In northern Kentucky however we have people who stay actively involved with different aspects of hearing loss. We enjoyed reading about Betty Timon in the Cincinnati Enquirer -- see the whole article on page 3.
In Louisville, Judy Rogers received a Lily Award from the Easter Seal foundation, for "living a life beyond limits". Read about this one on page 2. We are so proud of both these ladies!
Last March, Louisville was visited by Johna Albritton and her dog, Belgium, and Kitty Davis and her dog, Aro. they told us about the services of Canine Companions for Independence. It was great fun to see and meet the youngs in training and to find out more about the placement of these dogs with deaf and HOH people.
In May Becky Morris presented an update on her services and introduced to some technology. Becky is the founder and owner of Beyond Hearing Aids (Effective Communication Solutions) in northern Kentucky.
Then in June, Michelle Niehous of Seven Counties talked to us about their services - this was fascinating and gave us a lot to talk about!
July found some of us still on the road from the national convention. But the meeting went on as usual with Dave Martin explaining the use of BAHA sound processor. (This is the Bone Anchored Hearing Aid for use with people who have conduction losses, as opposed the more common sensori-neural loss most of us have.)
And in September we met at the new Heuser Hearing Institute, to learn about their adult audiology services and also to tour the Louisville Deaf Oral School. Director Mona McCubbin told us all about the development and building of the new center and then led us on a tour of all the buildings. We were surprised to find complete audiology services for adults as well as children there. You will find pictures from many of the meetings on the state website. And this next month Derbytowners are delving into Yoga!
The following is the introduction of the Lily Award that was presented to Judy Rogers on August 24th, 2002, at the Lily Ball, held in the Seelbach Hotel. While Judy does have a profound hearing loss, she has never let it get in the way of what she wants to do. Those of us who know her well marvel at her tenacity. She never gives up on our communication problem and is always looking for ways to improve it.
"Our next Lily Award goes to Judith L. Rogers in recognition of her life beyond limits.
Being severely hard of hearing has not stopped Judy Rogers from leading a full and active life. She began to lose her hearing when she got pregnant with her second child and it got progressively worse with her next two pregnancies. Judy doesn't know for sure what exactly caused her hearing loss. Her mother was hard of hearing, so it could have been genetic or hormonal. Three of Judy's five grown children live in Louisville, one lives in Chicago, and another lives in Austin. She is joined by her daughter, Katherine Carpenter, in accepting this award here. (Editor's note: Judy's son, Dr. D. Hartwell Rogers and his wife, Dr. Susan Alt were also present.)
Judy has learned to communicate with the world despite her disability. She loves to use e-mail. She is able to understand and communicate with people if they face her, speak distinctly and have the light facing them. If that doesn't work, she always carries a pen and notebook with her. Judy wears hearing aids and has been coming to Easter Seals of Louisville for the past five years for all of her hearing aid needs.
Judy became involved in the Self-Help for the Hard of Hearing club about 13 years ago. She is currently treasurer and a member of the social committee. She is also a member of the KCDHH TTY distribution program and the TRS advisory board for the Kentucky Relay Service.
Judy, you have demonstrated a great spirit in taking on life's challenges. Your physical difficulties have not been a limitation, but a motivation. We give you the Easter Seals Lily Award for your example of living a life beyond limits."
(Ed. note: As this was being written, Easter Seals announced a name change - they are now to be known as Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Center.)
(The following article by Karen Samples Gutierrez was first printed in the Cincinnati Enquirer on June 19, 2002. Betty Timon of Northern KY is a past president of the Northern KY SHHH group and is currently on the board of the KCDHH, representing the AARP.)
BELLEVUE — The signs were gradual but unmistakable. First she kept asking people to repeat themselves. Then her ear ached after phone calls, because she was pressing the receiver so tightly against her head. At 35, Betty Timon was going deaf.
She went through all the emotions — shock, denial, anger. Then something amazing happened. Mrs. Timon, who had been quiet and unassuming as a hearing person, became ferocious as a deaf one. While raising four sons with her husband, Jim, she began pushing for the rights of the hearing-impaired.
She led a petition drive on Fountain Square, urging TV stations to caption their newscasts. When one failed to send a representative to the protest, Mrs. Timon and others marched to its offices to find out why.
She formed the Greater Cincinnati chapter of Self Help for the Hearing Impaired. She pushed Cincinnati Bell to install 20 pay phones for the deaf and pressed theaters to offer more captioned movies.
One friend calls her “kick-butt Betty.” Another nominated her for a national advocacy award from Oticon, a hearing-aid maker. Mrs. Timon is 70 now, and her eyes sparkle as she recalls her efforts to participate fully in the world. “I have fun with this. I really do,” she says. “I challenge people to think outside of the ordinary.”
Dignity and equalityShe was aided greatly by the Americans with Disabilities Act, which has faced several challenges before the U.S. Supreme Court in recent months. This week, the court ruled that citizens could not seek punitive damages — only compensatory ones — against government agencies that fail to provide access for the disabled.
For Mrs. Timon and others, the ADA has never been about money, anyway, but rather dignity, freedom and equality. It was the ADA, for example, that required each state to maintain phone relay systems for the hearing-impaired. By dialing 711 anywhere in the country, deaf or hearing people now can be connected to operators who translate their conversations to written words. Before, “They wouldn't sell you a lousy pizza because they couldn't call back and verify that you wanted one,” Mrs. Timon says.
She's not sure what caused her hearing loss. Doctors have mentioned heredity or medicines she took as a child. Regardless, she has found peace. “I'm very grateful for the fact that I can be in the right place at the right time, to make things happen for more people.”
As a hearing person for many years, she knows what she and others are missing. As a woman of conviction, she isn't afraid to insist on change.
In airports, she flusters employees by asking for a Telecommunications Device for the Deaf, then watching as they scramble to find one. This spring, the Galt House in Louisville agreed to place a permanent TDD among the pay phones in its lobby, following her complaint.
Not long ago, she was called to jury duty in Campbell County. When she said she would need a stenographer, she was told she didn't have to serve. “Oh, but I want to.” I can just see the twinkle in her eye. She got the stenographer.
became operational in Washington, D.C., on August 5, 2002.The toll-free number is 1-866-266-1368 (voice)or 1-866-754-4368 (TTY). You are encouraged to call the hotline to obtain information and assistance if you experience disability-related air service problems.
This is the number you should call when you have problems with any aspect of air travel. Some of us have had more problems with the terminals than the planes. We need to make our needs for captioning of announcements and boarding directions known. The best way to do this is to tell them every time you miss something because it was not in print.
We all know that the necessities of life are water, food, shelter,........and captions. We don't always find the captions we need. And that is when we must complain. Loudly. Below is a recap of what the FCC requires for TV captioning. The quotes are from the FCC rule.
Since July 1993 all TV's built in this country have been required to have captioning ability. And in 1996 the FCC set up a phase-in schedule for the captioning of all TV programming. At this time there is no law about captioning video games or home videos.
By 2006, all programming must be captioned. This is for anything dated 1998 or later. The phase-in schedule from the FCC is as follows:: "2000: 450 hours of programming per channel per quarter 2002: 900 hours of programming per channel per quarter 2004: 1350 hours of programming per channel per quarter 2006: 100% of all programming, with some exemptions" For any programming dated 1997 or earlier the schedule "2003: 30% of programming per channel per quarter 2008: 75% of programming per channel per quarter " There are exemptions to these rules --· "Locally produced and distributed non-news programming with no repeat value (e.g., parades and school sports); Commercials that are no more than five minutes long; Instructional programming that is locally produced by public television stations for use in grades K-12 and post secondary schools (only covers programming narrowly distributed to individual educational institutions); Programs in languages other than English or Spanish; Programs shown on new networks for the first four years of the network’s operations; Public service announcements under 10 minutes, unless they are federally-funded or produced; and Video programming providers with annual grossrevenues under $3 million (although such programmers must pass through video programming that has already been captioned). " "In addition, a video programming provider or distributor may ask the FCC for an exemption for specific programming if supplying captions for that programming would result in an undue burden for the provider or distributor."
Most of the news we see on local stations has captions that are only from the TelePrompTer and not actually real time captioned. These "TelePrompTer captioned" news shows DO NOT COUNT toward the % of captions required of the station!
Also the stations are required to provide emergency information captioned now, with no phase-in period allowed. This information is for "hazardous weather situations such as tornadoes, heavy snows, hurricanes and earthquakes, and dangerous community situations such as the discharge of toxic gases, widespread power failures, civil disorders, and school closings." The information must be provided by whatever means, including crawls across the screen. It would not necessarily have to be captioning as such. But, if they are using a crawl for this information, it must not interfere with the closed captioning being shown at the same time. Note again that this a requirement for right now, not the future.
It seems that most of the TV stations are doing only what they are absolutely required to under the law. And even then it sometimes depends on us watching and complaining about things that are not captioned and should be. The greatest offender is local news. Cincinnati's Channel 9 has had real time captions for awhile. We have yet to see this happen in Louisville. One station that was using the TelePrompTer finally took it off because it was so bad. Most of us still watch HAS because they manage the teleprompter captions and get most reporters to file stories for it in advance. But still even they do not have real time and in an emergency we are left in confused silence.
Sometimes it helps to call the station and tell them when they make a mistake. Other times this might not help. Advice from the FCC "If you do wish to file a formal complaint for a violation of
either the captioning rules or the emergency programming rules, send it to:
FCC, Media Bureau
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554
or phone 202-418-7096 (voice) and 202-418-7172 (TTY);
e-mail mbinfo@fcc.gov, and fax 202-418-1195.
The convention dates are a little different from past history... the dates kicking off the convention are Thursday afternoon, June 26th and ending on Sunday, June29th... We are not sure exactly when we will be having the Banquet... either Saturday evening or Sunday evening... or maybe change to Sunday noontime Luncheon Banquet... what are your thoughts?The symposium, instead of Monday, will probably be on Friday, June 27th... but not sure if it will be morning or afternoon... much depends on the availability of the speakers. I believe the topic will focus on latest research and updates on cochlear implants.
The folks hosting 18th convention are the South Atlantic SHHH Region IV states comprising of GA, TN, FL, AL, SC, and MS and we have had offers from folks in NC & AR to help out... Convention Chair is Connie Stratigos of Roswell GA (a suburb of Atlanta), Convention Liaison is Winnie Hargis of Dalton GA. Treasurer is Dick Twitchell of Chattanooga TN, and Secretary is Betty Proctor also of Chattanooga TN... some committees have chairs and some needing chairs... all are needing helping hands and responsible people... both during the planning process and during the actual convention dates. We want to be the most exciting and memorable convention you'll have attended. With your help we can do that !!!
Winnie Hargis
Dalton, Georgia
Atlanta 2003 LOC Convention Liaison
2130 Crow Valley Road
Dalton GA
30720-6916
(706) 226-4290
whargis@ocsonline.com
(Ed note: this was an informal note from Winnie to members of
Beyond Hearing online list and the chapter leaders across the country. )
This is it folks! The one we have been waiting for. Start saving your pennies and plan for Atlanta next June. This one is very close to Kentucky, so we should be able to have everyone in SHHH in KY at the convention. We don't even have to fly. Think vans and carpools. And if you want to help out, contact Winnie above. -mary lee
Most of you are aware of the telephone relay now and use it regularly. But did you know that now you can also make phone calls on the internet? Long distance? And for free? Really.
This internet relay service is funded in the same way as the telephone relay. The additional free part is that long distance on the internet does not cost anything. All you have to do is go to the website for the service, enter the phone number you are calling, just like you do on a TDD. There is no way to use VCO though.
There are several different services that do this. This is not meant to be an all-inclusive list, but will give you an idea what to look for. There may be others I haven't found. The big advantage is being able to make FREE long distance calls. That in itself is worth it.
IP-RELAYThis stands for Internet Protocol. The website is www.ip-relay.com. They have two levels of use here. One just has more colors and fonts. You can log on instantly at the website and make a call. Other than long distance being free, the advantages of being on your computer for a call include being able to cut and paste things into your call, and you can save the entire call for later reference. You can call any other voice phone. The only things they can't do yet is let you call another TDD or use Web TV. And at the moment other people cannot call you on the computer. But they say that will happen in the future.
SPRINTThis one is essentially the same as the above but with very little fanfare about it. The website is at http://www.sprintrelayonline.com/. You will see that the page has no explanation and yet is very clear about what to do. Enter the phone number you are calling and the Relay CA appears with your call. You can even choose to call in English, Spanish or French Creole!
AT&T The website for this one is http://www.relay.att.com. They will run an explanation across the screen, showing you how to make the first call. But you would figure that out without it! You can change the print size, use different colors and make a call in Spanish.
These internet relay services and funded by the same few pennies that appear on your phone bill every month. We can use one we choose to - we are not restricted to one picked for our state. For years hearing people have been able to make long distance calls on the internet for free. Now we can too!
June 28, 2002 Washington, DC - The National Captioning Institute (NCI) announced today that it will launch the NCI National Help Desk, a free service available beginning July 4th by email, telephone, TTY and postal mail. The first of its kind in the United States, the NCI National Help Desk will assist individual consumers with questions and concerns about closed captioning and related media access services.
The extensive captioning experience and industry knowledge of NCI's full-time professional staff will serve as a valuable resource supporting the Help Desk staff in answering public inquiries. Presented with generous support from Microsoft Corporation, the NCI National Help Desk is designed to provide information on topics such as the availability of captioned programming, how to resolve problems with displaying captions, accessibility of closed captions with digital cable and high definition television, and the availability of closed captions in Spanish and on DVD's and home videos.
The service will also accommodate consumer questions about described video, a service that provides an audio description of the visual elements of video programming for people who are blind or have low vision. .
The NCI National Help Desk's web site is located at www.ncihelpdesk.org, and can also be reached through NCI's web site, www.ncicap.org.
Faxed inquiries can be sent to (703) 917-9878. Telephone and TTY access is available at (703) 917-7686. Inquiries may also be mailed to NCI at 1900 Gallows Road, Suite 3000, Vienna, VA 22182."