CSUN deaf studies student publishes a novel

http://sundial.csun.edu/2011/02/csun-deaf-studies-student-publishes-a-novel/

A CSUN Deaf Studies student, who just published a novel, hosted a presentation about her book at the National Center on Deafness on Friday.

Leah Bornstein, 20, discussed her new book “Once Upon a Sunshine.” It is about three siblings who set out on a journey and meet vampires on their way. The author related many of the events in the book to real life situations she has faced.

Bornstein said she grew up deaf, and often felt she could not relate with her family who are all oral speakers. She said that she felt like she did not fit into their world, so she created her own imaginary world.

“When I was struggling with things in my reality I would deal with it in my book,” Bornstein said.

She came up with the idea to write the book during an RV trip. Bornstein and her cousin noticed a cave in a mountain and started imagining different ideas about who might live there.

“I started playing around with it, like a diary.” Bornstein said. “I wanted to take the people I knew, hide their names, and develop their character.”

The characters in her book represent close people in Bornstein’s life such as friends, family members and teachers. The main character, Bobbi, represents Bornstein herself.

“I didn’t have a goal.  I thought I was writing for me and not for anyone else.” Bornstein said.

She said that she is thankful and shocked with all the support she has received from friends, family, and from people who attended the event.

Amy Hollis, 20, traveled from Bakersfield to see her high school friend speak about the book she published.

“I think it is absolutely amazing that it is our third year out of high school and she wrote a novel.” Hollis said.

“It is not your typical vampire book.  It’s got a twist to it,” Hollis said. “I think it is better than ‘Twilight.’”

Hansol Suh, 18, Deaf Studies major, said that what Bornstein is doing is inspiring, and she will motivate other students to pursue what they want to practice.

“She has been working really hard and I knew she always wanted to publish a book,” Suh said.

Bornstein started writing her novel when she was fifteen years old, and it took her five years to finish writing and publishing it.

Bornstein read passages from her book, and explained certain situations in the book and how it related to her. The vampires in the book represent people who are not readily understood by society. Bobbi, the main character of the book is scared of vampires, but quickly learns they are not frightening.

Bornstein has always been an advocate for people to not judge a book by its cover.

Bornstein said that there was a moment in the book where the vampires were free from their cave. She said that it was parallel to her life when she moved away to college to live at the dorms.

Kayla LaBruno, 19, Zoology major, met Bornstein at the dorms on campus. She said it is great that Bornstein published the book that she was working on for years.

“I believe she will inspire deaf people that they can do anything if they set their mind to it.” LaBruno said.

Bornstein said that she would not stop writing, because writing is her passion. She plans to write another book, which will be a series to her first book. “I won’t stop writing.  It is like my diary,” Bornstein said.

Deaf dogs can make good pets with training, love

http://www.philly.com/philly/living/pets/Deaf_dogs_can_make_good_pets_with_training_love.html

Morgan Shumard and fiance Tim Self are experienced dog owners, but they weren’t entirely sure about Norton, a deaf 70-pound pit bull, after they fell in love with him on a website.

It’s not the breed. The couple in Burton, Mich., had lost a pit bull and were in search of another. It’s that Norton is completely deaf.

They were nervous about whether they could train him, and how he would fit in with their two other dogs, a mid-size English bull terrier and a Chihuahua. They were concerned he might be too skittish and nippy to mix with their young nieces.

They needn’t have worried.

A rescue group that saved Norton from euthanasia after he was left with a veterinarian taught him some basic sign language that his new family built on using treats and repetition: an “OK” sign placed on a forehead for “drop it” and a thumbs up for praise.

“In the beginning, when the dogs would all play fight, it would get rougher, and it was a big change from being able to communicate with a dog verbally,” Shumard said. “I was worried about him being startled or running all over the other dogs, but he’s very sweet, very tuned in.”

Six months after his adoption, 2-year-old Norton is the hit of the neighborhood. “He uses our other dogs to hear noises for him,” Shumard said. “When he’s asleep we tell Gracie, our bull terrier, to go wake him up, and we stomp to get his attention so he can feel the vibrations. I call him my one-in-a-million dog.”

The prevalence of hereditary deafness in dogs, which is the most frequent cause, isn’t known across breeds, but the likelihood increases with the presence of white pigmentation, either in patterns or solids, said Dr. George Strain, a professor of neuroscience at Louisiana State’s veterinary school in Baton Rouge.

About 90 breeds in all are most affected, he said. There’s also a strong correlation between deafness and blue eyes.

Dalmatians have the highest prevalence of deafness in the United States, Strain said. Based on hearing tests he conducted on 5,638 of the dogs, he found 7.8 percent (or 411) were deaf in both ears and 21.7 percent (or 1,226) were deaf in one ear.

“If a Dalmatian is in a pound, there’s a very good chance that he’s deaf,” Strain said.

The notion that deaf dogs have no hope for happy lives angers some owners and members of the human deaf community. A particular sore spot is a written recommendation from the Dalmatian Club of America that all bilaterally deaf Dalmatians — those deaf in both ears — be destroyed.

Scott Facey of the club’s hearing research committee defended the recommendation. “You have people trying to put human traits on an animal. That is not the case,” said Facey, a Dalmatian breeder in Springfield, Mass.

For every deaf Dalmatian success story, there are tragedies, he said, including deaf dogs that are overly aggressive, resist training, startle easily and act out due to separation anxiety when left alone for long periods.

“I have yet to personally meet a deaf Dalmatian that has not had some type of major trouble in its life,” said Facey, who has handled the breed for 30-plus years.

Like Facey, Strain supports euthanasia for bilaterally deaf dogs, though both acknowledged such dogs can make good pets in the right homes with the right training.

“It just takes a very dedicated person to do that,” Strain said. “Many people just don’t have that in them, to put that kind of effort in. If somebody is going to take on a bilaterally deaf dog, they need to do so with eyes open.”

The incidence of deafness in dogs overall from all causes is not known, Strain said. Other causes include old age, medical treatment with certain antibiotics and other drugs, and hearing damage from proximity to explosive noises, such as those experienced by hunting dogs.

Jared Saul didn’t set out to adopt a deaf pet. As co-founder of Petfinder.com, he was no stranger to animal adoption when he went in search of a companion for his dog Sophie about two years ago. He fell in love with a larger mixed breed named Alan, who was deaf. He took Sophie for a visit and all three hit it off.

“It was a lot easier for him to adjust because there was another dog there,” said Saul, who lives near Tampa, Fla. “He has come to rely on her for cues about what’s going on. She’s not the most welcoming of other dogs but she knew to be patient with him.”

Detecting deafness in puppies is complicated, Strain said. The condition doesn’t develop for a few weeks after birth, and can be masked because stricken pups use littermates to figure out such things as when to nurse. Such cuing is why a multi-dog household can work better for a totally deaf canine, he said.

Sometimes, Facey said, totally deaf Dalmatian pups do stand out in a litter as overly aggressive and verbal, with a bark that sounds different.

To communicate, advocates for deaf dogs suggest stomping, hand gestures, and flashing lights on and off. Make your body movements big enough for the dog to see, and try to limit sign language to one hand. Make the gestures simple, distinctly different, and easy for you to remember — and be consistent.

“They’re good at learning sign language because they focus more on visual input,” Strain said.

Trevor Cornpropst in Fredericksburg, Va., had no experience but his eyes wide open when he rescued an all-white, deaf and blind Great Dane puppy at 8 weeks old. He spent weeks sitting up with the pup he named Keller, in honor of Helen Keller, to comfort him as he settled in. Cornpropst wanted the puppy to feel secure without benefit of soothing coos, facial expressions and other body language.

That was back in 2007. Keller is now 120 pounds, healthy and happy, Cornpropst said. He communicates commands and comfort with taps in different locations on Keller’s head and body. He also makes sure not to move his furniture around or leave out obstacles that could hurt Keller, who benefited early on from the company of two other dogs in his new home.

“He has such an environmental awareness,” Cornpropst said. “He can run through the house at full speed, or the backyard, and not hit a thing. He can be upstairs and smell when somebody enters the house. It’s incredible. He did require more attention. Just love the animal and they’ll give it back.”

 

‘Vibrations’ show helps students understand deaf experience

http://www.purdueexponent.org/features/article_2823cc5e-3d6a-11e0-95b9-00127992bc8b.html

“Vibrations” delivered a stimulating show for the hearing that demonstrated how the deaf experience music through theater performances.

The Loeb Playhouse filled with 368 people of both hearing and deaf on Sunday to watch the Indiana School for the Deaf perform its theatrical show, “Vibrations.” The show was performed by 13 students ranging from middle to high school. Unlike performances where the performers express emotion through voice, the “Vibrations” performers used facial expressions and their whole bodies to convey emotions and words. Loud music and pumping bass added to the experience by demonstrating the vibrations that songs make that allow the deaf to experience music.

“It was an awesome experience, made me really appreciate the deaf culture,” said Rachel Roembke, a freshman in the College of Liberal Arts.

The purpose of the show was for the deaf to express their culture and experiences through dancing, poetry and various skits. These different skits ranged from an entertaining “Pepsi boy,” who signed while an interpreter spoke about being a boy who loves Pepsi, to a skit where performers pretended to be different TV channels on a giant TV prop as two girls neglected their homework and later put their mother into the TV. One of the most expressive song interpretations was a group performance to the song “Mr. Roboto” by Styx, where the performers signed and danced like robots in flashy costumes.

The mixture of the audience between hearing and deaf caused for some moments where one did not know whether to clap or to wave their hands in the symbol for clapping that deaf people use. By the end of the show, the audience demonstrated what they had learned by using the sign language symbol for clapping. Unlike hearing another language, watching the performers use American Sign Language was surprisingly easy to follow because of their use of body language and gestures.

“I thought it was really cool, makes you really appreciate hearing,” said Lauren O’Connor, a junior in the College of Health and Human Sciences.

Convertibles can make you deaf | TG Daily

Convertibles can make you deaf | TG Daily.

A study from the St Louis University School of Medicine’s department of otolaryngology and the Ear Institute of Texas is warning that convertible drivers should keep the top down at speeds of more than 55mph.

The team tested the 2009 Saturn Sky Red Line, the 2004 Nissan 350Z, the 2001 Porsche 911 C4, the 2005 Saab Aero Convertible and the 2005 Ford Mustang GT. All hit high noise levels when being driven at speed.

They found that drivers were regularly subjected to noise levels greater than 85dB, the top level reccomended for safety at work, and that there was a risk or long-term hearing loss from prolonged periods of driving with the wind in their hair.

“Driving convertible automobiles at speeds exceeding 88.5kmh, with the top open, may result in noise exposure levels exceeding recommended limits, especially when driving with the convertible top open for prolonged periods,” the authors conclude.

In what must have made for some fun research, the team tested various different vehicles. They found that the Saturn was the noisiest, hitting 98.7dB at 75mph – a noise level that the National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety says should only be sustained for 20 minutes or less.

Nissan’s 350Z produced the loudest peak sound, reaching 104dB at 75mph – safe for only six minutes, says the Institute. The quietest vehicle, the team found, was the Mustang, which only hit 84.7dB at 75mph.

The effects could be worse, they say, if drivers are listening to music or having a conversation.

Tips to help hearing-impaired enjoy holidays

http://www.southwestiowanews.com/articles/2010/12/20/council_bluffs/news/doc4d0d6c963b238553106589.txt

Holidays can be stressful for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Background noise and crowded rooms make communication that much tougher.

Iowa School for the Deaf has offered the following tips when interacting with hearing-impaired friends or family members during the holiday season, and for any time there is a large gathering of people:

– Hearing aids also amplify sounds such as passing cars, telephones and even sounds from household appliances. Eliminate as much background noise as possible.

– Avoid sitting in front of windows or mirrors. They reflect light, and make it harder to read lips or expressions.

– Get the person’s attention before starting the communication. Be aware that people with hearing loss work hard to understand conversations and tire easily.

– Alert the deaf or hard-of-hearing person when the conversation topic changes. Try to conduct one conversation at a time.

– Pre-teach a game that doesn’t require a lot of conversation to the deaf or hard-of-hearing child or adult. Bring the game so all can play.

– Use closed captioning on the television. It may be distracting to you, but the entertainment will be of little or no benefit to the deaf or hard-of-hearing person without the captions.

– Open gifts one at a time and announce the gift recipient as well as the gift giver.

– Text, even if you are sitting beside the deaf person with whom you are texting. Allow texting to be used at the holiday dinner for the benefit of the deaf or hard-of-hearing person. Have pen and paper available for a back-up or when texting is not an option.

– Stay close to the deaf or hard-of-hearing person with whom you are communicating. Break into smaller tables for more manageable conversation.

– When the person asks you to repeat an aside, repeat it. The comment may not be important to the conversation, but if you don’t repeat it, the deaf or hard-of-hearing person may think you don’t feel he or she is important enough to repeat the comment.

Iowa School for the Deaf is a referral-based pre-kindergarten through 12th grade educational option for students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. No tuition, board or fees are charged. Day and boarding programs are available.

Successful Loveland program aids deaf students

http://www.reporterherald.com/news_story.asp?id=30411

Six-year-old Jordy Homack walked into Room 3 at Monroe Elementary School and jumped into Katrina Robertson’s lap.

The eyes of the two girls lit up, and they started communicating with American Sign Language.

Jordy asked Robertson, an 11th-grader at Loveland High School, about her cochlear implant, pointing to her own ear.

Marsha Dorr, one of Jordy’s teachers, said Jordy, who is deaf and nonverbal, is uncomfortable wearing the implant but thinks it’s “cool” to see an older student wearing one.

She sees that she is not the only one with hearing loss, she said.

Jordy is part of an after-school group for elementary-age students who are deaf or hard of hearing.

“When they come into this room, they’re the norm,” said Dorr, who works with deaf and hard-of-hearing students in preschool and grades K-5.

Eight students are in the group, which meets for two hours twice a month to do crafts, take field trips, work on communication skills and connect with high school students who went through Dorr’s hearing program while they were in elementary school.

“She developed an environment here where the kids feel like they have a home, a place they belong,” said Kim Miller, district audiologist. “It gives the kids a place to be themselves.”

On Thursday, students and staffers wore Santa hats while they made hand-print wreaths, ornaments and cards and frosted sugar cookies for a holiday party, working at different centers set up at tables in the classroom.

Dorr started off the nearly two-hour program by introducing the plans for the afternoon, followed by Happy-Sad, an activity in which the older and younger students describe a good event and not-so-good event from the previous week.

“It’s fun,” said Casey Latulip, a fourth-grader at Monroe. “You get to at least take a couple things home and share with your family.”

Dorr piloted the high school mentoring program this year to help her students realize they are not the only ones wearing a hearing aid or cochlear implant, she said.

“I think it definitely builds their self-esteem and confidence,” Dorr said.

The older students provide an example of how to stand up for themselves in the classroom, Dorr said.

“They become role models to the younger students,” Dorr said.

Robertson, who wants to become a preschool teacher, said she identifies with the younger students.

“I can help the kids work on what they need and (help them) improve their signing,” she said.

 

Deaf moviegoers sue Cinemark theater chain

BERKELEY, Calif. – Deaf moviegoers are suing Cinemark, claiming the movie theater chain is denying them access to films by refusing to install closed captioning devices.

Berkeley, Calif.-based Disability Rights Advocates filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Alameda County Superior Court on behalf of two plaintiffs and the Association of Late-Deafened Adults. It seeks class-action status.

Kevin Knestrick, an attorney for the plaintiffs, says Cinemark Holdings Inc. is the only one of the nation’s three largest movie chains not to offer closed-captioning equipment. Regal Entertainment Group and AMC Entertainment Inc. provide captioning, though not at all hours and in all theaters.

The lawsuit asks for unspecified damages and an order requiring Plano, Texas-based company to install the captioning devices.

A call to Cinemark was not immediately returned. View original article here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101201/ap_on_en_mo/us_cinemark_closed_captioning_2

Oregon School for the Deaf marks 140th year

Oregon School for the Deaf marks 140th year | statesmanjournal.com | Statesman Journal.

Oregon School for the Deaf students and alumni waved their hands, cheered and used sign-language to talk smack Friday against rivals Washington School for the Deaf during a homecoming pep rally to celebrate the school’s 140th birthday.

Read more: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20100918/NEWS/9180326/1001#ixzz100oQaxXb

Students with hearing loss find new methods of communication

Daily Toreador – Students with hearing loss find new methods of communication.

Hearing-impaired and deaf students face the challenges of understanding the people who surround them daily. Whether they have partial or no hearing, these students still find ways of communicating.

Hearing-impaired and deaf are not the same thing. People who are hearing-impaired have some ability to understand spoken language where as deaf students can hear nothing at all. Student Disability Services works with students in these situations to help them succeed in their classes by helping them understand what is being said.

Deaf and hearing-impaired students who have very little hearing are eligible to have American Sign Language interpreters attend their classes with them. These interpreters work with SDS and instructors to accommodate for students’ needs allowing them to participate in campus activities, said Larry Phillippe, student disabilities managing director.

“We try to help them focus on the fact that we’re here to translate information for them,” he said. “But you’ve got to start focusing on proficient written English.”

When in class, interpreters stand at the front of the class, keeping the professor in the student’s line of sight. The student can sit wherever they’d like since the interpreters aren’t working directly with them, which helps keep the student anonymous. Confidentiality is extremely important to SDS, said James Whitfield, assistant director and coordinator of interpreting services.

After registering with SDS, disabled students are eligible for note-taking services, priority registration for classes and for SDS to inform professors they need closed-captioning for videos.

At the beginning of each semester, students file requests for interpreters to attend their classes. But these interpreters aren’t only for classroom aid alone. Students can also ask to have one for attending events or group meetings. Part of college is getting involved in extracurricular activities, he said, and not allowing students the ability to have someone there to help them understand wouldn’t be fair. These students have the right to interact with their peers and translators help with this.

“I think it’s important that people realize that the deaf can do everything and anything except hear,” said Rebecca Markes, a sophomore human science major from Murphy.

Hearing-impaired students who do not use interpreters sometimes run into problems such as, professor’s accents, having to sit in the back of the classroom if there is little space or not having video and closed-captioned film clips.

“What people don’t realize also, is that some hearing students don’t always catch everything either and if they were to do the subtitling or closed-captioning, everyone would get it because they’d read it,” Whitfield said.

Other than offering students an interpreter to translate class lectures from English to American Sign Language, SDS works with professors and other students to help with note taking. Before the start of the semester, students will meet instructors and ask them to use NCR carbonless notepaper. With this, professors will ask two students to take notes on the non-carbon paper, which will create a duplicate copy for the hearing-impaired or deaf student. These notes can be an addition to the student’s own notes since they sometimes find it challenging to follow what the interpreter is signing while trying to write.

“A lot of students like to take their own notes,” Whitfield said. “Those notes can be a supplement in case that deaf person or hearing impaired student missed something or for lack of a better term, they didn’t hear something or didn’t see it.”

Most deaf students communicate   through American Sign Language rather than English since they cannot hear. Although some speak, read and write the language, it is different than the way most communicate. American Sign Language is not something that can be written; it is expressed through motions and facial expressions. Because it is an entirely different language, some deaf students have problems writing and reading English, Phillippe said.

New technology has helped the hearing-impaired and deaf community a great deal, he said. The invention of smart phones with email, texting and video capabilities have given deaf people the ability to always be in contact with others.

“There are so many changes now, especially in technology,” Phillippe said. “We all text now and that was probably the best thing to happen to deaf students: the advancement of instant messaging.”

College student sets out to help the hearing impaired

College student sets out to help the hearing impaired.

West Palm Beach – Shoshana Rappaport lost her hearing when she was a little girl. Her ear problems caused her to lose her balance when she was younger. It wasn’t unusual for her to end up with bumps and bruises. “I am deaf with assistance of cochlear implant which I was implanted with when I was in 10th grade, which gives me about 85 percent of an ability to hear. I would fall down the stairs, I hit my head against the walls and it was pretty bad.”

Shoshana is now 18 years old and in college at Northwood University. She has a service dog, eight month old Macy, which she says she trained to help her open doors and pick up objects. “Well I started volunteering at shelters when I was nine and I would work with the dogs and teach them basic obedience because it improved their chances of being adopted and staying in a forever home. My goal is to start a service dog organization to train autism service dogs for children.” Soshana is receiving a lot of support from the university in her quest to achieve her dreams.”

Robert Cabello, who is Dean of Students at Northwood University said, “She is living in our residence halls right now, we had to make some accomodations in order to assist her.I think that if you have an opportunity to see Macy her service dog you see that this is an animal that has been trained extremely well to assist someone who is in need of those sorts of services.”