Over a year ago, I reported Purdue researchers were working on Mathsigner, a virtual reality program that teaches math to deaf students. Future Making Serious Games provides more details. You can download a demo program to learn more about the project.
It will be fascinating to see how well the program does in teaching math.
Learning Math Update
Talking During Services
A family friend told us about their temple using an interpreter at the Rosh Hashanah services. The three members who used the interpreter sat to the side in the front for the best view of the service and interpreter.
Now, talking during services is tradition. Even my mother, who values services and follows along, refuses to sit near the front because she wants to chat with her neighbors. But it’s possible to go a little far with the talking thing, but in some cases — people forgive.
My parents took me to services when I was three-years-old. Apparently, I talked loud at times (c’mon, a deaf toddler has no concept of whispering). My mom apologized to the rabbbi. Knowing about my challenges to learn to speak and lipread, he responded, “It was music to my ears.”
When my grandmother was 93, she got frustrated when the rabbi’s sermon went on and on. At one point, she said, “I wish he’d shut up” and it was not whispered. We all turned red-faced.
Back to the interpreter and the three folks. Apparently, a man was talking up a storm, making points. It was obvious to even those who didn’t know sign language that this was more than an traditional chatting. Yes, sign language is quiet. However, the eyes can’t help but dart toward the signers and it can distract those praying. Was this going overboard?
New Hearing Loss Assessment
A Purdue researcher is working on a new method for assessing hearing loss that reflects real world situations. The purpose of the testing is to determine the best route for the patient. This is not for infants.
Fingerspelling and Lipreading in Grade School
I ran into a classmate from high school online. She emailed me through classmates.com and we caught up with each other within a few emails. She stays in touch with two other classmates, one of which brought back memories. Robbie loved to fingerspell with me from across the classroom. He was a clown borderline troublemaker. I guess he liked the ability to communicate without the teacher and most students understanding.
Then there was Bryan in high school. When we took chemistry together, he loved to say innocent phrases that “look” like inappropriate ones to a lipreader. His favorite lines?
* I want a Fig Newton.
* Olive oil.
I won’t translate the first one, but olive oil can look like “I love you” to a lipreader. I’ve had plenty of lipreading accidents where I misinterpreted what someone said. By the way, Bryan is a doctor.
Jewish Deaf Congress Web Site
The Jewish Deaf Congress Web site, www.JewishDeafCongress.org, provides information on about Jewish Deaf Congress, Inc. which was formerly known as National Congress of Jewish Deaf (NCJD). The new site is a work in progress with a goal to give an insight of the JDCs story, JDC Quarterly archives, articles submitted by various Jewish individuals, and updated information of its upcoming retreats and national conference.
The organization’s mission is to provide religious, cultural, and educational experiences. Members include those who became deaf before acquiring language, those who became deaf later in life, and those who are hard of hearing. Parents join our organization, as do grandparents. Some with our deaf constituents represent a community of interpreters or educators, and rabbis, or perhaps even children or siblings or just friends of deaf adults.
JDC, Inc., encourages pluralism in our community – whether Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or Reconstructionist – we are all an essential part of Klal Yisrael- the worldwide community of Jewry. As an organization, we join the larger Jewish community in our dedication to tikkun olam – the healing of the world.
Gold and Diamond-studded Hearing Aids
“Whoa!” does not begin to describe my reaction to the bling bling of hearing aids. Widex hearing aids come with 24K gold and 220 diamonds (real stuff… and not the Swarovski kind) and cost $50,000 / £s;25,000. Well, gee, right in line with two cochlear implants cost an estimated $60K.
Sources: SCF FI Tech > Techie Diva
WGBH Grant for Captioning
From news release: WGBH has received a $600,000 grant from the Department of Education’s National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research to support its efforts to make handheld media accessible for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Titled “Captioning Solutions for Handheld Media and Mobile Devices” (award number H133G070122), the grant provides WGBH’s Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) with $600,000 over three years to research and develop technical solutions for delivering captioned content to iPods, cell phones, PDAs and other mobile devices.
The grant gives WGBH the opportunity to find ways to embed captions for handheld devices and build prototypes. It will also create strategies for captioning media streamed on mobile devices.
AOL, Hewlett-Packard Company, MacNeil/Lehrer Productions (producer of The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer), the Open Media Network and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. will partner with WGBH in this effort.
Cochlear Implant Batteries
By miracle, I decided to clean out my office closet where I found Cochlear stuff. I had forgotten my new CI came with rechargeable batteries (you have the option of using disposables and rechargeables). The nice thing about rechargeables is that you take the whole thing out and replace it with another. This as opposed to removing the little batteries from their slots, dropping batteries, and not getting them out of their slots without a small instrument (when the finger nails aren’t long enough).
Since I’m low on disposable batteries, I decided to look up the cost of the rechargeables as having two isn’t enough. I keep getting stuck at tennis without a backup since I don’t want to lose my backup — yet I can carry disposables in my bag and in my purse without remembering to take them out to move them into whatever I’m currently using.
It’s $195 for a rechargeable battery! They last about a year. Looked up the cost of the disposables and paid about $150 with shipping for 300 pieces (the CI uses three batteries and each wear lasts about three days = almost a year’s worth of batteries). The rechargeables don’t last as long as the disposables (more like two days). For a $50 difference, I guess I’ll have to continue polluting with disposables.
I’d need to order at least two rechargeables to be able to ensure I always have a backup with me and $400 is a bit much.
Profoundly Deaf and the Phone
Kokonut Pundit took phone orders while working for Domino’s Pizza. It reminded me of a job I applied for while a teen doing gift wrapping at a department store. First, I had to take one of those personality tests — I had never seen this before in my life and didn’t pass. I don’t know why as I’ve always live my life as an ethical person.
Regardless, the store hired me. When I showed up on the first day, I promptly quit. The manager said I needed to answer the phone. He just didn’t get it that I couldn’t understand what the person on the other end of the call would say.
As a kid, I was more willing to talk on the phone when I needed — to family and close friends. But I don’t do that anymore — especially thanks to all the technology available (when the dagnabbed network on my mobile phone isn’t down). The way I handled the conversation made me feel like a child (hence, my more likely to do it as a kid and not now).
Heck, I admit making a few crank calls with friends. One memorable call — the woman asked if I was French. Hey, cool… my deaf accent sounded French to someone!
PCAs: Personal Communication Aids
Kids today have it made. They don’t have to wear the ugly hearing aids and other hearing devices that some of us wore while growing up. Beige, bulky and uncool. It’s not just the Baby Boomers — but many generations that have no problem wearing glasses, but do all they can to hide their hearing losses. Me, too. And I am a Gen Xer.
However, I am not shy about wearing my hair in a pony tail anymore especially since I play tennis. No way am I wearing my hair down for that especially in Texas heat and with thick, curly hair like mine. The “stay comfortable” factor aside, the black-colored implant cover is less embarrassing than the old beige hearing aids I used to wear.
Not only do hearing aid companies produce cool looking ear molds (the ugliest thing of the whole hearing aid), but also hearing aids are now PCAs. Normally I would roll my eyes at this change of name for those things that help you hear better, but PCA does sound cooler than hearing aids. We don’t call glasses “eye aids” or “seeing aids.”
Meet the Lexus, BMW and Porsche of hearing aids: Phonak PCAs. Nice marketing move, Phonak.
Can we stop using “hearing aids” and start using “PCAs?” I don’t like to call my cochlear implant device a hearing aid since it’s not the same thing as what we consider a hearing aid. PCA, however, would be easier to say and understand.