Technology For The Deaf And Hard of Hearing By: Missy Maiorano EDCP 737 Winter 2002

The Ear Just because your ear does not work correctly, does not mean your life has to stop. With proper assistance and devices, you can “perceive” almost everything!

Closed Captioning Open captioning, whereby written words are displayed on the screens of all viewers, provides the greatest access but presents the problem of distraction to viewers not hearing impaired (The Television Decoder Circuitry Act, 47 USC §303(u), which was enacted in 1990, requires that as of July 1,1993, televisions that have a picture of 13 inches or greater manufactured in the United States or for sale in the United States must be equipped for closed captioning.

Captioning Software Since 1985, we have been the industry leader in captioning, subtitling, and teleprompting software. In addition to this state of the art software, we have added DVD, Webcasting, and V-Chip software to our list. CPC is the choice, Ask any of our thousands of satisfied customers. CPC has been operating award winning services since CPC is the proud winner of the Federal Distinguished Vendor of Accessible Technology Award. CPC is also the winner of the Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator's Award for Excellence CPC Computer Prompting and Captioning 1010 Rockville Pike, Suite 306 Rockville, MD 20852, USA Phone: (301) Fax: (301) TTY: (301) Toll Free: Copyright © , Computer Prompting and Captioning, All Rights Reserved.

Hearing Aides Aides are made to be worn in the ear or behind the ear. Hearing aides can be digital, programmable, or analogue Prices of an individual aide range from $500 to $4000 dollar. Most insurance companies WILL NOT cover the device.

Alarm Clocks There are many kinds of alarm clocks. Vibrating, flashing, or increased decibel levels are just a few that are out there.

Cochlear Implant A cochlear implant is a prosthetic device that acts as a replacement for damaged portions of the cochlea, or inner ear. This device is used by people who have hearing damage that is so significant, conventional hearing aides offer them little or no improvement. The cochlear ear implant consists of several components, some of which are external to the body, and others that are internal. To pick up sound in the environment, a small microphone is worn behind the ear. The microphone is connected to a speech processor, usually worn inside a pocket, which amplifies, filters, and changes the sounds into digital code.

The Cochlear Implant Continued The code is then transmitted via a coil to a receiver/stimulator, located just beneath the skin near the ear. This receiver/stimulator produces electrical stimulation and sends it to electrodes which wind into the snail shaped cochlea of the inner ear. The electrodes stimulate the intact nerves in the cochlea, which can then deliver the auditory information to the brain. The following drawing depicts the internal electrodes going into the cochlea.

Phones And just how does a deaf person communicate over the phone? The Illinois Relay Numbers are as follows: (V) (TTY).

Auditory Trainers Used in school settings in place of the hearing aide. Many different versions are available. Direct amplification of the speakers voice is the focus of this product. It is important to shop around for the right product for your students.

Pagers Yes, even the deaf can receive and send pages instantly without a phone!

The ICommunicator The Icommunicator is a laptop computer that sits on a student’s desk. It includes live captioning of voice from a microphone directly on the screen and also a sign language interpreter. Roughly 8 G’s!

Movie Theater Captioning Movie Patrons sit and use a small mirror which is portable and attaches to their seat. Words are reflected from a display screen in the back.

Additional Information This place has good stuff: ns.com ns.com Deaf Colleges: Gallaudet University in D.C., Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, California State University at Northridge(CSUN).