Diversity and inclusion

Hard of Hearing on the Yoga Mat

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The Hearing Husband and I sat on individual floor mats, waiting for the instructor to arrive for our first-ever yoga class.  It was an introductory session offered by our fitness center and we thought why not?   

I was about to learn why not.

Entering the room, the instructor lowered the lights, and as he walked to his mat in the semi-gloom, his silhouette made him look like Aladdin.  When I saw him more clearly, I realized it wasAladdin, complete with turban, tunic, baggy pants and slippers with turned up toes.  He was mesmerizingly beautiful, until I saw his facial glory – an exotic mustache that covered his lips and spread sideways across his face, ending in elaborate curls near his ears.

Panic.  It was dark, there was a mustache and the instructor was going to start saying strange words – a speechreader’s nightmare.  Then it got worse.

“Close your eyes,” said Aladdin.

A class that was supposed to introduce us to a healing, calming, strengthening and tension-relieving discipline was stressing me out.  Before we even started.  You can’t tell a HoH (hard of hearing), a person with hearing loss,  to close our eyes, then continue talking and expect to us to relax.  We just don’t do that.   Years before, friends talked me into a session on creative visualization.  We had to lie on our backs with eyes closed, while the facilitator droned on in a soft voice that I would not have understood even with my eyes wide open.  So I went to sleep. That was a veryrelaxing session for me.

I am writing this from San Jose, California, where we’re visiting the Hearing Husband’s son and his family.  Our daughter-in-law Kristina just returned from a five-day yoga retreat, feeling refreshed and strong. Although I’m reluctant to try it again, especially hot yoga, I’d like to have what Kristina says is the main benefit – finding one’s drishti, a focus that is both internal and external, and using it in other areas of life.  But because I work so hard to protect my expensive hearing aids from damaging moisture, I know the only thing I could focus on during an hour of contortions would be on how my technology will survive its thick steam bath.

Fortunately, hot yoga is just one of eight major types of yoga, and practitioners can try different classes to find a style – and instructor – comfortable for them.   About 20 million Americans (8.7% of the adult population) over the age of 18 practiced yoga in 2011, almost a 25% increase from 2008, according to a 2012 study.  And it turns out that I’m here in the Yoga Capital of the USA: according to the marketing firm GFK MRI, the residents of the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose area are 59% more likely to do yoga than the general population.

It must be something in the air.  When I saw the Hearing Husband doing what looked like a yoga stretch on the back lawn, I decided it was time to reach out to my Facebook hearing loss community:  Do any of you with hearing loss do yoga? Tried yoga and couldn’t hear? Find that yoga helps calm your frustrations and helps with dealing with hearing loss?

The response was swift.  People with hearing loss go to yoga for all the standard reasons – flexibility, strength, dealing with aches and pains, and stress reduction.  Several said that yoga helped them deal with tinnitus, although one person found it to be worse during meditation.  Many shared similar challenges – discomfort with being asked to close their eyes, inability to understand the instructor, and issues with personal hearing technology, such as keeping cochlear implant processors and hearing aids from falling off or out.

Cheri Perazzoli from Seattle offered a wonderful synopsis of the key challenges, fears and solutions.

“I love yoga. When I got down to 90 lbs the healthcare experts said: “You should do yoga”. Great advice, but how do you LEARN yoga when you are a HOH? How do you relax and focus while you are straining to hear? On top of that, all the positions sound alike: you’ve got the asanas –  darniikasana, the pranayama, the sukhasana, the tadasana –  just say Mountain pose already. Desperate, I hired a wonderful private instructor who walked me through the basics. On to Bikram, a specific routine! I studied the positions before class and arrived to find the spot directly in front of the instructor open (because it was the hottest spot in the entire studio). Bikram works if you can manage the heat, but it’s not the same kind of wonderful relaxing yoga with meditation. Today, I’m hoping to convince local studios to install a hearing loop! In the meantime, I do yoga at home with a video and use my TV loop. But I miss the routine and shared experience of a regular yoga practice.”

Understanding the yoga instructor is the most common barrier for many people:

  • I never close my eyes in public. I want to be aware of what is happening around me.
  • It was a challenge  trying to lipread the yoga instructor while in a downward dog pose.
  • I’m not fond of trying to copy the person next to me, as it defeats the purpose.
  • I just look at the person in front of me or the teacher and listen at the same time.
  • The teacher knows I don’t like to close my eyes because I can’t hear, so I peek.  But the relaxation and arthritis help that I get from yoga make it worth the effort.
  • It would be amazing if yoga studios were equipped with hearing loops.
  • I basically learn the routine from memory to know what positions to be in. If the routine changes, I’m lost.
  • I looked up the pattern of what the instructor says, and that helps during the class.
  • I speak with the instructor beforehand.  One instructor walks close to me so I can hear. Apparently looking up while doing poses isn’t good for your poses and neck. I do the same kind of yoga (hot yoga), so now I know the poses. By the way, it’s too hard to be relaxing.
  • I always ask the instructor to wear the microphone for my FM System. I think I hear the instructor better than the other participants.
  •  For yoga at home, try online sites  www.deafyoga.org and www.yogapah.com, and yoga DVDs and books.

My friend Linda Wolynetz says, “It is hard work – damn hard work.  But the rewards of yoga and meditation are well worth the struggle.”  So, since I”m here in the yoga capital, I’ll join the Hearing Husband on the lawn and maybe I’ll try a downward dog.  Whatever that is.

Original article by Gael Hannan, Editor. 21 July 2014, HearingHealthMatters.org

Reproduced with kind permission of HHTM

Usher Syndrome presentation at the House of Commons

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Molly talks about Usher Syndrome

I was invited to speak at The House of Commons as a result of my previous work raising awareness of Usher Syndrome the condition that first took away my hearing followed by my sight.
I should say that whilst I am not a big fan of Usher Syndrome I have learnt it’s best to work with it rather than fight it or hide away from it.
Once I took charge I am in charge of what I can and cannot do.
Usher is just a part of me and does not define the person I have become, first and foremost I am Molly.
That said I am the first to stand up not just for myself but for others with the condition, something I am always proud to do.

I was surprised but incredibly proud to be asked to speak about the challenges of life with living with Usher Syndrome by ParliAble in the House of Commons.
I had never taken an active interest in the goings on in Parliament but like everything was happy to learn.

On arriving at the Palace of Westminster I realised what an honour it was to be allowed to park in the grounds, we were, naturally searched as was the car before we could obtain our visitor passes.
I found this part quite stressful as the hustle and bustle of policemen and women, security guards and visitors was quite intense, thankfully Uni was as calm but alert as always and on receiving our passes and along with our guide helped me safely find the way to the room in which I was to present.
I was delighted to get to the room well ahead of time, I was able to scan the room, to admire the decor and to get my bearings.

It was in the main green with leather bound seats and dark wooden panelling, patterned carpets which I couldn’t look at as they made me feel quite dizzy another of the delights of Usher Syndrome.
From the ornate windows I could see the River Thames, my parents pointed out the boats and whilst it was a beautiful bright summers day, a brief scan around was all my damaged eyes could take before I had to look away and replace my dark glasses to protect my eyes from any further torment and strain and to avoid the dreaded headaches they so often cause me.

I was excited to speak in such an affluent place, I was just amazed people here would be interested in hearing what I had to say, but they were!

It turned out the room we were in was not the room in which I’d speak in, it was the one a couple of doors up but identical.

The lightening was ok for me, not too bright and not too dark and although an old building it had warm furnishings so acoustically worked for me with my hearing aids in.

My presentation was about the daily challenges and struggles of people like myself, the lack of understanding of people with sensory impairment and the desire to succeed and to be valued members of society.

I spoke for about fifteen minutes and while I spoke I could not see the people I was speaking to as my level of sight loss is to the degree that on a good day I tend to just see a part of a persons face, perhaps an eye and nose but usually I’d set my sight on a nose and mouth to try to lipread whilst using my residual hearing to assist me to access the hearing world.
My world might be tiny to see but my determination spans the world.

I was pleasantly surprised to get a round of applause and lots of questions. The questions were relayed to me so I could answer, without assistance I cannot respond to people unless they are very close to me.
I always believe the more questions the more I am raising awareness.

There are at this time no deafblind people working in Parliament but several deaf and several blind. There is, however, no reason a deafblind person couldn’t work there, this was confirmed to me during “My Question Time”.

I was asked if I was offered a job could I get to and from work, of course I would engage Guidedogs for the Blind to run the route with Unis several times, right up to the room I would work in and I could them completely rely on her to get me to and from work very safely.
My biggest pet hate is the assumption that deafblind always means no hearing, no sight and no speech when with the amazing technology available lots of us can access all sorts of information and our communication can differ but with the right support we can all be successful, support really is key.

We discussed accessibility, modification, technology and mobility in detail along with “reasonable adjustments” all well received and I’m told lots of notes were taken which is very pleasing.

Presenting in The House of Commons was one of my proudest moments and knowing I’m the youngest ever makes me feel very special and privileged and I have been asked if I would return which is a big fat yes.

I have since been back for a tactile tour of Parliament which I would absolutely recommend and will remain in touch with the team at ParliAble in the hope we can continue to raise awareness of Usher Syndrome and perhaps in time get somebody with Usher into work there because “Why not?”

I’d like to thank all those involved in my being invited to do this presentation, to my parents for their support and Unis for being Unis and keeping me safe……

Molly

23 June 2014

Molly Watt Trust

Bursary for students with a disability

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futura logo

The Student Health Association have a reasonably large charitable pot of money to support students who have a disability.

The amounts are small and learners have had to have applied for DSA first.

The fund is designed to grant small sums (usually up to £500) to students with a disability to facilitate their studies and hopefully put them on a more level playing field with their peers. Until now provision through the DSA has covered most things but with the impending changes, we may notice an impact on our fund. We are happy to look at any application where the form is filled in and there is supporting evidence. If people make a good case, we can usually make some provision, however the quality of applications is often poor. An example of someone to whom we did grant £200 was a woman with paranoid schizophrenia. She requested a travel allowance as she “gets scared in open spaces” and wanted to take a taxi to college. She had supporting evidence from her CPN.

Learners who are disabled but are not entitled to Disabled Students Allowance (either because they are ineligible or because they have been refused) are more likely to receive an award from the Student Disability Assistance Fund than learners who are entitled to Disabled Students Allowance.

The money goes directly to the student. The poor quality of the application process is an important point to note. If college staff are able to help students with the application form then the student is more likely to be successful and to actually spend the award on the support they need. They also accept applications from International Students.

Student Health Association: Student Disability Assistance Fund

ILC-UK launch Commission on hearing loss

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Hearing loss – a growing problem

The ILC-UK has launched a Commission seeking to address the significant and growing problem of hearing loss in the UK. Six million people in the UK experience hearing loss at a level where they would benefit from wearing a hearing aid and this is set to increase to 10 million by 2037.

This is an independent commission, with the ILC-UK providing the governance and secretariat while the Commissioners, drawn from a wide range of different sectors, will drive the agenda and findings.

As part of this high level Commission, we are seeking written evidence from a range of experts on two key aspects of the debate:
How can we ensure that hearing loss is detected early? Many individuals live for years without either realising that they have hearing loss or because they do not seek support. We welcome submissions around the following questions:

  • How can we de-stigmatise hearing loss?
  • Whether and to what extent it is possible to improve the referral process?
  • Are there alternative models to support early detection?
  • How can technology improve early detection?

How can we deliver better solutions to reduce the adverse impacts of hearing loss? Early detection is only one part of the jigsaw, we must also propose solutions to reduce the wide-ranging effects of hearing loss. We welcome submissions on the following questions:

  • How do we ensure wider take-up of hearing aids?
  • What forms of service delivery models are needed to meet the needs of a growing hearing impaired population?
  • How do we remove barriers to employment for the hearing impaired?
  • How do we improve health and social care for those suffering with hearing loss?
  • How do we raise public awareness about, and sensitivity to, hearing loss?

The final report is intended for a policy and public audience, so written submissions should be accessible but at the same time, informative, thought provoking, ideally challenging while offering solutions/recommendations. The written submissions will form a key part of the evidence base for a final report to be published in July. To submit written evidence please email: benfranklin@ilcuk.org.uk. Please note there is a final deadline of any submissions of 13th June.

We are also holding two high level evidence sessions in the House of Lords on the above subjects on the afternoon of Thursday 5th June, House of Lords (early detection) and the afternoon of Tuesday 17th June, 15:30 – 17:30, House of Lords (solutions). If you would like to attend please contact Ben Franklin for further details. Please note that places are restricted.

Please note:
Authors are requested to provide a very short biography of themselves / organisations of no more than four lines to sit alongside their submission. Due to time constraints, we will only be making minor amendments/proofing so all submissions need to be of a publishable standard, ILC-UK reserves the right not to publish if material is deemed inappropriate. All authors and their organisation will be credited in the final report and any associated publicity and promotional material linked to the response. This project has been kindly made possible by Boots Hearingcare.

The Commission on Hearing Loss: Background Briefing Note

ILC

Lipspeaker v lipreader: A literary adventure

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Guest author: Deaflinguist

A fortnight ago I went to a conference in my academic field and definitely needed communication support for an intensive day of quite high-powered lecturing which was a challenge for my lipspeaker on several counts, not least that few of the speakers gave her any material to prepare, some had English as a second language, and others just spoke terrifically rapidly and had to be forcibly slowed down.

My lipspeaker was working solo since the other booked lipspeaker was ill, and she admitted to feeling as if she was struggling in the circumstances: however, she betrayed no sign of it and carried on as a true professional. We talked it over and came to the conclusion that because I was familiar with the field I could fill in the gaps from my own knowledge and supplement it with what I could hear. I think it helped as well being someone who was used to receiving communication support, and thus having an understanding of how it works and reasonable expectations.

The following week I went to a former colleague’s book launch in a church in Bristol as a social occasion, just with the Bear, who also knows him. Our friend gave a speech for 20 minutes which I followed in its entirety. OK, I knew the speaker, and had some idea of the subject, since we have a common background. Yet even with those advantages, I wouldn’t have been able to follow in the past by lipreading alone.

Thus emboldened, I dragged the Bear along to a local library a few days later, when I found out that an author of well-received historical fiction, based on his own researches which have overlapped with my own, was speaking. I’d never met him before so this was ratcheting it up a notch. Off we trotted and everything was in my favour – we were the first to arrive so had our choice of seats; small venue; nice bright lights which were not dimmed for the talk; a cleverly illustrated PowerPoint presentation; a clear speaker who was used to public speaking and thus spoke without hesitation, digressions, or backtracking on himself; and a manageable 45 minutes.

Again, perhaps, some prior knowledge helped me on my way, but I understood everything he said, apart from one or two occasions when he did put his hand to his mouth as he mused on something. However, I quickly picked up the thread again. Where I had some difficulty was in understanding the questions at the end, but the Bear repeated them for me and I was able to follow the answers. The issues, of course, lay in not seeing the speakers behind me (as I was sitting at the front), in the rather more random order of the questions, and in the demographic, of older people, the register of whose voices can sometimes have less clarity.

That week concluded with me giving a lecture to an audience of mostly older people. I knew that this would be a largish audience and that a certain number would, themselves, have age-related loss and be hearing-aid wearers, but would not request communication support, necessarily. We had a small venue with good acoustics which I requested specifically, no competing or intrusive noise, good lighting, and so on – all the things which worked for me the other way round as an audience member.

One of the things that I do as a speaker is to make the audience laugh a little bit every now and then – it’s not necessarily for entertainment value, to put them at their ease, or give them something memorable that will stick in their mind from the talk, although those are good things to do, but simply because it is a subtle way of checking that they’ve understood. If they all laugh together – they’ve got you.

For this audience, I requested a sign language interpreter as it is the unwritten law of presentations that the person who asks the most avid questions will be the mumbler with the beard at the back, and I won’t have a hope of understanding them. It’s less critical when I’m part of the audience myself. As a professional, though, it is crucial to comprehend questions correctly in order to answer them, but it is also important to put the audience at their ease, particularly with that demographic who may feel less confident about repeating their question if it isn’t understood first time. It went seamlessly and I was pleased that I had pitched the situation absolutely correctly and not gone swimming solo out of my depth.

The moral of the story is: don’t be afraid to stretch your boundaries with a cochlear implant and try new things, and the second moral is that it is always worth reviewing your communication needs, not only pre- and post-cochlear implant, but also for specific situations.

what is a textphone

What is a textphone ?

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Textphones for the deaf and speech impaired

Many people wonder what is a textphone most useful for. People who are speech impaired or have a hearing loss can use a textphone to access telephony. A textphone (sometimes called a Minicom like vacuum cleaners are called hoovers) is basically a keyboard bolted onto a modem cutting edge 1980s technology! In America a textphone is called a TTY. A textphone costs between £200 and £350 new.

 

what is a textphonewhat is a textphone

 

 

 

 

 

What is a textphone?

Definition of a textphone: A telephone developed for use by people who have a hearing loss, with a small screen and a keyboard on which a message can be typed to be received by another textphone, or sent via a relay typist.

Natalya is deaf herself and an expert on disability access for people with a hearing loss. She has a wealth of knowledge which she has kindly agreed to share.

To read more, go to the full article Deaf and speech impaired people’s access to telephones

Reprinted with kind permission of Natalya Dell

Ear Gear

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eargear2

Dan tells us about his experience of using Ear Gear, which protects your hearing aids, cochlear processors and BAHA processors from sweat, dirt, and being lost.

I wear hearing aids bilaterally for moderate hearing loss, and as a serving Police Officer in the British Police service, I simply couldn’t avoid situations where I was going to get wet. British weather can pretty much guarantee rain, especially if I’m on foot patrol miles from shelter and wearing my hearing aids.  I wear NHS supplied Oticon Spirit Zest aids and it’s fair to say they don’t cope well with moisture as even heavy sweating would cause them to keel over and die.

What a relief to discover a Paramedic who had solved the problem through getting Ear Gear.  He put me in touch through the UK distributor and what an amazing difference it really has made.   I was doubtful at first at how resistant they would be against moisture and light rain – but they really have made a big difference. Initially I was concerned that wearing Ear Gears might cause degradation to the sound – but I am pleased to report that I can’t spot any discernible difference.

The other advantage to wearing Ear Gear over my hearing aids, is that it has significantly reduced the feedback which I used to get when wearing a hat, and amazingly it also reduces the sound of Wind rushing across the microphones.

I’m so impressed by them, I keep them on all the time now.

 eargear3   ear gear

 

Shortly after this post was originally published, Richard contacted us.

 

 

Richard

Wow, I’m the paramedic Dan refers to. I’ve used ear gear for 6 years after having the same problems as Dan on duty. Also as I’m a motorcycle paramedic I wear my motorcycle helmet over the hearing aids and you can imagine how hot that gets in summer.

I can still easily access the programme & volume controls with the ear gear covers on but some times I need to pinch the covers back a little bit when they are new.

I can’t recommend them enough, they won’t make your hearing aids water proof but they will protect them from sweat and rain etc.

I got mine direct from Gear for Ears in Canada as they weren’t available in the UK at the time. They are now available from Connevans.

If you buy them from Canada and send them a photo of you wearing them they will send you a free spare pair of ear gear. They also have ear gear covers connected to a cord like a pair of glasses, the cord has a small clip that you connect to clothing so children don’t loose them if they pull them out etc. This is the link to the Ear Gear shop in Canada. They also have a much larger selection of colours to choose from.

Ear Gear | Hearing Aid Protection from dirt, moisture and loss for children, active adults and seniors!

Ear Gear is available from Ear Gear & Connevans

@EarGearHearing / Ear Gear on Facebook / Pinterest

One of our readers said,

I didn’t realise that someone with a hearing impairment could join the police force. I enquired about joining the London Met Special Constables a couple of years ago, but was told that my deafness could prove problematic.

We have put her in touch with a sign language user who works for the Met. They do recruit people with a hearing loss in line with the Equality Act 2010.  If you have a hearing loss and you’re interested in working for the Met, contact us and we’ll put you in touch.

hearing impairment

Cochlear implants for Irish children

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We’ve had some fantastic news from Ireland. A campaign was run over the last year to have two cochlear implants as standard treatment for deaf children rather than just one. Most countries offer two cochlear implants to children, but this was not the practice in Ireland.

After a lot of hard campaigning and a petition to the Minister for Health, the HSE has now agreed to roll out a €3.2million bilateral cochlear implant programme with the Beaumont Hospital, Dublin.

One hundred cochlear implants were allocated in the HSE plan for 2014. The HSE hopes to offer more money annually for cochlear implants under each yearly budget/plan. Well done Minister Reilly for managing this achievement in a very tough health budget year and well done to the parents who fought tirelessly for their children to have the gift of bilateral cochlear implants.

From personal experience of receiving sequential cochlear implants, I can confirm that having bilateral hearing is totally different from hearing in just one ear, it is much easier to understand speech and other benefits include directional hearing.

There have been some who have not agreed with the petition’s aims and do not think deaf children should be offered cochlear implants. In response to those in disagreement, Denise Martin speaks of her dreams for her deaf daughter now being realised.

I didnt have this operation lightly for my daughter. To say her job opportunities would not be limited is ridiculous. My Daughter is 3 years old very bright her only set back is her hearing. She was tested at 110db her brain did not respond to sound. If a jumbo jet landed beside her head she would not hear it high powered hearing aids gave her no access to sound. My little girl would never have learned to talk when she had her operation she had no words. How can you tell me a girl who cannot hear cannot speak is not limited in her job opportunities. How can she grow up go to college be a Doctor Or President of Ireland. How can she work in a call center answering the phone, work as a receptionist, work in a shop as a cashier and listen to customers and answer their questions. How absolutely dare you tell me not to fear the worse for my Precious little princess you have no idea what it is like the frustration on her little face for 2 years before she was implanted with this miracle of a cochlear implant. I have opened up a world of possibilities to my little girl that never would have been possible. How many profoundly deaf non hearing non speaking Doctors do you know? How many world leaders could not hear or speak ? How many Barristers Cannot Talk? How Many Ceo’s of companies cannot hear or speak?????? I have big Dreams like every parent for my little girl. How dare you tell me i should be happy to hold her back and not let her reach for the stars. Next time your listening to Music the Tv or even the birds singing think of my little 3 year old daughter and think i have chosen to give her the gift of sound to enhance the quality of her life something you so clearly take for granted. Just imagine you could not hear those sounds just try think for one minute never hearing music again. I want her to live life to the full not simple muddle along as you would have her do. Watch this space as in 30 years from now she could be a Doctor who can talk to her patients or CEO of a company who knows i want her to reach for the stars and have all she wants as a hearing speaking successful woman that nothing can hold back. Unless you have a profoundly Deaf Child with no speech you cannot judge my decision or other parents. I respect all parents choices to make the right decision for their family as we did for ours. Every day i am reminded of just how correct we were in our decision.

hearing

Improve your hearing with auditory training

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Have you ever wanted to improve your hearing?

Neurotone offer a DVD to help people with a hearing loss learn to listen better through auditory training.

This software is useful for people who want to improve their ability to listen – not just to hear speech, but to listen and understand it. This can be used with hearing aids or cochlear implants, and practiced in different scenarios – against background noise, competing voices, and with fast speakers. If you’re used to British accents, the US version is a real challenge, especially in situations where people aren’t speaking slowly and clearly to you just because you’re deaf. Check this out!

You can listen to the US demo version here.

After all that listening, you may still need captioning services. Contact us to find out more about how we can help you.