Dr. Jill Preminger from the University of Louisville spoke to us at our September meeting. She does research concerning hearing loss and she told us about some of her findings. Interestingly enough, she did research on whether there is a difference between cheaper hearing aids as opposed to expensive ones. Without knowing which aid they were using, research subjects didn't find much difference between hearing aids. Many times the cheaper ones do just fine, and some of the people participating in the study found the cheaper ones to be better.

Dr. Preminger told us about some new products that are available: She mentioned telecoils and "looping America." A web site you may find interesting is Loop America The Array microphones are particularly interesting, although when worn are rather unusual looking. They are made up of several microphones and are worn on the upper part of your hearing aid. It protrudes so that it is visible and it looks not too different from a slim pencil which you might have over your ear. They come in different colors and cost $675. These were displayed at the SHHH convention. For more information, go to Etymotic and HAC of America. There is something called "blue tooth technology," which may help with hearing aids, cell phones, and FM systems. For more information on FM systems, go to Phonak.

For those who didn't qualify for her last study, Dr. Preminger will conduct another study with younger and older people. If you want information or want to participate in the study, call Dr. Preminger at (502) 852-7691 or email her Dr. Preminger.

The next Derbytown meeting will be on Tuesday, October 12 at 6:30 p.m. at the Louisville Free Public Library (301 York St.) on the mezzanine level. Dr. Mark Severtson will speak to us about cochlear implants (see below for more information)
---Judy Rogers

Cochlear Implant Series:

Derbytown SHHH will host a series of meetings on cochlear implants in the coming months. Everyone is welcome! The series will be held at the Louisville Free Public Library, Mezzanine Level, with real-time captioning provided and starting at 6:30 PM:

Oct. 12th Dr. Mark Severtson with a presentation on the medical aspects of cochlear implants. This will be somewhat detailed and is a must for anyone even vaguely interested in the possibility of a CI for themselves or someone close to them.

Nov. 9th A panel of six cochlear implant recipients will share their experiences in getting and adjusting to the CI in recent years.

January 11 Dr. Barbara Eisenmenger, who specializes in working with adult implant recipients, will describe the audiological aspects of various programming (mapping) strategies and how we adapt to them and learn to hear with the new CI.
---Mary Lee Nelson

Oct. 9 Stage One will present "Charlotte's Web" with captions at 2 p.m. in the Bomhard Theater at the Kentucky Center for the Arts, 501 W. Main St. To purchase tickets, call the Access Hotline at 562-0111 or 562-0140 TTY.

Oct. 9 The 8 p.m. performance of "Cats" at the Louisville Palace will be captioned. For tickets, call 583-4555 or purchase in person at the box office, 625 S. 4th St. Tickets can also be purchased at any Ticketmaster outlet (including most Kroger stores) or online at Ticketmaster.

Oct. 23 Derbytowners will meet at Piccadilly Cafeteria, 133 S. Hurstbourne Pkwy. (near the intersection of Hurstbourne and Shelbyville Rd.), at 2 p.m. for our monthly informal dinner.

Oct. 24 and 25 The movie "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" will be shown with open captions at Stonybrook Cinemas, 2745 S. Hurstbourne Pkwy. This movie has gotten very good reviews and stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, and Angelina Jolie.

Oct. 26 A sign interpreted performance of "Dracula" will be presented at Actors Theater of Louisville at 7:30 p.m. Buy tickets at the box office, 316 W. Main St., or call 584-1205 or 584-1321 TDD or FAX 561-3337. Tickets can be purchased online at Actors Theater.

Nov. 6 Stage One will present "Trials: The Life of Joan of Arc" at 2 p.m. in the Bomhard Theater at the Kentucky Center for the Arts, 501 W. Main St. To purchase tickets, call the Access Hotline at 562-0111 or 562-0140 TTY.
---Melanie Magruder

Mary Lee Nelson and Betty Timon attended the Relay Advisory Board meeting on September 23. The bad news first! We will NOT be getting our new CapTel phones in October as promised. Hamilton is ready for it and the CapTel service will be turned on Oct. 1 as scheduled, but no charges will incur because we don't have phones and nothing will be used. The state has not yet entered into a contract with the maker of the CapTel phone! It is my understanding that this is because Kentucky does not like sole providers - and there is only one source of this particular phone. Thus KY is looking for more documentation for this phone and when the bidding is opened and only one bidder is there, we will assume they will accept it anyway. Once the bid is accepted and a contract signed, the phones will be ordered. The commission has the money for it, according to Jim Stevens. We are being given no idea as to a timeline for all this. We were also told that there is a first group of 50 people to get them and then 25 more on the waiting list.

Other interesting news on the CapTel – whenever we get it:

1. We will be able to give our friends the 711 phone number to use to reach us at a CapTel phone. Or we can use a longer 800 number if we wish. If people use the 711 number, though, they will have to tell the CA they want to call a CapTel user.

2. We will be able to dial 911 and have the phone automatically switch to VCO mode for talking to emergency personnel. There will not be a relay involved in this; it's just that we will TALK to them, and they will type back to us.

3. We will be able to pick our own long distance provider with CapTel by calling their customer service number and telling them our preference.

4. The CA's at Hamilton are being trained to recognize and connect the calls between VCO/relay users and CapTel phones. This IS possible, so if you get a CA who says it isn't, inform him/her.

Filing comments for the Joint Captioning Quality Petition:

It is now easier for you and your friends to file comments and tell the FCC what you think about captioning quality. The landmark petition on captioning quality issues filed by SHHH, TDI and other deaf and cross-disability organizations to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on July 23, 2004, has received another boost.

If you have already filed comments, SHHH, TDI and other organizations thank you. If you have not yet filed comments, now it is much easier. We strongly encourage all captioning viewers to file comments in support of this petition (#RM-11065) with the FCC and ask them to improve captioning quality for all. Deadline for Comments is Friday October 1, 2004. Reply Comments are due Friday October 15, 2004.

As part of the organizations' ongoing efforts to promote more consumer involvement with the FCC and other government agencies, we encourage every television viewer who uses closed captioning to share their own personal experiences with the FCC. When citing problems with quality of a program, be sure to include the following information: program, dates and times, channel (use names like HBO, USA, not numbers), city and state.

The Petition for Rulemaking is now on ECFS Express for the remainder of the comment period. This will make it easier for you to file comments. Go to FCC and scroll down until you see the following:
TELECOMMUNICATIONS FOR THE DEAF, INC. PETITION FOR RULEMAKING REGARDING CAPTIONING ISSUES - DOCKET RM-11065 File comments on whether the Commission should change or modify its current closed captioning rules.
Select that button and scroll down to click on "Continue."
Fill in all the blanks as follows:

1. Type in your name.
2. Type in your mailing address
3. Type in your city
4. Click and then select your state of residence.
5. Type in your Zip Code
6. Type in your e-mail address (Optional)
7. Type in your brief comment and tell the FCC what you think about the current captioning rules and how they can be improved if necessary.

If you want to read other people's comments and the Petition itself in the FCC's Electronic Documents Management System or EDOCS, go to FCC

- Type RM-11065 in Proceeding Box #1 in upper left corner.
- Hit Retrieve Document List. On the next page, you will see many boxes.
- Scroll down to the last box at the bottom of the page. All the boxes are comments from other people.
- Near the bottom of the last box, hit the first "VIEW" hyperlinks on the left. You will then see a PDF document from Swidler, Berlin, Shereff, Friedman, LLP. Each link shows a PDF file that is part of our comments.
- Click on the other "VIEW" to view the other parts of the comments filed on behalf of TDI by our pro-bono law firm. Each link is roughly 30 pages as the entire document is 99 pages.

When TV stations televise emergency information, they are required by the FCC to make the emergency information accessible to viewers who are hard of hearing and deaf. Because broadcast stations and cable systems are not required to broadcast EAS alerts and messages initiated by state and local authorities, the FCC has separate requirements to meet the needs of persons with disabilities in cases of local emergencies. The FCC requires that any information that is intended to further the protection of life, health, safety, or property, such as immediate weather situations, civil disorders, evacuation orders, school closings, relief assistance, etc., be accessible to persons with disabilities. These rules apply to all local broadcasters, cable operators, and satellite television services. THERE ARE NO EXEMPTIONS TO THESE RULES AND THEY APPLY ANY TIME EMERGENCY INFORMATION IS PROVIDED. Critical details about the emergency must be provided in visual format, such as open captions, scrolls, or even hand-lettered signs. The critical details must also be provided in aural format. If crawls or scrolls are provided during regular programming, an aural tone is required to indicate to persons who are blind or who have low vision that emergency information is being provided.

If emergency information is not accessible to you be sure to alert the FCC by sending an email to fccinfo@fcc.gov documenting the problem. Give very specific information, including:

Your name, address, phone, and email address
Date and time of the emergency
Type of emergency
Name and phone number of the TV station
Whether it was broadcast, cable, or satellite TV
Describe the problem
Time period you were watching TV
What you want the FCC to do

Newcomers:

We would like to stay in touch with all of our newcomers. If you want to receive this newsletter on a monthly basis, contact Melanie Magruder (magruder8012@msn.com). If you want to receive periodic emails about issues of interest to hard of hearing people, contactEd for the Derbytown list and Paula for the state list.

Benefits of SHHH Membership

1. Self Help for Hard of Hearing People, Inc. is THE voice for all people with hearing loss. (A large constituency gives them credibility and contacts.)

2. Information is brought to members through Hearing Loss: The Journal of Self Help for Hard of Hearing People.

3. The National Convention provides education and access to vendors and exhibitors.

4. Support through local chapters and online information.

5. Discounts on books, resource materials, convention fees and special promotions

6. Advocacy efforts

7. Surveys, courses and special events.

8. Fellowship and support.

9. Personal Networking. What SHHH is doing for you.