Volume 24 Issue 11

HOH-LD-News
Vol. 24, Issue 11
September 10, 2005

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Table of Contents
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- Article 1: Attending Nursing School with Hearing Loss

- Article 2: SHHH Exhibits - Part 4

- Article 3: Which Ear for a CI?

- Article 4: More TV Stations Fined For Failure to Provide Communications Access

Our advertisers make it possible for us to provide HOH-LD-News as a free service. Please let them know you appreciate their support, and please mention that you saw their message in HOH-LD-News.

- Advertisers in this Issue
First Premium Placement: OctiVox Clear Call Phone Accessory at Harris Communications
Second Premium Placement: Hearing Aid Repair: Fast and Affordable
Third Premium Placement: OHL Advocacy Wants YOU
Classified Section: Two Employment Opportunities

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Contact information and disclaimers are at the end of this newsletter.
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OctiVox Clear Call Phone Accessory at Harris Communications
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The OctiVox is a new product at Harris Communications that will help you hear all incoming calls loud and clear. It can be used on analog conference and speakerphones and wireless conference calls to make calls more intelligible. It doesn't matter how many parties are on the line or if callers are soft-spoken or shouting, Octivox will correct the audio level so everyone sounds loud and clear. For more information, go to http://www.harriscomm.com/link/?www.harriscomm.com?sr=hlw or contact us at mailto:info@harriscomm.com
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- Article 1: Attending Nursing School with Hearing Loss
by Donna Maheady Ed.D., ARNP
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Editor: People with hearing loss have a much easier time attending college than they did years ago; note takers, CART, FM systems, etc. provide today's student with advantages unimagined not too long ago. So why would someone with hearing loss choose to reject all these resources, a decision that surely made school much more difficult? Here's one person's answer to that question.

This article was originally published in Hearing Health Magazine and can be found online at http://www.drf.org/hearing_health/Archive/2005/sum05_nursingschoolHL_ex.htm. It is an excerpt from "Nursing Students with Disabilities Change the Course" by Donna Maheady Ed.D., ARNP. The book, which won the AJN 2004 Book of the Year Award, is available at www.eplibrary.com and at www.Amazon.com.

You can contact Donna at ExceptionalNurse@aol.com or visit www.ExceptionalNurse.com. This article is reprinted with permission from Donna and DRF.

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Nursing School with Hearing Loss: My Biggest Fear Was That Someone Would Find Out

I always wanted to be a nurse but being honest about my disability backfired on me. I had applied for an associate degree program in nursing. When I visited with the program director, I admitted my hearing disability. The director told me she didn't think I could make it through the program. I was more than a little discouraged. I put nursing school on the shelf, applied to college and earned a bachelor's degree in business.

Never given up on my dream of nursing, after graduation I reapplied for the nursing program. This time I didn't disclose my hearing disability. I graduated with a 3.9 grade point average, which helped me realize that I could do the work in nursing school if no one knew.

In nursing school, I wore a hearing aid and covered it with my hair. I didn't tell any of the faculty but finally one instructor caught on. She went to the program director, who, for other reasons, was not my biggest fan. She had said to me on more than one occasion, "Your degree in business isn't going to help you here." The director wanted me to give up the program, but I would not.

Nursing school was indeed stressful. I lived with two other nursing students. We pulled each other through the program by leveraging my study skills with their practical experience and listening skills. In the practical applications, I had some challenges as well, such as distinguishing lung sounds.

The night-shift nurses usually voice-recorded patient reports for the day nurses. When the day-shift students arrived, we listened to these taped reports. That was a challenge for me because some tapes were poor quality. I overcame that obstacle by arriving early enough to receive my patient reports verbally.

I never explained my disability to patients. I was too afraid they would report it and say, "She's not a very good nurse." Or, I feared they would use my disability to discredit my nursing care and me. I usually didn't hear a request when my back was turned or when I was on my way out of the door. Patients would sometimes say, "You didn't hear that?" or "You walked out of the room, I called your name and you didn't hear me." I simply responded that I was on the way out, or I had my mind on something else but I never confirmed that I didn't hear them.

Through the fears and the challenges, I stuck it out and finally graduated. After graduation, I was hired by a nearby hospital for a position on a medical-surgical nursing floor. Three months after graduation, I passed the nursing board examination with flying colors.

Full Disclosure

If I had it to do again, I would arrange for the needed support services with the office for students. My biggest fear in nursing school was that somebody would find out I had a disability and say, "I'm sorry, we have to cut you from the program." I had no doubt that I would be ousted if discovered. That fear-however rational or irrational-put a tremendous stress on me. I know I should have told my instructors in the beginning, but I didn't. My lack of disclosure was like lying. I was constantly worried about when the bomb would drop.

Disclosing a disability is a major decision that can only be made by the individual. Choosing to disclose a disability will mean more services but may cost in terms of respect. For the many helpful students and accommodating faculty, there are also those who will treat you differently. Sadly, even in today's social environment of equal rights for all, there is still a trade-off to be made for getting help-the cost is pride and dignity. Tenacity pays though. The feeling of achievement and the doors it opens are well worth the effort.

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- Article 2: SHHH Exhibits - Part 4
By Cheryl Heppner and the NVRC Staff
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Editor: One of the best things about the hearing loss conventions is a chance to see what's new in the hearing loss world. Cheryl Heppner and the NVRC staff did a great job of capturing the excitement of the exhibit floor, as you'll see in this series of reports.

If you'd like to share this article, please be sure to credit NVRC. (See credit at the end of the article.)

This is Part 4 of 6 parts.

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Here's the latest in our continuing report on information we picked up at the SHHH Convention in Washington, DC from June 30-July 3.

American Academy of Audiology

The American Academy of Audiology now has its headquarters at 11730 Plaza America Drive, Suite 300, Reston, VA 20190. Among the new brochures on display was "Crank It Down" about noise-related hearing loss and children. It has The Arm's Length Rule: if you have to shout to be heard from 3 feet away, then the noise is too loud. The brochure also has Noise Rules: EARS. E = Earplugs/Earmuffs; A = Avoid Loud Sounds, R = Reduce the Volume, and S = Shorten the Time in Noise. Another brochure is "Selecting Hearing Aids That Are Right for You" which talks about why you should consult an audiologist, the kinds of hearing aids, what's inside a hearing aid, and what to expect from a hearing aid. To contact them or find an audiologist in your area: www.audiology.org. The National Hearing Conservation Association: www.hearingconservation.org

PEPNet

Postsecondary Education Program Network (PEPNet) was mentioned in yesterday's exhibit write-up. Check their website for a long list of publications, software and videotapes. Among the publications are "Deaf? Hard of Hearing? In My Class? A Primer for the Uninitiated Instructor" and "Essentials on College Living: Curriculum Guide". CD/Software ($5 each for shipping/handling) includes "Tips for Teaching Students Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing" and "A Closer Look: Signs for Idioms". Videotapes ($20 each for shipping/handling) includes "Excellence in Career Counseling: Improving Services for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students" and "Pah! I'm in College. Now What?" These are just a small sample of the many products. Check out the rest: www.pepnet.org

American Association of Adult Musicians with Hearing Loss (AAMHL)

From the AAMHL brochure: "Quite a few musicians have hearing loss. That has not stopped them from performing, creating, or listening to music. We founded AAMHL to prove that the appearance of hearing loss does not mean the disappearance of music. It means the beginning of collaboration, problem solving, experimentation and the discovery of new ways to make music." The group offers an international community of fellow adult musicians who are coping with hearing loss and integrating it in their musical lives, and the opportunity to participate in hearing accessible music workshops and conferences for adults with hearing loss who want to learn to appreciate music or play a musical instrument. www.aamhl.org

Sorenson IP Relay (siprelay)

Sorenson Media was demonstrating its new IP Relay. John Edington walked Cheryl through the quick steps to use it on a computer. John and his team of 21 people cover the region including Delaware, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. for Sorenson. Siprelay is a free service that enables deaf, hard of hearing, oral and late-deafened individuals to place text-based calls from their personal computer or mobile device to any standard telephone user in the U.S. and its territories. A Communications Assistant contacts the telephone user and voices the text message sent by siprelay. One of the features Cheryl liked was that you can interrupt the person speaking. You can choose the color you like for the font and background. Conversations can be erased or saved to your computer's hard drive. Siprelay works with both dial-up and high speed Internet connections. www.siprelay.com; for support: siprelaysupport@sorenson.com

Quick Caption

Antha Ward has been at Quick Caption for 5 years. It's based in Riverside, California. A handout from Quick Caption points out that realtime captioning is often preferred by late-deafened individuals, persons who do not use sign language as their primary mode of communication, and in those instances where a recorded transcript of the event may be required. Realtime captioning has come to be viewed as an effective teaching aid, enabling deaf and hard of hearing students to watch realtime lectures while taking their own notes, and allowing them to have immediate access to classroom transcripts. www.QuickCaption.com

Audex

Charles Beatty and Bill Shepard were back again this year with a line of products from Audex. They've added to their line of hearing accessible cordless telephone systems, with amplified and hearing aid/cochlear implant compatible cordless phones available in 2.4 and 5.8 GHz models. An example is the CD2453-AS 2.4 GHz system which has Caller ID in the handset and built-in digital answering machine. Amplified output in the base lets you play back messages from speakers, headphones, a cochlear implant patch cord or a neckloop. The message playback also has a repeat-slow button. All Audex's cordless models have handsets with an extra 30+ dB of boosted volume, super t-coil compatibility. You can choose from basic, deluxe and premium models. They were also promoting the new CHAAMP II -- it's Bluetooth compatible, amplified 30+ dB, super t-coil compatible, with "exceptional battery life". It will work on any Bluetooth capable cell phone from any carrier, under any calling plan. www.audex.com; cbeatty@audex.com; 1-800-237-0716.

Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and NTID

Rochester Institute of Technology's National Technical Institute for the Deaf is the world's first and largest technological college for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. It was established by an act of Congress in 1965 and the first class enrolled in 1968. NTID 's 1,100 deaf and hard of hearing students study, share residence halls, and enjoy social life together with more than 14,000 hearing students. Over the past five years, 92% of deaf and hard of hearing graduates who chose to enter the labor market found jobs in business, industry, government, education and other fields. Students can earn associate degrees in more than 30 accredited NTID programs and earn bachelor's or master's degrees in more than 200 programs offered by RIT's seven other colleges. NTID has a new brochure about the high-tech services and specialized support they offer for students with cochlear implants. They have three cochlear implant specialists. Info about NTID: www.rit.edu/NTID; info about cochlear implant services: www.rit.edu/NTID/CI.

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(c)2005 by Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons (NVRC), www.nvrc.org. When sharing this information, please ensure credit is given to NVRC.

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OHL Advocacy Wants YOU
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Got a pet peeve about some aspect of hearing loss?

Don't know where to turn to get an organization to
provide communications access?

Or maybe you just want to know what "OHL" means ;-)

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OHLAdvocacy

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- Article 3: Which Ear for a CI?
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Editor: Conventional wisdom states that a cochlear implant (CI) should be placed in a person's better ear. That ear and associated neural processing have had more and better practice deciphering speech, so a CI will be more successful on that side.

It turns out that this may not be true! Research conducted at Johns Hopkins University indicates that implanting the worse ear may be just as effective as implanting the better ear. Here's the press release.

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Hearing-impaired individuals with severe to profound hearing loss and poor speech understanding who possess some residual hearing in one ear may experience significant communication benefit from a cochlear implant even if it is placed in the worse-hearing ear, a Johns Hopkins study suggests.

There is growing evidence that the amount of hearing in an ear prior to surgery is unrelated to a patient's ability to interpret speech using an implant, says Howard W. Francis, M.D., lead author of the study and an associate professor of otolaryngology - head and neck surgery. Therefore, the better-hearing ear could be saved for the continued use of a hearing aid or future technology to complement a cochlear implant, Francis says.

Reporting in the August issue of the journal Ear and Hearing, Francis and colleagues compared patients with no residual hearing, patients with some residual hearing in one ear and patients with some residual hearing in both ears. The patients' ability to interpret sounds and speech was measured before and after cochlear implant surgery.

Patients with residual hearing in one or both ears prior to surgery scored significantly higher on the speech perception tests following surgery, even when the implanted ear was profoundly deaf prior to surgery. The researchers also noted that patients' ability to interpret speech in a noisy environment increased dramatically over time in proportion with the amount of residual hearing in the non-implanted ear.

"In cases where even a small amount of hearing ability remains in one ear, the central nervous system is better able to integrate auditory information with a cochlear implant, and equally so from either ear," Francis says. "This speaks to the brain's circuitry and its ability to interpret electrical signals generated by the implant even in the presumably more degenerated ear."

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- Article 4: More TV Stations Fined For Failure to Provide Communications Access
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Television stations in San Diego and the Washington DC area have been fined in the past couple of years for failure to provide appropriate communications access to people with hearing loss. These incidents are normally described as failure to provide emergency captioning, but note that captioning in not required. What is required is that any emergency information that is provided aurally also be provided in a form that is accessible to people with hearing loss. I believe that captions are the best way to do this. But if the information can be conveyed using crawls, graphics, maps, etc., that also satisfies the requirements.

The latest fines involve two TV stations in southwest Florida that were fined for "failing in a timely manner to make accessible to persons with hearing disabilities emergency information that they provided aurally." The incidents occurred as Hurricane Charley ravaged the area on August 13 of last year.

It looks like the FCC is serious about addressing these incidents, so let's all be vigilant about reporting situations in our area. Information on filing a complaint with the FCC is available at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/complaints.html.

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- Classifieds
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Two Employment Opportunities appear in this issue. (Ads appear after this brief table of contents.)

Employment Opportunity 1
Mental Health Counselor Internship (Paid Position)
Family Wellness Program of The Center for Childhood
Philadelphia, PA

Employment Opportunity 2
Sign Communication Proficiency Interview (SCPI) Coordinator
Michigan Schools for the Deaf and Blind (MSDB)
Flint, MI

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Employment Opportunity 1
Mental Health Counselor Internship (Paid Position)
Family Wellness Program of The Center for Childhood
Philadelphia, PA
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Paid Mental Health Counselor Internship with Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Children and Families Available!

With the Family Wellness Program of The Center for Childhood of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. For a graduate student in final semester during Spring 2006. Under an LPC's supervision, the intern will provide group and individual therapy, psycho-social consultation, information and referral, and training and work with a full range of HOH/Deaf children and children with Deaf/HOH parents. Previous experience with Deaf/HOH individuals required. For more information see: www.chop.edu/ccc and go to "Resources for Healthcare Professionals" or email GrossmanA@email.chop.edu

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Employment Opportunity 2
Sign Communication Proficiency Interview (SCPI) Coordinator
Michigan Schools for the Deaf and Blind (MSDB)
Flint, MI
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IMMEDIATE POSITION OPENING

SIGN COMMUNICATION PROFICIENCY INTERVIEW (SCPI) COORDINATOR

Michigan Department of Education
Michigan Schools for the Deaf and Blind (MSDB)
Flint, Michigan

APPLICATION DEADLINE: September 12, 2005

JOB DESCRIPTION
MSDB is filling a full-time, contracted professional employee to coordinate the SCPI process for the Michigan Schools for the Deaf and Blind (MSDB). The contracted employee will recruit members to the SCPI review team, develop strategies to deliver the SCPI program statewide, and work on the MSCPI which evaluates children's sign communication proficiency. The employee must also be qualified to serve on the SCPI team.

JOB DUTIES
- Develop promotional materials for SCPI program and promote the program statewide
- Recruit and train SCPI team members
- Establish, administer, and evaluate SCPI program; recommend program policies and procedures; and design forms
- Collect and maintain program data necessary to meet program reporting and evaluation requirements and the goals of the agency
- Analyze ongoing program operation and recommend modification of policies and procedures to meet commitments more effectively
- Make recommendations in areas of expertise
- Develop alternative strategies for programs based on analysis and research
- Act as liaison with other agencies, organizations, and employees to coordinate the SCPI program
- Prepare budgets
- Maintain records and prepare correspondence related to the work

COMPENSATION
$25.00 per hour plus benefits

QUALIFICATIONS
Education
Possession of a bachelor's degree in any area of study.

Special Requirements, Licenses, and Certifications
Ability to communicate using American Sign Language at the Superior Plus level measured by the SCPI process.

Application Details
If you are interested in this position, please submit a resumé and cover letter identifying your qualifications for this position to Ms. Sue Leach, Michigan Department of Education, OSE-EIS, P. O. Box 30008, Lansing, MI 48909. If you have additional questions about the position, contact Ms. Leach at 517-373-1695, or by e-mail at LeachSM@michigan.gov.

EEO Employer 8/16/05

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