Troy Program Opens

Troy University’s internatraining program for sign language interpreters has begun. The Alabama school is offering classes to prepare students to pass the National Interpreting Certification Exam.

Help During the Hurricane

When you watch the news coverage of hurricane Gustav, you may see Shari Bernius. She’s administrator of the Deaf Action Center, an agency of the Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans. Both of her parents were deaf and she understands the difficulties of those who are deaf during emergencies. Bernius signed many news conferences during Hurricane Katrina and now her skills are being called upon again. Her job is critical because there is no closed captioning for these emergency weather announcements, leaving the deaf community no way of knowing what's going on apart from the work of interpreters like Bernius.

Professor Going to Jail

A professor at Rochester Institute of Technology is going to jail. Michael Krembel was given an 11-year prison sentence for having sex with a 14-year-old boy. Krembel met the teen online. He taught graphic arts at RIT's National Technical Institute for the Deaf and for 35 years but was fired after pleading guilty to the charge.

Hearing Loss among Baby Boomers

Hearing loss among "baby boomers" has increased significantly to about 15% of people between the ages 45 and 64, according to the Better Hearing Institute. In fact, the AARP says there are more people between the age 45 and 64 with hearing loss (10 million) than there are people over 65 with hearing loss (9 million). The reason: listening to loud music.

The number is expected to climb because by the year 2010, the baby boomer generation reaches age 65. The number of Americans with hearing loss could rise as high as 78 million by 2030, according to the National Institute on Deafness.

Getting to Know.. Deaf Culture

Deafness is one of the only medical conditions associated with its own set of cultural traditions. Many are concerned that technology will water down the use of sign language and minimize social interaction between deaf people. Some even shun devices designed to help them hear to protect the sanctity of deaf culture.

Ear Infections

How They Happen
· When viruses or bacteria get inside the ear (from a cold or other illness) fluid and mucus can become trapped deep inside the ear.

Who it Affects
· Three out of four children will suffer from ear infections before the age of three

Symptoms
· irritability
· loss of sleep, appetite, and balance
· tugging at the ear
· fever
· lack of response to quiet sounds
· signs of hearing difficulty (i.e. sitting too close to the TV)

Treatment
· Tylenol
· warm baths
· "watchful waiting" (with children over 2)
· antibiotics if symptoms persists, however, it only works against bacterial infections
(some have become resistant to certain antibiotics)
· Doctors have no way of knowing if a virus or bacteria is causing any given infection

Effects
· Can result in hearing loss, though doctors say that's usually temporary.

More Information
· American Academy of Pediatrics
· National Library of Medicines

Closed Captioning on YouTube

Videos posted on YouTube can now be closed captioned. Video contributors can upload subtitles for as many languages as they want. They can be turned on and off by clicking on the “CC” button that pops up at the bottom right.

A Scientific First

Researchers in Oregon say they’ve figured out how to make new hair cells grow in the inner ear of unborn mice. Work in humans is still a way off, but the efforts at the Oregon Health and Science University could lead to ground-breaking gene therapy that could one day restore hearing in the deaf. The effort is being lead by neurobiologist John Brigande who is profoundly hard of hearing himself. Details of the study are in the journal Nature.

Getting to Know.. Gallaudet University

The Name: Gal-luh-det not Gal-yoo-det

Address: 800 Florida Avenue NE, Washington, DC 20002

Website: http://www.gallaudet.edu

Year founded: 1864

Setting: Urban

Campus Size: 99 acres

Religious affiliation: None

Employees: 1,129 (41% deaf or hard of hearing)

Undergrad Degrees: 40 Bachelor's degree majors

Graduate Degrees: programs in social work, deaf education, international development and clinical psychology

Enrollment: about 1,800 Undergraduate student body: In the past five years, undergraduate enrollment has declined from about 1,400 to just under 1,000

Hearing Students: about 5%

Registered Clubs and Organizations: 31

Number of Fraternities and Sororities: 4/4

Student Newspaper: the Buff and Blue is published biweekly

What’s Happened to Jane Fernandes?

Former Gallaudet University provost Jane Fernandes now holds the same position at UNC Asheville. Fernandes, who was born deaf, served in the post for Gallaudet for six years. But when the Gallaudet Board decided to appoint her as president of the school, students protested until she withdrew from the position.

In Silent Prayer

Father Anthony Russo has written a book about his 40 year ministry to the Deaf community. In Silent Prayer follows his path through churches in the Philadelphia area where the congregation is exclusively deaf and others where only a couple of people in the congregation is deaf. He traces this ministry back before his own time to the mid-1800’s. Russo was first assigned to the deaf when it was discovered that he himself suffers a mild hearing impairment. More information.

WHNS-TV in Greenville, South Carolina reports on an investigation into the state's school for the deaf and blind. (No captioning provided)

Sign Language Over Cell Phones

Seattle will be the testing ground for new software that allows deaf and hear-of-hearing to use sign language over a cell phone. The National Science Foundation has given researchers at the University of Washington a grant to test their program. A prototype of MobileASL has been posted on YouTube (see it below). Users can hold the phone in front of them and sign with one hand but most prefer to set the phone on a table and sign with both hands. More information.

Rochester Gets $900,000

Rochester’s School for the Deaf is getting nearly $900,000 over the next five years for its after-school academy. The money is coming from the state education department. The Rochester After School Academy is free and open to all deaf and hard-of-hearing school-age students.

School Takes Year Off from Football

There will be no football program at the Louisiana School for the Deaf – for one year. The school is suspending the program citing lack of interest and experience. The War Eagles have been playing in an eight-man football league for deaf schools. Last year’s record was 2 and 5. Only 11 players signed up to participate this year. In 2005 the school went undefeated and won the Deaf Schools National Championship.

Olympic Cyclist

Maria Belen Dutto got the chance to compete in the Beijing Olympics this week. The Argentine cyclist is almost entirely deaf. She competes in the BMX where cyclists race through a dirt circuit in less than a minute. She attended regular schools as a child and is now 21-years-old. A beep usually tells riders that the barrier before their front wheel is about to drop. Since Dutto cannot hear the beep, her father usually taps her back to let her know. That’s not necessary in the Olympics which has lights to indicate the start to riders. She didn't make it to the finals, but she came in 7th in her semifinals run today.

Drummer Keeps the Beat

Drummer Ben Herson was born with a degenerative hearing loss. But that hasn’t kept him from touring North American with some big acts during the last 15 years. His work has included hip-hop, reggae and African music. Herson has nerve damage in both ears and uses hearing aids.

Misdiagnosis of the Elderly who are Deaf

Elderly patients who are may get low scores on mental health tests because of a language barrier, according to a new study. A professor at Macon State College says this can lead to misdiagnosis of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. David Feldman found deaf patients typically scored between three and five percent lower on the exam than those who are hearing. The main reason was that the questions used language difficult to translate into sign language. He sees an experienced interpreter as critical to getting an accurate assessment.

Hearing Loss and Older Adults

Most common chronic conditions among older Americans:

1. Hypertension
2. Arthritis
3. Hearing Loss

As many as 29 million people in the US may have at least some hearing loss, according to the Archives of Internal Medicine.

One-third of adults over the age 60 are hard of hearing and up to half of those age 75 or older are hard of hearing, according to the House Ear Institute.

Hearing loss associated with aging most often results from cumulative damage to the hair cells in the cochlea, which, like other body parts, suffer the wear and tear of age. The first to decline are those in the outer part of the cochlea that are sensitive to high-frequency sounds, including those produced by the consonants f, sh, ch, p, s and t, which are crucial to clarity in perceiving speech. The low-frequency vowel sounds are the last to go.

School President Being Replaced

Something's wrong at the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind. The State Law Enforcement Division has launched an investigation into the school, though agents are not saying why. At the same time, the board of the school is replacing president Pamela Shaw. Shaw has been on the job only about half a year. Vice president of outreach services, Carol Mabry, is taking over as interim president.