes e.g. do not operate outside the class area, so no 'on street' realities. No 'testing' to see how people are progressing, and no assessment at the end to see where you are going..... No common approach to the class system. One thing I picked up at an LR class when there was a decibel to shout about (!) was it still did not equip me for total loss, the reliance on that decibel and that hearing aid, was my undoing and, the tutors too, in effect when you went deaf the whole training went out the window again. There is no warning re trauma that immediate or sudden loss can do to you.

I also thought it ludicrous they used subtitles when teaching sign language, personally I just followed what was easier for me, and it wasn't sign language. I doubt subtitled TV does a thing for sign and using in tandem with sign is a loser in sign awareness terms. 85% now prefer no sign and want titles instead. It's the consistent concern of those who want sign only approaches, but who are suffering access kickbacks by others who would rather 'read' the sign than learn it

It may be an issue the 'awareness' of the two sectors vying for communication 'supremacy', with those with hearing loss are more concerned with each others modes, than they are with the need of those with hearing loss to use whatever may best work with them, and because both modes go their own way and viewed separate stand-alone entities, they AREN'T to late-deafened, they are communication modes and as they are concerned are approached that way..

I've found awareness classes of both systems abysmal ignorant, and probably the biggest time-wasting effort in our lifetime so far....to be expected as Acquired deaf are not included. We are the majority with immediate and pressing issues, it's not a case of my need is greater than yours, it's an simple truism and a need that has to be addressed if the acquired deaf (many older people), are just going to be left to it. We may soon face an entirely different issue if the ipod stupids start going deaf younger....It means more people facing longer terms of loss, or total isolation, because the LR or Sign classes function better without us, this is unacceptable in my view.

We shouldn't be played off against each other, but that is what is happening. Late deafened, acquired deaf, have an communication issue to be addressed, so this is conflict when culture gets inserted too, communication is the priority. If you want to learn about cultures then educational establishments, and not communication classes are the places to go.

1890 Parliament debate on educating the deaf..

An insight into 19thc views on deaf people and the directions in which their education should be addressed, and advocating oralism as desirable.. and questioning the inter-marriage of deaf people as undesireable.

An question put by Viscount CEANBKOOK February 1890.

With regard to deaf mutes many of them having no organic defect but deafness, possessing even the means of speech, only that they hear no sound, and, therefore, are of themselves unable to speak on that account, or utter intelligible sounds, it is almost necessary that they should be educated in separate institutions.

With regard to the blind, it is-not always the case, but in their case, also, it is necessary that they should have a special education. This Bill will give power to send them to institutions for that purpose. I have received very few communications with regard to the Bill, and very few Amendments. But there is one point which I think is very reasonable, that is, that in the case of parents, who would, if they could, use the ordinary elementary schools they should not be called upon to pay a higher fee for the education of these afflicted children than in the case of ordinary children.

The necessity of spreading the expenditure, by not confining it in narrow limits or in particular localities, would, I think, become evident to your Lordships if you were to look into the question and see how unfortunately, by the intermarrying of people of this class, there is a perpetuation of deaf-mutism, and sometimes even of blindness, in the most remarkable manner, and, therefore, the burden would fall with exceeding heaviness in some places when there were many afflicted. To give your Lordships an instance.

I received a card the other day giving particulars of a case where two deaf-mutes had married, and had produced five deaf-mute children, who would, of course, require to be educated in some institution. That is a lamentable state of things, but possibly there may be means by oral instruction of bringing a readier communication between the deaf and hearing people. Making provision for educating them in this way will, we may hope, lead to that result, so that marriages shall not so frequently take place as they now do between deaf-mutes.

We cannot, of course, interfere in that matter by this Bill, but by means of education we may hope that something will be done in that respect. I am sure your Lordships will feel that these unfortunate children have some claim upon us, and that they need provision for their education quite as much as other children in the country.

Those of your Lordships who have looked into the matter, will, I am sure* approve of the measure, and I think I shall meet the wishes of the House on the present occasion by not offering further remarks upon it. I know I have the approval of my noble Friend opposite, and I now leave the matter in your Lordships' hands.

SOURCE

Cheryl Cole to be given BSL support to participate in X Factor.

In an landmark ruling by an American court, Cheryl Cole who was axed from the American series of X Factor (An TV program for total losers from America imported from an program about total losers in the UK), for being "Incomprehensible to American Viewers" because of her British 'Geordie' accent, was awarded $5m dollars in compensation, and a Mr Simon Cowell fined An equal amount for blatant discrimination.

In addition. Mr Cowell was instructed to re-instate Ms Cole and provide her with full access support, to include an ASL and BSL interpreter, and full captioning access. Judge R I Bean said "Simply because Americans have difficulty with regional accents, it is invalid in ADA law to refuse support to work on the grounds an accent is different, where her other qualifications are entirely suitable. It is clear to this court she was sacked unfairly. If the British can understand Mr Obama (An American president or something), then we have no excuses here.

ASL teacher fired for being deaf.

A Lubbock County jury has decided Texas Tech University should pay a former professor more than $500,000 for discriminating against him because he is deaf. Michael L. Collier, a deaf, tenure-track assistant professor hired to teach American Sign Language and other courses relating to deaf culture, was abruptly dismissed in October 2006.

The jury found Collier's disability was directly related to his termination.

SOURCE & MORE

New mental health service for deaf people.

(Perhaps Wales will have one next ?).

The Scottish Mental Health Service for Deaf People launches on Friday 20th May. This is the first national specialist community mental health service for people with sensory impairment in Scotland and is called the Scottish Mental Health Service for Deaf People.

The service is commissioned by National Services Division, NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) on behalf of all 14 NHS Boards in Scotland. NHS Lothian is the host NHS Board responsible for delivery of a Scotland-wide service. While individual’s care, treatment and support will remain the responsibility of NHS Boards, the new service offers specialist advice to local mental health teams and specialist support in assessment and treatment. This support includes providing British Sign Language, technological resources, education packages and training for healthcare professionals – all available in order to help continue to improve communication and service responsiveness.

Background

The funding and development of this new national service was informed by a consensus for the need to significantly enhance the access to and the response of mental health services for people with sensory impairment in Scotland. The Scottish Government has made available £200,000 each year for the new service, which has been commissioned by National Services Scotland.

Comment: However deaf patients are STILL being referred out Of Scotland as they are out of Wales for further treatments, why are there still no specialists unit in Scotland or Wales ? This means deaf patients with mental health issues cannot utilises MH support in their own country let alone their own local areas, which is putting deaf patients far away from family and deaf friends/support that might help them come to terms with the issues they have, many of these deaf patients are sent to the John Denmark Unit at Manchester never to return to their locale. I could suggest this hampers recovery to an considerable degree as well as isolating deaf people. In short, making issues worse.

SOURCE & MORE

Deafhood goes Racial ?

Wow that's real progress ! What next ? Jewish deafhood ? African deafhood ? Gay deafhood ? what we won't see is white deafhood lol... Can anyone join ?

Why British deaf don't campaign any more...

Well, we do ... sort of, but not for our own deaf. The UK does things differently, (See GOD Blogs, no not giving an link why encourage them ?). We mobilise support for others whilst doing little for our own... The assumption we got it made prevails here, yet deaf are:

(1) Due to lose near 80% of financial support, (see details/photo below).
(2) Has less than 1 terp for 300 deaf people,
(3) 30% of all deaf clubs in the UK closed last year as funds were withdrawn,
(4) Lip-reading classes are mostly zero,
(5) BSL classes are still the domain of hearing and not late-deafened people,
(6) 60% of deaf people have never had a full-time job,
(7) Too many are still struggling with literacy on leaving school, and NOT taking up further literacy options.
(8) Deaf children are not getting support in education,
(9) UK campaigners still obsessed with changing European laws and not ours.
(10) An growing dependence on charity, putting deaf back to Victorian times....

The list is pretty long, but hey the UK deaf are saving the world. What a pity that dynamism cannot be applied locally. Shouldn't charity begin at home ? The last time they got off their ass here was to support Gallaudet, hey there are deaf people in the UK too... Putting others before yourself is an very worthy aim, but... not our own surely ?

An message to GOD (See below)



This is how you should be doing it... Islington isn't in Italy....

Acoustic Poetry for the Deaf

'Acoustic poetry' helps the deaf to connect to everyday soundscapes. (Would have helped if the vid was accessible but.....)

A new way of enabling profoundly deaf people to more effectively engage with their environment has been devised by a student at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design.

'Acoustic Poetry' is the brainchild of Michail Vanis, a final year Digital Interaction Design student at DJCAD, part of the University of Dundee. Michail has designed a device which allows deaf people to record their everyday soundscape and send this to a human interpreter who will text back a detailed description of the sounds that have been captured.

Michail (21) said he decided to explore how those with hearing difficulties interact with the soundscape after becoming interested in deaf culture. The product he has designed to visualise soundscapes is one of the near-300 exhibits on display at this year’s Dundee Degree Show.

It takes the form of a box containing the necessary equipment to record and transmit the sounds, and a screen to display the description that the reader will then send. By pushing the central section of the device, the user activates the microphone which picks up the sounds of that particular environment. The description will then flash up on the screen once the interpreter has processed the recording.

SOURCE & MORE

How Deafhood Identifies those who are really deaf !

Can someone provide an text overview of how they do this ? via Deafinitions & Recognition of Deaf communities

ergo; "Discusses the issues behind determining accurate numbers of Deaf people as opposed to people who lost hearing later in life (hard of hearing or deafened); clarification of some Deaf terminology; questions WHY in spite of a potentially very large Deaf community worldwide, there continues to be a struggle to RECOGNIZE Deaf people do have a community."

How do you determine how many deaf people there by ignoring those ACTUALLY deaf who acquired it differently ? Deafhood carving up the sectors again, divide and misrule. So the deafhood people are only going to count... who ? Is it necessary or desirable to do that ?

What are they saying ? if it is e.g. an fact 5,000 deaf live an an area, then IF only 5% of them were born that way, then only 5% of people are really deaf as deafhood defines it, that regardless if you acquired deafness at 2 years of age or 20 or 50, then you aren't really deaf ? Even Paddy Ladd never went that far. That is going to ghettoise an lot of deaf people, no wonder the 'deaf community ' is harder to identify or find, deafhood is doing it's hardest to hide them. An mask of benevolence ? and mask of of discrimination ? from the deafhood areas... With a stroke they remove 95% of deaf people.... yesterday's people with last centuries messages....

These vids are labelled educational too ! 'Hearing people with a loss.' ? erm late deafened are DEAF.

Marlee Matlin (The Hamster tour) 2011 end bit...

To most advising people how to use hearing aids seems rather a strange question, but correct insertion of a hearing aid does require specific guidance, and not everyone gets it right. Firstly putting it IN the ear is advisable, obvious ? you'd be surprised, staff at my local hospital, have had to remove them from inside nasal passages, somewhere anal, between toe-nails, surgically remove them from mobile phones, and even glued with super glue under the armpit. The casualty department, spent 4 hours with one confused lady, who was extremely distraught, and needed tranquilising, until they finally found after extensive exploratory surgery and a new hip, she had left it in a dressing room drawer at home, easily done...

Most HA require low powered (1.5 volt), batteries. PLEASE, don't insert them into the mains supply (Unless you have a heart condition, then it may actually help), you may suffer burns, or even worse, send your utility Bill through the roof. Hearing aids are getting smaller, it's not unknown for people to go suddenly deaf by mistakenly assuming what they thought was a minature aid, was in fact, a spent piece of toffee from the night before's party and convinced the batteries gave up the ghost, and their hearing wax was a bit excessive.. Years ago we had the 'Box' aids, Medresco's, remember them ? basically the electronics were based on 1 kilowatt guitar amplifyers, guranteed to remove even the largest elephant from a tree, and if you weren't deaf before, you certainly were after, Deaf Clubs sponsored most of the research.

Batteries were usually smaller versions of car batteries, which although heavy, and tended to slow down your Pasa doble, had the advantage, that if your car broke down in the middle of Luton (Or somewhere equally god-forsaken or desolate), you could use a jump lead to get it going again. Prior to plastic bags, most hearing aids were unsuitable for you if you were an olympic swimming gold medalist. Recent advances in supermarket shopping bags, have made this a thing of the past happily (but they're bio-degradable too, so nothing over 200 metres is advisable).

New invisible hearing aids are being built all the time, you need a search party to find them. The latest all-in model Xi, is reputed to have wireless, internet capability, VRS capability, and a minicom, combined with the addition of self-balancing gyros in case you are fired into orbit, I thought the addition of free sick bags with photos of Paddy Ladd on, was a nice touch..... although some extras you can't do without, and are a boon, lasers to zap intrusive sounds, and 'goldfish impressionist in close proximity' alerts are esential in my view. It's current size is said to be about the size of a gnats thumbnail (If you haven't a gnat an half-starved wasp would be a fair guide), the aerial is bit tricky, it's a rather large 45 inch dish, which has to carried around on a trailer, but the trailer is well able to hold all the batteries required, has a sauna, and plenty of room for shopping too.

I'd like to sign off (Sign off geddit ? please yourself!), with an an sign song interpretation (I've gone Japanese all of a sudden), and dedication to those great American Musicals and in tribute to Irving Berlin. There aint no business like sign business.. Signed English permitting....

There's no language like sign language
Like no language I know
Everything you see is so revealing
Everything your digits can allow
British sign is so appealing
forget Signed English
it makes you frown !

There's no people like Deaf people
They sign even when low
In Milan they told you sign would not get far
Learn those orals, and roll those 'r's'
Never use sign language, follow that oral star,
Let's go on with the show,

The orals, the signers, the texters, (they read)
The activists who give campaigns the boost
The deaf clubs, the deaf pubs, the deaf groups, they're home
Your membership is paid up all for free
The deaf spots, the weird sorts
The raffles, and the bingo they're for me !

There's no lifestyle like a deaf lifestyle
Like no lifestyle I know
You get trips to exotic seasides
Annual AGMs in deafie clubs
All your friends are strictly non-hearing
who needs, aid-using, or CI jobs ?

There's no people like Deaf people
They rare run out of talk
Conversation goes on and on 'til early dawn
they never flag, and they never yawn
Nobody cares if your stark naked on the lawn
Let's go on with our sign
Let's...... Go on with our sign.....

Thank you...... please drop donations in the tin passed around, brickbats in the nearest bin..... This has been an charitable fund-raising event on behalf of the "Let's help Marlee pay her taxes on time..." charity.

Marlee Matlin (Hamster tour 2011) Part 3 of 4.

DefBuz continues his tour. Part 1/2 HERE

"Anyone here looking for a job ? 3..4 ...So the rest of you have retired ? right ! Looking for work is no joke is it ? Ok it is, but we go through the motions right ? what you need is an good CV, Curriculum Vitae, which is latin for life course, and means an resume', which is French. OK ? still with it ? Let me help you with the interview technique, another french word, because there are no English terms or words for hiring deaf people... you need to go work in France or Greece to get the best of it really...

You should mention your deafness along with any means you use for overcoming it.... like having hearing works for me.... You tell the employer that you can do the job in spite of your deafness, provided that he makes the requested accommodations, like every other hour free to visit social sites, days off for deaf trips out, and every other week off to attend deaf rallies, if he doesn't, yell discrimination, and sue his ass off. Seriously, you might find some employers who are NOT keen on the idea of employing a deaf or a disabled person (Jeers and laughing...), no...some exist... really ! Watch out for those who install rope ladders to deter wheelchair applicants, or whisper through letter boxes 3 streets away to test you, the ones with notices saying no deaf need apply, are easier to spot...

There are some antis against mentioning your deafness in your resume. The employer wants to know what you can do for him, not what he has got to do for you. Mentioning your deafness first might defeat this purpose, pretend you are hearing, if it looks a bit silly, say you're raising cash for charity, this will explain away the fact your pockets are filled with custard or baked beans, and you have been talking complete gibberish the last 30 minutes about fireworks, then you could tap him for a donation as well, so it's not a complete loss, hey the taxi fare gets covered too.

First appearances are all, and face-to-face meeting is better than any written information in dispelling preconceived images. Don't overdo the make up with too much mascara, wear a very short mini-skirt, or purple flashing hair extensions, popular perception, is most men don't do this for job interviews, especially if it's for hod carrying on a building site. Initially, and although being an metrosexual deafie is now perfectly legal, it's best to save that until you know people better, and not offer to re-arrange the office furniture twice a week.....

Any deafies here from Israel ? are you lost ?......... you will need to explain why you didn't serve in the army, saying you're a free-lance gentile or member of Al Fatah is valid. Demonstrate deaf resourcefulness, OK, you have an huge handicap and despite being surrounding by hearing idiots, brain-dead employers who dribbled, and fundamentalist Deaf Hoodies, you overcame it. It'll then be easy to overcome the challenges of your job, doesn't apply if the job LACKS any challenges, which applies to 90% of jobs deaf get offered, (the other 10% require hearing, or migrants prepared to work for peanuts...).

Anyone here famous ? Name ? Sorry ? ..... never heard of you ! If you are, use it, it shows you have confidence and outgoing, perhaps you played mute bystander #1 in the school play ? tripped over Paddy Ladd's beard ? failed the X factor ? Better still failed the audition... maybe you were sat in the audience that fateful day when Marlee Matlin actually talked about someone ELSE ? (long applause, boos and laughter)...... You do not.. (More jeers, laughter).... you don't have to feel self-concious when explaining why you can't do ordinary phone conversations, explain your religion forbids phone calls between the hours of 6 am and 9 pm and you don't do shifts.. explain how the prospective employer can use other means, like FAX, E-mail, sempahore, or hiring an fully experienced signing pigeon... best not to state your feather phobia....

Most hearing employers just scan your resume, the ones that can read will anyway, the others will hire a 5 yr old to do it, or pretend to be intelligent, give-aways are they hold the CV upside down, or move their fingers along the lines mumbling, again he wants to find out what you can do for him, he is not interested in knowing what you want, does the organ grinder ask the monkey if it can tango ? Don't spend half the interview on your mobile talking to your mates, and sending updates to twitter, or respond with "I have to get in WHAT time of the afternoon ? work THREE hours a day ! yo man, slavery it be dead, know wot I mean !" Just a bit of local street cred thrown in to amuse ....... If the job you are applying for doesn't involve lots of contact with other people, e.g. working in a lighthouse, I did that once, but was fired because I couldn't sleep with the light on..... then deafness is not relevant to that job. Most smart deafies avoid hearing workplaces, go self employed as a deaf advisor to industry, and get the lottery to fund their wages, under 'cultural awareness' and coin it, who needs a CV anyway ?"

Billboards for the deaf and captioned...

Marlee Matlin (The Hamster tour) 2011

With DefBuz (Part II). Part one HERE.

(On Tinnitus): You can buy anti-tinnitus tapes, you know that ? it's mostly of whales doing something pretty revolting and rather noisily under the sea, but I always failed to see the point being deaf, I can't swim all that well, and all that salt can't be any good for your blood pressure can it ? I'm still worried about lip-reading, it's a bit of a con isn't it ? If you see it say it, if you can't say it sign it, you are back where you started...

There's hardly any Lip-reading classes any more in my town, not since sign language replaced it as a viable communication option, and it's not as if anyone near deaf had a look in anyway is it ? You have to have hearing to lip-read, go Figure ! Every week the Lip-reading teachers insist we seek and master the holy grail of lip-reading, i.e. Manchester speed lip-reading test, have you been to Manchester even they can't understand each other.....

It's all in the vain hope at least ONE individual in the UK can do it, It was probably an in-joke or bet, because no one ever did, the tutor couldn't do it either, how did she expect we would ? Mine had little patience it has to be said, If you were heading toward elderly status, and couldn't hack it, you were politely told the door was thataway, "Don't slow the rest down dear, go find a social worker, come back when you've gained another 50 db's, or find someone else to annoy, and don't SHOUT!!!." whatever...

On Culture: Who says deaf people haven't a society or culture ? (can you switch to the T position or something ?), it's created our own version of class warfare, surely an definitive of any British democracy and culture..... I should point out, anyone who HASN'T understood the (D)eaf or (d)eaf terminology, better get with it, luckily for us there are enough clowns in Europe (applause and jeers...), that can create a directive, that forces you to wear concrete ear muffs, discriminators are then force-fed square bananas, in case you assume the Big D is just bragging......

We've all got rights and things now, not better hearing, not proper communication classes, not access to the social services, not support, but hell, you have the legal right to complain about it, actually you can and you can't... Sorry, it's not politically correct to do this anymore, as it indicates (A) You can't cope, (B) You're a right moaner, or even (C) Casting doubt on the cultural aspirations of the dedicated sign user, who has announced to the entire universe hearing loss no longer, indeed NEVER existed, and it's all been replaced by Beethoven conventions, Milan nights, nasty asides on Deaf TV, and a Fatwa on the Holism preservation society.

Even the NADP and Hearing Concern, (Brit groups dedicated to late-deafened), now has 'Deaf' weeks, so the circle is pretty much squared in communication terms, we aren't Hearing Impaired any more, that's gone the way of dumb as an term... now we've all gone Deaf, and all deaf sign..... The ultimate insult now is wearing odd gloves when you do.... or worse wearing them on the wrong hand, they'll think you are Albanian...

It's changed on the street too, gone are those happy and carefree days when you could respond to that age-old question "can you tell me the time ?", with "I feel fine", and get a sympathetic laugh, or a punch in the face, and maximum exposure on youtube, they expect the complete bloody timetable, and the grid reference.

It's tough on the hard of hearing...we mustn't forget the loop, which was the most useless invention since the triangular spokeless wheel on canoes, a device guaranteed to isolate you from everyone else if the hearing loss and all else failed to do it. Few people except a bunch of research scientists sworn to secrecy, knew in fact they had no on switch, they were a technological placebo invented by business/commerce so they could overcharge you when you couldn't hear what the price of goods was at the counter, switching to the T position was just painful, and got me no end of stares at Tesco's, so if anyone wants 15 tins of sardines in brine at the knock-down price of £2.50p a tin....

We campaign for everyone to install loops, and then never use them, that's rights in action.... Us 1, mainstream nil. Next we will make all hearing learn BSL and then adopt SE to annoy them.....Loops can actually double up as conversation pieces, but fashion has changed according to Flog it, and you'd be lucky to get VAT back these days, unless you have the 1956 de-lux copper one in it's box.

We got Minicoms too, (Laughs and more jeers), OK if you couldn't type, or never had a telephone line, it slowed use down a bit, but they were vogue and cutting edge at the time, weren't they fun, when someone picked up at other end, and said "Feck Off!", and hung up again, or more interesting still, some ancient octogenarian on life support responded "hello dearie would you like a good time...?". Of course many of us missed that because there was no-one at the other end with a Minicom half the time. The rest had to wait for the price to go down to have that fun.

For the first few years, SKSK was so much fun to type, I could never understand the hyper-driven sdghjlfsdjhsdhj dfhjh ** %%% %%! ghhhh, and GA just didn't cut it. I put mine on auto-dial and talked to myself for 6 months, which was great fun, and I was able to learn serbo-croat as a result, not a complete waste of time, but then I got bored.

You had Typetalk too, (Booo ! and jeers), which was fine if you had a few days/hours spare to make a 2 minute call and like a challenge but..... If you're REALLY at a loose end, you could try calling a utility company via TT, and marvel as the TT operator blows her top, while going through the press 1 for this, 2 for that 3 for Lola, or 4, for an enema, while trying desperately to figure out why Vivaldi is deemed our favourite composer, we thanked god we only have 4 seasons.

We could have had Holst and been there for years, or even had Wagner and set ourselves up for the duration and used the horns to good effect.... UK record so far, is about 7 hours 36 minutes 41 seconds to ask for a bill update from the Western gas board, unless YOU, know different. We could compile a top 10 of useless phone numbers, I'll start with 999, and my GP's.

I used to watch TV adverts for hearing aids, remember them ? we saw 'Miracle' hearing and 'invisible' hearing, as if being deaf wasn't invisibility a cloak enough....mine was invisible for sure, an electron microscope would never have found it, or a team of bloodhounds, that WOULD have been a miracle. Hidden aids were all the rage, although you had to be careful when having candle wax removed, or you blew your nose, or you lost it, and it was all yours for just £6,000, and your first two children, or you could buy an imitation ear trumpet for about £15 and 4 tins of Heinz beans, and get money off your next prescription for Valium.

If I was daft enough to pay £6,000 for an aid why would I bluddy HIDE it ? I'd have a neon sign fitted, and sell tickets....... Neither provided more than an odd decibel here or there, but hey, who is counting anyway ? You could also get pretty colours on them, or stickers on them saying "I'm deaf", "Fly Icelandic airlines", "Whistle if you're HI", or "My other aid is bluddy useless too," on them. The more savvy aid users now sell advertising space and are coining it in for Bob Martins worm powder, Viagra, and Vimto. The ads we saw on TV were by mostly rather dubious heavily mustached presenters, nobody would want to meet on a dark night, weren't they ? probably extras from Dracula the Undead, or I Married a Zombie from Kircaldy, filling in time between movies, working in focus groups, and awaiting transfusions of Ribena.

Aficionado's of these ads, will notice they have diversified into flogging Stanner chair-lift flight plans, double glazed spectacles, and DIY BAHA assembly online now. Today we have all the biz, BAHA's, CI's, Digital Aids (postcode permitting), but most of us still live in dread the batteries will give up the ghost, that, or we'd be permenantly tuned in to Channel 5, and our heads will start leaking, but there were bound to be other side effects apart from listening to the Radio through your teeth, and finding you are able to microwave beefburgers in your mouth.

I've gone really deaf now, so I just plug the aid in, turn it on full blast, and find it's an excellent cat/dog deterrent, my roses have gone from strength to strength since, I can recommend the Bosch model TBE63, without reservations, my cat has cleared 2 and a half metres with it.

Deaf teen learns to talk with CI.

Here we read of a scottish teen, helped to talk. ONCE she had difficulty saying her own name because of the deafness that first appeared shortly after she was born.

Now Lily Davidson, 15, is standing before rapt audiences telling them how medical and therapeutic advances have helped her develop as a bright and articulate teenager. Lily used to struggle to pronounce the "l"s in her own name, until she received a cochlear implant that helped her interpret sounds. Then she was given therapy at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, which used an electronic palate - electropalatograph or EPG - to improve her diction.

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British Government wages war on the deaf...

New guidelines on disability allowances. Indicate that the Disability allowances deaf were entitled to, to be compensated for lack of support and poor access outside the home, are under review. The new tests for PIP, to be applied to deaf people, may well mean if you have an ability to write, you cannot claim an support allowances. This flies in the face of basic deaf awareness the state funds itself. Since when has writing been an effective replacement for an sign-using deaf person ? This is an ongoing draconian assault on all Britain's disabled people, who are being targeted and treated as frauds, as fakers, as downright liars by HM Government.

Where does it go from there ? disabled children will lose care allowances ? Deaf who can speak are already prevented from allowances of support in the main, their deafness ignored. The DWP, the arm of the state in overseeing disability payments, is set to challenge every disabled person in an personal interview, to 'prove' they are disabled, they already have powers to totally ignore medical proof, even validation by their own approved medical consultants, they will treat deaf people as liars unless they can substantially prove otherwise. We may well all need legal aid to do these interviews, how do we afford that ? The state is banking on the fact at least 30% of deaf people will be too scared to apply for help. An case for human rights abuse against the UK Government ?

They are quick enough to bomb the middle east for abusing the rights of their people. The conundrum will be how they do that when they will obviously need to provide support FOR the interview, how can they then deny the reality ? They still intend to ! The more able deaf who can lip-read well, will probably NOT get any help at all, nor the literate, the price you pay for finding alternatives to hearing, or accessing those that are ? Should we now stop trying ? The allowance of DLA is more than just money, it is RECOGNITION of the difficulties we face daily. PIP Intends to state in effect these issues no longer exist.

Deaf people have 1/2 terps for 300 people in many areas, terp support even if it was an option, could not be paid for socially, or even is available as and when now, support is only provided via 'official' approved areas like emergency services/health, but you can often wait 2/3 weeks for that as well, there has never been any concession or acceptance of support in your daily or social area, the DLA allowance was intended to recognise that, by accepting we take longer to make phone call, need specialist equipment to do it, and have higher bills, as well as poor access to trained support.

Our quality of life would be even worse without the financial means to seek out our own betterment. We have to pay to travel extensively to meet peers and form viable social interactions. If any argument exists, it is in that the present DLA doesn't go anywhere near meeting that, but it was an start an acceptance of the problems we face..

Hard of hearing stand to lose the most via DLA, their partial ability to hear, regardless how poor or random, will be an validity you don't need help. Hears when he/she wants to an label applied to the randomness of nerve deafness will be the spur that 'proves' you aren't really deaf at all, and defrauding tax payers who fund allowances, you are public enemy number one, so much for deaf awareness, obviously only a system to con the state for more money ! Deaf people, proud of the fact they have sign language, are not disabled, and have a culture may well pay dearly for that pride too. Time to put up, but can they afford to ? time to swallow deaf pride and accept the realities. Does this relate at all to those who need the financial help and support these allowances go toward ? Most deaf get basic lower-rate DLA, it is not enough for an half-hour paid support once a week even IF they can on demand get that support when they need it.

They can't because that support mostly doesn't exist. Soon, neither will the means to buy it in be either. Deaf may need to accept the use of support about their daily lives as a norm and not just for set situations, however they have to campaign for that support to exist first. We are all for kicking out the fakers, we are not for abusing the fact the state has failed to prove support exists before they cut off the means to access what there is. What the state is in effect saying is charities and care areas already provide what deaf need so no extra allowances to become more independent are needed, they are pushing the medical model of deafness to the limit. This will if it rolls out, remove the label of social/cultural definitions, you will have to accept being an dependent on the state.

Any independent leanings will be penalised. They are trying to remove 50 years of deaf campaigning for self-empowerment, by forcing them to rely on state support and not enabling them to DIY. For those deaf who state DLA isn't worth fighting for, they need to look again, DLA is the primary 'In' to other allowances, including council tax help etc... lose DLA, you lose them too.

DeafYou video plagiarising deaf.read ?

Not only copying and pasting deaf.read input, but erasing comment pointing it out... the last 6 items were already on other people's blogs, do they do Anything of their own ?

Marlee Matlin ate my hamster..

Excerpts from the deaf Gaga (2011) tour... with DefBuz the UK's only non-signing sat down, couch-potatoed deaf comedian, having it large.... and still unable to find the remote...

Ladies and gentlemen... DefBuz !"

"Thank you, thank you... I notice you are all armed with mobiles...I was given a mobile for Xmas, unfortunately with my eyes, galloping arthritis, and size 10 fingers, I couldn't see it, let alone use it, still, the colours are nice, so they tell me, although last time I saw that colour was in 1997, after 15 Lagers, and a very nasty vindaloo surprise, talk about ring of fire....

I had an instruction book with it, it said it texted, AND did SMS ! but I'm too old for all that stuff now, It's not much fun on your own anyway, and I can only just get my leg into the bath as it is. What is MMS ? is it that daft Taffy from llanfair pee-pee ? My nephew said he installed youtube applications on his, because mindless visuals and silly people falling over, talking complete Bllx, are what the internet is all about. I told him we had an government doing that for years....

I wish there was an tinnitus application, I could have used it to save money on all the therapy and support when my tinnitus went to town on me, but I just had half the dog population, and an dyslexic Roger Whittaker following me around. I'd rather leave the mobile under the table leg, where it is providing a much more practical service to me. When mobiles come with a 50 inch screen, a hover motor, and a giant keyboard, it'll come into its own, I'm sure... They have 'tablets' now, how the hell do you swallow those things ?

Frankly I'm a bit worried...1 in 7 people (About 9 million UK residents), have suddenly vanished without trace, we could call out the national guard if we had one. Should we be alarmed ? Over the last 10 years, those with various degrees of hearing loss and their groups, have suddenly been sidelined by an explosion of political correctness, and an upsurge of hearing loss now attributed to, and fully described as, a cultural status. So if you never quite managed losing 90 or 100% of your hearing, or never tried sign-language, you suddenly found, you were an unsuspecting victim of a nation-wide major identity theft scam, and now everyone talks to their hands, or from an alimentary area...

Basically, somewhere in far flung Essex, someone profoundly deaf is passing themselves off as you, feeding your cat mustard, and claiming your battery allowance."

Part 2 to follow.....

5 Councils in England cut deaf child services.

A Freedom of Information Act request reveals specialist teachers and radio aids are being scrapped. Almost one in five councils in England have cut services for deaf children, some by scrapping posts for specialist teachers and cutting budgets for radio aids, according to figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

There have been cuts in 28 local authorities. In Stoke-on-Trent, five "teachers of the deaf" posts have been cut in the past two years. The visiting teachers train mainstream staff and provide extra support to help deaf children. The cuts are detailed in responses to FoI requests by the National Deaf Children's Society. In Thurrock, Essex, the council confirmed it was cutting a teacher of the deaf who specialises in early-years education, leaving one teacher to support about 90 children.

In Sandwell, West Midlands, one post was being cut, leaving 5.5 staff to support about 51 deaf children each. The council added that "the frequency and duration of support to some individual children will be reduced".

In Cumbria, the council said 2.8 posts were being cut, leaving 5.8 teachers supporting about 52 children each. Cuts were expressed as fractions where local authorities are reducing hours or referring to part-time posts. Susan Daniels, the chief executive of the society, said: "We are appalled at these widespread cuts to vital education services for deaf children across the country.

"The support being taken away is not an optional extra; it is absolutely crucial for deaf children's learning and development, particularly as they are already underachieving compared with other children. We are so alarmed about the long-term impact of these cuts that we will support families in legally challenging reductions to services."

The charity estimates that 75% of deaf children in England do not have a statement of special educational needs (SEN), which would give them a legal entitlement to support. This puts them at a greater risk of losing specialist help. While deafness is not considered a learning disability, it has an impact on a child's ability to keep up in mainstream classrooms and socialise with children who can hear.

Robyn Mowat, from Kendal, Cumbria, whose daughter Michaela, 11, was diagnosed with hearing loss at six months, said: "She doesn't have any learning difficulties but she is behind academically ... What [the cuts] are going to mean is that she won't have access to the support she needs. "Michaela doesn't want to be seen as different, but she knows that she needs this support just to fit in and be able to access learning."

SOURCE

The Freedom of Information Site, what DO they know they don't tell you ? ask HERE

The Naked Scientist and genetics of hearing...

The Genetics of Hearing, an text interpretation of an podcast from January this year...

Professor Karen Steel, of The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute:

Diana - We’re joined by Dr. Karen Steel who works at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and is looking at what can happen in our genes which could cause deafness. Hello, Karen.

Karen - Hello.

Diana - Let’s start off with – are there many genetic causes of deafness?

Karen - Yes, there are. Our genome is a very common cause of hearing impairment in the human population. There are many, many different genes, any one of which can be affected, causing deafness. There are lots of different ways that genes can cause deafness. Sometimes, a person can have just a single gene that has a defect, a mutation causing deafness. In other cases, they could have a combination of a number of different variants of different genes that add together to give them a hearing impairment, including progressive hearing loss during their life. Or you can have genes that make you more sensitive to environmental damage like noise induced damage. Some people seem to be especially sensitive to noise induced damage. So genes can play a very important role in causing deafness and are probably involved in more than half of the cases of hearing impairment in the human population.

Diana - And how do you go about separating environmental causes of deafness from genetic?

Karen - Well, that’s very difficult in a human population unless you have a large family with many generations where you can actually track the inheritance of a single gene causing deafness through the generations and most human families aren’t like that. For that reason, we usually turn to an animal model and in this case, we use the mouse as a model because the mouse inner ear is almost identical to the human inner ear - it’s just a little bit smaller. The mouse also has many different forms of deafness including many of the same genes involved in human deafness.

Diana - So, how many genes are linked to deafness which are the same in mice as they are in humans?

Karen - There are dozens and dozens. I mean, we know in the human population that there are over 130 different genes that can cause just simple deafness without any other signs of any other problem elsewhere in the body, but there are probably over 400 genes that include deafness as part of a whole set of different problems that a person might have. There are similar numbers of genes in the mouse that can cause hearing impairment, sometimes associated with other problems like visual problems for example.

SOURCE and the Rest of the Podcast

What to do with Deaf Trash

Surviving a Tornado when deaf...

Most times, people describe a tornado by saying it sounded like a train coming, but what if you couldn't hear that train or hear at all?

That's what one Athens couple dealt with as a tornado tore through their home. For Tim and Brenda Smith, the peak of the tornado outbreak was silent. "The power wasn't on. We really didn't have any way of knowing what was happening so I thought I'm just going to keep my eyes on this storm," said Tim Smith.

His other senses told him something was headed their way. Both Tim and Brenda happen to be deaf. "I looked out this window and noticed that it was still black. I saw all this lightening and everything and I watched it as it moved," continued Tim. With the help of an interpreter, Tim and Brenda describe how they ran into a closet as a tornado ripped through their home. "We got down and it was just very, very fast, we could feel the whole house shaking."

It took less than 15 minutes for the entire roof to come off. In the aftermath, Brenda says her emotions turned from fear to anger. "I was talking to God, why did it have to happen to my house, why?" They both say they've moved past the why and are focused on the now. They realize everyday is challenge but they'll continue to face it. "They can hear the weather, they can hear the warnings and so forth. But, deaf people, if they are asleep during the night they won't hear it. That's one thing about it that is rough."

Tim and Brenda have spent the past few days salvaging what they can. They're now living with their daughter who lives a mile away. The interpreter works for the Alabama Institute For The Deaf and Blind.

SOURCE

Late and Acquired Deaf awareness week.... UK.

One in seven people in the UK are reputed to have some form of hearing loss, yet experts estimate some four million people are undiagnosed. IF YOU know someone who seems to have selective hearing, who insists on turning up the TV to breaking-point or always asks you to repeat your words, the chances are they have hearing loss. Some four million people in the UK go about their lives every day struggling to cope with a debilitating condition that many of them refuse to acknowledge they have. So is it about time they faced up to it ?

The most common form of hearing loss is age-related, while the most preventable form of hearing loss is noise-induced. Age-related hearing loss is just down to deterioration of the tiny sensory hair-like cells in the inner ear, just as we get older things start to degenerate, our ears do too. It starts with high-pitched sounds, which means that you tend to lose your ability to hear high-pitched consonant sounds and only hear part of what is being said.Initially, friends and family might find such hearing loss funny, but the danger is as people gradually start to miss out on what is going on, they become socially isolated.



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I used to be an intellectual now I just use common sense...

It's a duck because it quacks, (or it may be an Asthmatic swan who knows.....). "Anti-intellectualism is hostility towards and mistrust of intellect, intellectuals, and intellectual pursuits, usually expressed as the derision of education, philosophy, literature, art, and science, as impractical and contemptible. Alternately, self-described intellectuals who are alleged to fail to adhere to strict standards of rigorous scholarship may be described as anti-intellectuals."

This is incorrect, but then Wikipedia is hardly any reliable source of validity is it ? Anti-intellectualism is not what opponents of deafhood are about, since deafhood is a thesis not a validated subect academic truth, or even idealogy, it is simply challenging one man's view of being deaf, which should stand alongside the millions of others deaf to be adjudged. I think those who ridicule opponents of deafhood, by attacking their intellect are just offensive and elitist.

Deafhood via Mr Ladd's book/thesis, contains historical reference, some valid, mostly cut and paste from anywhere. There are some refuted on the grounds un-academic rules were used via an personal insertion of his view, thus suggesting his viewpoint and historical references are validating each other, but historical perceptions via his viewpoint border on hearsay and assumptions, we just do not know, as deaf people were classed as imbeciles and rarely included in the main scheme of history at all. The arrogance of an higher education, is that he then suggests (Or his adherents), we are too thick to understand his concepts. This is actually elitism and putting down lesser educated people, hardly intellectual. The whole tone and languge used in Understanding Deafhood is aimed at dusty academics who are HEARING, not deaf.

Consider page 220: Epistemology, 217:Disaporic theory, 267: Subaltern Methodologies, 272: Critical ethongraphy.

If it will help the deafhood people.

(1) Epistemology is "the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope (limitations) of knowledge."

(2) Diasporic Theory: "Diaspora" refers to "any body of people living outside their traditional homeland."

(3) Critical ethnography: "Critical ethnography is a perspective through which a researcher can ask questions. It attempts to free researchers from ideologies that detract from informed reportage." Critical ethnography is related to critical theory.

(4) Subaltern Methodologies: "subaltern studies the study of subaltern, or excluded populations."

So before you can be intellectual you obviously need an higher education ? More arrogance. The majority of deaf would need an much higher academic attainment than they do now, just to read the thesis. Yet blindly they blunder on with deafhood.

There are dozens more very obvious language references clearly aimed NOT at deaf people, but at Hearing people, and academics at that. There was no attempt by Paddy Ladd to produce an understanding of deaf people, the DEAF could follow. Let's make no bones about it, myself like many others needed a dictionary every other word to know what he was talking about, he must have done the same ! But then he lives in a library vacuum we live on the street. I don't knock education at all, but I despise it being used in this way to suggest something it isn't, to an educationally deprived sector of people. Plain English or even Plain ASL/BSL/SE was never used.

Here is an danger Deaf struggling to see what really isn't there in any language they can properly understand, believing in the Emperor's new clothes, and trying desperately to understand that, then feeling they themselves are then academics or intellectuals, and disappointed they are never going to be viewed that way.

A little bit of truth accompanied by a host of suggestion, and personal view, goes a long way clearly. I think therefore I am, I reason, but am unreasonable if I don't blindly accept and question...