Volume 29 Issue 10

HOH-LD-News
Vol. 29, Issue 10
December 9, 2006

Copyright (C) 2006 Hearing Loss Web. All rights reserved.

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Table of Contents
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- Article 1: Gallyprotest Open Letter to Jane Fernandes

- Article 2: Expanding Access Through Captioned Radio - Part One

- Article 3: Free Cued Speech Media Available from National Cued Speech Association

- Article 4: Short Takes

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Classified Section:
Two online stores and two employment opportunity appear in this issue.

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Contact information and disclaimers are at the end of this newsletter.
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- Article 1: Gallyprotest Open Letter to Jane Fernandes
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We thought that the brouhaha over the Fernandes appointment was pretty much over. According to the protesters the issue was Fernandes' fitness for the job of Gallaudet President. Having forced the Board of Trustees to withdraw her nomination, the protesters need take no further action, right? Because it was never about a personal attack, or so they claimed.

At least some of the protesters seem to NOT be in agreement with that position. Gallyprotest's open letter attacks not only Jane Fernandes, but also I. King Jordan and the Gallaudet Board of Trustees. Accusations include legal and/or moral culpability for two murders, lack of oversight, and a culture of corruption within Gallaudet's Board of Trustees. The press release that includes the open letter concludes with a list of demands and a call to contact members of the Gallaudet Board of Directors to encourage their action on the demands.

Here are a few excerpts from the press release:

"As the open letter demonstrates, Fernandes put Gallaudet students' lives at risk. Indeed, two were murdered as a result of her failure to make proper administrative decisions. Irving King Jordan, Jr. shares an equal amount of moral guilt for the two murders, due to his failure to properly supervise Fernandes and also due to his moral culpability in appointing her to university positions in the first place."

"Even today, you and your few supporters continue to distort and obfuscate, and attempt to portray Gallaudet as being a place that needs to be made "inclusive," when actually Gallaudet has *already* been an inclusive institution of higher learning for its entire history. The method of inclusion already exists, and it is called: "Deaf culture." Deaf people of diverse backgrounds have always been welcome to join in, as long as they accept other deaf people as moral equals and as long as they are willing to learn American Sign Language (ASL), the lingua franca of Deaf Americans."

"If you continue this disinformation campaign, then we must warn you that we will launch a counterattack in a war of rhetoric that will cause you to think that your experience during the protest of 2006 was a walk in the park in comparison, after which it would be unlikely that you could find *any* university to hire you in *any* position."

"The fact of Fernandes's attempted appointment points to the existence of a culture of corruption within Gallaudet's Board of Trustees. While a limited amount of praise is due to certain members of the Board for certain actions (for example, in Ben Soukup taking a leadership role in pressing for Fernandes's termination), on the whole, the Board's actions over the past several years are to be strongly and emphatically condemned."

"The Board must immediately recognize the heroic status of the Gallaudet protesters who committed justified acts of civil disobedience in the recent protest, especially including the takeover of the Hall Memorial Building and also the general campus lockdown . . . . Justice being what it is, the Board should recognize that it is under no moral or legal compulsion to press charges against those protesters, and that on the contrary, the Board is morally obliged to honor such protesters and protect them from retaliation on the part of nefarious forces on or off campus."

For the complete press release, please point your browser to:
http://www.hearinglossweb.com/Issues/Identity/gal06/galpro.htm

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- Article 2: Expanding Access Through Captioned Radio - Part One
Presented by Stephen Foster
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Steven Foster is the Founder and CEO of iMAT (iMobile Access Technologies), which focuses on providing media access to populations that are currently excluded. This is our report on his presentation at ALDAcon 2006.

This is part one of two parts.

For more coverage of this great convention, please point your browser to http://www.hearinglossweb.com/res/hlorg/alda/cn/2006/2006.htm

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I'd like to start by talking a bit about what we're doing, and then open the discussion so I can hear your ideas about how we can improve captioned radio.

Let's start by talking about Terrestrial Radio, which is standard AM and FM radio. Related technologies are things like CD players, tape players, etc.

Newer technologies include things like iPods, Internet Radio, Podcasting, and Satellite Radio. Apple has sold over 200 million iPods in the last four years. They use a format called MP3, which is downloadable from the Internet.

We also have streaming Internet radio, which is basically broadcast radio on the Internet. Podcasting is the ability to download entire programs and play them back when it's convenient for you.

There are two main players in the Satellite Radio world - XM and Sirius.

But despite the fact that radio is the largest entertainment medium, it remains inaccessible to people with hearing loss. Among the things on radio are talk programs, sports broadcasting, news, live weather, music, etc. Perhaps most important are emergency broadcasts. But note also that things like live traffic reports can save you a lot of time by telling you what roads to avoid.

IMAT (iMobile Access Technologies) is a company dedicated to bringing new audiences to media. About eighty percent of the population receive media broadcast (radio and television) with no problem. The other twenty percent, including people with hearing loss, people with vision loss, people with limited English skills, etc., have difficulty receiving one or more types of media.

For people with hearing loss, we are developing a technology called captioned radio. Our initial concept is a receiver about the size of an iPod. It receives traditional radio programming that includes captions that are synchronized with audio in real-time. Our system includes an eyepiece, similar to a military heads-up display, onto which captions are projected. This system provides for a portable, personal, and real-time radio that is accessible to people with hearing loss.

We consider this personal, because each person controls his own access. It's not like Rear Window captioning, with which a user has to check out a device to access the information.

Note that we are not a voice recognition company, but we access a captioning stream that will be broadcast with the audio programming.

Suppose you're stuck in traffic. It would be great to have access to the traffic report.

Accessibility design is very important. We'll be working with industrial design folks, of course, but we are also very interested in input from users. We currently have several designs that we are considering. We have some prototypes that include opaque screens, which means that we can block a small part of the visual field. With transparent screens we can use more of the visual field, because you can see through the display.

Content is the real crux of the issue. There are lots of companies that provide radio content, and the question we're trying to answer is what content members of the hearing loss community want.

I was talking to one of the industry leaders, and I explained that I represent the hearing loss market. He said that he wasn't really interested in that market, because most people with hearing loss are over 65, and that's not the important consumer segment. So one of the things we need to do is educate these folks that there are a lot of people with hearing loss who are in the prime demographic - 18 to 55. In the top 25 radio markets, there are over 14 million people with hearing loss in that age group.

So I'm hoping you can tell me what you want for content.

Keep in mind that radio is a non-mandated market. That means that radio providers do not have to provide captioning. That means that our first market will be early adapters, and they must be willing to pay to get the service they want. It's very similar to the satellite radio market. People pay $15 or so for access to about a hundred stations. I have talked to several small organizations that are interested in this project, and are willing to provide beta testing.

We have developed early prototypes that are based on the concepts we showed earlier.

We are looking at two different markets. The first is with the iMAT radio receiver. That has some advantages over other systems.

The alternate route is a plug and play model. That involves putting captions on existing wireless devices. The downside, of course, is that there may not be wireless service in emergency situations. Note that in national emergencies, the last communications system working is generally radio.

We're looking at the CapTel model, because we see a lot of similarities between that and our product. One of the issues is coverage. That's one of the advantages of using radio frequencies. That frequency penetrates much better than the frequencies used in wireless technologies.

One concept is a national hearing loss radio channel. Can you imagine having your own national radio channel that is focused on hearing loss issues?

Another concept is mobile television. I'm sure you've seen the video iPods.

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- Article 3: Free Cued Speech Media Available from National Cued Speech Association
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Editor: The folks at the National Cued Speech Association have made available some wonderful resources for the very favorable price of FREE!

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Two acclaimed informational media disks are available from the National Cued Speech Association (NCSA).

"Breaking the Code: Unlocking the Cue-rriculum" is a 10-minute film on DVD. Created from historic and new footage, the film interviews parents, professionals, and deaf individuals. It is fully captioned and sign-interpreted. You can preview it at anytime at youtube.com (search: Cued Speech).

"Cued Speech for Special Needs" is a combination video / PowerPoint presentation about the use of Cued Speech for purposes other than or in addition to hearing loss, such as autism, articulation, auditory processing, phonemic awareness, Down Syndrome, and more. This CD requires Microsoft Windows plus Internet Explorer. It is of particular interest to speech-language pathologists, audiologists, parents and educators.

To receive a copy of one or both disks, contact the NCSA office at info@cuedspeech.org or 800-459-3529 with your request, address, telephone and email. These copies are made available with funding from the U.S. Department of Education, H234E050024.

The National Cued Speech Association and its Deaf Children's Literacy Project champion effective communication, language acquisition and literacy through the use of Cued Speech. Literacy is the original and primary goal of Cued Speech, achieved by providing clear communication in the appropriate phonemic language base for learning to read. Cued Speech also supports the development of lipreading, auditory discrimination, and speech.

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- Article 4: Short Takes
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Editor: Here are our picks of some additional stories that you may find interesting. For more, please point your browser to: http://www.hearinglossweb.com/news/curr.htm

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Gallaudet Accrediting Decision Put Off

A decision on Gallaudet University's accreditation has been postponed, with an oversight group expressing serious concerns about recent developments at the school for the deaf. The university is still accredited while the decision is delayed. The commission questioned whether Gallaudet is in compliance with standards on integrity, leadership, mission, admissions, retention, educational offerings and assessments.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/y23fpa

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Maryland School for the Deaf Considers Accepting Hearing Students

Since its founding in 1868, the Maryland School for the Deaf has been cloistered from the wider world. Students walk a picturesque campus of green lawns and old brick buildings, speak American Sign Language and enjoy their own culture. Now the school is considering a radical step that could end that segregation: a proposal to accept a limited number of hearing students. The school's superintendent says it should think about admitting hearing students to ensure that enrollment in years to come will remain large enough to be viable. . . . But more young deaf children are getting implants that allow them some degree of hearing and, unlike a century ago, the majority of deaf students are going to regular public schools. The trend worries some educators who wonder if deaf culture and American Sign Language will dwindle away as fewer children attend schools for the deaf and fewer learn to sign.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/yyejky

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Deafness Debate

Seven preschoolers sang along with teacher Garrett Adams as he made a squirrel puppet bob along with the words. Donning paper headgear and tails turning them into crows and squirrels, they sang, "Gray squirrel, swish your bushy tail, wrinkle up your funny nose, hold a nut between your toes." You could not tell from their voices that they are deaf. They were in a classroom at Northampton's Clarke School for the Deaf and Center for Oral Education, where sign language is not on the curriculum. "Most people think that if you're deaf, then you must sign," said the school's director, Dennis B. Gjerdingen. "We don't think our kids are handicapped or disabled. We think it's an advantage for them to be able to hear. Call it what you will, they don't have to be deaf," said Gjerdingen, who has severe hearing loss at high frequencies.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/spm58

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AMC chain is sued in bias case
Impaired not accommodated, Arizona says

Arizona is suing one of the nation's largest theater chains, accusing it of discrimination against those with visual and audio impairments. In a lawsuit filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, the state Attorney General's Office charges that AMC Entertainment Inc. is violating laws that require places of public accommodation to ensure that people with disabilities are not excluded. The lawsuit says AMC does not offer a sufficient number of movie screens that provide captioning for the deaf and descriptive audio services for the blind.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/y9ybbn

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- Classifieds
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Two online stores and two employment opportunity appear in this issue. (Ads appear after this brief table of contents.)

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Employment Opportunity 1
Various Positions
GLAD
Los Angeles

Employment Opportunity 2
Superintendent
Illinois School for the Deaf
Jacksonville, IL

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Employment Opportunity 1
Various Positions
GLAD
Los Angeles
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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.

* Building Manager - Los Angeles, CA
* Regional Director - Riverside, CA
* Community Interpreter - Riverside, CA
* Job Developer/Interpreter - Crenshaw, Norwalk, Riverside and West Covina, CA
* Community Health Educator-Los Angeles, CA
* Grant Writer - Los Angeles, CA
* Accounts Receivable Specialist - Los Angeles, CA
* Program Assistant/Interpreter - Los Angeles, CA

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
Superintendent
Illinois School for the Deaf
Jacksonville, IL
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The Illinois School for the Deaf, announces a vacancy for the SUPERINTENDENT position. Applications are due by January 15, 2007, with a start date of July 1, 2007.

Founded in 1839 and located on a beautiful 50 acre campus in Jacksonville, Illinois School for the Deaf is a residential state school for the education of children who are deaf and hard of hearing in Illinois. The school is operated by the State Department of Human Services/Division of Rehabilitation Services with the objective of preparing students for productive, well-adjusted and responsible adult lives.

Marjorie Olson
400 West Lawrence
Springfield IL 62794-9429
217-524-1379 (Voice/TTY)

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