Volume 26 Issue 3

HOH-LD-News
Vol. 26, Issue 3
January 14, 2006

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Table of Contents
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- Article 1: Deafness From Chemotherapy More Common Than We Think - Part 2

- Article 2: Tantalizing News About Captioned Radio

- Article 3: IFHOH Board Nominations Deadline Extended

- Article 4: Early Intervention Key to Hearing Development in Deaf Children

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: New Trine Wireless Doorbell Harris Communications
Second Premium Placement: NAD Book on Your Legal Rights
Third Premium Placement: IHHD Online Educational Opportunities
Classified Section: One FM Receiver, one Smoke Alarm and seven Employment Opportunities

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Contact information and disclaimers are at the end of this newsletter.
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- Article 1: Deafness From Chemotherapy More Common Than We Think - Part 2
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Editor: We all know that some drugs and medications can cause hearing loss, so it should be no surprise that those used in chemotherapy can do so. Perhaps more surprising is the fact that the incidence of hearing loss due to chemotherapy may be underreported.

Research at the Oregon Health & Science University addresses this issue and offers potential treatment that may prevent hearing loss due to chemotherapy.

This article is reprinted with permission from Medicalnewstoday.com. This is part two of two parts.

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"By tradition, many published clinical trials report only grade 3 and 4 CTCAE toxicities," the study explained. "In the case of hearing loss, this would leave grades 1 and 2 ototoxicity unreported, thereby underestimating the magnitude of ototoxicity in children treated with platinum agents. We believe that CTCAE grade 1 and 2 hearing losses are significant in children and should therefore be considered and reported." The study found that 36 percent of patients who were examined would not have been reported as having ototoxicity if only CTCAE grades 3 and 4 were considered.

Scientists want to boost awareness of ototoxicity because it may soon be preventable. Nancy Doolittle, Ph.D., associate professor of neurology, OHSU School of Medicine, and a researcher in the Blood Brain Barrier Program, which studies methods for breaching the brain's natural defense system to deliver chemotherapy compounds to tumors, has shown that sodium thiosulfate (STS) decreased hearing loss in patients with malignant brain tumors who were treated with carboplatin chemotherapy, which is given with the blood-brain barrier disruption technique. When STS was given four hours after carboplatin, ototoxicity decreased from 84 percent of patients to 29 percent.

The OHSU study team is developing protocols for a clinical trial of a second potential chemo-protectant called N-acetylcysteine, or NAC. The drug, typically used to treat people with Tylenol poisoning, prevented platinum-induced ototoxicity in rats in a study published in mid-2004. NAC may prevent hearing loss by binding to cisplatin's platinum molecules, inactivating them. And as a free radical scavenger, it hunts down highly reactive atom clusters believed to cause similar hearing loss caused by noise trauma.

The main aim is to determine a safely tolerated dose of NAC in humans. Once the safe dose is determined, Phase 2 efficacy testing begins to see if NAC, combined with STS, will protect hearing.

"One of the strategies for improving survival is increasing doses of chemotherapy," Doolittle said. "Because larger doses may cause more toxicity, we have to be able to address the toxicity. Maintaining quality of life by maintaining hearing is really important."

While the damage has been done to his own hearing, Johnson hopes drugs, such as STS and NAC, can help prevent the hearing loss in other cancer survivors. He also hopes to use his law degree and his experience as a law librarian and paralegal to advocate for others who've experienced hearing loss, which required Johnson to learn lip reading, relish television shows and movies with closed captioning, dread telephone calls and, ultimately, get a cochlear implant for his right ear.

"The fact of the matter is I could put out the same quality of work everybody else could, but I needed a half hour longer," said Johnson, who developed dyslexia as a result of the radiation treatment and chemotherapy. In his professional experiences, Johnson notes that "the real world doesn't want to give you an extra half hour to do what needs to be done, though."

Other study co-authors included; Dale Kraemer, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Pharmacy Practice, Oregon State University; and Edward Neuwelt, M.D., professor of neurology and neurological surgery, OHSU School of Medicine and the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and director of the OHSU Blood Brain Barrier Program. The study was funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Dr. Neuwelt, OHSU, Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the Department of Veterans Affairs have a significant financial interest in Adherex, a company that may have a commercial interest in the results of this research and technology. This potential conflict was reviewed and a management plan approved by the OHSU Integrity Program Oversight Council and the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center Conflict of Interest in Research Committee was implemented.

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NAD Book on Your Legal Rights
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- Article 2: Tantalizing News About Captioned Radio
By Cheryl Heppner
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Editor: Captioned Radio? Really? This topic has been bouncing around for years, and as Cheryl points out, already exists in a limited form. Cheryl is advocating the universal adoption of captioned radio as a method of emergency communications. It sure sounds like a great idea to me!

Thanks to NVRC News for permission to republish this article. Please be sure to credit them if you share it. (See credit at the end of the article.)

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Two years ago, NVRC did a follow-up survey to learn more about the experiences that deaf and hard of hearing people had with communication in the Washington metropolitan area on 9/11. One of the questions we asked was what improvement people would most like for receiving emergency communication. Full captioning on television was the top answer, but a quite a few people wrote that they wanted to be able to have captions for the information being broadcast by radio.

During the three years I spent researching and writing "Emergency Preparedness and Emergency Communication Access: Lessons Learned Since 9/11 and Recommendations," the national report by NVRC and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Consumer Advocacy Network coalition, I learned that captioning is already being provided to radios through radio data service (RDS). RDS is what makes the station number and other information appear on the display screen for your car radio. In the United Kingdom, BBS is already providing captioned radio broadcasts several times a day.

Hurricane Katrina gave new reasons to push for captioned radio. When all other communication was down or unreliable, people who had portable, battery-powered radios were often the only ones who could get news.

I believe that all forms of emergency communication need to be accessible, so that if one is not working we will have other choices. And I've long felt that the biggest gap that individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing people face is that much of our accessible equipment is in our homes, schools or workplaces and is vulnerable to power failures.

While working with the great team at Gallaudet University on the recent Accessible Emergency Notification and Communication: State of the Science conference, I said that if only one thing could be accomplished by the conference, my wish would be to make captioned radio a reality. One of the best pieces of news from the conference was that work is being done on captioned radio right here in our backyard. Mike Starling, who is Vice President of Engineering and Operations for National Public Radio (NPR), made a tantalizing presentation about it.

Last week, Starling and Kevin Klose, who is President and CEO of NPR, came to NVRC to meet with me and Lise Hamlin. Their interest in captioned radio goes far beyond emergency broadcasts. Starling has laid out a plan for steps to accomplish it, and he has enthusiastic support from Klose.

Starling thinks that captioned radio could become available as soon as 3 years from now, and that another year down the road, we might see a battery-powered portable radio designed for it. Klose said that 85% of NPR broadcasts are completely pre-scripted, enabling them to make transcripts immediately available on their website. This could help keep down the expense of captioning. Also there is a 6-second delay in broadcast time even for live programming, so NPR may be able to generate realtime captions that synchronize with the audio when they are broadcasting something that isn't scripted. Starling and Klose said they envisioned making arrangements for a captioning service in emergencies if necessary.

Starling has talked with BBC in the UK to learn about their captioned radio. While there he also saw a demonstration of an Internet signing program and was interested in learning more about whether that would be something that would also be useful, and should be incorporated in broadcasts.

Captioned radio would be accomplished through multichannel broadcasting. Instead of just one program on each station, it can make different programs available through different channels, broadcasting sports on one, news on another, etc. Right now, a station has the capability to broadcast 4-6 channels, but if the FCC permits additional spectrum it rise to 22. Closed captioning data requires minimal bandwidth. It would not require a separate channel. The closed captioning would be carried simultaneously with the audio, just as it is for TV.

Lise and I asked many questions and gave Starling and Klose a lot of information. We said that while we wanted a product where the audio and captions are synchronized, we aren't sure exactly how to best synchronize them. For TV, you often have someone to speechread, so you can scan the face of the person speaking and then scan the captions. We suspect that when there is no face to watch, a slight delay of captions might be best.

Starling and Klose welcomed our input on what features new radios should have. Some of the things we mentioned wanting were an audio output jack, ability to hook up other devices such as a strobe light and bedshaker, and the ability to incorporate NOAA weather radio alerting features. We would also want a large display with good contrast, and captions that can be bolded and adjusted for size for people with impaired vision. Ideally radios should have access features for everyone, including controls that are easy for someone with limited hand movement.

The discussion energized us. As you can imagine, with the opportunity to make such an important breakthrough, I said that NVRC would help however we can with focus groups, product testing, etc. I'm pretty sure I can count on many of you to volunteer!

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- Article 3: IFHOH Board Nominations Deadline Extended
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Editor: The International Federation of Hard of Hearing Persons (IFHOH) is seeking nominations for their board, and they have extended the deadline to January 20. Please see the announcement below for additional information.

And note that their next international convention will be in Vancouver, Canada in May, 2008!

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The deadline for nominations for the Board of the International Federations of Hard of Hearing Persons has been extended to January 20th, 2006. The four positions are:
President
Vice-President
Treasurer
General Secretary

An additional position, Director-at-large, has been recommended by the Board of IFHOH and nominations are being invited for this position. It is expected that the nominee or nominator organization will meet the expenses associated with board meetings.

Candidates will serve a two-year term to take effective immediately following the IFHOH AGM April 28/29, 2006 in Croatia. Candidates must be nominated by member organizations of IFHOH in good standing.

To make a nomination, please communicate by e-mail at this time to the Chair of the Nominating Committee and include:
* Biographical summary (50-200 words)
* Statement of reason for support of the nomination (100 to 200 words)
* Contact information for the candidate: (address, phone, fax, e-mail, etc.)
* Contact information for the nominee (address, phone, fax, e-mail, etc.):
* Verification that the nomination is supported by the host IFHOH member country and by the candidate.

Note: nominations already made do not need to be re-sent unless incomplete.

Please send nomination information to the e-mail address of ruth.warick@ubc.ca .

Thank you from the members of the IFHOH Nominating Committee:
Ruth Warick
Kalle Tervaskari
Dr. H. Seidler

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- Article 4: Early Intervention Key to Hearing Development in Deaf Children
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Editor: A recent study by the University of Maryland and Stanford verify conclusions that implanting children early results in better auditory performance.

Here's the press release.

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A new study from the University of Maryland's Child Development Laboratory and Stanford University shows that early intervention with cochlear implants can make a significant difference in auditory development in deaf children.

In a paper appearing in the December 8 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team found that deaf children who have cochlear implants by the time they are two-and-a-half years old have the best chance of developing auditory abilities close to those of children with normal hearing.

"This study shows the power of early intervention," says Maryland Professor Nathan Fox, director of the Child Development Laboratory, and a co-author of the paper. "We often hear the claim that the earlier you intervene the better, but there are preciously few data on human studies to support this. Our paper is novel in providing evidence for the claim."

Efrat Schorr, a doctoral student in the Child Development Laboratory, Virginie Van Wassenhove a fellow in the University of Maryland Cognitive Neuroscience of Language Laboratory (CNL) and Eric Knudsen, professor of neurobiology at the Stanford University School of Medicine, are co-authors of the paper.

Seeing and Hearing

The Maryland team studied children between the ages of four and 14, who have been deaf from birth and speak English as their primary language. All subjects also had a cochlear implant for at least a year. They were studied over an 18-month period.

"The children who had received the cochlear implants after the age of two-and-a-half did not do as well in the fusion of auditory and visual speech perception as the children who received the implant earlier," says Fox.

The key to auditory development is in the ability to fuse auditory information -- hearing -- and visual information -- lips moving, for example -- a skill that is developed early in life, according to Nathan. "We found that when the speech stimuli were incongruent -- different information from auditory and visual channels -- the children who received cochlear implants before the age of two-and-a-half did almost as well as normal hearing children," says Fox.

"The study shows that children are able to make use of the auditory information with remarkable success when they have a cochlear implant at a young age," says Efrat Schorr.

The study was funded by grants from the American Hearing Research Foundation and the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. David Poeppel, University of Maryland associate professor, provided the stimuli from the CNL Laboratory.

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- Classifieds
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One FM Receiver, one Smoke Alarm and seven Employment Opportunities appear in this issue. (Ads appear after this brief table of contents.)

Universal FM Receiver
Landmark Audio Technologies
www.landmarkfm.com

Smoke Alarm for Hearing Impaired
Low Frequency Alarm Tone
www.loudenlow.com

Employment Opportunity 1
Various Opportunities
GLAD
Various Southern California Locations

Employment Opportunity 2
Physical Therapist, Registered - Framingham Campus - Part Time
The Learning Center for Deaf Children
Framingham, MA

Employment Opportunity 3
Residential Overnight Dorm Staff (Girls) - Framingham Campus - Full Time
The Learning Center for Deaf Children
Framingham, MA

Employment Opportunity 4
Physical Education Teacher - Framingham Campus - Full Time
The Learning Center for Deaf Children
Framingham, MA

Employment Opportunity 5
Child Care Workers (Overnight and Residential) - Walden School
The Learning Center for Deaf Children
Framingham, MA

Employment Opportunity 6
Occupational Therapist, Registered (OTR/L)
The Learning Center for Deaf Children
Framingham, MA

Employment Opportunity 7
Assistant Professor - English with Deaf Specialization
Mesa College
San Diego, CA

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Landmark Audio Technologies
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Landmark Audio Technologies is a producer of affordably priced assistive listening systems that are easy to use and satisfaction guaranteed. You can find us online at www.landmarkfm.com or please give us a call at 888-677-4387.

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Smoke Alarm for Hearing Impaired
Low Frequency Alarm Tone
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-------------------

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Employment Opportunity 1
Various Opportunities
GLAD
Various Southern California Locations
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JOB OPPORTUNITIES AT GLAD

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

* JOB DEVELOPER/INTERPRETER - Anaheim, Crenshaw, Norwalk

* HARD OF HEARING SPECIALIST - Riverside

* HIV HEALTH EDUCATOR (WSR) - Los Angeles

* HIV HEALTH EDUCATOR (MSM) - Los Angeles

* LIFESIGNS DISPATCHER - Los Angeles

* GLAD BUILDING/MAINTENANCE MANAGER - Los Angeles

If interested for any of these positions then please submit resume and application to:

Jeff Fetterman
Human Resources Specialist
Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness, Inc.
2222 Laverna Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90041
V/TDD: (323) 550-4207
Fax #: (323)550-4204
E-mail: jfetterman@gladinc.org

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Employment Opportunity 2
Physical Therapist, Registered - Framingham Campus - Part Time
The Learning Center for Deaf Children
Framingham, MA
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Provide Physical Therapy services for pediatric population with a Primary diagnosis of deafness or hard of hearing along with other diagnoses such as developmental delays, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, failure to thrive, mental retardation, mental illness, CHARGE and other musculoskeletal disorders. Services will include evaluations, goal development and direct treatment. Also, the Physical Therapist will provide appropriate intervention services designed to enhance the student's potential for learning, assist the student in acquiring those functional skills needed to participate in and benefit from the educational environment, and help the student function independently.

Requirements: BS in Physical Therapy from an accredited college or university. Eligible for licensure by the State of Massachusetts Board of Allied Health. Basic American Sign Language skills preferred. Pediatric experience preferred.

Supervisor: Special Needs Program Supervisor

Functions and Responsibilities:
1. Performs all duties within compliance of the APTA recommended guidelines for practice and code of ethics
2. Performs duties of a Physical Therapist in accordance with physician's orders when medically necessary
3. Performs student evaluations and screenings pre referrals, once appropriate consent is obtained
4. Establishes treatment goals, objectives and plans that are educationally relevant and will be used in the student's educational programs
5. Communicates findings and recommendations of evaluations of Physical Therapy services to educational staff, parents, students, and when appropriate, to other professionals and agencies concerned with the student
6. Provides reassessment of students focusing on areas of need at intervals determined to be educationally relevant
7. Consults with other members of the educational team and the family to plan appropriate programs for each student as needed

Please contact:
Lynn Marshall
Personnel Coordinator
The Learning Center for Deaf Children
848 Central Street, Framingham, MA 01701
fax # 508-875-3355
phone # 508/879-5110 v/tty
or email: Inquiries@tlcdeaf.org