Deaf Band, Oscar-Winner Matlin Discuss the Sound of...
What matters deafness of the ears, Alright, I want to watch this! But how in heck do I do so? The U.S. is a noisy nation; even the national anthem celebrates bomb blasts. Yet one group of Americans — the deaf — live outside the great din, often more happily than their hearing compatriots imagine, according to a captivating PBS special.
Tue, Mar 20 2007

The Nobel and The Deaf
What matters deafness of the ears, OK, this is news to me. I'm amazed. The heritage of Deaf people and the Nobel Prize is a proud one. "The Nobel" is a famous prize awarded by scientists from around the world. Many Deaf people have been considered for a Nobel Prize—and two Deaf scientists have won it.
Tue, Mar 20 2007

Being Deaf & Living With It Is Such A Triumph!
What matters deafness of the ears, A short, beautifully written personal essay on being deaf and being as fully human as anyone else. I am stone-cold Deaf. I do not consider myself to be disabled. I can read and write far better than the average person at my age. I can do anything just as well as any average hearing person. The [...] [...]
Fri, Feb 02 2007

Deaf Missions: ASL Dictionary of Religious Signs
What matters deafness of the ears, A nice site with nice animated signs, mostly Christian ones.Learn how to sign "angel" (a personal favourite), "Jesus" (this sign will make a lot of sense), "heaven" and lots more. God - whatever name you know Him by - bless everyone! :)This dictionary fulfills the purpose of presenting certain religious signs in a (hopefully) understandable, [...] [...]
Sat, Jan 27 2007

Hands & Voices
What matters deafness of the ears, Most links on this site go to specific articles, reports, essays or blog posts. I seldom feature an entire website, but exceptional exceoptions are always welcome.A great un-biased site for by parents and professionals, for parents of deaf children or anyone with hearing loss. Great collection of articles, profiles, resources (including a self-adovacy guide for [...] [...]
Fri, Jan 26 2007

Before You Get Hearing Aids
What matters deafness of the ears, A comprehensive checklist and how-tos and what-to-gets with regard to hearing aids.Check it out if you're in the market for one! (Or a pair.)Read on... [...]
Tue, Jan 23 2007

Deaf student helps grandparents sweep streets of Tainan
What matters deafness of the ears, A shining example of filial piety, Chinese-style. And an antidote to the usual horror tales of spoilt brats who have their parents, maids and teachers under their thumbs.Not sure if the link will work after today, since it's a newspaper article, so I'm copying the entire thing here in addition to linking it. Deaf student helps [...] [...]
Fri, Jan 12 2007

I love hobbits!
What matters deafness of the ears, Last in the series of personal essays.Note I am a special education teacher in a deaf school in Singapore, and the ‘kids' referred to are my students. :)*** As I’d said, I used to have an identity crisis.I was clearly not part of the world around me–the one in which people understand one another effortlessly even [...] [...]
Fri, Jan 12 2007

The importance of identity
What matters deafness of the ears, Another essay I wrote years ago. And did I sound fierce.. whoa!*** For years and years, I denied that I was deaf.Oh no, I wasn’t deaf.How could I be anything else when everyone else around me isn’t deaf? I blamed not being able to hear on my not trying hard enough (perverse though this may sound), [...] [...]
Fri, Jan 12 2007

From Solitaire to Poker
What matters deafness of the ears, This is a vblog (video blog) response to the previous posts on the ‘Solitaire' phenomenon, of whom I count myself as one.The video is subtitled so no worries for non-signers.It's a commentary by a deaf signer on his feelings after reading through the blog posts of deaf people who grew up in oral environments and [...] [...]
Thu, Jan 11 2007

Low- and no-cost Communications Devices
What matters deafness of the ears, This comes from another forum related to deafness. Interesting but the klutz in me don't really get some of the technical aspects of it, heh. (I am a Mac user, not a programmer.)Why am I writing about this? Not everyone has money to burn. Here's a few alternatives to the UbiDuo, something I call the "poor [...] [...]
Wed, Jan 10 2007

The Eighth Nerve: Solitaire
What matters deafness of the ears, This is a book review by a hearing-impaired girl. She writes of how much and how deeply she relates to what the author of the book wrote, because the author is deaf too, and grew up in an oral world too, and what these facts so heartbreakingly mean. And that makes there of [...] [...]
Mon, Jan 08 2007

Jon?s ASL Vlog
What matters deafness of the ears, A vlog by a deaf chap who signs in ASL.Wait, what's a vlog? I guess it's adapted from ‘blog', except that the ‘v' in vlog stands for ‘video'. :)Am glad to say I can, by and large, understand the ASL used in the video - I need to concentrate very hard though - and I [...] [...]
Mon, Dec 04 2006

Deaf woman draws in pro boxing debut
What matters deafness of the ears, The deaf can do anything except hear well. :) Leni Hall boxed four rounds at 4th and B last night and never heard the bell, nor will she ever hear one. Hall, of Encinitas, is deaf. On a less-than-stellar card offered by Florida-based All Star Boxing Inc., Hall, making her first professional appearance [...] [...]
Wed, Nov 29 2006

Hearing Aid Hacking
What matters deafness of the ears, I have heard of OSX hacking, Windows hacking, Linux hacking and Photoshop hacking. Hacking, in the good sense of making changes to make the device or software work faster and better.But hearing aid hacking?!Yup, there is such a thing. Here it is, for HA users, by HA users - tips, tricks and magic potions to optimise [...] [...]
Mon, Nov 27 2006

What?s that you said?
What matters deafness of the ears, browneyed girl’s posts are always engaging, entertaining and.. well, she is well-informed and simply writes well. I like her essays. :)Her post on cochlear implants is an example.While a CI child may never be exposed to deaf culture when he’s younger, I would not point the finger at CI in this case; plenty of deaf [...] [...]
Mon, Nov 27 2006

Ear implant success sparks culture war - New Scientist
What matters deafness of the ears, On the impact of CIs on Deaf culture.One thing this article conveys, and which is very important - more so than the CI vs Deaf Culture debate - is the need to implant early.. very early, before age of one, to maximise chances of success.Could the end of sign language for deaf children be in [...] [...]
Mon, Nov 27 2006

Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children - Gaza-Palestine
What matters deafness of the ears, Very nice website. It even has an online store selling handicrafts. This statement on the FAQ page says it all:Helping The Deaf in the Gaza Strip... Atfaluna Society for Deaf [...] [...]
Mon, Nov 27 2006

The Muslim News - Veil and deaf people
What matters deafness of the ears, Religion and religious rights (and wrongs and slights) are very sensitive grounds. But to steer clear of them is to take the cowardly way out, and to engage in constructive, rational and intelligent debate and discussion with regard to such issues makes for a better world.Of course, it needs sensitive, understanding and reasonable people in [...] [...]
Fri, Nov 24 2006

Your Opinion of Patty Myers?
What matters deafness of the ears, Even Ridor? The bugbear of deaf job seekers everywhere - the issue of being an "independent worker", defined as being able to handle phone calls / voice mails, and which defines a deaf person as unsuitable for the vast majority of jobs.I have experienced this so often. At least, in America, they have legistlation on their [...] [...]
Fri, Nov 24 2006

Men are Pigs
What matters deafness of the ears, An interesting read, to put it mildly. Oh, you ask - after reading the essay - what are my views? Erm, well, ah, see, I reserve comment. No girl has ever picked up sign language because of me anyway. (Alas! And.. oink!)Why am I annoyed with hearing members of my own gender, you ask? [...] [...]
Sun, Oct 08 2006

Google Video offers Closed Caption playback « sgLEAD
What matters deafness of the ears, Singapore Librarians for Empowerment & Advocacy for the Disabled (sgLEAD) has a neat demo on how close captioning helps even the hearing too. The Closed Captioning feature in Google Video will be a boon to those who are Deaf or Hearing Impaired, especially when services like Google Video and other similar video-sharing platforms are gaining [...] [...]
Sun, Oct 01 2006

To get what we want?.
What matters deafness of the ears, One thing which may stand the deaf employee in good stead, but one which is also too often overlooked by employers, is the simple fact that the typical deaf worker (like Erin in her essay below) is usually more attentive and focussed during work. We have to, else we might miss out on information. Now in [...] [...]
Wed, Sep 27 2006

DVD: Captioned/Subtitled Special Features
What matters deafness of the ears, A list of DVDs by Banjo which has the above features - priceless for the HI/deaf. Yes, I do get frustrated when I want to watch the special features (such as cast and director interviews, making of doumentaries and such) and find that these, unlike the film itself, are not captioned. Augh!  Banjo’s List of DVDs with [...]
Sun, Sep 17 2006

Deep thinkers
What matters deafness of the ears, After reading this article, i was left awed and somewhat stunned. I bet if humanity ever pass on, our inheritors for the title of the most intelligent beings on Earth could possibly be the dolphins. Anyway, how does this relate to the site theme? Well. :) They developed a sign language to communicate with [...]
Sat, Sep 09 2006

Finally! Close Captioning for TV news in Singapore!
What matters deafness of the ears, Thoughts and comments welcome! Me, I am happy!!! Finally will watch the news for more than just the moving pictures and puzzling over their meaning. I thought this day would never come. MEDIACORP IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT FROM 25 SEPTEMBER 2006, TV VIEWERS WILL BE ABLE TO READ WHAT THE NEWS PRESENTER IS [...]
Wed, Sep 06 2006

Net video leaves the deaf behind
What matters deafness of the ears, The situation is much worse here, sad to say. When we have a government which re-defines ‘lame’ when it comes to excuses - for goodness’ sake, it claims that it’s not cost-effective, not practical to have close captioning on prime-time TV - we really have a long slog ahead. There are 28 million deaf and hard-of-hearing [...]
Tue, Sep 05 2006

The Family Stone
What matters deafness of the ears, Finally! A film which respects and showcases deafness in the right light. I’ll be sure to get the DVD, if it ever gets to Singapore ie. The movie was wonderfully put together and wonderfully acted. It was a quirky story, yet it had elements that all of us could relate to. They did a fabulous job [...]
Mon, Sep 04 2006

Baby sign language - gimmick or early voice?
What matters deafness of the ears, A Reuters news article on the topic du jour - the YouTube link to signing babes is currently the most popular read on this site. (Perhaps it’s due to ‘babes’ instead of ‘babies’? Heh heh.) Nine-month-old Alexandra lets her mother know when she is hungry. Andrew, 11 months, makes it clear he wants some milk. They may be [...]
Fri, Aug 25 2006

Yo-I'm Deaf!
What matters deafness of the ears, Karen, "a deaf mom of three deaf and hard of hearing kiddos", sounds so positively perky and cheery in her epinions biography that I read the whole post through with a smile. A smile, in part, of recognition and empathy. "Hey! It was EXACTLY like that for me too!!"  I was born with normal hearing and [...]
Fri, Aug 25 2006

YouTube - Babe Signs!
What matters deafness of the ears, "But if you teach the baby how to sign, won’t it affect the learning of speech?" must rank as one of the most illogical leap of conclusions around. Anyway, babe-watching time! Watch on… P/S: Just search for "baby sign" in YouTube for more such videos. There are lots! The most common signs babies learn (if [...]
Thu, Aug 24 2006

Signing With Your Deaf Baby
What matters deafness of the ears, Another good read from Mark Drolsbaugh. (In fact, all of his articles are deserves a once-over.) I know that if ever I have a baby of my own, hearing or deaf, I will use sign to him or her. Even though the benefits of baby sign language have been clearly established, it seems that [...]
Thu, Aug 24 2006

.: stopdeafbullying.com :.
What matters deafness of the ears, You really can find anything on the Net. The most obscure, I-never-thought-of-this-before stuff, huh-there-actually-is-such-a-thing stuff. Read on… P/S: In no way am I endorsing the site or course though. I don’t really see how this issue is that different from what a hearing child would face. [...]
Thu, Aug 24 2006

Kinds of Hearing Losses
What matters deafness of the ears, I never imagine I would be so engrossed in graphs and charts. But these are no ordinary graphs. Audiograms tell us what kind and the degree of hearing loss one has - information crucial to understanding coping methods and taking suitable rehabilitation measures. For the record, I have the cutest type of loss - [...]
Sun, Aug 20 2006

Poetry
What matters deafness of the ears, Beautiful, haunting poems on deafness.  Ode to a Deaf Child One day I saw a little child as lovely as a flower, She danced and ran, she jumped and turned … I watched her for an hour. This child of God was all the things I’d want my own to be, Magnificent of heart [...]
Sun, Aug 13 2006