Volume 21 Issue 3

HOH-LD-News
Vol. 21, Issue 3
October 16, 2004

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Table of Contents
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- Article 1: Hearing Loss Issue at Work
- Article 2: RNID Guidelines for DDA Speak Louder than Words - Part 2
- Article 3: Department of Homeland Security Creates Program for Accessible Technology
- Article 4: Ear Implants Work Best When Started Young
- Classifieds: One Travel Opportunity and two Education Opportunities
- Contact Information and Disclaimers

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Contact information and disclaimers are at the end of this newsletter.
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- Article 1: Hearing Loss Issue at Work
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Editor: Several years ago I started an email list to discuss workplace issues related to hearing loss. Exchanges are a bit sporadic, but we have had many wonderful discussions on employment issues. (To join the group, send an email to:
HLWork-subscribe@yahoogroups.com)

Here are two emails from a recent exchange. Shirley (Blondieeng@aol.com) describes a recent situation at her work, and Randy Collins (Randy.Collins@NAU.EDU) provides a thoughtful response. As always, your thoughts on this article are encouraged. Send them to larry@hearinglossweb.com

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Shirley's situation:

I am still plugging away at my job. I'm currently on a temporary assignment because my manager yanked me from a perfectly good working relationship to put me with two people who turned out very toxic towards me.

Putting a regular employee with a contractor, then demanding the contractor "train" the regular employee was nothing but a recipe for disaster. After carefully documenting the details leading up to a horrible Sunday afternoon (we're working six days a week) sent the note off to my manager who then shipped me off to a NEW group within an hour of receiving the facts.

One fact was my SideKick pager was a "distraction" and was asked to leave it behind in my desk as I worked in the lab.

EXCUSE ME?!!!!

I have a Deaf housemate and she communicates with me via the pager. It was VERY tempting to request that all telephones be removed from the lab because those communication devices are also a large distraction (and one I cannot use).

The reason for this request was the contractor complained he was making an important point to me when I consulted my pager.

WRONG.

He was playing Fantasy Football online but apparently got upset when he couldn't see what I was doing but I could see his misdoings online while we were supposed to be working.

The list went on but not having access to MY pager is what pissed me off the most. My manager knew he crossed the line on that issue. In fact, he did not have the courage to make that request formally. He made the email to me but didn't send it. Rather, he printed the note and handed it to me.

HR now has a copy of the note.

You can bet if I have further problems regarding my communication device I'll fight them all and win. My careful use of MY device will not stand in the way of a good job being completed, or an employee who is out to get me win any battles against me.

Randy's response:

I am beyond swamped but I haven't posted here in a while and I miss it. Work can wait for a minute or two. Good to hear from you. Like everyone else here who read your post my blood is boiling. Don't get me started on the two sets of telecommunication rules for the world:
1. Rules for people who hear.
2. Rules for everybody else.

Telecommunications rules must be equal. No Sidekicks or text pagers aloud? Then no cell phones and rip those desk phones out of the wall! Make it equal, that's all I want.

Not always but there are times when I honestly believe these issues of control are actually an attempt to show hoh people their place. Dr. Harlan Lane in Mask of Benevolence wrote about the unspoken social contract between people with disabilities and TABS (temporarily able-bodied - no offense intended to the able bodied among you - and "temporarily" because sooner or later all of us develop a disability). Lane said that the social contract is that TABS (in general terms) will agree not to treat people with disabilities like prostitutes, drug addicts, or thugs and in return disabled people will act needy and accept help and direction - agree to perpetuate paternalism.

If the description of the social contract makes anyone uncomfortable you are not alone. When I first read Mask of Benevolence it was like riding an emotional roller coaster from hell. There were violent twists and turns of emotion. Lane received a lot of feedback about that book and you can imagine it wasn't all pleasant. I've read the book 4 times and have referred to it often because it makes me think. I didn't like the idea of a social contract, and I damn sure don't like paternalism. The description didn't fit my self-image and still doesn't. By the same token I have many hearing friends and some in the profession who are simply fantastic. They handle my hearing loss exactly the way handle my balding scalp, it's just another facet of what makes me unique. So Lane's description doesn't apply to a number of hearing people I know. But you know what, it does apply to TABS and people with disabilities in general.

It is unfortunate but not uncommon for us to experience people who don't appreciate it one bit when someone like you Shirley voids the social contract by daring to act independently. Heaven forbid fair lady; you went so far as to view yourself as an equal, or more. <shocked> LOL! No doubt your fantasy football playing antagonist felt that it was his duty to call your social responsibilities to your attention. We know this because he chose your Sidekick as the manifestation of your hearing loss to remind you of your position within the social contract. "You are disabled, you have an assigned place in the world, you have stepped over the line."

Those people bring out the worst in me. But bravo for Shirley, that social contract is changing and people are getting the message. People with disabilities do have a place in this world and that place is anywhere we want it to be. Hard of hearing people have always been equal; technology has now removed the reason for any doubt.

Good going Shirley. That was a great story and one to remember. I'm glad things are better now. We all need to hear those stories once in a while. I like the ones with happy endings.

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- Article 2: RNID Guidelines for DDA Speak Louder than Words - Part 2
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Editor: The British equivalent of our Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). Interestingly, it sounds like the Brits have the same sorts of problems getting organizations to comply that we have in the US. This article presents a set of easy and inexpensive guidelines from RNID that organizations can use to become compliant.

Reprinted with permission from Online Recruitment (onrec.com)

This is part two of two parts

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7. Meet requests for communication support whenever possible

Communication support for deaf people does not always necessitate a sign language interpreter. There is a range of communication support available that organisations can offer:
- Video interpreting: Anyone with access to a videophone and ISDN2 Line can book a video interpreter at very short notice to translate sign language into English.
- Electronic Notetakers: They type a summary of what is being said on a computer. This information appears on a screen in front of the deaf person who can then read it.
- Speech-to-text reporter: They offer a full word-for-word report of what is being said using a system similar to a Stenograph.

The RNID Information Line can give further advice on the full range of communication support available and the best option in a given situation.

8. Be aware of RNID Typetalk, the telephone relay service funded by BT, to give a choice of telephone access

RNID Typetalk provides a free service which links deaf or hard of hearing person using a textphone to a hearing person using an ordinary phone.

A highly trained RNID Typetalk Operator relays the textphone user's typed message in speech to the hearing person and types what is said back to the textphone user.

Ordinary phone users dial direct using the 18002 prefix before the number of the person they would like to speak to and RNID Typetalk Operator joins the line to relay the conversation.

For further information on Typetalk, how to join for free and how to obtain a textphone, please e-mail: helpline@rnid-typetalk.org.uk, call 0800 500 888 (textphone), 0800 7311 888 (voice) or visit the Typetalk website: www.rnid-typetalk.org.uk/

9. Continuously consult deaf people about the quality and extent of the organisation's deaf awareness

RNID can undertake a poll amongst staff and customers on behalf of an organisation. Alternatively, RNID can provide a template of survey questions for organisations to carry out the poll themselves.

10. Ensure information about employment opportunities is readily available and fully accessible

Employers should ensure that recruitment opportunities are advertised with an e-mail as well as a telephone number. In addition, employers could look to target deaf people specifically by placing jobs on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/deaf-uk-jobs/

11. Provide communication support when being interviewed for a job

Under the Access to Work programme, deaf people can apply for free communication support when being interviewed for a job. Deaf applicants apply for it under this government funding scheme run by Jobcentre Plus. It provides financial assistance towards the extra costs of employing someone with a disability. It is available to unemployed, employed and self-employed people and can apply to any job, full-time or part-time, permanent or temporary.

12. Provide supervision and support from a line manager who is deaf aware

RNID offers a free 'Don't Panic Pack' giving employers advice on recruiting and developing deaf and hard of hearing employees. This gives straight-forward and practical advice with case studies and contact details of useful organisations.

Information with advice and information for employers can also be downloaded from http://www.rnid.org.uk/html/factsheets/emp_deaf_people_and_work
_a_guide_for_employers.htm

RNID offers free deaf and disability awareness training to small businesses. This helps ensure that staff do not inadvertently discriminate against disabled colleagues and customers due to misunderstandings of what disability is. It also encourages managers to think for themselves what they could individually do to make their area of work more accessible.

13. Equal access to professional development and promotion opportunities

Applications for promotion should be encouraged for all members of staff and any adverts should be easily accessible to all.

If organisations would like to gauge how close they are to meeting deaf-aware requirements, RNID can assess them on all the above points for only £500. Once an organisation has acted on all the recommendations RNID makes, they could be eligible for a Louder than Words kitemark which, at a glance, tells the UK's nine million deaf and hard of hearing people that their experience of the organisation will be a positive one.

For further information please call 0207 296 8060 (voice and textphone) or e-mail training.services@rnid.org.uk. www.rnid.org.uk

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- Article 3: Department of Homeland Security Creates Program for Accessible Technology
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Editor: Remember Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act? It requires that all electronic and information technology that the Federal government funds, buys, or uses must be accessible to people with disabilities. Like so much other legislation to assist people with disabilities, Section 508 has been ignored by too many of those with the power to enforce it.

Now Secretary Ridge of the Department of Homeland Security has announced a new program to ensure Section 508 compliance. Here's the story, thanks to the wonderful folks at NVRC.

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The Department of Homeland Security announced that it will create a state-of-the-art program to ensure that electronic and information technology is accessible for employees and consumers with disabilities.

Steve Cooper, the Department's Chief Information Officer, and Daniel Sutherland, the Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, made the announcement on http://www.AT508.com, a website that features news of interest to the disability community. Cooper and Sutherland will oversee a program to ensure compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. The new office will be a part of the senior leadership of the Office of the Chief Information Officer, as well as having a reporting relationship to the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. Two positions to staff the new office, including the Program Manager, were posted today on the USAJOBS website.

"Making electronic and information technology accessible for people with disabilities is a good business management strategy," Chief Information Officer Steve Cooper said. "Complying with Section 508 ensures our information technology will be more capable of responding to technology changes in future years. A strong accessibility program results in more flexibility, more portability, better designs and better websites."

"This joint project further fulfills Secretary Ridge's commitment that Homeland Security will be a model federal agency, and particularly with regard to how this new agency relates to people with disabilities," Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Officer Daniel Sutherland said. "The senior leadership of DHS looks outside the box in our efforts to create an agency that will meet the challenge given to us by President Bush and meets the expectations of the American public."

Section 508 requires federal agencies to ensure that the electronic and information technology (EIT) that they develop, procure, maintain and use is accessible to their employees and consumers with disabilities. Section 508 was enacted to eliminate barriers in information technology, to make new opportunities available for people with disabilities, and to encourage the development of technologies that will help achieve these goals.

Previously, the Secretary has put in place aggressive efforts to promote employment opportunities for people with disabilities, has placed a priority on integrating people with disabilities into the emergency preparedness effort, and has directed the Transportation Security Administration's innovative program for screening travelers with disabilities. The Secretary is also committed to providing access to the http://www.dhs.gov web page for all individuals with disabilities

NVRC News, October 7, 2004

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- Article 4: Ear Implants Work Best When Started Young
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Editor: You probably remember the controversial movie a few years ago over the deaf parents who chose a cochlear implant (CI) for their deaf child. Implanting children continues to be a controversial topic in some parts of the hearing loss community.

CI proponents have long claimed that the earlier a person receives an implant, the more it will help them. It seems logical to me, and virtually all studies have verified that theory. Here's an article that reviews some of that research.

Reprinted with permission of The Associated Press.

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By LINDSEY TANNER
AP Medical Writer

CHICAGO -- The earlier deaf children get cochlear implants, the more likely they are to speak and comprehend language normally later in life, new research suggests. In fact, some doctors say doing the surgery in infancy may produce the best results.

In one study, children ages 12 months to 3 years showed rapid improvement in understanding speech during the first year after receiving one of the electronic devices, with the best results in the youngest children.

In another study, 43 percent of children who got implants at age 2 had normal oral language abilities at ages 8 to 9, compared with just 16 percent of youngsters who got implants at age 4, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School researcher Ann Geers found.

Geers said the longer implant use by the youngest children studied does not explain her results. Instead, she and other researchers say that very early childhood is an especially critical period in the development of language skills, during which children hear and imitate sounds around them.

Both studies appear in May's Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, released Monday. This month's issue focuses entirely on cochlear implants in children. The studies are among the few to examine the use of the implants in children so young.

Cochlear implants, typically implanted in one ear, use electrodes to transmit sounds to the auditory nerve and brain, bypassing nonfunctioning parts of the ear. The electronic devices are approved for use in children as young as 12 months, but some doctors have begun implanting them in even younger children.

"Babies spend quite a bit of time hearing and experiencing all kinds of sounds and speech in order to learn to talk," said Dr. Nancy Young, an ear specialist at Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital. "It certainly makes sense to think that giving children the opportunity to hear as soon as possible would be beneficial."

The latest research did not look at whether putting implants in infants under a year yields better results than doing so at, say, 12 months or 18 months. And neither study looked at youngsters past age 9.

But Geers said she believes waiting until after age 2 may decrease the chances that a child will ever develop normal speech skills.

Of the 50 or so children who get cochlear implants yearly at the Chicago hospital where Young works, the youngest was a 7-month-old Chesterton, Ind., boy with inherited hearing loss who had the surgery in December.

The boy, Kevin Johnston, is now a babbling, cooing 1-year-old and tests show his speech skills are "right on target" for a child his age, said his mother, Cindy Johnston.

Johnston said it was "a no-brainer" to have Kevin's surgery so young. In the three-hour outpatient operation, a cochlear implant was installed in the baby's right ear.

The same inherited condition affects her two older children, including a 4-year-old daughter who got an implant at 2 1/2. "She's just about a year behind in language," Johnston said, a delay she said she thinks would not have occurred if her daughter had had the surgery earlier.

About 3 out of every 1,000 U.S. infants are born deaf. Deafness and hearing problems also can occur after birth from ailments including meningitis. Many such children are candidates for cochlear implants, as are some adults with age-related hearing loss.

Dr. Michael M.E. Johns, Archives editor, said tremendous advances have been made in dealing with hearing loss in children over the past decade, with better implant technology and improved hearing tests.

Newborn hearing tests, now performed in most states, mean most children born deaf are diagnosed shortly after birth. In the early 1990s, children born deaf were typically identified after age 3, Johns said.

An estimated 23,000 people nationwide have the implants, including some 10,000 children. The devices do not restore normal hearing, and users usually work with specialists to improve their communication skills. Many wear hearing aids in the non-implant ear; some also use sign language.

Some activists for the deaf have complained that the devices stigmatize deafness and a repudiation of sign language, but the implants are becoming more accepted.

"Opposition is giving way to the perception that it is one of a continuum of possibilities for parents to consider," said researchers John Christiansen and Irene Leigh of Gallaudet University, a college for the deaf in Washington.

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- Classifieds
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One Travel Opportunity and two Education Opportunities appear in this issue. (Ads appear after this brief table of contents.)

Travel Opportunity 1
Cruise for CI Users
From Los Angeles to Hawaii
January 19 to February 3, 2005

Education Opportunity 1
Play Therapy and Sandtray Training
Chesapeake Beach Professional Seminars

Education Opportunity 2
Graduate Studies in Psychology
Gallaudet University
Washington, DC

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Travel Opportunity 1
Cruise for CI Users
From Los Angeles to Hawaii
January 19 to February 3, 2005
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

15 Day Cruise-Hawaiian Islands for Adult Cochlear Implant Users
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Leaving from Los Angeles January 19 to February 3, 2005

Join Auditory Verbal Therapist William and Carol Beitzel for an unique experience combining CI therapy with social interaction on a cruise. Learn to develop and enhance your effective comfort level skills using your cochlear implant. Come along with your spouse/SO for fun/relaxation while participating in an exciting complimentary individual/group therapy program.

Contact Bill at wave307@shaw.ca .

Cruise starts at $2099 USD (pp/dbl.occ)

Info/book-contact Evelyn Sinclair at CRUISE WORLD, INC. 101-1090 Waverley St., Winnipeg, MB,CANADA R3T 0P4
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EMAIL evelyn@cruiseworld.mb.ca

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Education Opportunity 1
Play Therapy and Sandtray Training
Chesapeake Beach Professional Seminars
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CHESAPEAKE BEACH PROFESSIONAL SEMINARS
is interested in offering play therapy and sandtray training to deaf and hard of hearing clinicians who provide mental health services to children and families.

Interpreters using American Sign Language available.

If you work at a facility where there are a number of deaf and hard of hearing clinicians or you have access to a number of such clinicians, we could have the training at your facility.

Please get in touch with us immediately to talk about possibilities.
E-mail: cbps@radix.net.
website: www.cbpseminars.com

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Education Opportunity 2
Graduate Studies in Psychology
Gallaudet University
Washington, DC
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Interested in pursuing graduate studies in psychology?

The Department of Psychology at Gallaudet University offers both an APA accredited Ph.D. program in Clinical Psychology, and a NASP/NCATE accredited Specialist degree program in School Psychology, both of which include specialized training for work with Deaf and Hard of Hearing clients and their families.

The Ph.D. program requires four years of coursework plus a one year full-time internship.

The School Psychology program requires two years of course work and a full-time, academic year internship.

Limited financial support is available.

Applicants should possess a bachelor's degree in psychology, or be in the process of completing their bachelor's degree, and have either a psychology major or substantial course work in psychology. Relevant work experience is desired, though not required.

Deaf and hearing applications are encouraged. For more information, contact Patrick J. Brice, Ph.D., Clinical Program Director (patrick.brice@gallaudet.edu), or Lynne Blennerhassett, Ed.D., School Psychology Program Director (lynne.blennerhassett@gallaudet.edu).

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- Contact Information and Disclaimers
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