When I was in high school, I knew of another person who was deaf and a cheerleader at another public high school. The local newspaper wrote an article about her. What is she doing today? She is a lawyer in LA. Cool, eh? Aside from lawyer jokes, of course.
Reading Deaf cheerleader Krystal Delacruz keeps the beat reminds me of my high school years. The kinds of comments her mom made were what you would hear from my parents. My dad always told my teachers, “Other than ensuring she sits where she can read your lips, don’t treat Meryl differently.”
I didn’t know this till after I moved out on my own. I try to live life like that… do what I need to do to adapt and not be treated differently. I admit I got the easy way out a few times in life. Once when I was going on a business trip, I told the airline employee to let me know when they call my row so I can line up. She was nice and told me to go with the first group. It makes it a lot easier than sitting around hoping the employee remembered me.
Rah! Rah!
Captioning Censorship
The Television Captioning Censorship List is a list of 200 US Department of Education recently disapproved TV shows by the Department? Technology and Media Services for IndIndividuals with Disabilities program, effective October 1, 2003.
Looking at the approved vs. disapproved list, one can tell DOE selected more news and educational programming and got rid of fictional shows. On one hand, it makes sense since DOE is about education and that’s how they’re expected to use taxpayers’ dollars.
Accessibility expert (even more knowledgeable than me on captioning issues) Joe Clark provides his feedback on the whole cc shebang.
Cell Antennas Don't Play Nice
When investigating whether or not to get an implant, I looked into how security devices and other techie stuff impact the implant and its programming. There was talk that airport security systems would mess with the implant as do shopping security devices. In the end, these rarely have an impact on the implant and its programming.
With more and more things going wireless, you wonder if there are going to be implications. A family says cell antennas would signal trouble. What does this mean for implants?
Gripe Gripe
I am sure the big supporters of the Deaf culture will be thrilled with this post, but I wouldn’t get too thrilled as I was perfectly fine with my digital hearing aids and it is a frustrating time for me. I need to give the whole CI business more time.
I reported the processor broke. It would not turn on at all even though we put fresh batteries in it. Well, we sent it back to the audiologist who said it turns on. But I swear there was NOTHING on the screen and we tried for a long time to wake it up. The processor is taunting me. Making me look bad. Paul was with me. He can confirm I wasn’t high on something when it stopped working.
Argh. That episode with the process set me off because a lot of equipment for those who are deaf or hard of hearing cost a lot of money and never last long. I’ve already had one cable fail. Quality is terrible. So I am thinking that the thingy in my head and other equipment are going to break and this stuff ain’t cheap. Many families could not afford it. I was lucky my parents could get me new hearing aids when I needed it.
Though I can hear from more places in the house and not turn up the volume as much, I haven’t gotten much benefit from the implant otherwise. It takes time especially for someone who was born without hearing. But I am just mad. It’ll pass, I’m sure. Had to get that out of my system.
Couple Gets CIs
Deaf Couple Can Now Hear Their Voices tells the story of two people who lost their hearing at a young age due to meningitis. They had a child and worried about hearing her cues, so they made the decision to have implants.
One thing I liked about the story is that their deaf friends were accepting of their decision though the couple worried about telling them. “As long as I’m still who I am,” she says, “they accept it.”
And that is how it should be when we make friends.
Train the Brain
JB wrote a great note and I think he explains why it is taking me a long time to make the most of the implant.
“Most people do not realize that when you have not been able to hear, the addition of a device to assist in hearing does not give you instant understanding of what you hear. It is always a job to train the brain to assimilate words and sounds. We do not realize what a memory bank of sounds we must build to relate to our environment. It seems so inherent we do not realize what our mind has done for us.”
Right on target!
Deaf Athletes
Mainstream Deaf/Hard of Hearing & Coda Athletes is a list of athletes who are attending regular high schools (CODA means child of deaf adults). I played sports in high school and it was no big deal. I emailed the guy who is compiling the list to find out why he is doing it.
Sure, in volleyball and baseball, players often shout out, “Got it!” or “Mine!” — it was never a problem for me. Football is tricky because no one can move until the call is made, but I know there are deaf football players who have been able to work around that. Same for track or swimming, no moving till the call is announced. Just like everything in life, people adapt as needed to get the job done.
Deaf to Reason
Deaf Today shares an article from the Telegraph (requires registration) about a mother’s experience in deciding what to do for her deaf son and running into roadblocks from the deaf community. My opinion is that it is none of the deaf community’s business what a parent or person decides to do in terms of language and hearing choices.
Little Change
Not much update to the bionic ear. I’ve had the processor for almost six months, but of course, I mentioned I don’t have time to do practice listening skills. I’m patient about the whole deal, but when you frequently get asked how the hearing is going… it feels like the progress is too slow and too little.
Since having the implant, I am learning that many people even those who’ve known me for a long time didn’t realize how much benefit I received from the hearing aids.
Cochlear Implant Inventors
There isn’t one person who outright invented the cochlear implant as Graeme M. Clark and NASA’s Adam Kissiah are recognized as individuals who made a large contribution to the bionic ear.