Deafness
Academic Research Papers:
Miles, M. 2006 Signs of Development in Deaf South & South-West Asia: histories, cultural identities, resistance to cultural imperialism. Amongst other things this paper presents a history of deafness and sign language in South and South West Asia. This is a fascinating view of deafness in a culture which contrasts strongly with our "developed and dominant" western one, but at the same time reveals some intriguing similarities. The appendix contains over 100 items on deafness and sign language in the Arab countries of the Eastern Mediterranean and South West Asia which is probably a unique piece of scholarship.
Teaching mathematics to deaf students A literature review by Harry G. Lang, & Ronald R. Kelly in 2005. A lengthy list of studies evaluating teaching maths concepts to deaf students.
One of the best accounts of tinnitus available at the moment can be found here This short account contains links to other work that's worth following up if you are interested in this topic.
Hearing impairment and psychopathological disorders in children and adolescents. Review of the recent literature. [Original Article in French] by
Bailly D, Dechoulydelenclave MB, Lauwerier L.
General Websites about deafness and deaf education:
CBeebies Deafness in Children OK, it IS a link to a BBC children's programme, but it's a good, clear and accurate account of many issues surrounding deaf education. There are 4 pages altogether, don't miss the numbered links at the top and bottom of the page!
Media/interactive materials:
What does hearing loss sound like?
This site allows you to listen to sound samples to demonstrate what hearing loss sounds like, and also gives some very good examples of what tinnitus probably sounds like.
These are presented in a rather boring manner, (I find the voice of the presenter really horried) but I'd strongly recommend you listen to the first example, it's probably one of the best demonstrations of "what deafness sounds like" that you'll be able to get. All the sound clips and programs run in Windows media player.This is a link to a program written by the Linguistics and Phonetics department of University College London which also enables you to listen to differing types of hearing disorder. Unfortunately you cannot just play it on line. You have to download the program and install it on your hard drive, and run it from there. It lets you play a supplied sound file, either speech or music, and to experience what it sounds like depending on a person's degree or kind of deafness. You simply select the sound type by clicking on the appropriate box and select the type (or combination of types) of deafness. There is also the option of adding background noise to the sound samples to hear how this interferes with sound intelligibility.
You should of course ensure that your PC is properly protected from virus attacks before downloading any software. I have installed this programme on three machines without trouble so far.
For some time the level of noise in our society has been thought to be dangerous, and all investigations show noise levels to be increasing. This "Fact Sheet" from the New York League for the Hard of Hearing gives an idea of what levels of noise (dB) common situations give rise to. The first page suggests some parameters for "safe noise" levels, and the second lists the sound levels for particular situations. Given the advice on page one of this document about the safe exposure time at specific noise levels and the noise levels associated with a "personal cassette player" (i.e. pre- i-pod) - how safe is YOUR MP3 player?
Apple limits IPod sound levels Apple appear to be attempting to ward off pending legal action in the US. Some users are attempting to sue the company for allowing unsafe volume levels which could cause irreversible deafness.
News stories:
UK Social services are failing deaf children
Two thirds of local authorities in England do not regard deaf children as ‘children in need’.
Deaf children are more than twice as likely to experience abuse than hearing children.
40% of deaf children will experience mental health problems.
Nearly half of authorities in England have no social workers who are qualified to work with deaf children.
Also contains links to the original report
Deaf victims of sexual abuse This is a news story run in the Guardian from 2005. Deaf children seem to be disproportionately vulnerable to sexual abuse. They often cannot speak out, and if they cry out, they are very seldom heard. You should read this piece. But be warned it is not pleasant and there are accounts here of very distressing things.
Sudden hearing loss A Northamptonshire head teacher has her hearing taken away, almost fully, and almost instantly.
Web TV in sign language launched For details of this innovative venture follow this link.
PIERRE GORMAN CBE AUTHORITY ON DISABILITY AND DEAFNESS, PHILANTHROPIST 1-10-1924 - 1-10-2006 Dr Pierre Gorman, who was the first person born deaf to graduate at Melbourne University before he became an international inspiration for overcoming disability, has died in failing health, aged 82.
Prize for improving deaf literacy 17 July 2006. Dr Diana Burman, from Oxford University's Department of Education, has received a prize for her work to improve profoundly deaf children's English literacy.
Deaf sign language using mobile phones Feb 2007
Deaf patients suffer 5 year wait for hearing aids: Sept 2006
Helping deaf people to "see sound" Another technological development.
After a twenty-year wait the UK NICE, the body that assesses the value of treatments and procedures used in the NHS, published its advice in 2009 about cochlear implants. This is very important and interesting news for the deaf community some of whom may now be able to receive treatment under the NHS for free. Surgery and related after-care and support usually costs around £60,000.
Workshop notes:
What can you hear? Test your knowledge of deafness . . . . Coming soon
Sound and fury -- the website An excellent source for information about Cochlear implants, the debate about their use, and also a good starting point for information about deaf culture.
General books on deafness:
Amazon has an interesting collection of (mostly old) books on deafness, deaf culture and the history of deafness here
An example of cochlear implant surgery in later life
Anne's story: Cochlear implant
Uploaded by rnidwebteam. - Discover videos of people, family and friends.
An argument against the use of cochlear implants
