Volume 22 Issue 11

- Advertisers in this Issue:
First Premium Placement: Harris Communications
Second Premium Placement: Discount Valley Hearing Aid Supply
Third Premium Placement: NAD
Classified Section: One Call for Papers and three Employment 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: Can't Tell the Players without a Program - One of a Series of Articles on the Awakening Oral Hearing Loss Community
By Randy Collins
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Editor: So who exactly are we talking about here? What defines membership in the "Awakening Oral Hearing Loss Community"? My definition is "anyone with hearing loss who prefers to communicate using spoken language." Here with some additional thoughts is Randy Collins, who regular readers will know pretty well by now ;-)

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"Deaf and hard of hearing". There's that Deaf lite perspective again, and confusion concerning who we are continues. We know who we are, but we are not getting the message out to the Deaf and hearing worlds. "Deaf and hard of hearing" is NOT a single disability - it's two, and if we want to be more specific there are actually three distinct types of Deaf and hard of hearing. What so often happens is that Deaf and hearing people morph linguistic and audiological differences into one disability - Deaf and hard of hearing. 'Taint so.

Linguistically there are culturally deaf people or as they prefer - and I agree - Deaf, with a capital D. Deaf people, usually prelingually deafened, if not born deaf, use sign language, ASL, as their preferred mode of communication. It is their first language, their native language. Language is part of the critical mix in the cement that holds a culture together; all cultures. As such Deaf people have a rich, vibrant and wonderful culture.

Audiologically the same are people who were born deaf or deafened early, but educated in an oral method, or people who are postlingually deafened, as in later in life. The key cultural factor however is NOT audiological - and that is where the confusion starts. The key factor here is linguistic; in the US it is English. The native language of deaf (little d) people is English and their culture is mainstream, English based, America.

Can a deaf person (an orally educated deaf child or a deafened adult) become a member of Deaf culture? Yes, it happens but it is not normally the case. Such a person must become fully fluent in ASL, but that is not enough. That person must also socialize primarily with the Deaf community and learn to accept all the nuances of Deaf culture. I. King Jordan would be a prime example of someone who was deaf and is now Deaf.

Then there are the rest of us. Hard of hearing people, born that way or those who became so later in life (including Late Deafened), prefer oral communication, English in the US. Most of us began to lose our hearing later in life. Mainstreamed, English based, America is our culture - or was. Here's the HUGE distinction most people never address - As language is a key component of culture and by virtue of the fact that we have lost or our losing our hearing, we are losing our ability to participate fully in our culture. We have a culture but we are in a sense losing it and there is no culture to replace it! We don't have a critical mass of peers readily available to access for support and guidance.

Hard of hearing people are out there on the high wire of life without a net. This is in sharp contrast to Deaf people, who have a culture that is complete with thriving and rewarding social outlets.

One group consists of Deaf people. I include culturally Hard of Hearing in this group - those who are audiologically hard of hearing, grew up in a Deaf environment, and likely attended Deaf schools. The other group is hard of hearing people. In this group I include oral deaf and late deafened adults. [Ed: this is the group that I'm calling the Oral Hearing Loss (OHL) community.]

My apologies for confusing anyone. I've tried to skip over the topic and highlight the key facts so as not to bore everyone to tears with a longer post. I've presented this topic in greater detail about 4 or 5 times when I've had the opportunity. The response has been fascinating, to me at least. Hard of hearing people usually respond with, "Yes, that's it. Yes!" Deaf people agree, or disagree, or adamantly disagree, and hearing people usually fall asleep. LOL!

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- Article 2: Hearing Loss in Aging May Not Be Ear Problem; Just an Old Brain - Part 2
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Editor: I've been pretty involved in the hearing loss world for many years, and this is the first time I've heard anything like this claim - that hearing loss in seniors may be due to the brain, rather than the ears. But note that the article doesn't say this applies to ALL seniors.

This is part two of two parts. Part one appeared last week.

This article is reprinted with permission from the Senior Journal. Please visit them at http://www.SeniorJournal.com

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"The number-one hearing complaint among the elderly is that they have trouble hearing speech because of background noise. Someone might hear fine in a quiet environment like their home, but when they go to a restaurant or a meeting or a party, it sounds like chaos to them," Frisina says. "That's partly because the feedback system is failing."

To get to the root of the feedback problem, Frisina's neuroscience team is investigating the possible role of a breakdown in calcium regulation in the brain stem, throwing askew the way nerve cells talk to each other and possibly resulting in a toxic buildup of calcium in some brain cells.

Recently the team used gene-chip activity to chart the activity of more than 22,000 genes in mice, comparing activity levels of genes in young mice and their older counterparts. While dozens of genes in humans and mice are known to contribute to congenital deafness, none has been linked to age-related hearing loss in humans. The latest studies offer several promising leads in genes that affect the functioning of brain chemicals like glutamate and GABA, important neurotransmitters that allow nerve cells in the ear and brain to talk to each other.

The difficulties can isolate people from friends and family, beginning when people first have difficulty with age-related hearing loss in their 50s and 60s. "This problem is especially tragic because just when people have time to spend with their children and grandchildren, they can't understand what is going on," says Frisina. "They're losing something they had. People respond to this isolation by either clamming up or aggressively dominating conversation." The estrangement can be severe and can even result in depression.

While there is no cure for age-related hearing loss, or presbycusis, some simple steps can lessen its effects. Speaking loudly is an instinctual reaction when talking to a hearing-impaired person, but that won't help when talking to someone with age-related hearing loss. "Speaking slightly slower than usual will help," says Frisina, "as if you were talking to someone who speaks a foreign language.

"Many older people are actually especially sensitive to loud sounds, so the worst thing you can do is raise your voice. What you need to do is look at the person and speak slowly and clearly. Speaking loudly is like turning up the volume on a cheap stereo - it's only going to distort your speech and add to the confusion."

Six years ago the same team of researchers reported finding a closely related brain "timing" problem where people are not as adept as they once were at detecting slight gaps in speech. While the average person can hear sound gaps of about 2 milliseconds apart, someone with a timing problem may be anywhere from 2 to 50 times worse detecting such gaps, which are crucial - though unconscious - for properly hearing consonants and vowels.

"To a person with a timing problem, conversation sounds like everything is spoken through a drainpipe," says James Ison, professor of brain and cognitive science. "One sound leads into the next, smearing words together." For instance, most people know that in the English alphabet, the letter that follows "K" is "L," not "Elamenopee." To a person with a timing problem, short pauses are imperceptible, blurring words together. The problem has the most effect on a listener's ability to hear the first consonant of a word - cat, hat, bat, fat, and rat may sound remarkably similar, for instance.

While most people gradually lose the ability to hear high frequencies as they age, the feedback and timing problems account for many of their complaints about hearing, Frisina says.

"These problems with the aging brain, which nearly everyone experiences, are on top of problems with our ears, which you may or may not have as you get older. For many people, even if they can still hear sounds as they get older, they still lose the ability to hear and understand speech, because of these brain problems," Frisina says.

Frisina and Ison are part of a center that brings together applied research on hearing at RIT with basic neuroscience and aging research from the University of Rochester. Frisina is the associate director of the center; the director is his father, D. Robert Frisina, founding director of NTID and an adjunct professor at the University. Other faculty members at the center include William O'Neill, associate professor of neurobiology and anatomy, and Joseph Walton, associate professor of otolaryngology, both at the University. The center is currently funded by a five-year, $6.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.

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- Article 3: Positive Thinking and Hearing Loss
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This California SHHH convention workshop was given by Susan Roberts. Susan has normal hearing, but has a lifetime of experience with her mother's hearing loss. She is the author of a book entitled "Lifting the Veil of Silence".

Susan believes that the words we use affect our body, that positive words will create healthier attitudes and healthier bodies. She also thinks that what we believe influences physical outcomes. As an example she cites the case of people with multiple personalities who suffer an injury that leaves a noticeable scar, but the scar is only visible when the personality that experienced the injury is expressed. When a different personality is present in the body, the scar is absent!

When we are relaxed and peaceful, we hear better and are more open to other people. Deepak Chopra said, "Positive inner dialogs connect us to our true self and promote inner peace". So staying positive can help us hear better!

Susan talked about heart and mind intelligence centers. We all know that the mind is an intelligence center, but there is evidence that the heart is, as well. There are multiple reported cases of people who received heart transplants also receiving memories from the donor!

The mind approaches a problem in an organized, structured manner. It first identifies the problem, then searches for solutions. In doing so, it tends to use deductive reasoning to focus down on the solution. The heart, on the other hand, takes a more holistic approach. In response to hearing loss, for example, the mind focuses on getting the right hearing aids and assistive devices, while the heart asks questions like, "What is the real problem? How has hearing loss changed my life?"

Susan seems more connected to the heart intelligence center, and put the heart's questions to the audience. Here are some of the replies:
1. It makes me afraid that I won't understand people.
2. Makes me less social.
3. Reduces my self-esteem.
4. Causes me to feel isolated and lonely.
5. Restricted my choice of careers.

The heart sees these issues as the real problems and attempts to solve them. Susan remarked that the medical professionals give you mind solutions, and SHHH gives you heart solutions. She noted that the best course of action is generally to fix both mind and heart problems. We all know how to approach the mind problems. But many of us need to learn that when we open our hearts we connect with a universal energy that helps us find heart solutions.

Susan is an enthusiastic proponent of the value of affirmations, which she defines as positive messages we use to affirm who we are or what we want. She offered the following affirmation guidelines:
1. Affirmations must be simple; the subconscious mind that listens to them thinks very simply.
2. Affirmations can be general or specific.
3. Affirmations can affirm a way of being, e.g. "I am filled with peace and joy".
4. Affirmations are in the present tense, because we can only do something right now.
5. Affirmations need to be repeated. One method is to repeat an affirmation three times, the first time from the mind, the second time from the heart, and the third time from every cell in the body.

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- Article 4: Fairness for Ontario's Deaf and Blind
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Editor: This newsletter focuses primarily on hearing loss issues in the US, but we also like to include relevant information that discusses what's going in other countries. This press release from the Canada Newswire discusses an Ontario situation in which people who were born deaf-blind have easier access to services than people who became deaf-blind later in life.

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TORONTO, March 3 /CNW/ - With reluctance and great personal difficulty, six deaf and blind Ontario residents have launched a lawsuit against the Province of Ontario seeking fairness in the way the Province dispenses services to its deaf and blind residents.

One of the six, thirty-three year old father and spokesperson Elio Riggillo, who himself is totally deaf and legally blind and who communicates via sign language with the help of 2 1/2 hrs per week of intervenor (interpreter) service advises, "It's simply not fair." Mr. Riggillo's 2 1/2 hours a week of intervenor service compares with the roughly 12 hours per day of intervenor service provided for Ontario residents who were born deaf-blind.

People who are deaf and blind usually become so after birth and generally over time (i.e., Usher Syndrome). "We desperately need expanded intervenor service. Without it we are helpless and incapable of leading any kind of productive life," communicates Mr. Riggillo.

"The system is discriminatory. It offends the Charter of Rights. It offends the Ontario Human Rights Code and it offends common decency," stated former Ontario Attorney General David Young, who represents Elio and the five others in the legal proceeding.

The last straw for Mr. Riggillo and his group occurred when the Ontario Human Rights Commission denied their request "to be treated fairly.

The commission replied to Mr. Riggillo's complaint by mailing him a thick sheaf of documents, including fine-print legal rulings that he was unable to read without the help of an intervenor. The commission then refused his request for an intervenor to interpret the documents. While they finally relented, it clearly demonstrated the failure of the very institution that is enshrined with the responsibility to ensure fairness in Ontario society.

Across Canada, about 15,500 people over age 12 are totally deaf and blind, with about 40 per cent of them living in Ontario. For further information: Joyce Thompson, joycegthompson@primus.ca, Tel: (905) 763-6736, Fax: (905) 763-2087

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- Classifieds
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One Call for Papers and three Employment Opportunities appear in this issue. (Ads appear after this brief table of contents.)

Call For Papers for ALDAcon
ALDA International Convention
Salt Lake City, UT
September 7 - 11, 2005

Employment Opportunity 1
Secondary Science Teacher
Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind (ISDB)
Gooding, Idaho

Employment Opportunity 2
Elementary/Middle School Supervising Teacher
Oregon School for the Deaf
Salem, Oregon

Employment Opportunity 3
Various Positions
South Dakota School for the Deaf
Sioux Falls, SD

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Call For Papers for ALDAcon
ALDA International Convention
Salt Lake City, UT
September 7 - 11, 2005
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The Association of Late Deafened Adults (ALDA Inc. http://www.alda.org/) is now accepting proposals for workshop presentations at its 17th annual international convention to be held at the Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City September 7th-11th. ALDAcon is a convention held by, and for people who are late deafened, HOH, or have family or friends dealing with any degree of hearing loss. In addition ALDAcon has features speakers who are well known to the D/deaf community, such as I. King Jordan, Dr Robert Davila and Cheryl Heppner.

To request a Call for Papers or more information on our program you may contact
Carolyn Piper
Program Chair
wicwas@wcvt.com

For general information on the ALDAcon 2005 please contact planning chairs
Kathy Evans <patches_alda@yahoo.com>
Linda Lewis <utmtns05@yahoo.com>

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Employment Opportunity 1
Secondary Science Teacher
Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind (ISDB)
Gooding, Idaho
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SECONDARY TEACHER FOR DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING/SCIENCE

Starting Date: August 2005

Salary Range: Commensurate with education and experience

Benefits: Comprehensive fringe benefit package

Desired Qualifications:
* Idaho Teacher Certification for Deaf and Hard of Hearing or equivalent
* One or more science endorsements
* Additional endorsements are beneficial
* Excellent receptive and expressive skills in American Sign Language
* Minimum of Bachelor's Degree Master's degree preferred
* Experience teaching deaf and/or blind children preferred
* Experience teaching subjects outside of endorsement areas preferred

Duties:
* Assumes responsibility for providing a quality science program
* Maintains discipline within the classroom
* Works with teachers to develop a continuum of educational activities throughout the curriculum
* Attends IEP meetings and other meetings required for the delivery of educational services
* Participates in committees and other job related activities
* Other duties as assigned

Application Procedures:
Submit the following to:
Human Resources Department
Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind
1450 Main Street
Gooding, Idaho 83330
* Letter of application
* Copies of certification
* Three letters of recommendation
* Official transcripts
* Resume

Deadline: Open until filled

Location:
* Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind is located in Gooding, Idaho (population 3,500); a small agricultural community located in south central Idaho within a short distance to mountains, rivers and related outdoor activities. The city of Gooding is a quiet family oriented community. For more information about Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind check our website at: www. Isdb.state.id.us

For more information contact:
* Human resources Department at 208-934-4457 (Voice/TTY) or email sherry.hann@isdb.idaho.gov

Successful candidate will be required to furnish a background check within three months of employment as per Idaho Code 33-130.

Hiring is done without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age or disability. In addition, preference may be given to veterans who qualify under state and federal laws and regulations. If you need special accommodations to satisfy testing requirements, please contact the Human resources Department.

Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind (ISDB)

Serving Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Blind and Visually Impaired Students of Idaho since 1906

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Employment Opportunity 2
Elementary/Middle School Supervising Teacher
Oregon School for the Deaf
Salem, Oregon
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OREGON DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Supervising Teacher: Special Schools
Elementary/Middle School Supervising Teacher
Salary: $47,533.80 - $68,167.60/year

There is currently 1 permanent, full-time position available at the Oregon School for the Deaf (OSD) in Salem. This position will provide leadership to elementary and middle school staff in the areas of instruction, curriculum, and behavior management. This person will also coordinate the IEP process, plan and conduct in-service training, set schedules and make teacher assignments, and evaluate teachers and teaching assistants.

Candidates must have 4 years' teaching experience at the K-8th grade level with deaf/hard-of-hearing students; qualify for an Oregon Administrative License/Certificate (or ability to obtain within 2 years from date of hire); and have level 2 fluency in American Sign Language as measured by the ASLPI at the time of hire and qualify to reach Level 3 within 6 months of hire.

For Announcement #UC058184 and application materials, please visit www.oregonjobs.org or call (503) 378-3600 x4445 or (503) 378-2892 (TDD). Mail completed application materials to:
Human Resources
Oregon Department of Education
255 Capitol Street NE, Public Service Bldg.
Salem, OR 97310-0203

If necessary, you may fax your application material to (503) 378-8162 or e-mail to ode.jobs@state.or.us. Application materials must be received by 5:00 pm on May 1, 2005. AA/EEO.

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Employment Opportunity 3
Various Positions
South Dakota School for the Deaf
Sioux Falls, SD
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The South Dakota School for the Deaf is seeking applicants for the following positions for 2005/2006:

1. Elementary Auditory Oral Teacher for Cochlear Implanted Students (9-mo. position)

2. K-12 Art Teacher for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Cochlear Implanted Students (9 mo.)

3. Auditory Oral Outreach Consultant for the Southeastern Area of South Dakota (10-mo.)

4. K-8 Special Education Teacher for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Cochlear Implanted Students (9-mo.)

Applications will be screened as received and will continue to be accepted until positions are filled.

Send resume, transcripts, and three (3) work references to:

Office of Human Resources at the South Dakota School f/t Deaf
2001 East 8th Street
Sioux Falls, SD 57103-1899
(605) 367-5200 (Voice/TDD) or (605) 367-5209 (Fax)

The SDSD does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age or disability in employment or the provision of service.

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- Contact Information and Disclaimers
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