Volume 22 Issue 6

- Article 1: Factors Affecting Speech Recognition in CIs - Part 1
- Article 2: U-M scientists develop first micro-machined mechanical cochlea
- Article 3: New Language Points To Foundations Of Human Grammar
- Article 4: Group to distribute earplugs at concerts
- Classifieds
- Contact Information and Disclaimers

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Contact information and disclaimers are at the end of this newsletter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

----------------------------------------------------------------
-------- Shake Awakes on Sale at Harris Communications ---------
----------------------------------------------------------------
The popular Shake Awake Alarm Clock is on sale for only $19.95 (regularly $24.95) at Harris Communications. A great travel clock, the Shake Awake is compact but has a strong vibrating motor. The front cover opens to become a stand on a table top and closes to protect the buttons when sleeping or traveling. Hurry, this sales offer expires February 13, 2005. For more information, visit us at http://www.harriscomm.com/link/?www.harriscomm.com?sr=hohnews or contact us at mailto:info@harriscomm.com .
----------------------------------------------------------------

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Article 1: Factors Affecting Speech Recognition in CIs - Part 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Editor: We recently had the pleasure of having Robert V. Shannon, Ph.D. discuss at our local CIAI meeting the various factors affecting speech recognition among CI users. Dr. Shannon is the Director of the Auditory Implants Research Lab at the House Ear Institute, so is eminently qualified to speak on this topic!

This is part one of three parts!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He began his presentation by announcing that current research is focused on determining how the ear and the brain work together to decode speech. More specifically, of all the things the ear does to sound, what parts are important to the way the brain processes sound.

One of the early slides traced the progression of word and sentence recognition scores among CI users over the past 25 years. Users of the original 3M/House single channel implant averaged a sentence recognition score of about 5% and a word recognition score of essentially 0. Those numbers have improved with every CI advance; users of modern CIs average 90% sentence recognition and 45% word recognition on the same standardized tests.

Two important factors contribute to these improvements. One is the increased number of channels as CIs improved, which allows the CI processor to work on more finely quantized acoustic data. But as we'll see later, current research points out some surprising limits on the efficacy of increasing the number of channels.

The second factor contributing to better performance by CI users is the improvement in processing strategies. As technology has improved and CIs are able to process greater quantities of acoustic data, performance has increased. Again, there are some surprises regarding which specific factors do or do not contribute to improved performance.

Dr. Shannon then pointed out a couple of facts that demonstrate that we still have a very long way to go with CIs. One is that we still don't really understand what is important to understanding speech, as demonstrated by the fact that we're unable to build a speech recognition system that performs even moderately well on unrestricted speech.

The second indication that we haven't yet arrived in CI nirvana is the fact that performance results on music lag far behind results on speech. CIs do not do a good job of decoding the complex signals that comprise music!

How many channels does a CI need?

The surprising fact is that four channels are generally adequate for speech recognition, and that increasing the number of channels beyond eight provides no additional benefit! These results were developed by studying the performance of long-term CI users as various numbers of channels of modern CIs were disabled. Increasing the number of channels from one to two to four produced dramatic improvement. Moving to eight channels provided a very modest performance improvement, but adding additional channels beyond eight did not increase performance.

To allow people with normal hearing to experience the effect of varying the number of channels, Dr. Shannon's team developed a CI simulation that accommodates varying numbers of channels. He noted that there's no way to know if the QUALITY of information presented by the simulation is identical to what a CI user gets, but that the QUANTITY of information is similar.

Dr. Shannon then played a sentence through simulated CIs with various numbers of simulated channels. Here are my impressions of the various renditions. (Note that I have mild to moderate high frequency loss. For the purposes of this demonstration using a small portable sound system with very little high frequency output, I think I heard the demo pretty much like the folks with normal hearing heard.) The sentence was incomprehensible using one or two channels. It was clearly comprehensible at four channels, and continued to improve at eight, 16, and 32 channels. But in all cases, the sound quality was quite poor - it was noisy and unpleasant compared to the original recording of the sentence.

Dr. Shannon remarked that, while those of us with normal hearing could hear clear differences between eight, 16, and 32 channels, and the original, CI users often hear no difference between those versions. Two of the audience members confirmed that those versions sounded identical or virtually identical to them!

The next demonstration was similar to the previous one, but it used music (a male vocal) instead of speech. Here are my perceptions of the various versions.

Towards the end of the four channel version I was able to identify a few words of a song I know very well. That in conjunction with the rhythm of the song enabled me to identify the song. But the sound quality was horrible.

The quality of the eight channel version was better, but still horrible.

At 16 channels, the quality of the voice started to come through, i.e. it started to sound a bit like the performer who was singing it. If the song were not familiar to me, I almost certainly would NOT have recognized the voice.

The voice quality improved a bit at 32 channels. Note that throughout this test, the background music sounded more like noise than music.

One of the CI users in the audience noted that he finds music that he knew prior to losing his hearing to be much better than music that he didn't know then. Dr. Shannon replied that he is probably getting enough information from hearing the familiar music to trigger memories of the previously-known music. So that what he hears is some combination of what his CI is producing and what he remembers.

Dr. Shannon also remarked that lots of smart folks are pursuing different processing strategies in an attempt to make music more enjoyable to CI users, but that he is unaware of any encouraging results to date.

----------------------------------------------------------------
-- Do you or someone you know work with deaf or hard of hearing students? --
----------------------------------------------------------------
If so, come participate in our survey: The National Survey of Assessment and
Accommodations for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students. The purpose of this project is to provide a national "snapshot" of assessment practices. We also hope to encourage dialog among professionals who work with deaf and hard of hearing students.

Professionals who are familiar with assessment practices for deaf and hard of hearing students are encouraged to participate, including teachers, school psychologists, and school or district administrators. To participate or to sign up for study results, see our project website: www.dhh-assess-survey.org or email Dr. Stephanie W. Cawthon, Principal Investigator, at scawthon@waldenu.edu.
----------------------------------------------------------------

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Article 2: U-M scientists develop first micro-machined mechanical cochlea
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Editor: I've often wondered if anyone is pursuing the development of an artificial cochlea as a treatment for hearing loss. It seems that the folks at the University of Michigan are not only pursuing it, but have developed their first prototype. Here are portions of the press release!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ANN ARBOR, Mich.-Scientists at U-M have developed the first micro-machined, life-sized, mechanical cochlea, the tiny organ responsible for converting acoustic vibrations into electrical signals for the brain to "read" and interpret as different sounds.

Most people with hearing loss have lost the ability to translate acoustic sound waves into electrical signals for the brain, so developing a device capable of simulating this function is an important step in the effort to help at least some of the estimated 560 million people who will experience hearing loss by this year. While the U-M system is not yet ready for use as an implant, the 3-centimeter device could potentially be used as part of a cochlear implant. More immediate applications include a low-power sensor for military or commercial applications, said College of Engineering associate professor Karl Grosh.

The three advantages of the mechanical cochlea built at U-M are its life-sized dimensions, its suitability for mass production, and its use of a unique low-power mechanical method to do acoustic signal processing, Grosh said. The human cochlea is a snail-shaped organ measuring about a cubic centimeter in the inner ear. If you unwind the spiral, it would equal the length of the U-M mechanical cochlea. Researchers micro-machined the device using a technique similar to those used to make integrated circuits, which means it can be mass produced.

The mechanical cochlea works in the same way as its biological counterpart. In the biological cochlea, the basilar membrane, which winds along the cochlear spiral, is stiffer at the base and becomes softer as it approaches the center. In the engineered cochlea developed by Grosh and doctoral student Robert White, a fluid-filled duct etched onto a chip acts as the cochlear spiral. When sound waves enter the mechanical cochlea's input membrane, a wave is created, which travels down the duct, interacting with a tapered micro-machined membrane, analogous to the basilar membrane. This process allows the device to separate different frequency tones. In the biological cochlea, sensory hair cells in the spiral detect the sound waves traveling through the fluid, and translate the sound waves into electrical signals, which the auditory nerve carries to the brain. The ear hears different sounds depending on where the wave vibrates in the cochlea.

The goal is to use the mechanical cochlea as a sensitive microphone, perhaps in tandem with a cochlear implant, Grosh said, the same way an external microphone, a microprocessor and an antenna work together in present implants. Cochlear implants work by sending signals for different frequencies to electrodes implanted in the cochlear spiral. The auditory nerves then transport these signals to the brain. Researchers are adding arrays of sensors to the mechanical cochlea, which would make it possible to use the new device to drive the electrodes in a cochlear implant.

[snip]

----------------------------------------------------------------
-------- "Deaf and Sober: Journeys through Recovery" -----------
----------------------------------------------------------------
Deaf people recovering from alcohol and drug abuse face
unique challenges. This in-depth boook looks at an often
neglected and misunderstood population. Stories of
anonymous people bring these recovery issues to life.

Download the NAD Store catalog from:
http://www.nad.org/store/index.html

For more information contact Donna Morris at sales@nad.org
TTY: 301-587-6283 Voice: 301-587-6282 FAX: 301-587-4873
----------------------------------------------------------------

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Article 3: New Language Points To Foundations Of Human Grammar
By Inga Kiderra
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Editor: For those who are interested in languages, the isolated, spontaneous development of a new language is just about as good as it gets, because it provides a unique opportunity to study the process by which language fundamentals become embedded in a particular language. Linguists have recently had such an opportunity, with the discovery of a new sign language created in a small Isreali village. Here's the press release from the University of California in San Diego.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the newsroom of the University Of California - San Diego, San Diego, California, Monday, January 31, 2005 .....

How is a language born? What are its essential elements? Linguists are gaining new insights into these age-old conundrums from a language created in a small village in Israel's Negev Desert.

The Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language (ABSL), which serves as an alternative language of a community of about 3,500 deaf and hearing people, has developed a distinct grammatical structure early in its evolution, researchers report, and the structure favors a particular word order: verbs after objects.

The study - the first linguistic analysis of a language arising naturally with no outside influence - is being published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of Jan. 31 to Feb. 4.

The authors are Mark Aronoff from Stony Brook University, Irit Meir and Wendy Sandler from the University of Haifa and Carol Padden from the University of California, San Diego.

By watching native signers tell stories and describe actions, the researchers found that the language goes beyond a list of words for actions, objects, people, characteristics and so on, to establish systematic relations among those elements. Sentences in ABSL follow a Subject-Object-Verb order, such as in "woman apple give," rather than the Subject-Verb-Object order found in English - or, more significantly, in other languages in the region.

"The grammatical structure of the Bedouin sign language shows no influence from either the dialect of Arabic spoken by hearing members of the community or the predominant sign language in the surrounding area, Israeli Sign Language," said study coauthor Carol Padden, professor of communication at UC San Diego. "Because ABSL developed independently, it may reflect fundamental properties of language in general and provide insight into basic questions about the way in which human language develops from the very beginning."

ABSL arose in the last 70 years and is now in its third generation of use. Remarkably, the fixed word order of ABSL emerged within a generation after the inception of the language.

"Our findings support the idea that word order is one of the first features of a language, and that it appears very early," Padden said.

The research also supports the notion that languages can and do evolve quickly.

"When we first came to Al-Sayyid, I expected to see a lot of gesture and miming, but I was impressed immediately by how sophisticated the language was. This is not an ad hoc, spur of the moment communication. It is a complex language capable of relating information beyond the here and now," said Padden.

Although other new languages such as creoles and Nicaraguan Sign Language have been reported, their unusual social and linguistic environments were not characteristic of typical languages, the study authors observe. Creoles are the product of interactions between existing languages. And Nicaraguan Sign Language, the creation of a group of deaf children, evolved in a school setting.

What distinguishes ABSL is that it grew - as presumably did most languages of the world - within a socially stable, existing community.

The Al-Sayyid village was founded about 200 years ago and today numbers some 3,500 members. Approximately 150 individuals with congenital deafness, all of them descendants of two of the founders' sons, have been born into the community in the past three generations.

A pattern of marrying within the village is the norm. Combined with deafness that is recessive - recessive traits manifest only when two carriers have a child - the marriage practice has ensured that deaf people are well distributed throughout the group's population.

As a consequence, the researchers say, many of the signers in the community are hearing, a highly unusual situation for a sign language but one that can be predicted in a tightly-knit group which fully integrates its deaf members.

"It is a language of the entire community, both hearing and deaf ," said Padden, who, with Tom Humphries, is co-author of the newly published Inside Deaf Culture (Harvard University Press, 2005). "ABSL is transmitted within families across generations, and children learn it without explicit instruction. It is the best analogue we have for studying how any new language is born and grows."

The Al-Sayyid group, the researchers point out, in some ways resembles the 19th-century whaling community in Massachusetts that produced the now-extinct Martha's Vineyard Sign Language. But that language died out before it could be recorded.

For the present study, the researchers focused on the second generation of ABSL signers. Further work will document the evolution of the language in the third generation.

The research is being conducted through the Center for Research in Language at UCSD and the Sign Language Research Lab at the University of Haifa. It is supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

Media Contact: Inga Kiderra, (858) 822-0661

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Article 4: Group to distribute earplugs at concerts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Editor: We've published several articles regarding hearing loss resulting from concert attendance. The music industry is gradually becoming aware of this issue, and the Norwegian Rock 'n' roll Federation is now embarking an a program to distribute earplugs at concerts. Here's a bit of the article. For the full article, please point your browser to http://makeashorterlink.com/?T5A22576A

~~~

OSLO, Norway -- The motto of the Norwegian Rock 'n' roll Federation could well be "Turn it up!" but the group fears increasing numbers of members might respond to that request with an uncomprehending "What?"

The group plans to distribute 100,000 earplugs at rock concerts, so fans can enjoy the loud music and still hear what's said after the show.

"We can state, with great concern, that an increasing number of young Norwegians suffer from hearing damage," the group said Thursday. "This project will put the spotlight on the noise damage sustained by young people in their free time, and encourage concert audiences to take responsibility for their own hearing."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Classifieds
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One Pager Ad, one SHHH Conference, one Education Opportunity, and one Employment Opportunity appear in this issue. (Ads appear after this brief table of contents.)

Pagers and Accessories
Deafpager.com

California SHHH Conference
Buena Park, California
February 18 - 20, 2005

Education Opportunity
Gallaudet University
Masters in Social Work (MSW) Program
Washington, DC

Employment Opportunity
GLAD
Various Opportunities
Various Locations in Southern California

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pagers and Accessories
Deafpager.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Deafpager.com has a new Hot Accessories section with the latest and hottest accessories for your Sidekick and Blackberry!

The newest item in our inventory is color bumpers for your Sidekick II - easy to put on, easy to take off! The hard part is trying to decide between Pink or Purple? Maybe it would be easier to decide between Red or Blue? Made up your mind which color you like? Only $8.95 per set!

Still can't make up your mind? Don't worry, we sell sets of three for only $20.95! We also have auto chargers for the Sidekick II for only $7.95! Visit our site for our excellent selection of cases and pouches. We offer qualified customers a Free Sidekick II (after rebates) as well as color Blackberries for qualified customers for $49.99 after rebates. We now have an unlimited data-only plan for the new Motorola A630!

Check all these deals out and more at our website: www.deafpager.com! Email: info@deafpager.com.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
California SHHH Conference
Buena Park, California
February 18 - 20, 2005
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

California SHHH Conference: Surviving and Thriving in a Sea of Sound.

Our conference is aligned with the objectives of SHHH. We have education, advocacy and support topics throughout our program. It's not good enough just to survive a hearing loss, but to thrive is what SHHH is all about.

We are welcoming all of the newest CIAI members, as well as families to join us on Presidents' Day weekend (a school holiday weekend). We feel we are offering everything from a location with plenty of activities at Knott's Berry Farm, to top speakers in the field of hearing loss, to some of the most entertaining workshops we have seen, to representatives from SHHH National. Our goal is to be able to bring you the best that SHHH has to offer.

Instead of a single host chapter, the team bringing this conference to southern California includes members from all of the southern California chapters. We have the opportunity to capitalize on the talents and skills of the entire southern California SHHH membership!

* Friday Night Welcome Reception
Dr. Terry Portis, executive Director of SHHH from Bethesda MD, asks "Can anything good come from hearing loss?" Terry has spent the last two years visiting and talking with SHHH and hard of hearing people across the country, and has some insight to share with us.

Jayna Altman is a member of the SHHH-CA Board of Trustees and was Miss Orange County 2004. A profound hearing loss has not deterred her from her goal to becoming an audiologist working with children. A dancer and performer, Jayna will give us a taste of her own experiences as a hard of hearing college student and pageant contestant in her talk "Navigating the Realities of Hearing Loss."

* Saturday Workshops
12 workshops are available, in four sessions. There is an exciting roster of informative and uplifting workshops covering advocacy and education issues such as hearing loss coping skills, support, cochlear implants and new technology. You will absorb a wealth of information from these experts.

* Saturday Lunch Speaker
As a special feature, we are hosting Dr. John House, President of the House Ear Institute in Los Angeles and one of the Medical Advisors of SHHH National. Dr. House heads one of the most renowned institutes of hearing research. The Institute has achieved an international reputation as a leader in its field. HEI scientists continue to improve and develop hearing aids and auditory implants, innovative treatments and intervention methods. We are privileged to have Dr. House join us with his talk "Hearing Help Through the Years".

* Saturday Evening Banquet
Heather Whitestone McCallum will be the featured speaker for the Saturday night banquet. She is sponsored by Cochlear Corporation. She continues her mission to advocate that "Anything is Possible".

* Sunday Morning Breakfast
On Sunday morning, we will feature a special session on cochlear implants, with Dr. Laurie S. Eisenberg as our speaker. She is a researcher at the House Ear Institute, and will share with us the latest in the field, along with answering questions from the audience. Come hear "What cochlear implant users have taught us over the past 30 years".

Additional activities/attractions include:
* SHHH-CA Board of Trustees Meeting
* Shopping Raffle and Prizes
* Exhibit Hall
* Special Knott's Berry Farm Discount tickets for SHHH-CA attendees

For additional information, visit the conference page of our website:
http://www.shhhca.org/shhh-conference.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Education Opportunity
Gallaudet University
Masters in Social Work (MSW) Program
Washington, DC
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Become a School Social Worker with Deaf/Hard of Hearing Children:
If you have an undergraduate liberal arts degree, a GPA of 3.0,
and want to work as an MSW school social worker, take advantage
of the final incoming class to participate in our Department of
Education Grant. You will receive half tuition waivers and $6,000
for two years. Sign language skills required to participate in
classes. Applications accepted until spaces are filled.
Contact: mary.arcari@gallaudet.edu for more information.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Employment Opportunity
GLAD
Various Opportunities
Various Locations in Southern California
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

JOB OPPORTUNITIES @ GLAD
GLAD is an Affirmative Action Employer with equal opportunity for men, women and people with disabilities.
For more information on the following positions, go to: www.gladinc.org
Status of all positions is: Regular, Full-time, Non-Exempt, Full Fringe Benefits unless otherwise noted.
All positions are open until filled. Revised 02/01/05

HIV PROGRAM INTERPRETER
Location: Los Angeles
Program Name: Health Education/Services
Salary Range: Negotiable based on experience
Brief Summary: Under the supervision of the Director of Health/Education Services, the HIV Program Interpreter will perform all duties and tasks as outlined in the AESD program scope of work, interpret initial HIV antibody test and results, update and maintain a pool of qualified HIV-trained interpreters to assist with interpreting assignments, interpret and coordinate interpreter services to deaf and hard of hearing consumers with HIV/AIDS for any HIV-related services including but not limited to case management, medical and mental health within Los Angeles County, promote the availability of interpreter services to the deaf community and service providers, implement survey to assess consumer satisfaction of interpreter services provided....

REGIONAL DIRECTOR
Location: Riverside
Program Name: CODIE
Salary Range/Status: Negotiable based on experience/Exempt
Brief Summary: Under the direction of the Chief Executive Officer, the Regional Director will plan and supervise the day-to-day activities of the CODIE office in Riverside; provide direct counseling, personal advocacy and other assistance to clients of all ages; develop and implement education, advocacy and resource development efforts in the service area; ensure programmatic objectives are carried out by monitoring program progress and contract compliance; provide ongoing consultation, support and training to staff and supervise staff; complete progress reports to government agencies; assist in the grant writing process and seek out additional funding to expand services....

RECEPTIONIST/CLERK
Location(s): Riverside & Ventura
Program Name(s): CODIE & TRI-COUNTY GLAD
Salary Range: Negotiable based on experience
Brief Summary: Under the direction of the Regional Director the Receptionist/Clerk will answer and transfer all incoming TTY and voice calls, greet consumers and visitors in a professional manner, assist the Regional Director, perform clerical duties, including but not limited to typing, opening and logging all incoming mail, perform light housekeeping duties as needed. The Receptionist/Clerk will work with GLAD's Resource Advocate regarding updates of the Directory of Resources, provides information and referral as needed, order all office supplies and maintain inventory of all office supplies, record/collect statistics on a daily basis related to provision of services.

JOB DEVELOPER/INTERPRETER
Location(s): Crenshaw & West Covina
Program Name: EDD
Salary Range: Negotiable based on experience
Brief Summary: Under the direction of the EDD Program Manager, the Job Developer/Interpreter will provide assistance with Job Development/Placement efforts, work in conjunction with traditional employment resources, develop employment opportunities, identify openings and opportunities for clients in need of employment assistance, other duties include job interviews, job counseling to clients and employers...

COMMUNITY ADVOCATE
Location(s): Cypress & Ventura
Program Name(s): OC-DEAF & TRI-COUNTY GLAD
Salary Range: Negotiable based on experience
Brief Summary: Under the direction of the Regional Director, the Community Advocate will assist deaf and hard of hearing consumers in the area of communication access via TTY relay, document translation, and other duties, provide advocacy in the areas of social security, education, employment, consumer affairs, and others, record statistics on a daily basis related to provision of services, counsel deaf and hard of hearing consumers with problems related to personal and family adjustments, finances, employment, food, clothing and housing....

OUTREACH COORDINATOR
Location: Bakersfield
Program Name: GLAD
Salary Range: Negotiable based on experience/Exempt
Brief Summary: Under the supervision of the Director of Human Services, the Outreach Coordinator will plan and supervise the day-to-day activities of the Bakersfield Outreach office; provide direct counseling, personal advocacy and other assistance to clients of all ages; develop and implement education, advocacy and resource development efforts in the service area; ensure programmatic objectives are carried out by monitoring program progress and contract compliance. Provide ongoing consultation....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Contact Information and Disclaimers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We are very interested in your comments concerning the content and format of this newsletter. We want this publication to be useful to you. Please send your comments and suggestions to: hearinglossweb@hearinglossweb.com

Visit our Website at: http://www.hearinglossweb.com

To subscribe to this newsletter, email
HOH-LD-News-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Yahoogroups will respond with a subscription email.

To unsubscribe to this newsletter, email
HOH-LD-News-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. Yahoogroups will respond with an unsubscription email.

Archives for this newsletter are on our website at:
http://www.hearinglossweb.com.
Click on "HOH-LD-News" in the header.

Advertising information for HOH-LD-News and Hearing Loss Web is available at http://www.hearinglossweb.com/Misc/adv/adv.htm.

Publication of articles or advertisements does not constitute an endorsement of the products or services offered, nor of the companies that offer them.