My Deaf Family
April 12, 2010 at 6:05 AM | Posted in Hearing | Leave a commentTags: deafness, hearing impairment, my deaf family
We have all seen the many reality shows about various families such as “19 Kids and Counting” which follows the life of a family that has 19 children or “Little People, Big World” which follows a family that experiences Dwarfism (three children are average height while the parents and one child experience Dwarfism) to the show “One Big Happy Family” which follows a family that is trying to slim down and live a healthier lifestyle.
Well, there may be a new one hitting the airwaves soon called “My Deaf Family”. This show follows a family where mom, dad and two of the children are deaf while two of the children are hearing. This may provide some insight into daily life experienced by a person/family who is Deaf as well as helping to educate people in regards to the Deaf culture. It might educate people about how to interact appropraitely with people who are deaf as well as removing any myths or stereotypes that people may have simply because they haven’t met anyone who is deaf.
Right now, the show is a 9 minute episode on YouTube which you can watch by clicking here. You will notice that they have elected to use the new closed captioning system that YouTube recently began providing (click here to see our post about that). I don’t know if this show will make it to TV but I think it would be good to provide shows that inform us about people with special needs such as how “Little People, Big World” has educated us about what it is like to experience Dwarfism in daily life.
Mice Provide Insight into Degenerative Hearing Loss
March 25, 2010 at 4:45 PM | Posted in Hearing | 3 CommentsTags: heairng loss, online speech therapy, speech therapy
An article published on The Science Blog on About.com reports that deafness is the most common disorder of the senses. Degenerative Hearing loss is when a child slowly loses their hearing over time. This loss starts out mild and progresses to complete deafness. Scientists know little about how this type of loss occurs which limits the possibility of prevention. Scientists do know what genes are involved in hearing and that these can be passed from the mother or father down to the children but because hearing is such a complex sense that it is has been hard to pinpoint the specifics.
Dr. John Oghalia and postdoctoral fellow Anpign Xia have created mice that have a mutation on one gene (alpha tectorin) which is known to be involved in this progressive childhood deafness. This mice with this mutated gene develop the same hearing problems that children do. Thanks to this information, they are now able to obtain more details about what is going wrong in the ears of these mice. They have already learned that the inner ear may be compensating for the middle and outer ear’s processing difficulties which is causing it ongoing damage to the inner ear which leads to eventual profound deafness. They are hoping that they are able to learn how to slow or stop the hearing loss to help not only children but elderly people as well.
You can read the entire study here: http://dmm.biologists.org/
Until we are able to slow down or stop hearing loss there are many things that can be done to help these children (and adults) lead full, exciting lives. There are medical interventions such as a cochlear implants that helps people regain their hearing and works well for those deemed appropriate for this treatment option. Speech therapy helps those with a Cochlear Implant learn to use their new hearing effectively.
Speech therapy can help children learn to effectively use hearing aids so they are receiving the maximum benefit possible from these devices. They are also able to help with classroom modifications. These are simple things that can be done to help the child hear in this often noisy environment.
Children with hearing loss may also have speech (articulation) and/or language delays as a result of their hearing loss. These children benefit from speech therapy designed to help them acquire the skills they have missed or are struggling with.
If you have concerns about your child’s hearing or if your child has a hearing loss and you are concerned about their speech and/or language skills, please contact a speech pathologist in your area or one of our speech pathologists at 877-480-7913 or through our website by clicking on the link below.
Online Speech Therapy provided by Independent Speech ~ www.independentspeech.com
You-Tube Closed Captioning
March 17, 2010 at 9:45 AM | Posted in Hearing | 1 CommentTags: closed captions, hearing impariment, hearing loss, you tube
You may have read our recent post entitled Closed Captioning on the Go about how one company is working to provide closed captioning services in public areas such as museums, sporting events, etc. in order to make these venues more accessible to those with a hearing loss. Well, You-Tube has now added a closed captioning feature to help those with a hearing loss access this popular site.
When a person uploads a video they can request auto-captioning where a voice-recognition program will post captions. These programs do some guessing as to what it thinks the people are saying so it might not come out 100% accurate. Thus video owners are able to correct the captions as needed. For videos that are already posted, you can go into your account and request the auto-captioning be completed. In addition, you can upload your own captions, click here to learn how to write your own captions.
If you want to watch videos that have captions you can do a custom search by select “search options” and then choose “closed captions” to find only those videos that have closed captions included.
Here are some links about this new feature:
- The Future Will Be Captioned: Improving Accessibility on YouTube (from YouTube Blog)
- YouTube Launches Auto-Captioning for Videos (from Mashable)
- Auto-Captioning for All YouTube Videos (from Free Technology for Teachers)
This is another wonderful example of how things can easily be adapted to make them more accessible to people who experience disabilities. I congratulate You-Tube on this update and commend them for working to make their site more accessible!
Online Speech Therapy Provided by Independent Speech ~ www.independentspeech.com
Closed Captioning on the Go
March 15, 2010 at 6:53 AM | Posted in Hearing | Leave a commentTags: closed captioning, hearing impairment
Soon, those with a hearing loss will be better able to access public areas and events such as movie theaters, sporting events, museums, etc. This is thanks to Leanne West, the director of the Landmarc Research Center at the Georgia Tech Research Institute.
This system uses standard wireless technology that is currently available at many public facilities. To access the captions, the venue’s transmitter would send a wireless signal to the individual’s smartphone, PDA or laptop. They are also working on glasses that would receive the transmissions similar to the glasses used to watch movies on portable systems such as the iPod.
To access the captioning the person would have to download a simple program (which is still being developed) to the device of their choice. They have also integrated options to help make this more user friendly such as being able to choose the background color, text color and size as well as language (English, Spanish, etc.). This technology has applications not only in public arenas but in academic ones as well. Those with a hearing loss can view captions of the lectures right at their desk without the need for other, more expensive equipment.
This is exciting new technology that could help make many public places and events more easily accessible to those with a hearing impairment. Keep a look out for this product to hit the market in the near future!
(This article was featured in the ASHA Leader)
Online Speech Therapy provided by Independent Speech ~ www.independentspeech.com
Deaf History Month
March 13, 2010 at 7:01 AM | Posted in Hearing | 1 CommentTags: ASL, deaf history, online speech therapy, sign language, speech therapy
This month actually runs from March 13th through April 15th. This month is meant to recognize the people in our communities who are deaf as well as to look back at the achievements made in Deaf culture.
There are three notable events (which is how the dates for this month were decided):
1) March 13, 1988 sess the first Deaf President of Gallaudet University (a university for the deaf and hard of hearing).
2) April 8, 1864 marks the founding of Gallaudet University when President Lincoln signs the charter to establish a college for the deaf.
3) April 15, 1817 marks the opening of first public school for the deaf, American School for the Deaf.
Deaf history month is also a month to look back on how speech therapy has helped a child learn and communicate. Speech therapy helps a child maximize their communication skills and teaches them the rules of English. This knowledge is necessary for success in school as it teaches a child how to understand what they read, learn new words, understand and use grammatical structures (past tense) and sentence forms (such as passive voice).
“Speech therapy is so important. It helps with reading, writing and just being a better communicator. Knowledge of the English language is so important for success in school. That’s what our job is, to provide that foundation.”
— Carla, Speech and Language Pathologist quoted on the Raising Deaf Kids website
You can help children understand what it is like to be deaf in many ways. For example, you can watch TV with the captions on to show how people who cannot hear may watch TV. You can put earplugs in to simulate a hearing loss and try to function throughout their day. You may have to write things down, or use gestures to communicate. Introduce sign language explaining what it is and why people use it.
Here are some basic facts about sign language:
1. Sign Language is an important part of the Deaf culture. It is a complete languages that uses signs made using the hands and other movements such as facial expressions and postures of the body.
2. Sign Language has its own grammatical structure that is different from any spoken and/or written language
3. The majority of Deaf people (about 90%) are born to hearing parents and thus they learn sign language through therapists, teachers and others who are deaf.
4. Only about 10% of Deaf children are born to Deaf parents and they learn sign language first from their parents.
5. Sign Language can be used to tell jokes, ask riddles, express sarcasm, tell lies, create idioms, make poetry, anything we can do with spoken languages.
6. Sign Language is like any language and takes time to learn to use it fluently. Many learn this as a second language such as those who teach children who are deaf or ork with deaf families.
There are many easy ways to incorporate sign language into various activities. First, you want to review the sign language alphabet.
*You can make matching cards in a variety of ways such as
1) matching the sign to the sign
2) matching the sign to the printed letter
3) matching the sign to a picture that begins with that letter
*Sort pictures into groups that start with a certain letter by placing all the pictures on the picture of the signed letter
*Make a bingo game using the signed letters as the pictures on the card, then call out the letter (using your voice). The children have to match the letter they heard to the picture of the signed letter.
*Practice singing the ABC song using both voice and sign for each letter.
Think of other creative ways to incorporate sign language into your activities or lessons. You are increasing awareness of deafness and understand of what it is and how it affects people everyday.
Online Speech Therapy provided by Independent Speech ~ www.independentspeech.com
Music Therapy and Cochlear Implants
January 11, 2010 at 5:38 AM | Posted in Hearing | 1 CommentTags: cochlear implants, online speech therapy, speech pathologist, speech therapy, telepractice
Cochlear Implants are designed to help those who are unable to benefit from traditional hearing aids. After receiving the cochlear implant, a child goes through a lengthy rehabilitation process to learn how to interpret the sound they can now hear. Many of those receiving a cochlear implant have never been able to hear.
In a study conducted for Aalborg University in Isreal, Dr. Karem examined the affects of music therapy on children 2 to 3 years of age after they had received the cochlear implant. She was mainly interesting in if the presence of music had any impact on spontaneous communication. These toddlers may feel pressure to talk from those around them such as parents, caregivers, therapists and family friends. She tested her theory by engaging in therapy sessions with activities that incorporated music and therapy sessions where the activities were not musical. She noted that the children vocalized more and that these vocalizations were longer in the sessions where music was present.
“Music comprises various elements that are also components of language and therefore as a non-verbal form of communication is suitable for communication with these children, when they are still unable to use language. Communicative interactions, especially those initiated by the toddlers, are critical in the development of normal communication, as they are prerequisites for developing and acquiring language,” explains Dr. Kerem.
“Music can constitute the bridge between the quiet world that the child knew and the new world of sounds that has been unfolded following the operation. It is also important that the parents and staff learn the best way to expose these children to music, the use of music for communication and the importance of the therapist’s undirected approach (which enhanced the children’s communication in music therapy and in play to a greater degree than in the directed one). Music therapy is gradually penetrating the field of rehabilitation, but there is still a lot of work to be done in improving awareness of this important area,” Dr. Kerem explains.
This is exciting research on how to help these children learn to hear with their cochlear implants, providing speech pathologists with a new strategy to use during therapy sessions!
Online Speech Therapy by Independent Speech ~ www.independentspeech.com
Noise Induced Hearing Loss
November 21, 2009 at 6:53 AM | Posted in Hearing | Leave a commentSo, what is Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL)? Well, this is hearing loss that occurs because the person has been exposed to loud noise. This can occur immediately such as hearing loss that results after a single shot from a shotgun is experienced at close range. More commonly, it is acquired over a period of time being exposed to sound levels that are too loud.
So, how loud is too loud? Research shows that a person who is exposed to noise levels at 85 decibels or higher for a prolonged period of time is at risk for hearing loss. Let’s look at how loud common things are:
- A normal conversation 60 decibels
- A lawnmower 90 decibels
- An MP3 player 105 decibels (at max level)
- A car horn and rock concert 110 decibels
- A firecracker 140 decibels
How can you tell if something is too loud? A good general rule is that if you have to raise your voice to be heard by someone else the noise around you (stereo, etc) is at 85 decibels or higher!
Of course you also have to take into consideration how close you are to the sound. Watching firecrackers, for example, doesn’t give you the full 140 decibels as you are a great distance from the actual source of the sound. However, MP3 players, most of which use ear buds that sit inside your ear are delivering the full 105 decibels to your ears.
The length of time also has an impact. Eight hours of 90-dB sound can cause damage to your hearing. Exposure to 100 decibels should be limited to no more than 15 minutes while regular exposure of more than 1 minute at 110 decibels risks permanent hearing loss (think of those iPods). If you have any exposure to 140-dB sound it causes immediate damage and actual pain.
You might have hearing loss if you . . .
* require frequent repetition.
* have difficulty following conversations involving more than 2 people.
* think that other people sound muffled or like they’re mumbling.
* have difficulty hearing in noisy situations
* have your TV or radio turned up to a high volume.
*feel annoyed at other people because you can’t hear or understand them.
Take precautions to protect your hearing and that of those around you. Remember, the i-pod doesn’t need to be so loud that person next to you can hear your favorite song nor does the car stereo need to be turned up so loud that the car actually shakes to the beat. You don’t have to sit in the front row at a concert or listen to the TV so loud that a neighbor walking by knows what movie you are watching. Think about turning everything down or wearing ear protection when you can’t, your ears (and those around you will thank you!)
If you think you may have some hearing loss, get an audiological evaluation! This is the only way to be sure, they are able to tell you if a hearing loss is present and if so what you can do about it. There are many types of hearing aids out there that can help. Some are even small enough to fit inside your ear canal so nobody is able to see them.
You can test your hearing yourself online but these are not clinical results and cannot determine if you have a hearing loss though they may help you determine if you should visit and audiologist. The website below shows many different websites that offer free online hearing tests.
http://deafness.about.com/od/audiogramsandaudiology/f/hearingtest.htm
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