I look so I can hear....

Anne’s cochlear implant story
I look so I can hear.... Amidst all my partying (my social life has gone stratospheric recently) I bumped into Anne, it was a couple of weeks before she was to go in for her cochlear implant operation. I asked her to update me on her progress. At the beginning of June, Anne went into Southmead Hospital, Bristol, for the operation and [...]
Tech Wed, Jun 25 2008 hide this blog

A new low for deaf ignorance?
I look so I can hear.... Bill Cresswell kindly transcribed this video clip from the BBC website. Jump to HERE for the transcription and video. Bryan Adams held a photographic exhibition to raise awareness about hearing loss, showcasing photos of celebrities. I thought it (almost) funny that he was keen to raise awareness, as is the BBC, but I couldn't even [...]
Language Audism Art and Storytelling Education Tech Mon, Jun 09 2008 hide this blog

Lipreading is an essential life skill therefore why should...
I look so I can hear.... As you become deaf, you become isolated in a world of silence where you are ignored by the hearing majority and unable to communicate with them. Without alternative life skills including lip-reading, you eventually withdraw from society. A thirty week lip-reading course in Essex now costs £186. This has caused most courses to close, remaining [...]
Language Education Mon, Jun 09 2008 hide this blog

Disability To Let
I look so I can hear.... A friend Jackie wants to move house and rent in another part of London. Straightforward, right? Wrong. Jackie is deaf and has a Hearing Dog. The problems she has had trying to find somewhere just defy belief. A Hearing Dog is a well trained assistance dog, it's not a dirty thing that's going to wreck [...]
Audism Culture Wed, Jun 04 2008 hide this blog

Deaf and Hard of Hearing badges
I look so I can hear.... Do you find that other people don't always look at you when they're talking, and you miss what they've said? It's very frustrating and it's not nice to have to constantly ask them to repeat themselves. One solution is to wear a badge that says you are a lipreader or deaf. Simply pin it to [...]
Sun, Jun 01 2008 hide this blog

Sprint Relay WebCapTel
I look so I can hear.... Finally, a demo. Of sorts. Here's a cartoon clip showing how the WebCapTel captioned phone works. Click HERE to play. Click HERE to see all the different ways a deaf person can make a phone call in the USA. I wish we had such choice. Check out the Captioned Telephone Campaign page on this blog [...]
Tech Thu, May 29 2008 hide this blog

Let’s be deaf for 5 minutes
I look so I can hear.... Last week, someone asked me ‘What's it like to be deaf'? I find this a very difficult question to answer. I said it's like permanently having a very bad cold, and hearing constant noises in the ears after spending too much time in a noisy nightclub. It's very difficult to explain to hearing people what [...]
Tech Mon, May 26 2008 hide this blog

Adult Education fights for its life
I look so I can hear.... Calling all lipreading teachers and students! The Government's consultation on the future of non-skills based adult education ‘Informal Adult Learning - Shaping the Way Ahead' can be accessed at the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills website. Please respond to this consultation - the deadline is 12 June. You have a chance to stop the...
Education Legal Wed, May 07 2008 hide this blog

SprintIP Relay for Facebook - phone on the go!
I look so I can hear.... Sprint IP Relay makes communicating on-the-go easier than ever. You can now express yourself using SprintIP Relay through Facebook. Place your relay calls on any computer with internet access using SprintIP. Take traditional relay technology up a notch. Communicate comfortably and dependably using SprintIP to type your conversation to a Relay Operator. The Relay Opera...
Media Language Tech Wed, May 07 2008 hide this blog

New emergency text services
I look so I can hear.... A new emergency text service has been launched by police in Sussex. You can read about it here. To call an emergency service, send a text to 65999, starting with the word POLICE, FIRE, AMBULANCE, or COASTGUARD. A similar service has started in Kent, send a text beginning with POLICE, MEDIC or RESCUE to 60066. [...]
Language Tech Mon, May 05 2008 hide this blog

Deaf Awareness Week 2008 : Look at Me
I look so I can hear.... May 5th - 11th is Deaf Awareness Week. The theme is LOOK AT ME which happens to tie in nicely with my blog The aim is to raise awareness of the different methods of communication which deaf people use to communicate and therefore highlight the different types of deafness. ‘Deafness' doesn't just [...]
Language Tech Culture Thu, May 01 2008 hide this blog

And the winner is…
I look so I can hear.... There is a company providing Speech-to-Text-Reporter [STTR] support (among other services), they'll remain nameless here but I'll call them Dunce Services. I've used Dunce Services on a number of occasions, and they invariably mess up the bookings. Now, this surprises me as my regular STTR provider (STTRs Direct) provides a stellar service, the peopl...
Tech Wed, Apr 30 2008 hide this blog

Petitions update : deaf alerters
I look so I can hear.... The petition for fire alert systems was handed in and this is the result.
Tech Culture Tue, Apr 29 2008 hide this blog

Bone Anchored Hearing Aids (Baha)
I look so I can hear.... I asked Lyn, Chair of Baha Users Support and Honorary member of The Baha Professionals Group, about her Baha hearing aids. Here she very helpfully explains what a Baha is and how it differs from an air conduction aid - which I'm guessing most of us wear as the BTE (Behind the ear) is what [...]
Tech Tue, Apr 15 2008 hide this blog

Cool hearing aid designs
I look so I can hear.... I didn't know Bernafon make hearing aids, and how cool are they?! ©RPAT The Swissaid reminds me of a Swiss penknife. VERY trendy! When developing the Brite hearing aid system, the designers placed emphasis on a redefinition of how hearing aids are perceived in the general public. Thanks to modern styling and colouring, hearing aids can turn into [...]
Tech Thu, Apr 10 2008 hide this blog

Arrghhh
I look so I can hear.... I guess there's gotta be a first time for everything. I was in the wee room and heard this noise, just before I pressed the button on the wall. It sounded like I'd dropped something. I looked and saw this funny shaped thing in the water. It looked like a brown crescent moon, with a bit [...]
Tech Tue, Apr 08 2008 hide this blog

Just plain tired ….. YAWN!
I look so I can hear.... I wonder how many people realise how tiring it is to not be able to hear properly? Most days I am so totally zonked when I get home from work that I'm quite happy to shut the door on my social life and veg out in front of the TV laptop. Plus, I'm blitzed all [...]
Language Sat, Apr 05 2008 hide this blog

RNID =
I look so I can hear.... = Really Not Interested in Deaf Why? Here's one reason. A friend received her copy of RNID's magazine ‘One in Seven' today and she says - Just opened up my One in Seven mag. Amongst all the junk mail/leaflets they put in there is a “welcome gift” catalogue offering a free radio if I purchase something. She's annoyed. Annoyed...
Language Culture Thu, Apr 03 2008 hide this blog

Deaf people calling for better telephone access
I look so I can hear.... Today, the BBC filmed the Video Relay Service (for BSL deaf) and the WebCapTel Captioned Relay Service (for deaf with speech) in action. This will go on BBC Online News, hopefully today. An article has been written about it, you can see the link HERE on BBC News Online. This is in aid [...]
Tech Thu, Apr 03 2008 hide this blog

Online captioned telephone calls
I look so I can hear.... Attempting to use telephony for business purposes is very frustrating. I've used Typetalk for a number of years and wasn't happy with the service, it was good but not quite appropriate in the fast moving corporate world. Don't get me wrong, Typetalk is fantastic and the operators are usually helpful. What I don't like about [...]
Tech Wed, Apr 02 2008 hide this blog

Wise words of advice
I look so I can hear.... Dave Hingsburger has written a wonderful post, ‘10 bits of advice‘ This post related to my experiences of hearing loss in a very profound way. But it's also good advice for any parent and child. I urge you to read it. And pass it on.
Wed, Mar 26 2008 hide this blog

Apology
I look so I can hear.... My post on 15 March inadvertently insulted hearing people and for that, I sincerely apologise. I’m now wondering, what gives hearing people the idea that they have a right to be condescending and arrogant towards deaf people? What I SHOULD'VE said was ‘What gives people the idea that they have a right to be condescending and [...]
Media Audism Tech Tue, Mar 25 2008 hide this blog

Wasabi fire alarms
I look so I can hear.... Have you ever tried wasabi, that hot green Japanese stuff? The Japanese have invented a smoke alarm that releases a horseradish scent which is strong enough to waken people ... without making a sound at all. Prototypes of this smoke alarm that sprayed canned wasabi extract into a room succeeded in waking 13 out of [...]
Tech Fri, Mar 21 2008 hide this blog

Fire alert systems
I look so I can hear.... There is a petition to try and make sure businesses and public places fit the right fire alarm systems for deaf and hard of hearing people. The petition is to create legislation by statute to include deaf people in the general regulations concerning the fire and emergency alarm systems in all public, commercial and industrial [...]
Audism Tech Legal Culture Fri, Mar 21 2008 hide this blog

Bite me
I look so I can hear.... I tried to contact my hearing aid centre today, to find out whether they had sent a letter that had been promised to be sent to me last Friday, as it's been four working days and no sign of a letter. Using Typetalk, I called the different numbers on the letters I had received from [...]
Language Tech Legal Tue, Mar 18 2008 hide this blog

Audiology’s freedom pass to be rude and inefficient
I look so I can hear.... My Freedom Pass expires on 31 March and my local council kindly sent me a renewal form in January. A Freedom Pass means I can travel around London for free, subject to some restrictions. I went to my local hospital on 30 January and my audiologist Mirza took my renewal forms and accompanying evidence (copy [...]
Tech Fri, Mar 14 2008 hide this blog

Lipreading flat faces
I look so I can hear.... DCAL (Deafness Cognition and Language Research Centre) are running a forensic lip reading course for people with top lip reading skills. The pilot course has already started however more should be in the pipeline. I've been lip reading all my life and it's a great party trick. (me) - Oi! Say something Ken, without using [...]
Culture Tue, Mar 11 2008 hide this blog

Exclusion
I look so I can hear.... We checked out the Juan Muñoz exhibition at the Tate Modern, spread out over 14 rooms. In room 10 there was a particularly striking sculpture called Many Times. 100 Chinese people were gathered in small groups, all deep in conversation and grinning at something. The viewer is excluded from the conversations and the groups as [...]
Sun, Mar 09 2008 hide this blog

Anna says deaf awareness makes sense
I look so I can hear.... Anna Lickley is an inspiration to others as she runs Sense-Ability, a successful business raising deaf awareness and teaching sign language, whilst coping with profound deafness and Neurofibromatosis. She graduated from university with a degree in French. Here I ask her about her business and how she came to be where she is today. Tell us [...]
Media Culture Wed, Mar 05 2008 hide this blog

Interpreters
I look so I can hear.... Unqualified interpreters are being employed at police stations and at Court, to provide a service that must be accurate and professionally undertaken. Only interpreters from the ‘National Register of Public Service Interpreters' should be used for judicial purposes (including the initial stages of an investigation). Members have proved themselves to be pro...
Language Legal Fri, Feb 29 2008 hide this blog

From human to cyborg
I look so I can hear.... I've been doing some research on cochlear implants and have come across a fascinating article on how a deaf man learns to hear music again after getting an implant. My Bionic Quest for Bolero was written by Michael Chorost, it charts his attempts to hear Bolero's beauty again, as he had heard it before he [...]
Language Tech Fri, Feb 29 2008 hide this blog

Audiograms
I look so I can hear.... Ladies and Gentlemen, I introduce to you ... ... my left ear! ... and my right ear! These pretty graphs illustrate my hearing (or lack of it). The vertical axis charts loudness (or level of sounds) in decibels. Loud sounds are at the bottom, quiet sounds are at the top. Conversation is 65 db, a jet taking off [...]
Education Tech Sat, Feb 23 2008 hide this blog

Clause 14 - from the other side
I look so I can hear.... A lot of debate has been going on about Clause 14. An awful lot of debate about a deaf person's right to choose to have a deaf or hearing child. Have your eyes glazed over yet? They won't after reading this. To summarise, Clause 14 says that people who have inherited conditions (disability, illness or serious [...]
Audism Legal Culture Thu, Feb 21 2008 hide this blog

Textphones R Us
I look so I can hear.... When Teletec closed down at the end of November and the Captel service ceased, I was left with a phone handset that didn't work. I chose the Geemarc textphone from Typetalk as it is supposed to be very good and was recommended by some friends. Click here for a demonstration of the Geemarc. The phone arrived. [...]
Tue, Feb 19 2008 hide this blog

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill ~ your views please!
I look so I can hear.... This request appeared on the Deaf Village, asking for your opinions. If you're interested in having your opinion heard, please contact Kate. Hi I am writing from a UK based television production company. We are currently working on a documentary about the IVF embryo issues arising out of Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill being debated in the [...]
Media Audism Tech Wed, Feb 13 2008 hide this blog

Subtitling on digital TV channels
I look so I can hear.... Subtitling on all digital TV channels People who are deaf and hard of hearing do not have a wide range of choice what to watch on digital TV as only a selected few programmes are subtitled. All we are asking for is to make digital TV companies subtitle 100% of programmes to give us the choice [...]
Tech Culture Tue, Feb 12 2008 hide this blog

Sign languages in the UK
I look so I can hear.... Did you know that signs used in Belfast are very different from those used in the Channel Islands and in England? If you're a BSL user, complete the BBC's BSL survey about the signs you use. (Duration: 15 mins or more)
Language Mon, Feb 11 2008 hide this blog

Deaf Welcome Here
I look so I can hear.... The London Development Agency has funded a project called Welcome Hear, run by the Royal Association for Deaf People. RAD say - Are you Deaf and do you work in London? Do you have communication problems at work? Do you have problems with your Access to Work contract? Do the people that you work with need some Deaf Awareness [...]
Language Education Culture Sun, Feb 10 2008 hide this blog

Run, Ian, Run!
I look so I can hear.... My friend Ian has gone mad, like a fool he has decided to run the London Marathon. I felt sorry for him as we had a good night out on Friday and an open bar, and he felt unable to have some of the free wine that was on offer, good stick that he is. [...]
Education Sat, Feb 09 2008 hide this blog

Fright train
I look so I can hear.... I'm not too happy with train doors. Again. All because I couldn't hear the doors beeping in the split seconds before they slammed shut. We were on our way home and we got to the train station. The train was very crowded and it was difficult to get on. My Hearing Dog jumped on first then the [...]
Culture Fri, Feb 08 2008 hide this blog

CODA
I look so I can hear.... I was talking to my friend Mary the other day, Mary is a lipreading tutor too but she's hearing. She came out with an interesting comment, that her parents are both deaf and use BSL. I asked her about her experience growing up, as I felt it would in some way be the reverse of [...]
Culture Tue, Feb 05 2008 hide this blog

What price a decent education for the deaf?
I look so I can hear.... The future of the Frank Barnes school in London is precarious. To lose an award-winning school is shocking, not to inform parents that such a school exists for their deaf child, even more so. This news has been around for a while. But do read this article summarising (and clarifying) the situation by Councillor Adrian Oliver [...]
Language Education Mon, Feb 04 2008 hide this blog

Tate multimedia guide with BSL
I look so I can hear.... (Photo: Tate) At this month's Tate tour, we were introduced to the multimedia device which has BSL functionality, with subtitles and BSL signing available on the guide's screen. The signing was done by various people, some of them my friends, it was so nice to see ‘real' signing and not the impersonal signing provided by a [...]
Language Tech Sat, Feb 02 2008 hide this blog

Comedy Central
I look so I can hear.... I had been called into my local comedy hearing aid clinic for my annual hearing aid checkup. Now, my audiologist Mirza is something special. He's given me the best audiological care I've ever had. I saw him for the first time last year. I had been complaining for a few months that my digital hearing [...]
Art and Storytelling Thu, Jan 31 2008 hide this blog

Deaf identity and cochlear implants
I look so I can hear.... Click here for a video clip ‘The ugly truth of CI' from Jack Barr. I came across this interesting captioned video which gives a CI user's insight into his experience. It's a US video but I thought UK viewers would like to see it, as it throws up some interesting questions about identity, communication, perceptions, acceptance, [...]
Tech Culture Wed, Jan 30 2008 hide this blog

New website on bilateral cochlear implants
I look so I can hear.... A new website has been launched, 2 ears 2 hear, a resource for those interested in bilateral cochlear implants and the importance of sourcing funding from the NHS to enable bilateral implants to be funded in the UK. This website has been a collaboration between two parents of CI implanted children, one of whom is [...]
Tech Tue, Jan 29 2008 hide this blog

New hearing aid
I look so I can hear.... Darren went to the hospital yesterday for his new hearing aid to be fitted - what do you think? He's sure no one would notice it - he says it's got great volume control!
Art and Storytelling Tech Tue, Jan 29 2008 hide this blog

Film : 4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days
I look so I can hear.... Two best friends have 24 hours to make the ultimate choice. In Romania, thousands of women died because they chose abortion. Thousands of women didn't, and countless children were put into orphanages. Abortion was illegal under communism in 1980s Romania as contraception was impossible to get. This film explores the emotive issue of women's rights [...]
Media Tech Sat, Jan 26 2008 hide this blog

Eye see
I look so I can hear.... I was well overdue for an eye test. By about 4 years. I went to a Specsavers branch near work, and I was concerned how they would cope with a deaf client. I had walked in last week to make an appointment, and was told ‘Sorry, we don't allow pets' - I replied that he's [...]
Language Thu, Jan 24 2008 hide this blog

Access to Work reviews
I look so I can hear.... Arghhh. I have been asked to submit a log of my communication support needs at work so they can review my support and adjust it if necessary. They always think I ask for too much but I always stand my ground and argue back. What *really* annoyed me this time was the sample log sheet [...]
Audism Wed, Jan 23 2008 hide this blog