F*ck you, Deaf Community!

Here's an interesting thread that has the title "**** you, Deaf 'Community' " from a hearing father about her four year old deaf daughter. This is an opportunity to read the viewpoints of mostly hearing people on their perceptions and understanding about the Deaf community and its culture, Gallaudet University, schoolings, ASL, sign language, oral/aural approaches, cochlear implant, and education when it comes to deaf and hard of hearing children and their parents. Granted, the views presented in that thread may not be representative of the hearing group as a whole but it certainly does give us some additional insights on their views of the whole Deafness thing in a more or less honest fashion.

Having said that, this is something to think about when it comes to communication choices in light of the upcoming California AB 2072 bill. Candy has a good bead on this as well. The AB 20727 bill states that:

Parents of all newborns and infants diagnosed with a hearing loss shall also be provided written or electronic information on American Sign Language (ASL), Total Communication, Cued Speech, and Listening and Spoken Language communication options for children with hearing loss, including, but not limited to, information about deaf and hard-of-hearing organizations, agencies and early intervention centers, and educational programs.

No conspiracy theory.

No mystery to this bill.

Just a straight up requirement that parents be given information for a wide selection of communication and educational choices be made available to them after the discovery of their newborn or infant with a hearing loss.

The irony is this. There are certain groups of Deaf people who seem to be undergoing an effort to derail this bill. And instead promote that ASL must be the first option for any parents of a deaf or hard of hearing child. Thusly leaving out any real choices for parents to decide. Nevermind the fact that this bill would make a requirement that these parents be given the necessary information so they could make a proper and informed decision on communication and educational options. An option that could involve one communication method or more.

Back to the "F*ck you" thread. This father explained in her first post on what he and his wife had to do based on information available at the time to help her deaf daughter.

We gave our daughter cochlear implants when she was an infant. We made this long and difficult decision based on the research that was available to us, based on the educational resources available in our area, based on the nature of her deafness, and, yes, based on our own biases and desires. She had her surgeries before she was old enough to make the choice for herself, because to wait so long means to give her hearing long after her developing brain can make the best use of it. It is a well-known and long-researched phenomenon that pre-lingual implantation leads to vastly improved speech and hearing skills. But you call it child abuse. You call it cosmetic surgery on an infant, and more than once you called me a monster for it. It is not child abuse, to make complicated decisions about your kids without their input - it's called parenting. Nor is it cosmetic to give my kid a developmental boost. So: f*ck you for heaping accusations of pre-lingual cosmetic surgery child abuse on me.

Our family is learning ASL, and have been since we learned our daughter was profoundly deaf. We will use sign as a second language, indefinitely. My wife is in school to become an interpreter. Nor do we believe in a purely oralist tradition; we acknowledge the importance of communication between deaf people without assistance. We get it, ok? We're committed. But because we gave our daughter cochlear implants, you automatically believe that we're out to destroy ASL, to destroy Deaf culture. You never listen to our reasoning, because what do we know? We're motivated by a desire to mingle in both worlds, and yet we're constantly scoffed at by the Deafies on principle. So: f*** you for your pernicious false dichotomies.

This AB 2072 bill will help alleviate the uncertainty for parents of a deaf/hh child in making an informed decision for the first time. But for groups to purposely derail this bill for the sake of demanding that ASL be given first priority and requirement for parents to follow are certainly not about parental choice but about control. Doing that could very well certainly earn the Deaf community many more "f**** you's" from hearing parents of deaf and hard of hearing children.

Give the parents the opportunity to make an informed decision for their deaf/hh child. Give them the respect and understanding they deserve. And understand that whatever informed decision they make, they still deserve our respect and support. It doesn't matter if you don't like their informed decision, they deserve our respect. Walking all over them and taking away their choices aren't the answer.

The timeline predictions on the cure for hearing loss

In a recent news about stem cells that were made grow into ear hair cells in mouse got me thinking on the scientists/researchers attempt to predict when a cure or treatment for hearing loss in humans would take place. Ever since the discovery of birds' ability to regrow and restore their own hearing loss in 1986 researchers have used the terms "decades away" on when an application for hearing loss restoration may take place. In this recent news it was quoted that a possible cure could be at least a decade away noting that people who already benefit from hearing aids would be the most likely targeted group. But lets go back in time on how these predictions changed over time.

In 2004 it was predicted that an application for hearing loss rather than a cure could be at least twenty years away by Dr. Rubel. In another article in 2004 Dr. Rivolta said a cure could be possible in 10 to 15 years away. In 2009 in the Department of Otolaryngology University of Miami Ear Institute's newsletter quoted believing they could be 10 years away from a cure at the earliest possible timeline. But most seem to concur that a cure or a very applicable treatment for hearing loss would be seen within their (the scientists') lifetime.

Often times these revelations on stem cells discoveries on hearing loss are made in jumps rather than something that unfolds smoothly over time. Once discoveries or breakthroughs are published in scientific journals researchers from all over the world pour over the data and details and apply the discovered knowledge to theirs. And thus increasing the likelihood of another jump in evolutionary discovery on the path for the cure or restoration of hearing loss in humans. The revelation in this latest news out of California was about the fact that when the bundles of lab grown ear hair cells were mechanically stimulated or moved mimicking how sound moves ear hair cells, the cells were able to generate electrical currents that resemble those produced by young hair cells. It was not simply growing ear hair cells but seeing that the electro-mechanical qualities and properties in a lab grown ear hair cells worked.

It'd be wise to take the word "cure" loosely and see it from a restorative/treatment point of view in the very near future. But then again, with scientists and researchers from all over the world working on the cure for hearing loss, a cure could be very well within our grasp a lot more sooner rather than later.

Avdism

I decided to write the word "avdism" from now on after seeing the Holism blog on the subject. The "v" letter replaces the "u" letter. The original word has been abused too much using it as a weapon of choice much like the word "racism" was used in order to play the race card when there were none to be had in the first place. This not only proves damaging but does nothing to help the situation. "Avdism" has increasingly become an insidious word lately. I'd much rather focus on the inequalities and discriminations rather than become enamored over a single word or two hoping it'd be recognized and placed in a dictionary. I'll also include "avdist" into my own personal "dictionary" seeing that I'm the inventer of those words.

Our old house in New Mexico

In a few weeks it'll be one year since the day we finally moved out of New Mexico and go back to our roots in the state of Washington. I went through some photos of our house when we got it all cleaned up and ready to put it up on the real estate market. I was able to sell my house 6 months later. The house we lived in for several years was a nice, solid brick house where I planted the roses, trees, and built a 8 x 8 shed for the back yard during my time there. It was a 4 bedroom house with a very ample two-car garage. A roomy house in the great desert southwest of Alamogordo, New Mexico. I hope you enjoy my pictures.



The house before we moved in. The subdivision was still growing back then in late 2002 against the backdrop of the Sacramento Mountains whose elevation goes up to over 9,000 feet. That is where my outdoor "office" is located.


A Mexican Alder tree. Very popular tree in Alamogordo. It finally took root in 2007 after languishing a bit and grew rapidly in 1 1/2 year.


Several colored rose bushes. Very pretty in the front of my house.


Roomy two car garage. Cleaned out my garage for this photo. Don't let this picture fool you. It is deceptively roomy.


My privvy room here. Decided to build a magazine holder that's flush into the wall.


Backyard looking into back of house.


Lovely jet tub.


Backyard looking south. Two trees, apricot and peaches. And a grape vine bush near the corner of brick fence.


Patio. Spent a lot of time there doing the BBQ thing and relaxing when the days are not as hot.


Backyard looking north. There's the 8 x 8 shed I built myself. Sturdy stuff.


My shed. I enjoyed my time building this. Took me 3 or 4 weekends to get it done. Problem was that it was during the height of the summer heat. I was working outdoors with temperature around 100 degrees. Oh, yes, I do build things. My garage was my workshop.


Living room area with gas fireplace with new carpets.


Kitchen and dinning room.


Kitchen area.


Living room.


Leaving for Washington! Near the end of May of 2009 we set out for week long adventure driving to Washington with two cars, two cats, three kids and my wonderful wife.

Our next adventure? Looking for a house to buy in Washington.

"Not 'terp' enough" - when interpreters discriminate and demean lower ranking learners

This is something I hadn't considered or even thought it existed but apparently it does according to one person detailing the encounters at a sign language interpreter conference. It's when some ASL/sign language interpreters look down upon those not at their level of skill saying how they are not deserving to receive CEU points. Sort of like the old "you're not Deaf enough" kind of thing in an off skewed way.

My daughter needs to keep up her skills as a terp so she went to a convention. I took the opportunity and went with. Looked forward to having a good time and did and learned a lot.

Met people there from top scale terps to students to be. Some retained their professional persona at all times, others were kick-back and T shirted. My daughter forced me into a sports jacket, slacks and tie. Some signers made me dizzy and others were so unskilled they did not know the difference between "late" and "later." Bought a couple of DVD's on ASL.

Many arrived as early as possible, stayed as long as they could to get as much as possible, and darted to the next conference room. Those typically were dressed more relaxed. Those who dressed professionally tended to arrive on time and leave shortly after they received confirmation they had attended the class.

Confirmation consisted of a small bar code pasted next to the class you had attended during that time frame. Everyone ran up after class and got one and so did I.

A significant number made it plain, they were there for the bar code. They arrived at the last possible moment and left as soon as they got one. A couple even made it clear in the foyer they were taking the classes easiest for themselves. Seen as there was no test and you got a bar code whether you challenged yourself or not I found this particularly odd.

It was from this group the complaints came.

The argument was, "We are here to get CEU's so we can maintain our standing as terps and maintain our payscale." Or, "We are here so we can upgrade our payscale and charge more for our services." Continuing with, "Students should not be allowed bar codes even to show they attended these classes -- because we have put in our time, students have not, and it is how we earn our money."

I felt this was pretty petty as students cannot get CEU's whether they have the bar code or not. All it can do for them is show they attended. And that is all they have to show they did.

When I pointed out I wanted my little bar code too even though I am not a "terp in training" I was given the info that I was just a visitor and didn't even belong there in the first place.

I went ahead and got my bar codes any way. All told the trip, hotel, and convention fees cost me over $1,500. I felt I deserved something to show I had been in attendance.

And it is nice to know there is one more place in the world I do not belong.

Here I thought I'd used them all up already.

CEU stands for Continuing Education Units or learning points in case you're wondering. But note the bolded portion in the above. That convention was open to anyone and no prerequisite was required for attendance or to get the coveted CEU points for attending one. That convention is by no means cheap and comes with a hefty price tag just to attend one.

Aside from the convention points of view, I could imagine that there are some snotty ASL interpreters out there with the attitude that they won't associate with those who are "not at their level" when it comes to ASL skill level. And that they wouldn't dare associate themselves with. I wonder if it is a common attitude in the world of certified ASL/Sign Language interpreters? And they have nothing to do anything or anyone as long as they get their money? Is it really that bad out there? Does this "not 'terp' enough" exist at all? Have some them become so corrupted with their $35, $50, $70, $100 dollars an hour fees?

This brings up another question. Do the high fees set the stage to discourage people from hiring expensive interpreters? One unknown person made this comment in a blog "Anonymous Deaf Law Student":

You can argue that requiring professionals to pay for interpreters will not lead to discrimination because of an oath all you want, but the fact is it will. I am a practicing attorney. Our office just handled its first deaf bankruptcy and now we are being charged with the interpreter’s bill. I can tell you, it will be the last deaf anything we do. I’m not saying we want to discriminate, I’m saying that we are running a business here and we are not seeing the profits we want from this last client. Not only was the case overall more difficult because of the communication problem, but now it is costing us extra in fees. So, we have a hundred different reasons not to take someone’s case, and now we have one more.

All the more reason to hope that technology in itself will one day help alleviate this problematic case of getting billed too much for interpreting services. We already saw what happened with the whole VRS mess. Greed has a way of doing that. Though it'd be great to have real time sign language recognition avatar-like interpeter that recognizes voice and sign language. That might be a awhile but with technology comes with creative solutions. It is a fact that private businesses are there to make money, not go out of business. Technology is the key to help level the playing field so that everybody benefits.

Newly revamped UbiDuo Website

If you're curious go and check out sComm's newly revamped UbiDuo website. Lots of new features, information, videos and news to check out. If you refresh the main page you'll see a different picture each time with people using the UbiDuo.

The wholly deaf-owned and run company has certainly grown ever since they opened their doors in 2006 to begin selling their award winning patented UbiDuo communication device to the public. Ever since that day the company has grown to 15 employees in lock step with the growing demand for the UbiDuo communication device. This is a company to watch out as they continue to build upon their successes with the mission to be the premier provider of innovative technology solutions that shatter communication barriers and empower people with the freedom to communication with anyone, anywhere and at any time.

Go and check it out!

Matt Hamill to fight Keith Jardine

Hamill vs Jardine on June 19th, 2010 at Las Vegas.

The UFC and Spike TV have just announced that a light heavyweight scrap between Keith Jardine and Matt Hamill will headline The Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale on June 19th.

"Matt Hamill versus Keith Jardine is a battle between two fan favorites known for exciting fights," said UFC President Dana White. "Hamill is a powerful wrestler and Jardine an unorthodox striker but both have shown knockout power. Both of these fighters know that they need to win this fight to continue on their way up the light heavyweight ranks."

Matt Hamill, a well known deaf MMA fighter, is slowly working his way to the top. Keith Jardine will be a tough opponent although probably not of the same caliber as Jones which I'm sure will be a fight with him soon enough.

I remember seeing Keith Jardine visiting and watching the Desert Challenge Strongman game in Albuquerque, New Mexico on May 21, 2006. I was there competing in the under 200 lb category where I place 3rd. Not bad.

Deaf man found as a direct descendant of the father of Pocahontas

My uncle, a genealogy nut informed me that I am a direct descendant of the father of Pocahontas. Here's the lineage given to me by my uncle Chuck.

Running Stream Powhatan (1510-1600) married Mrs. Scent Morning Flower Powhatan. They had Emperor Wahunsenacawh Powhatan (Great Chief or Great King Powtan as seen in the picture on the left).

Emperor Wahunsenacawh Powhatan married Mrs. Namona Amopotuskee. They had Princess Cleopatria Powhatan (1610 - 1720) who is a half sister of Pocahontas (see chart).

Princess Cleopatria married Emperer OM Powhatan. They had Princess Nicketti Powhatan (1644 ~1700).

Princess Nicketti Powhatan married Capt. John (Rice or Rees) Hughes (1615 - 1680 born in Scotland). They had Robert Hughes (1653 1681).

Robert Huges married Mrs. Sarah Hughes around approx 1663. They had Elizabeth Hughes (1690 to before 1800).

Elizabeth Huges married John Morton (1684-1752). They had Stephen Morton (1710-1793).

Stephen Morton married Mrs. Stephen Morton. They had James Blythe Morton (1758-1807).

James Blythe Morton married Catherine (Kitty) Wells. They had Joseph Morton (1780-1823).

Joseph Morton married Cicily Catherine Morton. They had James W. Morton (1796-1849).

James W. Morton married Clementine Irland (1838-1900). They had Jane Ann Morton (1858-1941).

Jane Ann Morton married Charles Dickson Davis (1855-1923). They had Charles Addison Davis (1883-1965).

Charles Addison Davis married Ruth Virginia Hancock (1895-1927). They had Charlotte Ester Davis (1919-2004).

Charlotte Ester Davis married my grandfather (1918-1997). And my mother was born.

She married my father. And they had me! Yes, me. Your very own deaf blogger, Kokonut Pundit, has indian Powhatan royal blood in him. Of course, I still hold some reservation on this until I see it in more details and the accuracy of the time (especially the dates).

Now you know the rest of the story!

Who knew I could be related to the father of Pocahontas and that she was my great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great aunt. And that Emperor Wahunsenacawh Powhatan was my great (9 greats) grandfather. In terms of blood division, I'm 1/2048th Powhatan blood!

As a side note, and this is with much more solid evidence, I have a Cherokee grandmother (great, great, great, great, great, great grandmother), Rebecca Nakisha Sutton (Cherokee Tribe 1790) who married William Buck L Sutton. I am 1/128th Cherokee indian blood as well.

Rebecca Nakisha Sutton (Cherokee Tribe 1790). She married William Buck L Sutton (he is listed as being born into the tribe, but his parents have anglo names). Below is the lineage along with blood division.

1/2 - They had Luticia Nakisha Sutton. She married David Alexander Reynolds (1801-1853).
1/4 - They had Amy Reynolds (1824-1874). She married James Alonzo Clayton Hancock (1829- 1904).
1/8 - They had John Francis Hancock. He married Mary Etta Stone (1865-1950).
1/16 - They had Ruth Virginia Handcock. She married Charles Addison Davis (1883-1965)
1/32 - They had Charlotte Ester Davis (1919-2004). She married my grandfather.  (1918-1997). And my mother was born.
1/64 - She married my father.
1/128 - And they had me!

The lineage to Emperor Wahunsenacawh Powhatan (the father of Pocahontas) begins with Charles Addison Davis. While the lineage to my Cherokee grandmother begins with my grandmother Charlotte Ester Davis (see bold red).

I have never been proud of my indian bloodline until today. Could this mean I have indian royalty blood in me? Hmmm....

Thank you Uncle Chuck!

How to describe piano ragtime to a deaf person....

There are certain music I believe that most deaf people, especially those born with a hearing loss or lose it early in life, do not even know it exist or even care for it. One of that music is ragtime. I genre of music that I've come to know and enjoy immensely.

What is ragtime anyway? According to Scott Joplin, the "King of Ragtime," he aptly described ragtime music as "weird and intoxicating" when played right. Yeah, but that doesn't describe it does it? In ragtime on a piano it is the (melodic) syncopation of the right hand with the accented bass movement of the left hand. Chords do not define ragtime but the syncopated style that makes ragtime music recognizable. Which is why it's called "ragged time." Confused? Ok. The bare bones description. On the piano it combines the left hand bass movements (the "oom-pah oom-pah" feel to it) with the deep bass notes that you can actually feel the vibration. The right hand movements play the syncopated movements that produces the melody with an off-beat sound to it. This is mostly the higher notes which is harder to feel and detect its vibrations. With that combination of sound it gives that particular "weird and intoxicating" flavor of music to it.

It's hard to describe to a deaf person on why ragtime is so enjoyable and pleasing to listen to just as it's hard to describe to a blind person why a particular painting is so wonderful and pleasing to look at. Descriptions can only go so far. Other senses must be used help fill in this gap.

First, if you have a good set of speakers for your computer (or to an even larger, stronger external set of speakers) let's go to John Roache's website where he describes what ragtime is all about and a chance for you to feel (and perhaps hear) what it "sounds" like. John Roache is able to break it down into separate, identifiable music and when combined makes it into a ragtime music. In this case, he uses the familiar tune of "Mary had a little lamb" and turns that into a ragtime example.

All I can say is that as with jazz, stride piano, novelty piano, or even ragtime piano, one has to appreciate the musical qualities behind them in order to truly enjoy these genre periods. I don't expect Deaf people to understand why I enjoy and play ragtime piano except that I find it "weird and intoxicating" whenever I play it. It's a musical art that keeps on giving.

The value of work encounters for deaf and hard of hearing people

In a work setting where you work, how much do you value interaction among your peers or co-workers? Managers? Your supervisor? Boss? Clients? Customers? Ask yourself, how many interactions or encounters do you get in a day with hearing people? Conversational interactions include impromptu conversations, meeting conversations, hall conversations or office conversations. All of these things occur on average 80 times a day. But for many deaf or even hard of hearing people the conversational occurences with hearing people can sometimes drop down to almost zero, which is like having an office with a brick wall around a desk. Yet, barriers are meant to come down.

Not everybody is conversant in sign language, which includes deaf and hard of hearing people. Just because one has a hearing loss does not mean the person is knowledgeable in sign language. But fortunately, we have technology that can easily help bridge this communication gap very well. Not a 100% solution but with technology it can certainly bring up the number of conversational occurences in a typical work day, and boost your ranking and productivity among your co-workers, supervisors, managers, boss, and customers.

My technology is simply my digital hearing aid that I use everyday at work and has helped me use the phone, field radio, meetings, have conversations with my co-workers and customers. I often get stopped (or I do the same thing myself) by my co-workers and supervisor in hallways and discuss impromptu businesses aside from the normal day to day "How ya doing?" kind of thing. Whether if you're socially shy or not, the goal should be to see the number of conversational or interactive occurences go up high enough and be seen as a productive, engaging and independent worker rather than to subconsiously or consciously build that brick wall around you and your office space.

When hearing aids (or cochlear implants) cannot work for you there are means of using technology to boost that interactive communication level. One good example is the use of a face to face communication device such as the UbiDuo. This device enabled Jason Curry, who is the CEO and founder of sComm which is the maker of UbiDuo, see his own number of communication encounters rise high enough to see that his own productivity and successes soared beyond anything he could imagined.

With the UbiDuo, I am able to have about 40 encounters with my hearing staff in my office. The picture below shows me having a conversation with Jill Meyers, the COO of sComm. Jill and I talk about 15 to 20 times a day. We are able to strike up a conversation anytime on the UbiDuo and discuss work-related issues. If I didn’t have the UbiDuo, my encounter number will almost be zero — unless I had an interpreter sitting by me all day!

Jill and I talk about 15 to 20 times a day. We are able to strike up a conversation anytime on the UbiDuo and discuss work-related issues. If I didn’t have the UbiDuo, my encounter number will almost be zero — unless I had an interpreter sitting by me all day!

If you work with a person who is deaf or hard of hearing, do you want their encounter number to be 40 or 50 instead of zero? The only time that a deaf or hard of hearing person ideally could have a face-to-face encounter with a hearing person is when they have an interpreter. As I’ve mentioned before, we are not trying to replace interpreters, but we are trying to increase the number of encounters for a deaf or hard of hearing person when an interpreter is not available.

The UbiDuo fills the gap when an interpreter is not available by increasing their number of encounters in professional or social situations. If you are deaf or hard of hearing, what do you want your encounter number to be?

Jason raised a very important point. If you are deaf or hard of hearing, what do you want your encounter number with hearing people be in your work setting? Exactly what kind of communication or assistive technology do you need that would help boost your number of interactive occurrences at your place of work? Each deaf or hard of hearing person's way of communicating varies from one to another depending on work and office settings. So, finding the right technology to suit your communication needs is the most important thing you can do for yourself, and your career.

Deaf pianist to attend Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival

Check out this blog on this deaf pianist who is slated to attend the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Sedalia, Missouri this year June 2 - 6. The attendance to this festival is being sponsored by a communication company based in Missouri run by a deaf CEO.

Thumbs of Fury.... the fastest deaf Blackberry text user?

Do you think you have what it takes to type 75 wpm (words per minute) on a Blackberry phone QWERTY keyboard? Well, Mark Rejhon, a deaf Blackberry smart phone user thumbs his way into YouTube fame (not smashingly famous but you get my drift) my texting out words with his two thumbs at a rate of 75 wpm. Now, my little birdie tells me that perhaps a similar contest may take place later this year using only the Blackberry smartphone's QWERTY keyboard to become the fastest "thumberry" person alive, and win cash prizes. There's a twist to this contest I'm hearing but won't explain until later (if it is true about the contest and all). So, I guess there's time to practice and get your "thumberry" into hyperdrive. Meanwhile, enjoy Mark's "Thumbs of Fury" as he thumbs his way to 75 wpm.


Link to YouTube video

Do I support the Closed Captioning bill HR 3101?

NAD has the latest information regarding on trying to get Congress to pass a Closed Captioning bill this April 15 (HR 3101 -Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009 ) though it does not contain language to enforce YouTube or iPad.

There was a bill before HR 3101 and that is the H.R. 6320: Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2008. That bill never became law and died in Congress. Congress moves slowly in passing laws while technology moves even faster and is based on demands, marketing potential, improving technology in the computer chip and programming sector, and a greater understanding of the need for closed captioning by corporate and public entities. Since the introduction of H.R. 6320 technology on closed captioning, especially over the internet, technology moved ahead with its own self-propelling captioning initiatives along with people who are passionate about closed captioning in getting it pushed out into the public mainstream.

Google adds real time automatic closed captioning although not perfect it's a start and they recognize the need and marketing potential as well. Google sets the stage and worldwide example on the importance of investing in captioning of videos whether on television or internet. And that speech recognition technology has now gone mainstream, this will only continue to improve to the point where all videos will automatically transcribed and include closed captioning. This is fast becoming a reality. Law or no law.

Hulu adds captioning to their movies and television shows. The list continues to grow.

Blackberry phones are beginning to have Closed Captioning capability to view videos on your smart phones' screen which is definitely smaller than a 13-inch screen television screen. So does the iPhone.

Captioning is available on digital television as opposed to analog television where a 13-inch screen exempts it from any captioning requirement. A digital television is different set of technology that includes captioning where it continues to improve.

The Television Decoder Circuitry Act of 1990 (“TDCA”) requires, generally, that television receivers contain circuitry to decode and display closed captioning. Specifically, the TDCA requires that “apparatus designed to receive television pictures broadcast simultaneously with sound be equipped with built-in decoder circuitry designed to display closed-captioned television transmissions when such apparatus is manufactured in the United States or imported for use in the United States, and its television picture screen is 13 inches or greater in size.”

The Federal Communication Commission\'s Digital TV (DTV) proceeding incorporated an industry approved transmission standard for DTV into
its rules. The standard included a data stream reserved for closed captioning information. However, specific instructions for implementing closed captioning services for digital television were not included. The Electronics Industries Alliance (EIA), a trade organization representing the U.S. high technology community, has since adopted a standard, EIA-708 (High Definition Closed Captioning for purposes of this document), that provides guidelines for encoder and decoder manufacturers as well as caption providers to implement closed captioning services with DTV technology. In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in its DTV proceeding, the FTC proposed to adopt a minimum set of technical standards for closed caption decoder circuitry for digital television receivers in accordance with Section 9 of the EIA-708 standard and to require the inclusion of such decoder circuitry in DTV receivers.

Simultaneous closed captioning companies in finding a niche market that exploit closed captioning needs.

Closed captioning included in DVR via TiVo.

ETV is metadata that cable providers recently began integrating into their broadcasts, and the TiVo patent will allow the company to sync both this as well as closed caption information and display it in an interactive method. This includes closed captioning text, a menu or digital video and sound effects. TiVo also promises more advanced uses thanks to this type of technology, such as marking sections of a program they find particularly interesting and then sharing them with friends who also have a TiVo DVR.

Prior to the patent award on February 9th, TiVo already offered ways for customers to view closed caption data, and viewers can also subscribe to a show or order more product information when watching a commercial.

ABC takes the lead on internet captioning.

HTML5 captioning effort with demo videos of an earlier HTML5 version.




What I've listed so far is just an short example of things to come in the world of closed captioning (or subtitling). Let the market forces send a message to corporate and public entities on providing closed captioning on digital tv, smart phones, and online videos over the internet. The trend is clear and that technology is increasingly making it easier, such as YouTube's automatic captioning service, for companies and businesses to include captioning in their videos, whatever the format.

I have mixed feelings about getting the government involved to force companies to comply, especially when technology continues to leap frog ahead with the embedding of closed captioning as a standard practice. Let the market dictate this direction at this point in time. Consider where we were 2 to 4 years ago for online captioning opportunities. There were essentially none. Currently, the trend in captioning is clearly picking up. It's a matter of time till captioning is done as part of any video programming since advertising and marketing pressures will help ensure that. And that social awareness and consciousness will be another factor in pushing closed captioning to the top of their collective consciousness. Bottom line? It's coming and without the need for government intervention to make closed captioning mandatory for all online videos. Technology moves faster than the government could in trying to pass a bill. And that's encouraging.

Texting and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome...a danger to deaf people?

In a Foxnews story a 16 year girl was diagnosed with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome of her wrists recently lost some feelings in her hands and was unable to pick up certain objects. This was due to excessive texting, constraining her fingers, hands and wrists over a smart phone keyboard which eventually affected her nerves in her wrists. This is known as "Repetitive Strain Injury" (RSI). Along with this affliction, it's not uncommon for many text users to experience thumb pain known as Blackberry Thumb.

Since texting is the number one communication method among most Deaf (or culturally deaf) and deaf cell phone users it comes with an added risk for those who also communicate preferably through signing. This is perhaps true among teens who are among the most prolific group of all phone texting users.

Teenagers sending and receiving an average of 80 text messages each day may be vulnerable to repetitive stress injuries of the thumb, according to the New York Times. As with Blackberry Thumb, compulsive texting can cause cramping, pain or numbness. While previous reports have stated that teens seem largely immune to Blackberry Thumb and that problems (like tendonitis) tend to crop up in patients in their 40s and 50s, the long-term effects of frequent texting are unknown. Ergonomics researchers are just beginning to study texting's impact, according to the Times.

Here are some statistics on texting:

* 72.2% of wireless users have paid for SMS packages. This equates to 203 million Americans.
* 57% of wireless users 13+ are considered regular text message users.
* There has been a 107% increase in text message use in the USA in the past year.
* 2.5 billion text messages are sent each day in the USA.
*More text messages are sent per phone than phone calls. The average
text messages used per month is 357 compared to 204 cell phone calls.
*15 million Americans used video on their cell phones in quarter two, 2008.
*138 million Americans have sent a text message in the past three months.

Not only are short texting popular you have Instant Messaging (IM) that are much more heavily used with longer conversations than short messages seen in SMS. On Facebook alone some 1 billion IMs are sent each day. Chatting or texting gives users greater privacy and are done in silence as opposed to talking on their cell phones heard by anybody within an ear shot.

The number of smart phones sold is rapidly on the rise so will the amount of texting/chatting that will increasingly merge URL linking to videos, music, webpages, and mobisodes/webisodes (and you thought TV soap operas were bad?)into their everyday smart phone communication. Which means more conversations using the QWERTY keyboard on smart phones to communicate.

Will this be a good thing or bad for deaf/hh smart phone users? Will we see an increase on fingers and hands related injuries or pain because of the constant texting that could affect deaf/hh people who signs? Are companies who offfer short text messaging or Instant Messaging be liable for people's hands and fingers injuries? Or are the makers of QWERTY keypads for smart phones be responsible for the supposedly "poor" ergonomics design?

Who is ultimately responsible?

The answer is that the smart phone users are the ones who are ultimately responsible for the health of their hands, wrists and fingers. Whether a person is prone to injuries or not there are ways to reduce the chances of injuries, pain or discomfort when it comes to texting or chatting on their smart phone.

If it's bad and quite painful, take a "Sabbatical" break for a few weeks off. This is almost like going cold turkey but if it's affecting your signing ability and that it is painful, your body is telling you an important message and that is to stop! If that's seems "impossible" then work out a plan to reduce the amount of time you use your smart phone. Include other exercises to help your hands, fingers and wrists.

Virgin Mobile has a website on exercises you can do to help alleviate the pain and discomfort. Or perhaps buy a contraption that supposedly helps strengthen your hands and fingers. But a cheap and simple sure-fire way of strengthening your hands and fingers is to get a bucket of sand and do some sand digging and finger extension exercises, among other exercises seen here.

The responsibility is yours alone on the health of your hands, fingers, and wrists when it comes to texting and chatting on your smart phones. More than likely if you are a smart phone user you will find yourself using the QWERTY keyboard more often as smart phones continue to improve and the desire to reach out and touch someone becomes even more irresistible.

Closed Captioning support for Blackberry Phones

Just like the iPhone, Blackberry fans can access a new version of a "do-it-yourself caption-authoring" tool for digital media. ow buy phones that have captioning support for uploaded videos that come with captioning.

which can be used to create closed-captioned videos formatted for playback on BlackBerry® smartphones. As before, authors can continue to write captions once and export them to formats compatible with QuickTime, Windows Media, RealPlayer and Flash.
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Support for closed-captioned content playback is available on BlackBerry smartphones running BlackBerry Device Software version 5.0 and newer, including the BlackBerry Storm2™ smartphone, BlackBerry Bold 9700™ smartphone and BlackBerry Curve™ 8530 smartphone models.

Very cool, and very savvy in the marketing sense that takes aim at a potential market of 30+ million people with hearing loss in the U.S. (and even more outside). And if you have a Blackberry Storm2 9520/9550 smartphones then you're in luck since they already come with captioning support.

I'm sure from now on all newer BB phones will have closed captioning support just like the Blackberry Storm2 phones.

Do deaf and hard of hearing people prefer Blackberry smartphones over others?

Blackberry? A better smartphone for deaf and hard of hearing? It would seem so base on my ongoing and current poll result with overwhelming differences compared to other smartphones. I suspect that with the current poll results would be the likely overall picture with Blackberry as an obvious favorite among deaf and hard of hearing users. The question is why? Why choose Blackberry? For a start, RIM (Research in Motion) is known for their addressing accessbility issues as seen on page 2 in the Blackberry Java Application Accessibility guide might be key in their philosophy and view when it comes to increasing accessibility to smartphone users:

Accessibility refers to the extent to which a product or service can be used by as many people as possible. In this context,accessibility means designing applications so that people with disabilities or impairments can use the applications on a BlackBerry® device.

When you design your BlackBerry device application, consider the following users:

• blind people
• visually impaired people
• colorblind people
• deaf people
• hearing impaired people
• speech impaired people
• people with motor impairments
• people with cognitive or learning disabilities

Like any other group of users, people with disabilities or impairments have needs, wants, and expectations about the behavior of applications. Some of the reasons to make your applications accessible to as many users as possible include the following possible benefits:
• Social responsibility: Making it easier for people with disabilities or impairments to benefit from the functionality that your application provides can promote equality and is the right thing to do.
• Market share: Ensuring that your application can be used by people with disabilities or impairments increases the number of people who can purchase and benefit from your application.
• Compliance: Addressing the applicable guidelines and regulatory requirements (such as Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act in the United States) that dictate that your application must be accessible by people with disabilities or impairments can allow you to enter certain markets.

Blackberry or other smartphone makers cannot afford to alienate the 30+ million people with hearing loss in the United States by making smartphones not-user-friendly. Though the popularity of Blackberry may be due to issue of reliability and ease of use. There was a clue in a forum back in 2004 with thread titled, "Benefits of BlackBerry for the Deaf & Hard Of Hearing" that may have initially gotten deaf and hard of hearing to consider Blackberry first. The reliability factor came up again in 2007. Though things have changed over the last 6 years since 2004 but that may be changing again in favor of Blackberry once again. Perhaps the changeover was due to a recent snafu from T-Mobile's Sidekick data plan last year. Did the well advertised snafu that affected 800,000 subscribers in 2009 helped shape the perception of Sidekick as unreliable seeing the Blackberry as the better and stable option, not to mention reliable?

Because the Sidekick didn't evolve as fast as other smartphones, many users--deaf and hearing alike--moved to the BlackBerry and other devices. And after their recent experiences, many of the remaining Sidekick users in the deaf community have said they are considering jumping ship, once their T-Mobile contracts end.

"I am going to look into Sprint's BlackBerry, which more and more deaf people are taking up, and have complimented, and (said) that it is a lot more reliable," McCraw said.

Lisa Gault, a deaf Sidekick owner in Katy, Texas, said she in an e-mail interview that she relies on the Sidekick as a means to stay in touch with her family.

"It's a way for the school to get a hold of me, if something were to occur with my son who is (not deaf)," Gault said.

Gault said that even short of an emergency, it is a problem not to get her e-mail for an extended period.

"It's annoying, as my friends think I'm ignoring them, when in reality, I didn't get the e-mails yet," Gault said. "It really put the deaf community at more of a disadvantage--more so than for hearing people, since we're so reliant on e-mail (devices) to keep in touch."

Not only it wasn't about the lack of evolving but about a total failure when the Sidekick was announced by Microsoft with grim news last year, a hard lesson when things do fail catastrophically much to consumers' horrors.

There is no official word on the death of the Sidekick from Microsoft or Tmobile, but it certainly looks bleak for the iconic device.

This week, Microsoft announced that they had lost all Sidekick user data including pictures, contacts, calendars and other information from the Danger's servers. Since the devices sync with the servers, the devices also lost the data. The Sidekick data services had amazingly been out over a week.

From what they say, after a week of investigation, there is no way to retrieve the user data. Customers will have to start over. The word on the street is that it was a Hitachi SAN upgrade failure.

But customers will be happy to know that Tmobile is offering a free month of data (not a free month of service, just the $20 unlimited data plan) for all of their information. I really hope a lot of Sidekick users used the Intellisync software that pushes data to the desktop and would have backed their data up.

T-Mobile has halted the sale of new Sidekicks. All models are now showing "temporarily out of stock" on the company's website.

No back up servers? No built in redundancy to ensure smooth flow of communication and saved data? I may not know much of what transpired but a failure of this magnitude isn't a good thing in anybody's book. Might as well see it as "DOA" and no need to try resurrect an image brand that was mortally wounded. People will jump ship because of that.

I'll continue my investigation about Blackberry among deaf and hard of hearing users and why they use the smartphone. If you're deaf or hard of hearing and use a smartphone, go to my poll and select a phone brand that you are currently using.

Blackberry Smartphones and Closed Captioning

Here's a good announcement for deaf/hh Blackberry smartphone enthusiasts who might be interested in helping or creating a closed captioned content for Blackberry smartphones which will take place this March at CSUN.

Creating Closed Captioned Content for BlackBerry Smartphones

This hands-on lab will demonstrate how you can develop, deploy and distribute accessible, close captioned multimedia content for and to BlackBerry smartphones.

Greg Fields
Research In Motion (RIM)

This will take place at the 25th Annual International Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference in San Diego, Ca on March 22nd - 27th. Seats are limited to 31 seats. Get 'em while they're still hot!

Also, a poll for all you deaf and hard of hearing users of smartphones.

When a piano dies...horribly.

How often does a deaf/hh guy get a chance to completely dismantle an old, crappy piano and see up close how those innards worked, right down to the bare Alcoa aluminum piano frame? With lots of patience, little muscle work, hammer, locking plier, and screw driver did I manage to break down my crappy piano piece by piece. This was a piano I bought dirt cheap about three years ago. It barely worked with several keys that had the habit of sticking. It finally met it's demise at the hands of one very annoyed deaf/hh pianist. Me. I had it with that piece of crap I bought for $50 and worked out my frustration on my piano since it didn't cooperate very well with me whenever I played on it. Although it helped me get started again playing the piano after all those years of not playing very often. It was almost two years ago that I decided to get back into playing the piano (see my YouTube site of me playing the piano). But below are some pictures of the dismantling process. Thought you might find it cool to see the gory process.



The spinet piano was made probably either late 1940s or early 1950s though I couldn't tell the make but the aluminum piano plate was made by Alcoa in a signed agreement with Winter and Company to be made for their pianos. Since my old crappy piano was destined for destruction ever since I got my new piano I wanted to tear it down and salvage some good wood and get that 48 lb aluminum piano plate inside. This dismantling and destruction took several hours as I removed the pins, piano wires, wood, screws and what not. My hands were a little sore the next day but it wasn't enough to stop me from practicing on my piano.






Nearly done with the pins and piano strings. Used vice grip, wrench, hammer, and screw drivers.


All the pins and strings removed.


All done with the plate. Saved a few good scrap wood with one being a 3/4" inch plank seen directly behind the plate against the garage wall.


Off to the dump!


Mangled hammers meet their demise.


All cleaned up except for the non-aluminum metal pins embedded that the piano wires were strung around. Tried to remove a few and were successful but most broke off leaving the rest of the pins inside the plate. Decided to leave them as they are and see what the scrap yard guy says.


Aluminum piano plate die casted by Alcoa seen stamped on the plate. If it's Alcoa, it's all aluminum.


A 1946 silver dime found beneath the piano keys during the initial dismantling. Wondered how it could've gotten there. A silver U.S. dime for that period of time weighs .0724 of an ounce. Price of silver? $11.50 an ounce. Dime value? .85 cents.

The next step was to take my aluminum piano plate to a nearby scrap yard that buys aluminum scraps and soda cans. The scrap yard is located about 5 miles from my house where I used to live in New Mexico. The recycling and scrap yard was buying aluminum at .25 cents a pound at the time. My aluminum frame weighed 48 lbs. So, I got $12.00 out of it for several hours worth of work. At least I did something useful in the recycling business.

A deaf Ragtime pianist plays "Weeping Willow"

Wanna hear/see a deaf pianist play a Ragtime piece called "Weeping Willow" by Scott Joplin? Then go here and enjoy my video of myself playing the piano.

What would deaf people like to see in a cell phone?

Whatever you may call it, a cell phone, a smart phone, text phone, a wireless phone, PDA, and so on, as a deaf or hard of hearing person, explain to me and to the rest of the world out there on some of the things that you would like to see improved or added onto your phone. Or if you're in a ranting mood, explain some of the things you do not like about your phone when it comes to communicating or texting to your friends and families. And what you would hope to see in the next 5 years if you think you can predict the future on the improvements you'd expect to see in your next phone when it comes to communicating to the outside world, deaf or hearing.