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HearingSummer 2013 Timeswww.hearingtimes.co.uk Gerry Hughes becomes first deaf man to sail solo around the world Graham Searles A Scottish teacher has become the first deaf person to sail single-handed around the world past all five capes. Gerry Hughes, 55, from Glasgow, set sail from Troon in his boat Quest III, in September last year. His solo-circumnavigation lasted eight months and covered more than 32,000 miles, during which time he endured many difficult moments. “I couldn’t wait to see my wife Kay and my daughters again, to see them and hug them after so long.” Speaking to Limping Chicken about the last moments of his incredible journey Gerry said, “It had been such a long journey. But when I sailed past The Isle of Arran, which is where my family have spent so many holidays, then I felt like I was home. “I couldn’t wait to see my wife Kay and my daughters again, to see them and hug them after so long. “Arriving at Troon was so emotional. And I didn’t expect to see so many people there.” Gerry received amazing support from the deaf community throughout every step of his journey, especially when a huge crowd of people met him at the dock. He took a moment to pay tribute to all of the people who supported him along the way, > page 2 Gerry Hughes fires off a flare in celebration of his historic achievement to the huge crowds who gathered at the docks inroon T NHS slammed for denying patient access to interpreter A government regulator has condemned the NHS following a deaf patient not being given access to BSL interpretation during her twelve day stay in hospital “Because I couldn’t speak it was as though measures it had put in place following the Ed Gould I didn’t exist and it was like I was in prison.” incident. Elaine Duncan, from Arbroath, had been The subsequent investigation by SPSO “Last year we introduced the use of Patient admitted to Dundee’s Ninewells Hospital for took independent advice from an equality Interpretation Cards which can be carried surgery over the course of a 12 day period. and diversity adviser and a separate medical by those patients who require help with According to the report recently published adviser. translation services to alert healthcare staff,” by Scotland’s public services watchdog The report states that staff had not taken a spokesman for NHS Tayside said. (SPSO) Elaine was left isolated and unable reasonable steps to obtain a BSL interpreter “Posters are also in place in all clinical to communicate because of a failure to in line with their legal duty to do so under the areas explaining how to book an interpreter provide her with access to a sign language Equality Act 2010. for a patient.” interpreter. In addition to this, the report questioned The hospital continued saying that it now “Although hospital staff took steps to try to whether Elaine, was able to give informed allowed patients to book their own interpreter communicate with her, at no point did they consent to the surgical procedure that was directly, if they wished. provide an interpreter,” said Jim Martin, the undertaken. Martin’s report conceded that there is Scottish public services ombudsman. “The medical adviser said that it was a lack of local BSL interpreters, but that “This was despite her repeatedly pointing impossible to say for sure if the patient gave hospital staff made insufficient attempts to to a poster on the wall, which was for informed consent for the operation, but the obtain one. interpreter services, and handing staff a BSL failure to obtain an interpreter certainly cast NHS Tayside said that it has developed a interpreter’s card on two separate occasions.” doubt on this,” Martin stated. deaf forum in partnership with members of Forty year old Elaine, who has been deaf He went on to say that by failing to obtain the deaf community and deaf action groups. since she was two, made a complaint to the an interpreter, it was clear to him that the It said that for the past two years, regular ombudsman following her discharge from board had not adhered to their own Informed quarterly meetings have taken place with hospital. Consent Policy. the Tayside Deaf Forum with the joint aim “I was terrified despite being surrounded Hearing Times asked NHS Tayside, the of improving services for hearing impaired by people,” she said. board which runs Ninewells Hospital what patients. Elaine said her stay was like being “in prison”

If you no longer wish to recieve the newspaper, please return it to Hearing Times C.I.C. | The Lansbury Estate | 102 Lower Guildford Road | Woking | Surrey | GU21 2EP 2 News Hearing Times Summer 2013 > front page new Schoolboy swimmer raising A note from the ^ Editor “I thought when I arrived back it’d be quiet. I never expected Welcome to the Summer 2013 people to come from Europe, money for waterproof hearing aid edition of Hearing Times, from from Australia, South Africa, A deaf schoolboy who loves to swim is trying to raise enough cash for a the new editor, Graham Searles. all across the world.” waterproof hearing aid so he can swim with his pals Haaris Mirza, a pupil at The Friezland “I’m shocked! I thought when I arrived back School, Oldham, became one of the first I took over from Helen at the it’d be quiet. I never expected people to come youngsters in the town to have two cochlear from Europe, from Australia, South Africa, all implants installed back in 2009. His family are beginning of April and I’m sure across the world.” now trying to raise £5,500 to buy a special you will join me in wishing her “I’ll never forget, when I arrived, there were waterproof hearing aid to allow him to play every success in the future. so many flags, and cameras, and people. with his friends. “Really, when I started, I just wanted to The implants have completely turned put my name on the list of people who’ve his life around but he must remove the One big change here at Hearing circumnavigated the world.” processorwhich sits on his ear like a His achievement now sees him join an elite conventional hearing aid when he swims. Times is you no longer need to list of about 300 people who have completed His friends and family are now rallying register to access our website. solo-circumnavigation sails. together to buy the Advanced Bionics During his adventure Gerry’s boat capsized Neptune processor and are appealing for and his navigation equipment was damaged, help. Yes, all of our content is now he said, “I knew the sea well, I knew the His mum Lizzie, 48, said, “He loves free to access but you can rhythms of the sea. One day it was all fine, I swimming but he’s never been able to hear Haaris Mirza smiling in his school uniform had checked everything. when he does. Full-time mum Lizzie added, “We first still register to receive weekly “Then I went to make a coffee, and “We can use a special bag but it doesn’t noticed something was wrong when his updates and promotions. suddenly the boat capsized. stay watertight for long and is ugly and speech wasn’t developing. A test showed “I was shocked. The mast was damaged. uncomfortable. up that he had major hearing loss. At first I realised later that it had capsized because “He hides it with a swimming cap but it is doctors thought it could be glue ear but within So for more regular updates the autopilot had broken. I had to get the boat like hearing with a bag on your head. six weeks he became profoundly deaf. from the deaf and hard of fixed in Australia.” “The Neptune would be fantastic. It’s “It was a huge shock and completely “One of my friends sent me completely waterproof and would give him so devastating. It felt like we lost the little boy hearing communities then much freedom. we had – he just became so sad, angry and visit our daily-updated, freely a letter, and he remembers “He could use it to play other sports too frustrated. accessible, website 39 years ago, I told him ‘one and not worry about it getting knocked off “He had both the implants at the same day I will sail around the as it can be worn on clothing and not just on time just a week after his fourth birthday. He www.hearingtimes.co.uk world.’ I’m so happy that I’ve his head. If we wait for an upgrade it could didn’t like it at first and we had to teach him be years, but we’ve been told we can buy it how to speak all over again. But Haaris loves achieved it.” privately for £5,500 for just one ear. his ears now and doesn’t like to be without We hope you enjoy reading the Finally Gerry spoke with Limping Chicken “Two would be brilliant, but for sports he them.” news, views and interesting on how it feels to have achieved his lifetime can get away with just the one.” “We’ve already received our first donation features our dedicated writers goal, “Before, I would look in the mirror Haaris, of Mossley Road, Grasscroft, of £500 which will get the ball rolling, but and ask myself ‘when will I go?’ I realised I wasn’t born deaf but lost his hearing suddenly we need as many ideas and donations as have produced in this quarterly couldn’t wait any longer, I had to go now. when he was just three. possible.” edition. “I had books about other people who’d circumnavigated the world, and I looked up If you would like to subscibe to to them. I was in awe of their achievement. When I finished, I felt like I understood them, Two major UK Kid’s foundation our quarterly newspaper it costs I was on their level. £5 per year. Email our helpful “In my life I had many barriers, in education, for example. My passion was sailing. I never charities merge celebrate 60 staff at info@hearingtimes. forgot that dream. Action on Hearing Loss and Deaf children’s charity, the Ewing co.uk. “One of my friends sent me a letter, and he Deafness Research UK have merged Foundation held a reception at the remembers 39 years ago, I told him ‘one day Both charities are known for their ground- House of Lords to mark its sixtieth year If you have any news to tell us, I will sail around the world’I. ’m so happy that breaking work in biomedical research, with The event, hosted by Ewing trustee Lord then please send us an email to I’ve achieved it.” Action on Hearing Loss currently funding Wilson of Dinton, brought together over When Gerry was a boy, one of his prized [email protected] UK and international work into treatments 150 guests from not only the world of deaf possessions was a magazine about the great and cures for hearing loss and tinnitus, and education but also the film, art and music sailor Sir Francis Chichester’s solo voyage Deafness Research UK focusing on UK communities. around the world. research. Kevin Munro, Ewing Professor of Audiology Graham Searles, Gerry was used to people telling him he The merger will raise the profile of at the University of Manchester, was one couldn’t do things because he was deaf, but biomedical research, which will in turn boost of the speakers at the event, “The Ewings Editor across the top of the magazine, in tiny letters, funding for further programmes. Biomedical were ambassadors who made a difference. he wrote, “One day I will go round the world research into hearing loss and tinnitus is They recognised the importance of early like Sir Francis.” currently significantly underfunded when identification and intervention, and of early Sir Robin Knox-Johnston CBE, the first compared with other medical conditions. involvement of the family. man to perform a single-handed non-stop Chief Executive for Action on Hearing “They were hugely influential and their Contributors: Deafinitely Girly, Ed circumnavigation of the world in 1969, said, Loss, Paul Breckell said, “Both charities impact is recognised throughout the world.” Gould, Matthew Munson, Lizzie Ward, Guy “Reading Gerry’s blog brings back some believe that a merger is the most positive way The Ewing Foundation’s team of audiology Peppiatt, Tony McGuire, Bakar Ali, Deafax, cold, wet and uncomfortable memories. It is forward for the future of biomedical research technicians and education specialists work Juliet England, Guy Peppiat such a relief when you clear Cape Horn and into hearing loss and tinnitus. with deaf children in the classroom. turn north.” “For most of the 10 million people in the UK They ensure that hearing technology is He added, “The easy things are not with hearing loss, and the six million people working correctly, and that students and Hearing Times is protected by copyright. worth doing. Where is the satisfaction To reproduce articles featured in this who suffer with tinnitus, effective treatments teachers can communicate effectively with from achievement? It is the difficult things and cures cannot come soon enough.” one another. month’s issue, email your request to we take on that bring us pride and is real [email protected] Vivienne Michael, Chief Executive of Hamish McAlpine, who became chairman achievement.” Deafness Research UK said, “There have following the death of his father in 2011, Hearing Times is an independent Sport Minister Shona Robison said: “To been major breakthroughs in hearing says, “This very special sixtieth anniversary newspaper, published four times per year. sail round the world single-handedly when research in recent years and work on celebration recognises the immense The newspaper is distributed throughout profoundly deaf is just incredible. potential stem cell and drug therapies for achievements of the past, and also the the United Kingdom to charities, ENT “Gerry’s determination and courage deafness holds particular promise. challenges and opportunities of the future. and hearing therapy clinics, audiologists, throughout his life to overcome his disability “But the field is significantly underfunded. “I look forward to involving our friends, old hearing aid dispensers, care homes is truly inspirational and will teach young By working together we believe we have and new, in the much needed further work of and schools and individual subscribers , people, deaf and hearing, that they can the best chance of raising the funding and this compassionate and unique charity.” reaching a readership of over 23,000. overcome any obstacles they face in life.” awareness needed to change this.” Ewing Foundation, established by The contents of Hearing Times are Mr Hughes’ other achievements include Deafness Research UK’s staff will transfer construction businessman Malcolm McAlpine copyrighted and no part may be becoming the first deaf person to sail around to Action on Hearing Loss in and the name and his wife Sheila, is named after the reproduced in part or whole without prior the British Isles in 1981 and the first deaf Deafness Research UK will be phased out eminent audiologists Sir Alexander and Lady consent from the newspaper. skipper to sail across the Atlantic Ocean in with all future work to be carried out under Irene Ewing. The opinions expressed in articles, the Original Single-Handed Transatlantic the Action on Hearing Loss name. The McAlpines established and supported columns and adverts are those of the Race OSTAR in 2005. Deafness Research UK’s Royal patron, the foundation because they had a deaf child writer or advertiser and not necessarily You can give your support to Gerry by HRH The Duke of York, will become the and so that deaf children could benefit from those of Hearing Times C.I.C.. donating here www.gogogogerry.com patron of the merged charity. the expertise and legacy of the Ewings. Hearing Times Summer 2013 News 3 Manchester student wins scholarship Bar for the deaf Deaf Manchester University student Georgina Grimshaw was presented with a £6,000 Cochlear Graeme Clark opens in London Scholarship Award by Lord Mayor Councillor Elaine Boyes and the Lady Mayoress Linda Geoghegan A bar for deaf people where all the Georgina is currently studying chemistry at university with the dream of becoming a staff are trained in sign language has leading British scientist. opened in London Georgina, 20 years old, was born In a first of its kind, the venue will provide profoundly deaf and could hear very little with a social venue for the deaf in a club-style hearing aids. environment. Though ease and comfort for At the age of four, she was fitted with a deaf people is the priority. Nucleus Cochlear implant which changed Paul Cripps, 31, who co-owns it with non- her life. deaf Domani Peir, came up with the concept Unlike hearing aids, cochlear implants after years of negative experiences in bars bypass damaged hair cells in the inner ear and clubs. and stimulate the hearing nerve directly Paul, from Edmonton, has been deaf providing a sense of sound to its user. since birth. He said, “I’ve had problems Georgina attended mainstream school and ordering drinks, talking to fellow clubbers and with the support of friends, family and hearing sometimes even getting into clubs. healthcare professionals at the Manchester “The Deaf Lounge is open to both the deaf Auditory Implant Centre. and non-deaf communities. I’m eager that it The budding scientist also gained excellent encourages deaf people to socialise with the A levels and top marks in an extended project wider society.” on the development of technology for deaf The owners said they plan to set up people salsa, zumba and DJ workshops where deaf A second implant at the age of 18 helped Georgina Grimshaw looking excited to receive her prize from the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress people will be taught to read beats and play Georgina to understand the direction of personal goals like anyone else. Lise Henderson, Paediatric Co-ordinator instruments. sound and to hear better when with groups “With the help of this scholarship, I’m now said, “Georgina’s cochlear implant has given As well as the staff being trained in sign of people. a step closer to reaching my ultimate goal her the opportunity to achieve so much both language, other aspects of the deaf-friendly She now manages well amongst peers at which is to be a successful scientist. Being personally and academically. bar include bright lighting, so customers can Manchester University with some support deaf wont stop me if I work hard and have a “She tried so hard with her hearing aids but see each other speak with signs, and pens from a note taker in lectures. bit of luck along the way.” they just didnt give her the access to speech and paper for writing messages. A spokesman from Cochlear commented, that she needed and the implant made There is a deaf security guard and deaf bar “With the help of this “The annual UK Cochlear Graeme Clark listening and learning so much easier for her. staff as well as a partially deaf DJ. scholarship, I’m now a Scholarship was set up to help implant “The whole family have worked so hard for The fire alarm has a flashing light to alert step closer to reaching my recipients achieve more in further education many years to get the most from Georgina’s deaf customers and lavatory notices are in ultimate goal which is to be a and we are delighted that Georgina has won implant and they should all be very proud of sign language as well as written English. this year. what she has achieved.” The launch party was attended by former successful scientist.” “She certainly deserves our support as she The UK Cochlear Graeme Clark Hollyoaks actress Rachel Shenton, a On being presented the award Georgina pursues her dreams of becoming a scientist. Scholarship is open to Nucleus Cochlear campaigner for the deaf since her late father said, “The advances of cochlear technology A supportive team of hearing healthcare implant recipients who have been implanted lost his hearing following chemotherapy. in my lifetime have been truly life changing professionals from the Manchester Auditory in the UK and plan to continue their studies “This bar is exactly what’s needed,” she for me and have allowed me to achieve Implant Centre attended the ceremony. in the UK. said. Audiologist of the Year nominations closing soonAdvertisement The search to find this year’s Audiologist of the Year is drawing to a close, with just over a month left to nominate your hearing professional for the coveted award, brought to you by Rayovac to support Bill, offering him advice on the worked closely with other team members latest hearing technology and regular visits and specialists and showed an in depth to ensure he is fully supported and always knowledge of new technologies. made aware of any new developments. The winning audiologist will have the title Bill said: “I can’t praise Stephen and the of Audiologist of the Year and receive a cash whole team at Inverness Hearing Services prize. They will also follow in the footsteps of enough; they have transformed my hearing the UK 2012 winner, Stephen Douglas from experience on so many different levels, Inverness, and be entered into the European thoroughly enhancing my quality of life and competition. that of my family. 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The award Rayovac on Facebook: HearingwithRayovac competition, gaining the prestigious title of devices, which enhanced his quality of life, is judged anonymously by a panel of leading or Twitter @HearwithRayovac European Audiologist of the Year. Stephen gave Bill a much better indication of industry experts who will be looking to find Stephen was nominated by 58-year-old the types of problems he was experiencing audiologists who have excelled in exceeding Bill Gray, whose story helped to inspire the and how to overcome them. customer expectations; demonstrated judging panel to reward the work of such an And one year on, Stephen continues outstanding commitment and support; 4 Local news Hearing Times Summer 2013 Courier firm raise £10k for charity UK tourism release Staff from a courier firm raised £10,000 for an Oxford deaf children’s society, over the course of the last year new guide for HoH Ed Gould National tourist board VisitEngland has launched Listen Up! - a new Oxfordshire Deaf Children’s Society said accessibility guide for deaf people that it had been amazed by the creativity of the fundraising undertaken on its behalf. The guide is designed to help businesses Naomi Martell-Bundock, the society’s become more accessible for customers with chairman, told Hearing Times that staff from hearing loss. Listen Up! is free and available DHL in Bicester had done much more than online. raise money for the group. More than 10 million people in the UK “We would like to thank them for their have some form of hearing loss, the new practical support which has been given guide is packed with information, advice throughout a time of great change for us,” and examples of best practice for providing she said. the deaf community with a warm welcome In a series of fundraising events workers and an excellent visitor experience. It also at the delivery firm raised a total of £10, 815 highlights key issues for business owners for the charity. when accommodating deaf or hard of hearing A fantasy Formula One competition visitors, including: was one of the money raising initiatives organised by staff. Safety – How to put adequate evacuation Oxford DHL staff stand proud after working so hard to raise money for the ODCS Other events included a toy sale, an procedures in place to alert guests with Easter bonnet competition, a quiz and a Staff have helped ODCS members many businesses and public sector bodies hearing loss in case of an emergency disco which all helped get to the impressive rewrite their CVs and assisted them with in the region. Communication – Advice for staff when total. what to say and what not to say. ROBIN aims to support charities and speaking to someone with hearing loss, and The society was up against some very “For instance, rather than simply stating community groups by sharing skills and information on disability awareness and sign professional charities who were also vying that a job applicant is deaf we would now using resources in creative ways. language training courses. to be the chosen recipient of the coming say something more like hearing impaired According to Martell-Bundock, this is a big Facilities – Information on equipment that year’s fundraising. with excellent communication skills.” change from a year ago when ODCS was can assist guests with hearing loss, such as ODCS’s chair, Naomi Martell-Bundock According to the chairman, this is the being run by a few parents who tried to do hearing loops and text phones, as well as said, “We had never done this sort of thing sort of thing ODCS already offers but when everything and with virtually no fundraising advice on completing an Access Statement before, but we spoke from the heart and it comes from a potential employer it can plan in operation. - a written description of a venue’s facilities tried to explain what it is like to be deaf or really hit home. Any families, with a deaf child, who would and services, to inform people with access to be the parent of a deaf child,” she told As well as helping youngsters who belong like to find out about the support on offer needs. Hearing Times. to the society, the delivery firm has also can find out more at www.oxfordshire-deaf- After choosing ODCS, the courier mentored the team that run the charity. childrens-society.org.uk. This new guide adds to a wealth of free company has offered much more than This has meant ODCS has been able to “We hope the money we have raised will tools and resources VisitEngland has holding fundraising events. raise awareness of its services in the wider help to improve facilities for the children,” developed with a range of partners to help “DHL have also offered us work experience community. said DHL spokesman Barbara Hall. attractions, accommodation operators and opportunities for our older members which The charity has been introduced to For more information or to donate to other tourism business across England offer can be difficult for us to find sometimes,” the Responsible Oxfordshire Business the ODCS visit www.ndcs.org.uk and the best possible experience to disabled said Naomi. Involvement Network which represents search for the Oxford branch. visitors. The national tourist board has also released a series of short videos highlighting the experiences of deaf guests when staying Diary of a cochlear implant: Justin’s journey in hotels in England. The videos are designed Justin Evans, a 42-year-old married father of three, was diagnosed as being profoundly deaf when he was five. He to alert business owners to a range of issues reveals his experience of having a cochlear implant in the first of a three part diary affecting deaf guests, from wake up calls to ordering room service. 17 January As well as partnering with VisitEngland to Juliet England This was more of an introduction to the produce Listen Up!, Action on Hearing Loss I still don’t quite know what has caused the various CI models available, including AB also recently assisted the national tourist problems with my hearing. They think it may (Advanced Bionics), Med-El and Cochlear. It board in offering hearing loop testing to be to do with some tablets my mother took just gave me a brief outline of what to expect quality assured attractions as an extra part when she was pregnant with me. and so on. The next appointment was to test of their annual VAQAS (Visitor Attraction Like so many people with a hearing my hearing, both with aids and then without. Quality Assurance Scheme) assessment. loss, I’ve just adapted. But work can be a Ross Calladine, VisitEngland’s Head of struggle, especially for group conversations, 13 February Business Support, said, “Visitors who have and I can’t use the phone, apart from in an A few weeks later, I had the chance to a health condition or disability – and their emergency via TextDirect on a minicom. And go to a user meeting, and meet others with companions - spend over £2billion a year in there’s always email. cochlear implants, though I’ve already heard England, so it is vital that we integrate the However, most of my colleagues know me the stories of friends who have had CIs fitted. needs of visitors with physical and sensory well and understand. I’m a Bought Ledger I also had the chance to see different models access requirements into our everyday Supervisor for an architecture practice in and learn more about what they had to offer service provision. Reading, and am now in my fourteenth year in depth. “Listen Up! is designed to help tourism working for them. businesses become more deaf aware, and I’d been discussing the possibility of a 04 March attract even more of these loyal and valuable Justin a “perfect candidate” for the procedure cochlear implant for a long time but was Today I went to an expectations meeting, customers, and Action on Hearing Loss is the reluctant to go down what seemed like quite and they stressed the importance of having I’m expecting to hear a few beeps when it ideal partner for this project.” an extreme route initially, without seeing first low expectations initially, and that there is switched on, and at first won’t be able Chief Executive of Action on Hearing Loss, whether there were any other options. will be quite a few appointments to attend to hear speech, or anything like it. I’m Paul Breckell, said, “We are delighted to be The question I faced was whether to post-surgery. For example, to switch on expecting robotic sounds and then gradually working with Visit England to publish the have it done now or to wait until my hearing the implant. My brain will need to register increased clarity. So I’m currently looking to Listen Up! guide.” potentially got worse. and recognise sounds again. The switch on be switched on in mid-May. My type of hearing loss made me a perfect happens six weeks after the operation, and candidate for the procedure. So we decided until then I won’t hear anything. 02 April I’d go for it. It was also stressed that the op will I turned up for the big op only to have it I was only toying with the idea of having a effectively destroy what hearing I have at the cancelled! The hospital was on black alert CI just before Christmas, when I decided to moment so there is no point wearing hearing because it was just after the Easter holiday put myself forward. My local authority referred aids. and the weather had been severe. me to the Implant Centre, South of England I’m feeling nervous and excited at the I was hanging around for eight hours Cochlear Implant Centre (SOECIC) in same time. Because it’s all happened so with nothing to eat, and communication Southampton, where I had my assessments. quickly, I don’t think it’s quite sunk in yet - it’s could have been better. Now I’m waiting for They also needed to get in touch with my been less than three months since the first the op to be rescheduled and will have to local health authority for them to fund my assessment. psyche myself up to go through the whole assessments and the operation if it went Now I’m being rushed through to have the thing again. But I understand this can’t be ahead. op on April 2nd. I guess that will give me less helped, and will just have to wait for the next So the ball started to roll from January, I time to worry and I’m going in with an open appointment to come through. thought I would have plenty of time to decide mind, and have been told that if all goes well whether to go ahead with the op, but things the audiogram levels will be nearer the top. Follow part two in the next issue of VisitEngland have launched the guide with happened far more quickly than I expected. So, fingers crossed! In the early stages Hearing Times, published in August 2013 Action on Heaing Loss Hearing Times Summer 2013 International news 5 Leicester beauty Prince Harry learns sign language in Africa Prince Harry returned to Africa to visit his children’s charity, and learnt sign language at a school for deaf children wins Miss India On the young royals’s trip, one of the first apron to cook traditional sweet bread cakes Nehal Bhogaita from Leicester was things he did was learn a little sign language and learned a little sign language from the crowned Miss India Worldwide in a so he could communicate with deaf children children in a classroom. pageant in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia who are supported by his children’s charity, Both princes joined in as the class took Sentebale. them through the sign language for the The Prince has recently returned from a phrase, “We love Prince Harry and Prince four-month deployment to Afghanistan, and Seeiso,” according to The Telegraph. arrived in southern Africa for a three-day visit He also was to visit a school for the blind, to Sentebale projects. where he would watch kids learning Braille Sentebale, which means ‘forget me not’ in and play some football, and inspect a church the local language, was founded by Prince project that helps bring housing and clean Harry with a friend, Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, water for needy communities. in memory of both their mothers. The kingdom He is winding up the day at a Sentebala of Lesotho is a former British protectorate and fundraising gala in neighbouring one of the poorest nations in Africa. Nearly Johannesburg, where he is scheduled half the population of 1.8 million are under 18 to attend a reception and give a speech, and a third of those are orphans or vulnerable. according to palace press officials. The dinner Prince Harry started with a visit to a school is to raise funds for a new project Sentebale is for deaf children, where he performed dance launching to build a centre for young people Prince Harry receives a warm welcome and is Nehal Bhogaita in traditional Indian dress moves with the kids, donned a teddy-bear and children with HIV/AIDS. taught some basic sign lanuage Nehal Bhogaita was the first deaf contestant to enter Miss India Worldwide, said a spokesperson for the competition, “Nehal wants to be a role model for people Chinese hospitals to help 16k deprived deaf kids like her who are deaf and disabled and she has done just that.” Six hospitals in Beijing and Shanghai have been asked to implant artificial cochlea for 16,000 deaf children living in For the talent segment of the competition, economically backward Hainan, Guizhou and Qinghai provinces and Tibet and Ningxia autonomous regions Bhogaita performed a Bollywood dance The requests are part of a national at an ongoing international conference on routine by feeling the vibrations of the music. program co-sponsored by the National prevention of deafness that 400,000 deaf Her dancing has already made her famous Health and Family Planning Commission kids in China have so far had their hearing in Great Britain, where she has participated and the China Disabled Persons’ problems cured or eased by implanting in the TV show ‘Just Dance’ and the NRI Federation, which is aiming to cure artificial cochlea or wearing hearing aids. show ‘Boogie Woogie’. 16,865 deaf people from 26 provinces, Currently, China has 27.8 million people Bhogaita is also an activist with Action municipalities and ethnic autonomous with hearing difficulties, while the global Deafness, an NGO for whom she leads a regions. figure stands at 360 million, according to dance project. The central government will provide the the WHO conference being held in Beijing. Jasveer Kaur Sandhu of Malaysia was whole 322 million U.S. dollars needed for WHO predicted an increasing number crowned first runner-up and Surbhi Sachdev the medical project, to cover the operation of people will acquire hearing difficulties of of Oman was crowned second runner-up of cost and training for the children afterward. various kinds, due to the world’s ageing the Miss India Worldwide pageant. Deaf children in China are set to benefit In a related development, Xinhua learned population. Advertisement Assistive Listening Devices See our new eBay shop - Conversor Assistive Listening

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Call: +44 (0)870 066 3499 Visit: www.conversorproducts.com Email: [email protected] 6 International news Hearing Times Summer 2013 Bakar Ali: What it means to be deaf in Somalia Google Glass set for Today, there are millions of deaf people in developing countries that do not have access to education. In Somalia, deaf children are left neglected. They do not go to school. How would a deaf child feel when his siblings are going to school speech-to-text display but he is left playing on the ground? Lonely, this is the real experience of deaf children in Somalia A patent taken out by Google hints at a system to help hard-of-hearing and Let me share with you some information In addition to these labels, deaf also are deaf users detect and interpret nearby about being deaf in Somalia. I grew up in categorized as mentally unstable. They are sounds being incorporated into Glass the Somali capital – Mogadishu – and spent made fun of and mocked. whole my life there until a few years ago. Somalia has been without a central The glasses’ heads-up display could show While I lived in Somalia, I was not exposed to government since 1991, due to the civil war, arrows and flashing lights to indicate the the deaf culture. This is because I grew up as and all public services have collapsed. The direction and intensity level of the sound, and hearing until I was in the 9th grade. I lost my Somali National Association for the Deaf even display the words nearby people are hearing suddenly. Like many deaf in Africa, (SONAD), have been advocating for the speaking my hearing loss was caused by malaria. The education of deaf children. Unfortunately, The patent issued to Google is titled medicine that the doctors used to cure me there are not any public education services “Displaying sound indications on a wearable affected my hearing. in Somalia which makes their task very computing system.” “There has never been a school difficult. The governments that have come The system would integrate a speech- to power since the start of the civil war have to-text feature that determines the text of for the deaf in Somalia. Most never been able to function well. Because of speech and displays it for the wearer of the deaf people who grew up in this, there is no government office that can glasses. Somalia do not know how to provide services for the deaf. Google hopes the technology will help Most schools in Somalia are privately Bakar Ali raising awareness of the poor people with limited hearing avoid danger. write or read.” owned and managed locally or by international treatment of deaf people in Somalia “A user may be at a crosswalk attempting After I became deaf, my life took a new NGOs. They are run by people who mostly he tried to drive a public bus. When I was in to cross a street, and an oncoming car may path. As I said, I was in high school but when are profit oriented rather than goal oriented. Mogadishu last month, I tried to talk with the be honking at the user in order to alert to I became deaf, things became bitter; I could While thousands of schools that function well Somali government about this, but it did not the user that the car is driving through the no longer compete with my hearing peers – I have been opened in Somalia during the past work. During my interview on Somali National crosswalk.” joined the deaf community. decades, there have not been any successful TV, I argued that the system is unfair and Google notes in the patent description. This is a community that has long been schools for the deaf. The few schools were unacceptable. As a deaf student in America, “It may be helpful to indicate to the user the neglected in Somalia. This is a community not able to reach their goals; most notable I have the freedom to drive my car wherever direction from which the honk is coming (e.g., that has long been oppressed in Somalia, was Borama School for the deaf located in I want; but in Somalia I could not. This is one from the left or the right), and the intensity of which I never knew before becoming deaf “In Mogadishu, deaf are of the obstacles that deaf people in Somalia the honk (e.g., in order to indicate how close myself. There has never been a school for face. the oncoming car it to the user).” the deaf in Somalia. Most deaf people who unable to find jobs and Things have been improving a little bit Other aspects of the patent include a grew up in Somalia do not know how to write necessary services. Recently, these days. Recently, the Somali National “finger-operable touch pad” on the head- or read. Mogadishu imposed a new Association for the Deaf (SONAD) in mounted device for accepting user input and So there I was, a recently deafened partnership with Deaf Unity UK, implemented microphones spaced around the wearable teenager, struggling with my new life and policy that banned deaf a training program for deaf leaders. About 12 device to ensure detection of sounds from my new identity. Somali people have a habit people from driving .” local deaf leaders were trained in Mogadishu outside the wearer’s field of view. of naming a person based on their looks or the self-independent state, Somaliland. in the areas of leadership and capacity There would also be multiple video cameras state of being, and I got called ‘Dhagool’, In Mogadishu, where the highest numbers building. There are a few deaf schools in to capture various views, and the option to which means deaf. of deaf people in Somalia live, the situation Somalia, but with limited resources and “overlay computer-generated graphics in the In western countries, it is totally is not good. Deaf are unable to find jobs and teachers. user’s view of the physical world.” unacceptable for someone to be addressed necessary services. Recently, Mogadishu Bakar Ali is the President of SONAD, an In addition to speech transcription, the text as ‘half legged, half handed, disabled, blind, imposed a new policy that banned deaf organisation with the aim of improving indications could tell the user the source of deaf’ etc. But in Somalia, it is common. people from driving in Mogadishu. A deaf the life and culture of Deaf children and a sound, for example, a dog, cat, human, People have no respect for disabled people. man was arrested by Mogadishu police after people in Somalia. musical instrument, or car. Pregnant deaf woman killed by Study challenges perceptions of misprescribed medication children with hearing implants The Ghana National Association of the Deaf (GNAD) has observed that the inability of doctors to interpret sign language was leading to the wrong drugs A new study presented at the 48th Annual American Neurotology Society being given to deaf patients resulting in the death of a pregnant deaf woman is challenging a long held belief among speech therapists and audiologists that bad behaviour in young children with hearing implants is an indicator of Mr. Sambian, Executive Director of the GNAD said lack of sign language interpreters device failure and a predictor of poor language development was resulting in inappropriate diagnosis Researchers at The Ohio State University behaviours should predict slowed language because of the communication barrier Wexner Medical Center conducted a study development, but the Ohio State researchers among deaf patients and the hearing medical of children with cochlear implants. From didn’t find a relationship. officers. the ages of 18 to 48 months, no consistent “Our research did not consistently correlate Mr. Sambian explained that the situation correlation was found between aggression behaviour with language abilities at the ages had resulted in incorrect prescriptions that or inattentiveness and delayed language tested.” said Aaron Moberly, MD, a fellow in caused the preventable death of a pregnant acquisition for the children. the Department of Otolaryngology and Head woman. “Our findings are contrary to the 2005 and Neck Surgery at Ohio State, and co- To break the communication barrier, consensus on soft failures, which suggests author of the study. many deaf persons in most cases had to that the development of bad behaviours in “Since it is difficult to tell when implants bear the entire cost of engaging a private toddlers is indicative of a language delay and have failed, other measures besides sign language interpreter in order to access a red flag for implant malfunction,” said Susan behaviour should be used to predict possible quality health. Nittrouer, professor and director of research language difficulties down the road.” The Executive Director appealed to the in the Department of Otolaryngology and Even though cochlear implants have Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Pregnant deaf women in Ghana are at risk Head and Neck Surgery at Ohio State’s improved the communication abilities of Service to train sign language interpreters to access quality health care like other normal College of Medicine. children with hearing loss, many of them still man the regional and district health centres. person, should be a source of concern for “We hope this early research will encourage lag behind their peers when speaking. He said, “the government should, as matter all. clinicians to look at other diagnostic “Occasionally cochlear implant devices of policy sponsor health personnel to study He appealed to relatives of deaf patients to indicators and intervention methods, and do fail, and it can be very difficult to identify sign language interpretation”. get sign language interpreters to prevent the not just assume the behaviour is related to a when this occurs in very young children,” As an interim measure, Mr. Sambian isolation and trauma patients with hearing mechanical issue.” Moberly said. suggested the Ghana Health Service need inability go through at all times. Among other factors, the checklist included “Because these kids are dependent on to prepare a section of the nurses in sign Mr. Sampana noted it was only through the the appearance of ‘bad’ behaviours and this device to enable them to have access language interpretation to address, “the silent medium of sign language that deaf persons aggression or self injury and inattentiveness to auditory information for language ordeal deaf persons go through in various could enjoy and exercise their human rights as indicators of sub-optimal cochlear implant development, we need to have good options health centres”. and contribute to social and economic performance widely referred to as soft for identifying and intervening when there is Robert Sampana, Advocacy Officer of development of the country. failures. According to the checklist, these a problem.” the GNAD, said there was lack of sufficient He, therefore, called on government to information on deaf people pertaining to recognize Ghana Sign Language as official culture and language by healthcare personnel language for the deaf and make provision Read more news online at and that create enormous challenges. for sign language interpreters in healthcare He said the inability of deaf persons to centres across the country. www.hearingtimes.co.uk Hearing Times Summer 2013 Technology 7 Review: The Listenor Pro, assisstive listening device New hearing aid set I was asked to test out the Conversor Listenor Pro Assistive Listening Device for a week. I suffer with considerable hearing loss in both ears and have done for over 20 years. To combat this I have two ‘in the ear’ digital hearing aids to boost market at the other. This is very easy to do and New affordable hearing aids are Tony McGuire produces very high quality direct sound. The being developed in Germany that I work as an Educational Consultant in only problem is the amount of cable crossing could offer very high performance the sphere of disengaged students which your lounge and you probably have to sit in The device, which is being created by involves me in lots of small group meetings the seat nearest the TV as the cable is only the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing and staff discussion groups and these are 1.5 metres long. Engineering and Automation IPA in Stuttgart, probably the areas where I normally have Secondly by placing the Listenor Pro close will be placed between the inner and middle of most difficulty in obtaining clarity of sound. to the TV or pointing it at the TV and listening the ear, transmitting signals to the inner parts The Conversor Listenor Pro is a sound through the headset or ear pieces. Sound is of the ear through mechanical vibrations. amplifier for all listening situations. The not so direct so usually has to be set at a few Even though the implant will be small for instrument itself is akin to a small slim modern notches higher than in method one. patients, it will be able to have an output mobile phone in size and appearance. It is Finally by plugging the microphone into the volume of up to 120dB. extremely easy to operate. There are only Listenor Pro and placing that near to the TV Engineer Dominik Kaltenbacher said, five functions to control, the first is the on/off and then listening through the headphones or “The electroacoustic transducer works on function and the four remaining functions are earpieces. the same principle as bending actuators. volume up or down and sound quality control. In all these situations the Listenor Pro This high performance is necessary for good All of these are controlled by depressing the performs very, very effectively. It gives a speech comprehension, particularly for high outer quadrant of the centre button in a very good level of sound with a wide range of tone pitched sounds.” similar way to using the central button on adjustment. In fact I found I could hear the The Listenor Pro being used to watch TV The bending parts of the aid will be formed a TV remote. The device bleeps to let the TV perfectly by just using the Listenor Pro, louder as their deafness progresses. Using from silicon, the parts will bend upwards user know each time they have increased without my hearing aids. the microphone in conjunction with the and form a mechanical vibration in the ear. or decreased the sound level or quality by You can also use it for listening with your headphones or earpieces actually allowed Such vibrations will then spread to the round a notch. Once these controls have been PC. As a hearing aid user this has always me to adjust the level of my own voice in window membrane of the inner ear and thus mastered which probably takes all of two been one of the most difficult situations for conversation, something my wife considered simulate the patient’s auditory nerve. minutes then it simply a question of selecting me as using the headphones supplied with a Godsend. Developers stated that due to the low cost and fitting the appliances most suitable to the the computer produces poor quality sound of Secondly the voice I was listening to was of design, the hearing aids will be available listening situation at the time. insufficient volume. Both of these problems much clearer and almost filtered as far as on the market at low prices. The small were overcome by using the earpieces or background noise was concerned. transducer will hopefully be comfortable for “The Listenor Pro is the best jackplug with the Listenor Pro. I found it very Moreover, the telephone adaptor kit is easy patients too. piece of equipment of its kind easy to listen without having my hearing aids to use, the only drawback being that many Hearing aids are recommended for all that I have ever used. It made in at all. people now have cordless phones. However individuals who are suffering from, or have When speaking to others, I used the device when I used it on a friend’s telephone I was the onset of, hearing loss. With recent me much more confident in in conjunction with the microphone provided. able to cope without hearing aids in. technological developments, scientists hope social situations” There were two advantages to using the The Listenor Pro is the best piece of to implement Wi-Fi and remote control in new device in this situation. equipment of its kind that I have ever used. models and forms. There are several ways to listen to the TV Firstly it actually amplified my own voice. It made me much more confident in social The research team are currently testing with the device. One of the biggest problems that people situations. It also helped the rest of my family prototypes of the hearing aid, and hope to Firstly by plugging the TV adaptor cable develop as their deafness creeps up on to listen to our audio devices at the same have the first full trials implemented next into the TV at one end and the Listenor Pro them is that they start to talk louder and level and in comfort. year. Advertisement 8 Arts & Culture Hearing Times Summer 2013 Review: Globaleyes by Chickenshed at Rayne Theatre, North London Shape create national Globaleyes is one of Chickenshed’s best performances. created in 2002, inspired by the values of Anita Roddick disability arts archive Lizzie Ward Shape has received initial support Anita Roddick, founder of the Body Shop for a £962,000 bid from the Heritage saw the impact of globalisation, how it was Lottery Fund to create the National distorting social morals and creating an ever Disability Arts Collection and Archive widening economic imbalance. Chickenshed saw this as a call to arms, as a way of creating thought-provoking and powerful theatre. I have seen Globaleyes in each of its incarnations – in 2002, and again in 2005 when they performed in Edinburgh. Every time, I take away a sense of what needs to be done, what changes are essential, how large the gap is between reality and a vision of an inclusive, balanced and peaceful world. This time, the message is ever more important, ever more essential, in a world that is rocked by war and poverty, a world where governments are creating larger economic imbalances between the rich and poor in society. “Globaleyes is one of the best pieces of political and visual Chickenshed performing one of their many extremely dynamic group dance routines dance theatre I have seen. It Great Britain from a Wheelchair by Tony Heaton the boundaries of political discussion entire synopsis, which whilst admirable, continues to push boundaries As a deaf person, perhaps there was doesn’t address the need for clear and The project, led by Shape, will be delivered and raise awareness of issues only a couple of things I feel could have accessible captions. Creative captioning in partnership with the National Disability Arts that often get swept under the been worked on. I applaud Chickenshed can be incredible and adds to the overall Collection and Archive Community Interest for incorporating creative captioning, performance, but there is always a need Company. political carpet.” especially as many theatres and companies to come up with a way of being accessible Tony Heaton, Chief Executive of Shape The performance is visual, using dance, see captioning as an afterthought. whilst allowing for creative freedom. said, “This is the first disability-led collection music, voiceovers and creative captioning to However, there were some teething Globaleyes is one of the best pieces of and archive in the world and will be truly impart the message to the audience. Even problems, there was a moment within the political and visual dance theatre I have unique. For the first time the achievements of without the captioning and the voiceovers, performance where a poem was spoken by seen. It continues to push boundaries and disabled artists will be properly documented the dance imparts the message, it tells us a dancer on stage and the writing on the raise awareness of issues that often get and our rich history will be told.” all we need to know about modern society backdrop was garbled and impossible to swept under the political carpet. In a time NDACA CIC coordinates the NDACA and the impact of globalisation. Through make out. where the chasm between rich and poor Network which comprises a number of costume, lighting and facial expressions, It is important to strike a balance between continues to grow, and governments spend organisations working in partnership. These include Buckinghamshire New we learn about how power, fame, money, creativity and access, and whilst most more on developing weapons than on the University; DaDaFest; Disability Arts Online; poverty, violence and fear create the of the performance was understandable country’s children; this message is more filmpro; Graeae Theatre Company; Holton conditions underlying the moral problems from a visual perspective, I felt as though essential than ever. Lee; The Research Centre for Museums and within our global society. Every dancer I was missing out. We were given a To see one of Chickenshed’s Galleries (RCMG); Shape and Zinc. comes together to create dialogue, to push hand-out before the performance with the performances visit chickenshed.org.uk The partnership brings together expertise in disability arts, heritage, education, theatre, Marvel Comics to launch advertising community arts, moving image and web Hard of hearing development. campaign for hearing impaired children The project aims to preserve, digitise, singer wins prize and make public the significant works of art Marvel sprang into action last year to help convince a 4-year-old boy that, and items that have been important to the yes, superheroes do wear hearing aids, and now the publisher is taking the Rebecca Pedersen, 21, has become the second-youngest person to win Disability Arts Movement. inspirational message to hearing-impaired children across the country The archive will help to capture an Christina D’Allesandro reached out to the Metropolitan Opera competition understanding of the historical influence of Marvel last spring after her son Anthony Smith Pedersen’s rich and resonant tones Disability Arts and the social struggles of told he wasn’t going to use his hearing aid impressed the world-class opera judges at the movement in changing attitudes towards anymore because “superheroes don’t have the event and helped her to rise above the disabled people. blue ears.” 1,800 contestants. The HLF development fund of £99,600 has The company responded first with evidence “It was just supposed to be a learning been awarded to help Shape and NDACA of Hawkeye’s hearing loss in the 1980s and experience and it turned into a dream come progress their plans to collate and digitise the then with artwork by Nelson Ribeiro and true,” Pedersen said. “Whether or not I made archive material and to apply for the full grant Manny Mederos depicting Anthony Smith as it to the finals, I would be singing on the at a later date. the superhero Blue Ear, who even has his Met stage. It was surreal. It was a beautiful Carole Souter, Chief Executive of the own Wikipedia entry. The story was picked up moment.” Heritage Lottery Fund, said, “We’re delighted by international media, leading D’Allesandro Darrell Babidge, her coach said, “She was to be giving initial support for Shape’s to receive emails from from across the globe new to the whole idea of competitions and ambitious and thoughtful plans to tell the story from the parents of hearing impaired children. she just blew it out of the water,” of disability arts – a story that has never been The New Hampshire Union Leader reports The shocking factor of Pedersen’s amazing properly told before now. that D’Allesandro and Anthony are traveling talent is that the opera singer has only been “This is particularly timely after last to New York City, where Marvel and hearing- singing for three years. She said that her high September’s inspiring Paralympics and we aid manufacturer Phonak will unveil a poster school choir experience was not a success. hope that as the project develops it will tap featuring Iron Man that will be distributed to “I couldn’t sing parts for the life of me,” into and build on the legacy of London 2012.” pediatric audiology clinics nationwide. Iron Pedersen said. “I’m deaf in one ear so I The project aims to work with and mentor Man himself will be in attendance at the public couldn’t sing alto. So my choir teacher’s like, both disabled and non-disabled volunteers to presentation, held at the Center for Hearing Anthony Smith meets his hero, Iron Man ‘Well, we’ll put her on soprano.’ Then it was collect, preserve and catalogue artefacts. and Communication. explains that a hearing aid is just a piece of like, ‘Shh, Becca, be quiet.’ Because I would It will capture oral histories of key As a person who uses science to both technology that betters a person’s life, just like stick out like a sore thumb.” protagonists and establish and promote sustain his heart and battle evil, Iron Man is a his armor. However, after a few years of training her an on-line digital Archive to engage with superhero that knows full well how beneficial “We’re hoping people can see these posters voice and ears, she was able to step onto the communities all over the UK. technology can be, so it made sense that and walk away feeling positive about hearing stage at the Metropolitan Opera House and Joe Bidder, Director, NDACA CIC said, “This he’d be the newest hero to team-up with the loss and those that rely on hearing aids,” sing the arias that she loves. award realises a 15 year long objective. We hearing-impaired super hero Blue Ear, who Marvel Editor Bill Rosemann told the Union “Ultimately, they all had things in them I will continue to strengthen and diversify the similarly uses his hearing aid to make the Leader. could relate to, and so instead of just singing NDACA Network by appointing further partner world a better place. “When Christina told us about Anthony, she I was speaking from the heart,” Pedersen organisations across the UK, particularly in The poster, written by Christos Gage and taught us about some of the unique challenges said. the galleries, museums and community arts drawn by Paco Medina, depicts Iron Man that kids who wear hearing aids face. When After her victory, Pedersen received offers sectors.” intervening in a bullying incident on Ethan, a our friends at Phonak heard about how the from agents and opera companies, but she For more information on the disability hearing-impaired boy. When a group of boys Marvel heroes helped him, they realised we turned them down to continue studying at arts archive visit www.ndaca.org.uk/ refuse to play soccer with Ethan, Iron Man could help spread the message even further.” BYU until she graduates in 2015. NDACACIC Hearing Times Summer 2013 Arts & Culture 9 Signing Shakespeare for the deaf: Paul Belmonte’s story A chance meeting with a deaf woman propelled Belmonte into a career that has seen him become interwoven with the deaf community as an interpreter we see their world being turned upside down. accompanying body language, and choose on a freelance basis. One of the reasons We have to be sensitive and professional, but which word to use. He works full-time for he likes theatre is its potential for high jinks. sometimes I do shed a wee tear.” Deaf Action. It is clear he feels a bond with One time, when signing for a pantomime in The story of how Paul came to be here is those he interprets for, yet he is careful never Kirkcaldy, he found himself dancing with the in itself worthy of dramatisation. Having left to overstep the mark. Conscious of the pride Dame. school at 15, he was scrubbing tenement and ownership deaf people feel towards “They needed me off my spot because a stairs for a living when he met a deaf woman BSL, he presents himself as a guest in their pyrotechnic was going off so they asked the at the church he used to attend and decided to community. blue fairy to dance with me. She was beautiful learn to sign in order to communicate with her. “They’re very welcoming and good-natured and I thought ‘nice one’, but she said, ‘I’m more than I would be if I had to share my most stage left, I cannae dae it,’ so they asked the “It’s just so beautiful to watch private moments with an outsider, but they are cat and she was lovely and I thought ‘brilliant’, a deaf person in full flow. I still very much, ‘This is ours. We have taught but she said, ‘I’m stage left too,’ so the call am proficient, but I will never you the language, we’re allowing you to use went up ‘Billy’ – and Billy had wild hair, fake be able to use it like a native it but don’t ever forget who it belongs to.’ And breasts and lipstick and that’s who I ended up Paul Belmonte in full flow on stage in Scotland it’s just so beautiful to watch a deaf person dancing with.” Paul Belmonte holds up his index finger and speaker. They’re expressing in full flow. I am proficient, but I will never be Paul derives the greatest satisfaction from hits it backwards and forwards with a closed themselves like Oscar Wilde able to use it like a native speaker. They’re being able to serve as a conduit for the views fist before bringing two horizontal index fingers and I’m more like Manuel from expressing themselves like Oscar Wilde and of deaf people and a means by which they together, then wagging the right one. “The I’m more like Manuel from Fawlty Towers.” can participate fully in the hearing world. The man who robbed you – like what?” he says Fawlty Towers” In the meantime, Belmonte is an enthusiastic pivotal role BSL interpreters play in the lives paraphrasing, for my benefit, an exchange Already able to sign the alphabet, he quickly advocate for a job in which he has shared of those they serve was brought home to him between a clown and the rogue Autolycus grasped that, unlike learning basic Italian, a platform with Northern Irish peace activist during his first funeral mass. from Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. which he found relatively easy, mastering BSL and Nobel laureate Mairead Corrigan, met the But it’s his facial expressions, a furrowing of would require a shift in perspective. While BFG, dined with a Finnish blackjack croupier “‘I can’t imagine losing my the eyebrows here, a pursing of the lips there, spoken/written languages are linear, one and attended the Queen’s garden party. mother or father and having that invest the story with real drama. Watching word coming directly after the other, signing Having to adapt to unusual circumstances to go to the funeral and not him fill the space in front of him with fluid is three-dimensional and has a dynamic and can be demanding. A less obvious challenge understand it.’ That’s why I’m shapes, conjuring up images from thin air, it is structure all its own. for BSL interpreters is understanding dialects. impossible not to see signing for deaf people “You have to think in pictures,” Belmonte As signing is an evolving language, regional here. That’s what gets me up as an art form. says. “You have to set the scene. You can’t differences have emerged, particularly in in the mornings” Belmonte is a qualified British Sign say, ‘The man stands on the bridge,’ you Scotland where education was centred Language interpreter; as such he is the have to start with the bridge so the man has on schools for deaf people, including “I was getting quite uptight because I interface between Scotland’s deaf and something to stand on.” Donaldson’s – formerly in Edinburgh, now couldn’t get hold of the priest. I didn’t know hearing populations. In any given week, he The facial expressions are not an added in Linlithgow – and St Vincent’s in Glasgow. what hymns they were going to sing, I didn’t can find himself accompanying clients to extra, they can radically alter the meaning. While Donaldson’s is non-denominational, St have a eulogy,” he says. “And then I looked hospital appointments or parents’ meetings or For example, the sign for “angry” – a cupped Vincent’s was run by nuns. The signing that across at the deaf person who was there for disciplinary hearings. hand moved up and down at chest level as if developed there was heavily influenced by a close relative and I thought, ‘I can’t imagine “There’s a lot of health work. Sometimes scratching – can mean anything from irritated Irish Sign Language, and can prove baffling losing my mother or father and having to go things will be going well and we’ll be giving to livid. An interpreter at, say, a meeting to for east-coasters. to the funeral and not understand it.’ That’s people good news, but on other occasions we resolve a grievance between a deaf worker VictorianWallInterpreting for theatreHearingTimes performances Ad 13/5/13 is an why 11:26 I’m here. Page That’s 1 what gets me up in the will be giving them the very worst news. Then and a boss, will have to weigh up all the enjoyable sideline, something Belmonte does mornings.” Advertisement Advertisement

A ROYAL COURT THEATRE AND FUEL CO-PRODUCTION

ROYAL COURT THEATRE BSL SIGN INTERPRETED PERFORMANCE SATURDAY 1 JUNE, 3.30PM CAPTIONED PERFORMANCE WEDNESDAY 5 JUNE, 7.45PM 020 7565 5000 royalcourttheatre.com

THE VICTORIAN IN THEWALL A comedy (with songs) By Will Adamsdale with additional material from the company

“ADAMSDALE RIDES ROUGHSHOD OVER THE BOUNDARIES BETWEEN COMEDY & THEATRE” THE GUARDIAN

fueltheatre.com Funded by Arts Council England, the PRS for Music Foundation and the Unity Theatre Trust. Accessible performances funded by the City Bridge Trust. Fuel receives National Portfolio Funding from Arts Council England. 10 Arts & Culture Hearing Times Summer 2013 Deaf DJ visualises sound to play live African theatre Robbie Wilde sees and feels music instead of hearing it. He lost his hearing at the age of 7 and is deaf in his right ear, with 80% hearing loss in his left breaks into Europe A South African deaf theatre organisation is set to perform in Europe at the Clin d’Oeil Festival

I’ve never felt like this before. My heart soars when I think of them. They’ve totally changed my life. And when they’re not there, I get all worried and can’t wait to be reunited with them. I am in love. So just who has Deafinitely Girly – The ‘Listen with Your Eyes’ cast in full costume commitment phobe of the century – The festival is a one-of-a-kind, multi- fallen in love with? disciplinary event that aims to highlight the richness of the sign language community. And before my ma gets all excited The chosen body is the Catalina Theatre and buys a new hat, I’d better confess. for its breakthrough performance of ‘Listen I’m in love with my hearing aids. with Your Eyes.’ Robbie Wilde also known as ‘That Deaf DJ’ looking ready for business in New York City The director of the Catalina Theatre, Alison Swannick, said she was elated that the play You see, it’s been eight months The Starkey Hearing Foundation sponsors hear a lot of tunes from ‘95 and older in my was chosen for the European fest. since I first started wearing my snazzy Robbie to keep on DJing around the world. sets. But when it comes to new music, I feel “When I got the e-mail, I screamed. I never Phonak Nathos aids. Eight months They sponsor a hearing aid in his left ear, the bass frequencies that come out of the expected to get that invitation. since I agreed to our first date, at an and he communicates mostly through subwoofers. The bigger the bass, the better “On the other hand, I am a bit scared. At audiology clinic. I was dreading the reading lips. Robbie spoke about his love for me! first it felt like it wasn’t even real. idea of committing to hearing aids. of music, how he remained resolute despite “I actually have a partnership with SubPac, “The first thought I had was, ‘where is the his disability, and how he uses technology to a device that sends out just bass frequencies money going to come from?’, because the When we walked out of the stand out of the crowd. into your back. You can really get a perfect only difficulty was that we would have to pay audiology clinic, I was hoping to give “Music has always been in my life, starting feel for a song with it, all my hearing buddies half the airfare. And we’re looking for funders. them the push. But something made with my father’s love of the beat. Going to love to use it. It’s like headphones for the deaf “But I was amazed that South Africa is me stick with them, day by day, until sleep, waking up, music always there at community, and when hearing people use it going to be in the European Deaf Festival. gradually, living without no longer home. Even after losing my hearing, I was without headphones they get to experience “It’s like our time has finally come. It’s more seemed possible. always trying to hear everything…it wasn’t music as I do all the time. for the young actors who are involved in this, easy! “When mixing and performing, I use so I’m ecstatic for them.” Sure, we’ve had our ups and downs. “My parents really inspired me. They taught a program called Serrato because the Last year, Swannick hosted the first deaf There was the time I flung them me to always give 110%, and gave me my waveforms, the images of the sound, are theatre festival in South Africa, Talking across the tube when they picked up start in DJing by offering my dad’s restaurant colored. This allows me to separate the Hands. the squealing of brakes and I thought to host a party for my 18th birthday party. vocals, which I cannot hear, from the bass and Chatting about the response to that event, my head was going to explode. Or It was packed! It attracted enough local instrumental parts. These visuals substitute she said, “The festival was a success, but the evening when I took them out and attention that I began playing around town, my hearing, and I don’t use it as a shortcut there was not enough audience support. realised in horror how quiet my life so I kept mixing and trying new techniques. – I use it to be more creative. Technology It was the first time, so we learnt a lot. But was. “It is hard being a deaf DJ. I remember definitely helps me get more advanced with it was a difficult experience and we had no some music because its from my childhood, my techniques, but I don’t ever use it as a sponsors. My hearings aids also treat me to before I lost my hearing. That’s why you’ll ‘cheat,’ to substitute a real DJing method.” things, too. OK, so I don’t come home “But in terms of the performances at the to find flowers or chocolates, but they festival, they were very good. treat me to the amazing sounds of life “Everybody reported that they enjoyed it. I’ve never heard before. And it’s the MED-EL launch CEA want to up There are no deaf filmmakers in South Africa, little things that take my breath away, so many people enjoyed the international too. music grant films that we showed at the film fest. cinema access “But, now when I look at it, it was successful The special grants will provide the Things like watching the TV and The Cinema Exhibitors’ Association because one of our performances is going to being able to pick up stuff without opportunity for two lucky MED-EL is looking ahead at the future France. It was a major breakthrough in deaf subtitles, or hearing my phone ring in implant users to learn or improve of subtitling. New technology is performance art.” the office – not that I would EVER pick their playing of a musical instrument emerging for closed captions that The team behind Listen with Your Eyes it up but still, I haven’t heard a phone The music grants have two categories: one they are looking to implement soon will stage two performances of the play and ring for more than eight years. for applicants under 19 years old and one for fellow actors of Catalina Theatre are also 19s and over. The new technology would mean closed involved in two street theatre productions And the first time I did, I burst into The successful applicants will receive a captions appear on a personalised device and children’s workshops. tears. It was that amazing. musical instrument of their choice up to the such as a pair of glasses rather than on the Swannick said she wants to continue value of £500, £30 for sheet music and MED- main screen. with Talking Hands every year during Deaf When I was 10 years old, I declared EL will pay for one 30 minute lesson per This new technology has the potential to Awareness Month, “When we get back from that I would never fall in love. That I week for one year. provide a lot more access for hard of hearing France, we might ask one or two of the best would live alone, write books for a Applications are welcome from all MED- cinema-goers. It is an exciting development performers from Europe to come to our fest living and live on instant mashed EL implant users with an interest in music, but at present the costs are prohibitive. in South Africa. potato and apple crumble. whether they are complete beginners or have The CEA is working hard though to inform “My aim is that Talking Hands is not prior musical experience. the industry, and potential audiences, about only in Durban this year, but in Joburg as The good news is that, I’m not as Learning an instrument requires this new technology. They held two events well, because there is a very strong deaf weird as I was then. commitment and dedication, so the winners in March 2013 where three of the leading community in Joburg and last year they will be selected based on their enthusiasm suppliers of closed caption technology were complained bitterly because they wanted to And the better news? I love my and motivation. able to present their solutions for people to see the fest as well. hearing aids! Cassandra Brown, MD of MED-EL try them out. Feedback from these events “Also, before we go, we are going to do UK states: “Music is life-enhancing and will be shared with cinemas to help in their performances at schools to raise funds. And Should you be buying a hat any time something most of us take for granted. MED- consideration of closed caption devices. when we do the festival again in September, soon? EL is committed to providing our users with The Cinema Exhibitors’ Association is the we will have a new play. Hopefully, some the best possible listening experiences, trade body for UK cinema operators. The of the international performers will want to Well, that would be telling. Because including music appreciation. Association represents well over 90 per cent come and there are also performers in Cape while I’m happy to chat about my “The opportunity not only to listen to music, of cinemas in the country, from major cinema Town, so we will call for performances from Phonak love affair here, there’s a time but to make music will bring the winners of chains to the smallest independent sites. people around the country once we’re back and a place for everything else. these awards pleasure for years to come.” For updates, visit their website from France.” www.deafinitelygirly.com The deadline for applications is 29th July www.cinemauk.org.uk or follow them on To find out more about Catalina Theatre 2013. Twitter @Cinema_UK visit www.catalinatheatre.co.za Hearing Times Summer 2013 Education 11 Welsh deaf pupils Pippa Middleton opens My name struggle in exams is Matthew Deaf pupils are 41% less likely to Munson and I land a higher grade in core subjects, am hearing. Welsh government figures show school boarding house I am learning Deaf children in Wales face barriers to Pippa Middleton, who has recently agreed to become an ambassador for BSL and learning at schools and colleges which national charity Mary Hare School, visited to open a new boarding house writing a are stopping them from reaching their full monthly potential, says a charity. column about The National Deaf Children’s Society how I get on... (NDCS) Cymru said there is an attainment gap between deaf pupils and their peers at every Key Stage. A video petition to ministers calls for action to close the gap. I live near Margate, a seaside town The Welsh government said it was in Kent that was once frequented by “reviewing the way we support pupils with Queen Victoria. additional learning difficulties.” “It is unacceptable that so many deaf Why am I telling you this? Because pupils throughout Wales fail to reach their it’s the home of a large Deaf population full potential because they face barriers in and a lot of that has to do with the education,” said Jayne Dulson, Director, Royal School for Deaf Children. National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) Cymru. It’s one of the few residential The charity said Welsh government figures Deaf schools left in the country it’s showed that in 2012, deaf pupils were 41% also educated thousands of pupils less likely to achieve a higher grade pass throughout its long history and many in core subjects English/Welsh, maths and have stayed in the area after their science. education ended. Deaf youngsters took part in the video petition, called Close the Gap, launched Recently, an out-of-town friend during Deaf Awareness Week. of mine commented on the high Jayne Dulson, director of NDCS Cymru, proportion of Deaf people she had said, “It is unacceptable that so many deaf Pippa Middleton posing with the plaque after officialy opening the school’s boarding house seen on a visit to Margate, and I did pupils throughout Wales fail to reach their Pippa became interested in the work of The work carried out by everyone at Mary point out that Deaf people could be full potential because they face barriers in Mary Hare when a personal friend told her Hare is so important to young deaf people anywhere. education. about this national charity, working with and is of national importance, being one of “We are so grateful to all the young people profoundly and severely deaf young people only two such schools in the UK. I’d never realised that we had a very who helped us create our video petition. from all over the UK. Mary Hare is situated Giving deaf children the opportunity to strong, dynamic Deaf community in “As deaf young people themselves, they not far from Pippa’s home in Berkshire. choose what they want to study means my home town as I grew up. One thing are the experts and are best placed to tell The opening was the culmination of a they can choose what they want to do in the I find sad is that, despite this large politicians about the things that schools need fundraising appeal to raise nearly £2 million future.” Deaf community, there’s not a higher to get right for deaf pupils throughout Wales.” to build new residential accommodation – Pippa posed on the day with a giant wicker degree of Deaf awareness amongst The video will be presented to the Welsh Murray House - for the 16 year pupils at the hare, made for the celebration by Mary Hare the hearing population. assembly’s petitions committee on Tuesday. school. Fundraising has taken place over pupils with sculptor Tom Hare. The hare, A Welsh government spokesman said, “We the last three years, led by the Mary Hare now, has pride of place outside the new I say this as a hearing person are committed to ensuring all children reach Foundation – the fundraising arm of the Mary boarding house. myself, and one who is embarrassed. their full potential while in education and that Hare School. Michael Massey is a pupil in Year 11 at But honest enough to admit, that I is why we are currently reviewing the way Addressing the guests at this opening Mary Hare school who has recently moved never had much Deaf awareness we support pupils with additional learning event, Pippa said, “I was delighted to be into the new boarding house. He said, myself. Why? I’m not sure if I can difficulties. asked to open this wonderful new boarding “Murray House is an amazing environment to be that specific, except that it’s not “During this process we are working closely house for the pupils at Mary Hare School. live and study in. taught more in mainstream schools, with a number of support groups, including Murray House is an important development “We have more support after school from and when you’re confronted with the National Deaf Children’s Society.” for the School, offering the Year 11 pupils a the teachers and teaching assistants in our something ‘different’, you can get place to study and relax after their school dedicated study room. We can all focus embarrassed or shy at the thought day. without any distraction and make sure we all of trying to talk with someone who I hope, like me, you will enjoy looking can reach our potential.” has different communication needs. School’s nursery round and talking to the pupils about their For more information about Mary Hare go Forgetting of course that we’re all just experiences here. to www.maryhare.org.uk human beings that can usually find a rated excellent way to surpass such things with a bit Scotland’s national deaf school has of effort. been praised for the quality of nursery education it offers “Sharp decline” in number of I first started being more consciously aware of this when I worked in a public facing role and a number of Northern Irish deaf students Deaf people came in to access my The number of deaf students attending NI universities has decreased substantially, employer’s services. I wasn’t able to according to figures revealed by Traditional Unionist Voice leader Jim Allister give them the same level of service as other people due to the language Five years ago, 240 people with severe so that the deaf might adequately avail of barrier, and that frustrated me. Even hearing difficulties enrolled at university; now educational opportunities.” things like small talk or being able to there are 95. A spokesperson for the Department for give some quick reassurance over He blamed a reduction in support from the Employment and Learning said there has a minor matter was ten times harder Department of Employment and Learning to been no reduction in funding for hearing The school has been educating for 162 years because I hadn’t got the right language meet the needs of the deaf. The department impaired students in higher education. skills or enough Deaf awareness. The early years provision at Donaldson’s denies reducing funding. “In September last year, the minister School, in Linlithgow, which caters for Mr Allister queried the level of support launched Access to Success, the This frustration I felt led me to start mainstream, deaf children and those with for profoundly deaf students during a DEL department’s regional strategy to widen learning BSL, and so my evening additional support needs, was rated excellent committee meeting. participation in higher education,” they said. classes began. The reason I mentioned for care and support by the Care Inspectorate. He said the answer confirmed a “sharp “The strategy identifies groups of students, the Royal School for Deaf Children at Janice MacNeill, principal of Donaldson’s, decline” in the number of deaf students. including those with hearing disabilities, the beginning is because I’m currently said, “Our nursery is an important part of our He said the “dramatic reduction” in who may require additional strategically doing some learning there; I failed one service and one which welcomes all children, deaf people’s ability to pursue third level focused support to take full advantage of the of my level 2 exams last year, so I’ve whatever their needs. education “means the deaf are being failed educational opportunity.” gone back for a 10 week refresher “We provide a bilingual environment which by government”. The DEL spokesperson said, “The course and a resit at the end. My goal encourages the use of signing, enabling our “Such a dramatic reduction in the ability to department also provides funding for the is to keep pushing Deaf awareness – young people to integrate with one another, pursue third level education means the deaf Register of Support Providers, which offers and, of course, to finally get my Level and enhance communication between the are being failed by government,” he said. one-to-one personal support to disabled Two certificate hung on my wall! children and their parents and carers. To “So much for a Programme for Government students on higher education courses at any be recognised as an exemplar by the Care that boasts of opportunity for all. I am, of our universities. Support providers include Inspectorate is something of which we can therefore, calling on DEL to urgently review note-takers, sign language interpreters and Find out more about Matthew at all be proud.” its support for this disadvantaged sector, campus assistants,” they added. www.vikingbay.blogspot.com 12 Health Hearing Times Summer 2013 Scientists create revolutionary bionic ear Scientists have created a 3D-printed cartilage ear with an antenna that extends hearing far beyond the normal human range Using off-the-shelf 3D printing tools, silver nanoparticles and cell culture, scientists at Princeton University, New Jersey, have created a functional bionic ear that can detect radio frequencies far beyond the normal human range. Living 3D-printed tissue has been in the How do you teach a baby BSL? news a fair bit recently but this is the first What is your favourite book? attempt at creating a fully functional organ Or are you not a big reader? I’ve with embedded electronics. alwaysThe first loved wordbooks, spoken reading by anything a child Iis “In general, there are mechanical and thermal challenges with interfacing electronic alwayscould get eagerly my hands anticipated, on. To me reading the first step in communication. There can materials with biological materials,” said beis one a slight of life’s competitive greatest pleasures, edge between a Michael McAlpine, an assistant professor parentsunique opportunity over when to exploretheir child new takes of mechanical and aerospace engineering theirworlds, first imagine step, situationssays their and first word or at Princeton and the lead researcher. hasunderstand their first how smile. different people work, “Previously, researchers have suggested some strategies to tailor the electronics and I am always keen to pass on this so that this merger is less awkward. That loveI haveto others. been So veryhow docareful you teach to atry and avoid this but I am afraid when typically happens between a 2D sheet of mylove daughter of reading? signed I remember her first my word in electronics and a surface of the tissue. January,parents reading I not onlyto us, told showing all my us close However, our work suggests a new The amazing scientific breakthrough in hearing technology will go through extensive testing friendspictures andand expandingfamily, but them posted into it on approach, to build and grow the biology up already embedded. Part of the challenge was technology would have to undergo extensive merging a soft material (tissue) with a hard testing before it could be applied to a human FaceBookstories. I loved and the then old stuck annuals up heryou Tiny with the electronics synergistically and in a 3D interwoven format.” one (electronics), which the cartilage helped patient. Talkcould Certificate get with short sopicture that cartoon people could see it as soon as they walked through To create the ear, the team used bioprinting alleviate. “The design and implementation of bionic thestrips. front They door! were easy to understand in hydrogel, first using a computer program The ear itself consists of the cartilage organs and devices that enhance human even if I couldn’t follow all the words. A to break down the structure of the ear into structure, with a coiled antenna embedded capabilities has been an area of increasing pictureMy husband speaks aand 1,000 I were words keen and for our thin slices. These slices were then printed within. Two wires can connect to a helical scientific interest,” the researchers wrote. cochlea, which in turn can connect to “This field has the potential to generate daughtercomics use to mostly learn pictures sign language with a few to with a 3D printer using cells from a calf, which later formed the cartilage, plastics electrodes, or possibly, a patient’s aural customised replacement parts for the human enablewords, soher are to communicatea great way of with all our friends and family. But having taught and silver nanoparticles to create a precise nerve endings, much like a hearing aid, body, or even organs containing capabilities Britishencouraging Sign childrenLanguage to readto adults on their and model of a human ear with the antenna restoring or enhancing hearing. However, the beyond what human biology provides.” childrenown, providing I suddenly them with panicked pictorial about howsupport to teachto understand it to a baby. the story but the challenge to figure out the dialogue. Healthcare reform MyLuckily brothers I found like comics a baby – signingthe Beano; class Deafblind UK receives £200k just round the corner from our house. could prevent TheDandy; teacher All the Marvelis brilliant, Superheros combining – grant from Big Lottery Fund aX-men, mix Fantasticof stories, Four songs - which and are nowplay global hearing loss thatbeing keeps made intothe movies.babies Theyand weretoddlers full Deafblind UK is extending services in Northern Ireland thanks to a major Millions of people could be saved from interestedof action and and plain engaged. English text In theso that first £199,133 grant from the Big Lottery Fund who have awarded £4.5m in grants hearing loss through the improvement sessionyou could myfollow daughter the story easilyfell asleep,and The charity has been selected to run one of 14 projects across Northern Ireland that have of health care around the world whichwork out apparently on your own is normal what was as there is so much going on they get really tired received funding through the Big Lottery About half of all hearing loss cases could andhappening. nap afterwards When I heard -- another that there benefit is a Fund’s Reaching Out: Connecting Older be prevented through vaccinations against tonew the comic session! strip coming out featuring a People programme, which has awarded infectious diseases and the early recognition deaf hero I was intrigued. Signs and almost £4.5m to help support older people of hearing loss in babies according to a report VoicesAll the is aparents comic book there put are together keen by to affected by issues such as bereavement, released by the World Health Organisation faciliatea group oftheir deaf child’sand hearing communication artists, disability or long-term illness. on International Ear Care Day. and say that they’d love to continue Chief Executive of the charity, Jeff Skipp, It said infections of the ear are the leading learningdesigners sign and linguists.language The as story the child says he is delighted that the £199,133 grant causes of the disability, especially in low - and getsfeatures older. four But heroes what who are fightthe benefits?against a they have secured will help fund a three-year middle - income countries and that infectious Researchcorrupt government, in America to protect compared a special Connections NI project. This will support diseases such as rubella, meningitis, measles threechild who groups is the of one 11-month who has old been babies, some of the most vulnerable people in our and mumps could lead to hearing loss. oneprophesied group towere restore taught peace babyand justice sign society as well as helping with respite for The WHO report encourages countries to language, the other group were given their carers and families. develop programmes for preventing hearing verbalto their trainingcrumbling and kingdom the third – but group I won’t no “Staggering statistics reveal that loneliness, loss within their primary health care systems, intervention.tell you what happens,The groups you’ll were have tested to which can be caused by isolation through including vaccinating children against atread regular it! The bigintervals difference and with the this results losing a combination of sight and hearing, measles, meningitis, mumps and rubella, werecomic thatis that the it comessigning in group two versions became – can have more of an impact on health than The deafblind community of NI are set benefit screening and treating syphilis in pregnant morea mainstream advanced English talkers and anand easy at two even smoking and obesity in older people.” “We recently helped a 100-year-old man women. years old exhibited verbal skills 3 He reveals that while many people accept see an old picture of his regiment by using “Most of these diseases can be prevented monthsEnglish versionahead makingof their it more non-signing that losing their sight and hearing is part technology to help magnify the picture. He through vaccination. counterparts.accessible for low literacy readers. of getting older, they are often not aware was so grateful and excited that we had been “Other common causes include exposure Some of the characters sign. Key words that help and support is available. Through able to give him back a glimpse of his past. to excessive noise, injuries to the ear or areThe highlighted study is in relativelyblue and are small, available but its wide range of support services across Jeff added, “The scheme will also offer head, ageing, genetic causes, problems theon their findings website, seemand there to is bea sign supported England and Wales, Deafblind UK helps to help to support users and organise social during pregnancy and childbirth (such as prevent people from becoming housebound, bylanguage anecdotal vocabulary evidence video from for theparents. activities to encourage those who have been cytomegalovirus infection or syphilis) and The age at which babies generally which can lead to other complications such previously isolated and lonely to get out and the use of medications that can damage signmainstream is variable version, and plus depends additional on an as mental health issues, loneliness and lack about and enjoy life.” hearing,” the report stated. observantexplanations parent. in a sign My language father spotted of confidence in daily living. Frank Hewitt, Big Lottery Fund NI Chair, The report estimated that More than 360 thedictionary first videosign for ‘milk’, the easy when English babysitting “We are delighted to be moving into Northern said, “We are already seeing the really million people in the world have disabling oneversion. afternoon, but as I had failed to Ireland and the project will initially connect positive impact that the Connecting Older hearing loss. appreciateThe comic canshe also was be left purchased handed from and in with people in Belfast, Newtownabbey, People programme is having on the lives of It said one in three persons over the age that, although she is of course a Antrim, Armagh, Downpatrick and Newry our most vulnerable older people in Northern of 65 years – a total of 165 million people geniusthe website child, in Kindlethe sign or paperwould version not be - with support groups being set up in each of Ireland.” worldwide – lives with hearing loss; although perfectlywww.signsandvoices.com. formed, she may have been the areas. “The programme is supporting a range of hearing loss from ageing could often be signing it for ages. “The idea will be for the groups to set vital projects that are transforming the lives helped with hearing devices, there are not See what you think! Oh, and my up and then establish what the users of older people in our communities who are enough produced to meet the need. favouriteUnfortunately, book? ... well your I am first old attempt themselves need and want, whether that is at risk of isolation, depression, mental and It noted that another 32 million affected by at communication is only good if the help with learning to cook, financial advice, physical ill health and low self esteem. Our hearing loss are children under age of 15. personromantic you now are – ‘September’ talking to is by watching medication awareness and/or transport funding is supporting those older people who The report said prevalence of disabling orRosmund listening! Pilcher. issues. The groups will also provide support need our help the most.” hearing loss is highest in South Asia, Asia with technology so that members can use To find out more about the Reaching Out Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa, according to Kindles, tablets and computers to help programmes visit biglotteryfund.org.uk the latest WHO review of available studies. www.deafax.org them maintain as independent a lifestyle as For more information about Deafblind UK For more information on hearing loss on possible. visit deafblind.org.uk the global scale visit www.who.int Hearing Times Summer 2013 Health 13 Breakthrough study into Perrault syndrome Study reveals how ears Researchers from the University of Manchester have made a breakthrough with the study into an inherited disorder protect themselves which can cause deafness and ovarian failure New research from the USA may Ed Gould have discovered a piece in the puzzle of how ears protect themselves from Emma Jenkinson, a PhD student funded were able to find the gene responsible for by the Infertility Research Trust and Dr. Bill the condition, called CLPP. This allowed hearing loss Newman of the Centre for Genetic Medicine the scientists to establish a link between Researchers at Massachusetts Eye and at St. Mary’s Hospital have published their modifications in the gene and the incidence Ear and Harvard Medical School have work which centred on Perrault syndrome. of Perrault syndrome in some families. also learned that noise exposure is more The disorder is a form of hearing loss that “Next generation sequencing is changing dangerous than typically thought and at can be particularly distressing for women, as medical research and gives us the ability to lower levels, and gained insight into why it is they often require hormone treatment and are take a sample of blood or saliva and look at difficult for some people to hear in ‘everyday’ sometimes unable to conceive naturally due all 25,000 genes in one go,” Bill told Hearing noisy environments like restaurants. to the associated problems with reproductive Times. The inner ear converts sounds into organs. “We looked at all the differences from a messages that are conveyed to and decoded sample taken from a family member with by the brain. It receives in turn auditory Using a new genetic technique Perrault syndrome and compared this to nerve fibres from the central nervous system called next generation another family’s sample,” said Bill. which are known as the olivocochlear sequencing, the team “With multiple samples we were able to efferent system. The researchers have eventually identify the causal gene by a shown that this efferent system is involved were able to find the gene process of elimination.” Dr. Bill Newman of the Centre for Geneteic in protecting the inner ear from hearing loss responsible for the condition, The Manchester based team identified Medicine at St. Mary’s Hospital caused by acoustic injury or exposure to called CLPP. CLPP from the families they were working hearing loss and problems with their ovaries loud sounds. They have shown that even with in conjunction with researchers working who have never been correctly diagnosed. It moderate exposure to noise leads to loss of “Although the syndrome was first described on the project in the United States and is hoped that improved diagnoses will be the auditory nerve fibres in this system, which in 1951 by a French doctor called Perrault, Pakistan. first thing that results from the study. in turn makes it difficult to hear in noisy understanding the cause has eluded Despite Perrault syndrome being known Despite being at a very early stage, the environments. scientists for over 50 years,” said Emma. about for a long time, the research indicates work does allow for potential treatments The researchers are excited about this Typically people with the syndrome will a much greater degree of variation with it which might one day help families that carry discovery because the strength of the efferent undergo assisted reproduction, with donor than had previously been thought. one of the identified genes. system can be recorded non-invasively in eggs, and have cochlear implants fitted to “For instance, one of our diagnosed “The genes are all important in the energy humans so the findings could eventually lead assist with hearing. families showed the sensory neural hearing bundles in cells called mitochondria,” to screening tests to determine who is most Some patients can also experience loss we associate with the syndrome, but explained Jenkinson. “Treatments that are susceptible to hearing loss. problems with their nerves and, in some cases, none of the ovarian failure,” Bill said. underway for many different conditions and Current tests using an audiogram cannot balance. Using a new genetic technique According to him, there may be plenty of Perrault syndrome can now be linked into detect auditory nerve fibre loss at lower called next generation sequencing, the team women worldwide who have a degree of these,” added Bill. levels. Young deaf people must have Charity argues benefit changes access to mental health services must not isolate deafblind people The National Deaf Children’s Society has uncovered a lack mental health National charity Sense today warned that the benefit changes which have services for deaf young people in Scotland, despite 40% of deaf young people been brought in on must not disadvantage deafblind people being likely to experience mental health issues Sense Deputy Chief Executive, Richard despite not being able to see. The charity has joined forces with the vulnerable to feelings of exclusion Kramer, said, “The needs of deafblind people “These basic mistakes must not be Scottish Council on Deafness to launch the It is widely recognised that deaf children are often complex and make it difficult for repeated and Sense will be monitoring the ‘Helping Hand’ campaign, which calls on experience a higher risk of psychological them to play an active role in society. DLA performance of both Atos Healthcare and the Scottish Government to provide mental and emotional issues than other children. was key in helping many disabled people Capita closely to ensure deafblind people health services for deaf children and young One specialist social worker, who cannot overcome these barriers and it would be are treated fairly and correctly.” people in Scotland. be named to protect the child’s identity, damaging if the changeover to PIP made Mr Kramer added, “Sense is also The campaign has been backed by MSP reported a case of a profoundly deaf lives more difficult for deafblind people or left concerned about about the level of stress Jenny Marra, and leader of the Scottish teenager who had been receiving mental them without support and cut off from their placed on disabled people. Liberal Democrats and MSP for Mid Scotland health support in England but when his own communities.” “The DWP and the assessors must and Fife Willie Rennie. family moved to Scotland this was suddenly The change to PIP will affect everyone do everything they can to provide clear “Being deaf is not just about ears and stopped. with a disability between the ages of 16 – 65, information and ensure they make the right education, emotional support is just as She said: “His education is being affected whether they are in work or not. decision initially so that disabled people do important,” said Anne Lennon, Director of the because of his behaviour, which he has no “We know that many deafblind people are not have to appeal to get the benefit they NDCS in Scotland. support to address. fearful about losing benefits as a result of the are entitled to.” “Quite often a deaf child can feel very “This means he spends considerable changes, while pilot testing showed worrying “Any deafblind person in need of isolated and alone and without the right time out of class, and at such a crucial time examples of unacceptable practices. support should contact Sense on 0845 support they can often develop mental health in his development I fear that this will have “One deafblind person could not be 127 0060 or [email protected] for problems. a huge negative impact on his adulthood; provided with an interpreter. Another was accessible information and expert “We want to see more chances for deaf for example, how he interacts with others asked to copy what the assessor was doing, advice.” children to have access to positive role and copes generally with life. Advertisement models, a dedicated specialist Children and “He may find himself excluded from Adolescent Mental Health Service for deaf society and have difficulties integrating.” children and young people who do need Willie Rennie will be supporting the extra help and improved deaf awareness in motion lodged by Jenna Marra MSP in ® all schools across Scotland. the Scottish Parliament which supports “With the right support deaf children and the Helping Hand campaign and calls beyond young people can achieve whatever they on the Scottish Government to build on want to achieve.” their services that already exist to provide It is estimated that there are approximately specialised mental health provision for deaf 3500 deaf children and young people in children and young people. Is your audience hearing your message clearly? Scotland but there are currently no mental Willie Rennie said, “No person should be health services for deaf children and young left to feel as if they are excluded from our people in Scotland. society. NDCS and the Scottish Council on “At one of the key stages in their lives, Outstanding media relations campaigns for Charities, Not For Profits, Deafness have created the Deaf Child and deaf young people should have access and Tech clients. Contact us for a free quotation. Adolescent Mental Health Services group to a strong network of emotional support which launched Helping Hand. services. Deafness itself is not a risk factor for “Addressing emotional issues at the www.beyondpr.co.uk increased mental health and emotional earliest stage will empower deaf young Pr d to ofes te sio it n m a li m s o m wellbeing issues; it is the consequence of people with the skills they need to build C

T C London Office 0207 299 7791 s h n a o r CIPR i t t e being deaf in a hearing orientated world lasting friendships and get on in the world. Member a r l e e d R I c T ns li Northern Office 0114 275 6996 t b which can lead to feelings of isolation and “The Helping Hand campaign has my full itute of Pu mental health and emotional issues. support in bringing this unfair gap in mental Young people are often particularly health provision to light.” 14 Health Hearing Times Summer 2013 Surgeons combine rib bone and implant Sense receive to form pioneering Bonebridge ear £170k grant Sense receives £170,000 grant to A piece of rib and a bone conduction implant have been used in a pioneering operation to treat an Edinburgh man’s showcase support for older people deafness. Brian Hogg was fitted with an implant called a Bonebridge and given the new ear by NHS surgeons with sight and hearing loss Mr Hogg, 29, is the first person in the UK “These sound waves are then interpreted National deafblind charity Sense is to to have the procedure. NHS Lothian said the by the brain as sound.” receive almost £170,000 in funding to specialist implant operation was carried out Mr Hogg was born with Treacher Collins showcase their work on how early recognition in December 2012 at the Lauriston Building Syndrome, meaning he could not wear of sight and hearing loss can improve the in Edinburgh. conventional hearing aids as they are styled lives of older people. The Bonebridge device is fitted in the ear to fit in and around the middle of the ear. Funded by the Department of Health’s and is used when a patient is unable to have Mr Hogg said: “After the new implant was Innovation, Excellence and Strategic a conventional external hearing aid fitted. fitted I noticed a huge difference in the range Development (ISED) fund, this two-year Alex Bennett, an NHS Lothian ear, nose and of sounds I could hear. project will share Sense’s knowledge about throat consultant performed the procedure. “The sound quality is much better and I age-related sight and hearing loss with health “The new implant is a can hear noises at a distance now, which my and social care professionals. previous device didn’t pick up. It will enable Sense to provide specific really big step forward in “The Bonebridge implant is so light, it’s advice and support to key organisations, technology and I’m very practically weightless. It’s tailored to most including local authorities, the Care Quality grateful to the team for closely match my normal hearing range. Commission and Clinical Commissioning “When you think about how far mobile Groups. fitting the implant for me.” phone technology has come in the last 10 The funding will also be used to promote Mr Bennett said, “This is a truly innovative years, there have been similar advances in Sense’s early recognition screening tool and procedure and I’m sure the device will make hearing aids. training to residential care homes in England. a significant difference to Brian and many “The new implant is a really big step The tool identifies residents with both other patients like him. forward in technology and I’m very grateful to Brian Hogg’s new ear created by Lothian surgeons hearing and sight loss and involves a three “The Bonebridge implant is intended to the team of consultants for fitting the implant “We consider this new development a great part assessment of the resident’s sight and improve hearing by replicating the actions for me.” success. The Bonebridge is the culmination hearing. This includes questions related to of the ear drum. A discreet audio processor, Dr Ingeborg Hochmair, managing director of decades of experience gathered in the everyday functioning that is possibly affected which is attached to the patient’s head, picks of MED-EL, which designed the implant, development of hearing implant solutions.” by hearing and sight loss. up sound waves which are then amplified said, “Our innovative development of the For more information on the amazing new Early identification often prevents problems by the implant and passed to the inner ear Bonebridge will considerably improve the science behind bonebride implants visit and difficulties exacerbating, and reduces the through the skull bone. lives of patients. www.sciencedirect.com/science negative impact that this has upon the quality of life and wellbeing, for both deafblind people and their family or carers. Simple strategies Epilepsy drug could to help people with dual sensory impairment Magnetic therapy may not can include a loop hearing system, large print prevent tinnitus newspapers and different coloured plates. A study into an epilepsy drug has Sense Chief Executive Gillian Morbey said, “Older people and their families do not relieve ringing in the ears revealed the reason why tinnitus Using a magnet to generate an electrical current in areas of the brain that always recognise that the problems they are occurs and could prevent the experiencing are due to sight and hearing control hearing does not seem to improve tinnitus, a new study suggests condition occurring in the first place loss. Without the right support, losing your Researchers found people reported just Researchers found that retigabine sight and finding it increasingly hard to hear as much ringing after a month of repetitive prevented the chronic and often debilitating things can have a devastating effect on every transcranial magnetic simulation (rTMS) as hearing condition from developing after part of an older persons life. We want to after a series of fake, magnet-free treatments. exposing mice to loud noise. make sure that health and care professionals Although it seems natural that ringing in the Senior investigator Thanos Tzounopoulos, and families spot the signs of dual sensory ears, known as tinnitus, would be a hearing- associate professor and member of the loss and realise that many of the solutions related problem, so far medications and auditory research group at the University are simple, inexpensive and make a real magnetic stimulation targeting the brain’s of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, said, “We difference. auditory areas haven’t made the sound go hope that by identifying the underlying cause, “We will be talking with communities whose away, according to Dr. Jay Piccirillo. we can develop effective interventions.” older family members live with them and want “People want a pill to make it go away, From previous research in a mouse model, to make sure that the information we provide but there isn’t anything like that,” Piccirillo, they knew that tinnitus is associated with on spotting sight and hearing loss is easy an otolaryngologist from the Washington hyperactivity of certain brain cells which, fire to find, appropriate and takes into account University School of Medicine in St. Louis, impulses even when there is no actual sound the different social and cultural approaches told Reuters Health. “There’s no cure for to perceive. to caring for older people within our diverse tinnitus.” Dr. Tzounopoulos and his team tested communities.” Up to 50 million Americans report chronic whether an FDA-approved epilepsy ringing in the ears at some point during their drug called retigabine, could prevent the Diabetes linked to hearing lives, research suggests. development of tinnitus. Although that experience is common, Thirty minutes into noise exposure and loss in young people Piccirillo said only about one-fifth of people A patient receiving rTMS treatment for tinnitus twice daily for the next five days, half of Younger diabetics are at a higher who do hear ringing are bothered by it in JAMA Otolaryngology - Head & Neck the exposed group was given injections of risk of developing hearing loss than enough to disrupt their everyday lives. Surgery. retigabine. older adults Current treatments for those individuals Researchers believe tinnitus is the result A week after noise exposure, the team Poor blood sugar control could explain include devices to mask the sound, of over-activity in certain areas of the brain determined whether the mice had developed why people with diabetes have more hearing antidepressants to lessen its bothersome and in theory, rTMS should suppress some of tinnitus by conducting experiments, in which problems. effects or talk therapy, yoga and meditation. that activity, according to Josef Rauschecker, a steady, 70 dB tone is played for a period, Japanese scientists have studied the In Europe, doctors have been using rTMS from Georgetown University Medical Center then stopped briefly and then resumed before relationship between diabetes and the to create electrical currents in the auditory in Washington, DC. being interrupted with a much louder pulse. prevalence of hearing loss. nerve for people with tinnitus, seeing a “mild However, “Neurophysiologically, it’s not at Mice with normal hearing perceive the Combining the results of 13 studies to moderate, short-lasting effect,” according all clear what it does,” Rauschecker, who has gap in sounds and are aware something involving more than 20,000 people from the to Piccirillo. studied that question but wasn’t part of the had changed, so they are less startled by US, Asia, Australia and Brazil, all but one He and his colleagues previously tested study team, told Reuters Health. the loud pulse than mice with tinnitus, which study found an association between diabetes two weeks of rTMS treatments on people John Rothwell, who has researched brain hear phantom noise that masks the silence in and hearing problems. with tinnitus and found it had no benefit. stimulation for tinnitus at University College between the background tones. The findings show that impaired hearing They gave 14 people with tinnitus four London, said a number of small studies have The researchers found that mice that were is twice as common among people with weeks of rTMS and four weeks of a sham, looked at this treatment and all have the treated with retigabine after noise exposure diabetes compared with those without magnet-free treatment. Study participants same problem: the response to stimulation did not develop tinnitus. diabetes. reported having had tinnitus for at least six varies greatly from one person to the next. Consistent with previous studies, 50 per Furthermore, the study also reveals that months and started out with an average “You’ll find in all of these trials, some people cent of noise-exposed mice that were not younger diabetics are at a higher risk than tinnitus handicap score of 52 on a scale from will get better, some people will get worse treated with the drug exhibited behavioural older adults. 0 to 100. and most will stay the same,” Rothwell, who signs of the condition. The study determines that poor blood That score dropped by an average of 10 also wasn’t involved in the new research, told Dr. Tzounopoulos said, “This is an sugar control might explain why people with points after rTMS and by six points after the Reuters Health. important finding that links the properties of diabetes have more hearing problems and sham treatment, a difference that could have The study can be found at a potassium channel with the perception of a therefore that it is not just due to old age, as been due to chance, the study team reported www.archotol.jamanetwork.com phantom sound.” previously thought. Hearing Times Summer 2013 Community 15 Advertisement Advertisement

The UK’s leading Deaf theatre company, is looking for two people to join this exciting, growing organisation. British AcAdemy of Audiology

Project Manager (£16,200 - 21 hours per week) 10th AnnuAl conference Working with the Directors to deliver our annual artistic programme of performances, youth drama projects, training and workshops. Good project management and communication skills essential. Building skills for the future Marketing Manager (£10,800 - 14 hours per week) Managing the promotion of our annual programme, maintaining website and social media and working with designers and print companies for flyer and poster publicity.

We are especially looking for Deaf applicants. For both roles, you will have BSL Level 3 or Full conference equivalent. We will consider applications for one full-time person that fulfils both criteria. from £209 Application deadline: 5.00pm Friday 14th June. Interviews on: Monday 24th June. Download an application pack from: www.deafinitelytheatre.co.uk (‘about us’, then ‘Jobs’) 18th & 19th November 2013

Or contact: 020 7424 7360 / [email protected] Manchester Central Conference Deafinitely Theatre, Unit 20 Deane House Studios, 27 Greenwood Place, London NW5 1LB Centre, Manchester, UK The UK’s biggest audiology conference. This year’s theme - building skills for the future, aims to address a broad range of clinical, academic and professional Wordsearch issues within audiology.

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Created by Sudoku Generator - http://sudoku.smike.ru Created by Sudoku Generator - http://sudoku.smike.ru 16 Sport Hearing Times Summer 2013 Great-grandad skydive raises £1,365 for charity Speed skater dreams Stewart Simpson, 78, skydived from 10,000 feet to raise money for UK hearing loss charity Hearing Link of gold for 2014 The senior stuntman has to date raised Michael Hubbs wants to not only £1,365 for the jump from North West bring home the gold but is also Parachute Centre near Grange-over-Sands attempting to become the first in Cumbria. Stewart, is Vice President of Hearing Link, qualified deaf athlete to compete in which focuses on helping people to adjust to the Winter Olympics and to manage the challenges that hearing At the tender age of 16, an inline skating loss can bring. instructor saw in Michael a raw package After the jump Stewart said, “It was nerve- worth refining into a champion. Michael was wracking but I was doing it to raise money for all set to move to Colorado Springs, but his Hearing Link, a charity that I very much want father saw things differently. Michael was to to support. remain in school in Texas. His dream was put “Hearing loss is no easy thing to come on the shelf for six years until after completing to terms with so I felt it was appropriate for his studies at Gallaudet University. me to undertake a challenge that was quite Upon graduation, Michael converted from tough. wearing a gown to a cloak and has never “I psyched myself up mentally and then looked back. He joined race after race and when it actually came to the jump, I really came out on top again and again. Michael enjoyed it. qualified for the US National Speed Skating “It was tremendous and the views were Championship in July of 2010 after a ten- spectacular. When I landed, the family had a year absence from the sport, and he bagged large bottle of bubbly waiting!” fourth place in the 1000 meters. Legendary The tandem jump involved freefalling for skater, Jim Blair, brought Michael under 5,000 feet and incredible speeds of over his wing, and they flew to Salt Lake City to 120mph. train at the Utah Olympic Oval. Michael was Stewart explained, “Hearing Link is a introduced to another coach whose name tremendous organisation. Over the years I was Derek Parra, a former Olympic coach have done some slightly barmy things but and world record holder. Together, they came this will be the first time that I’ve jumped out up with a fundamentally sound strategy to get of a plane. Great-grandad Stewart Simpson gives the ‘thumbs up’ as he skydives for Hearing Link Michael where he needs to be going into the “It is an appropriate challenge because it During this time, the organisation has Stewart added, “The idea of jumping from final stretch in preparation for the Olympic brings a level of fear – and fear is something expanded to become a central point of a plane at 10,000 feet at the not-so-young Trials that are to be held later this year. that many people with hearing loss feel. contact for people with hearing loss, their age of 78 makes me nervous but I am happy Michael is currently ranked 3rd in America “The fear associated with hearing loss partners, family members and friends. to do so for Hearing Link. for age group in 5,000 meters. He is also is not often recognised. Hearing Link Stewart is no stranger to challenges, “I will be paying the actual cost of the ranked 4th in America for 500, 1000 and recognises the emotional aspect of hearing having travelled widely to far-flung countries skydive myself so all money donated will go 1,500 meters. loss and provides appropriate support and with his wife Valerie. directly to this very worthy cause.” information.” He ran his first marathon aged 67, has You can make a donation on his fund- Stewart has been a guiding force in the trekked up Kilimanjaro, walked the Inca Trail To make a donation to Hearing Link raising campaign here www.indiegogo. growth and development of Hearing Link for in Peru, and visited Timbuktu in Mali, all since in support of Stewart’s jump, go to com/projects/michael-hubbs-deaf-winter- more than a decade. his retirement in 1999. www.hearinglink.org/donation olympics-hopeful--2 Runner raises Fiona Brookes named Team GB Pakistan to host first more than £1,200 Chef de Mission for Deaflympics World Twenty20 A fundraising Administrator raised Deaf Cricket Cup £1,278.84 for charity by running the Former Deaflympian Fiona Brookes has been named as the Team GB Chef London marathon de Mission for this summer’s Deaflympics in Sofia Pakistan has been allocated the hosting rights of the inaugural This is the first time that Brookes, who is also Chair of British Deaf Tennis will lead the World T20 Deaf Cricket Cup to be GB team. held in September 2014 The 47-year-old from Reigate in Surrey, “In all, 10 countries including Australia, has competed in two Deaflympics, and Afghanistan, Bangladesh, England, India, won two silvers in badminton, but has also New Zealand, Nepal, Sri Lanka, South Africa represented GB at tennis. Her career spans and hosts Pakistan will be taking part in the from 1985 in Los Angeles to 2001 in Rome. grand event which will be held here in the Fiona’s daughter Bethany Brookes will city,” said Pakistan Deaf Cricket Association follow in her mother’s footsteps and be part (PDCA) manager Zaheer Uddin Babar here of the Team GB squad for Sofia, hoping to on Thursday. win medals in tennis. PDCA president Raza Rafi, Secretary Irfan Speaking about her appointment Brookes Miraj and Zaheer attended the meeting which said “It is a real honour to be taking on this decided the host country. Selina is all smiles before the race role, and I was delighted to be asked. The GB deaf women’s football team lineup Zaheer said, “We gave a detailed Thirty-year-old Selina Rehman, who is “Having been involved mainly on the tennis Dolby as our new Director of Development. presentation to plead our case and the deaf, completed the race on 21 April and scene for many years, it will be interesting Lee will lead on our two Sport England successful hosting of the Deaf Asia Cricket raised £1,278.84 for SignHealth, which is to work with the other sports, and ensure funded projects, Inclusive Sport and Talent Cup earlier this year in Lahore convinced all based in Beaconsfield. that the whole of Team GB is given every Development. the stake holders that Pakistan is capable of Selina, who works for the charity, explained, opportunity to do its utmost and bring those “The support from Sport England has organising the first edition of World T20 Deaf “I trained really hard for the race and I am medals home.” already enabled us to provide this year’s Cup. pleased that I managed to finish in seven Britain finished 26th in the medal table team with first class training and support “The participating countries of the Asia Cup hours 30 minutes. in Taipei 2009 and hope to improve on that from sports scientists and the UK Anti-doping put their weight behind Pakistan and then the “I would like to thank everyone who placing in Sofia with a team of 48 competitors Agency . house decided to allocate it to us,” he added. sponsored me and helped to raise £1,278.84.” challenging for top honours. “These, along with Fiona as Chef de The PDCA official said they were thankful SignHealth is the national healthcare Our athletes will be competing in, athletics, Mission will boost our efforts to have a to Pakistan Cricket Board especially its charity for deaf people, providing health- badminton, cycling, karate. shooting, successful Deaflympics.” chairman Chaudhary Zaka Ashraf for related services and campaigning for fair swimming, tennis and the women’s Football. The GB deaf women’s football team supporting the cause of deaf cricket in access and improved communication. UK Deaf Sport Chair, Philip Gerrard also announced recently that they will be Pakistan and internationally. Steve Powell, Chief Executive at the commented, “We are delighted that Fiona flying to Sofia to take part in this summer’s “We had the full backing of the PCB when charity, said, “We would like to congratulate has agreed to lead Team GB in Sofia. This Deaflympics. we organised the Asia Cup and now the PCB Selina on her achievement and thank her for ties in with our long-term plans for improving The team will be looking to get a lot of chief has assured us his all-out support for raising such a significant amount. high-performance opportunities for deaf trianing and match practice in before the holding the World Cup in a trend-setting Anyone wishing to sponsor Selina can do sport. summer games. manner in Pakistan. so by making a donation at “The backing we have received from Sport For more information on Team GB visit “The staging of Deaf World Cup will portray www.justgiving.com/Selina-Rehman0 England has enabled us to appoint Lee www.ukdeafsport.co.uk a better image of Pakistan abroad.” © Copyright Hearing Times 2013 | Published by Hearing Times C.I.C. | The Lansbury Estate | 102 Lower Guildford Road | Woking | Surrey | GU21 2EP | Tel: 0845 2930688 Printed by Mortons Print Ltd | Newspaper House | Morton Way | Horncastle | Lincolnshire | LN9 6JR | Tel: 01507 523456