The Verbessem Brothers: The truth be told

On December 14, 2012, deaf twins in Belgium (Marc and Eddy Verbessem) were granted their wish to be euthanized. It was reported that they had fought for the right because they were going blind and were distraught at not being able to see each other ever again (e.g., http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/01/belgium-euthanizes-deaf-twins-going-blind/,  http://www.ibtimes.com/deaf-twins-euthanized-belgian-brothers-marc-eddy-verbessem-wanted-die-because-they-were-going-blind).

They were 45 years old, lived together, worked as cobblers, and used home signs to communicate with each other and their family. From this, I assume they weren’t connected with the Belgian Deaf community (Fevlado). They were born deaf, and a few years ago started losing their vision to a genetic form of glaucoma. It was reported that they would have, within a short time, become completely blind.

Marc and Eddy Verbessem

They searched for 2 years to find a doctor, and they fought for the legal right to be euthanized. (Belgium law allows physician-assisted suicide, but usually the patients are terminally ill.) Their family was against it, but were finally convinced that this was what they wanted. One of the reports said the twins were concerned about being a burden on their family. They were also worried that they would be institutionalized if their parents died before them.

It is not my place to judge or second guess them. I wouldn’t want anything that I said here to bring any more grief to their family. If they have been fighting for this for a few years, they had time to change their minds, and others could have intervened to show them other options. The one thing that was clear to me in what I read was that their minds were made up. But the rest of the story just didn’t feel right. It is an easy mark for sensationalism because it is controversial. Do you support doctor assisted suicide? Would you support it in the case of terminal illness? What if you had a condition that would make life intolerable?

I know that isolation and loneliness can be intolerable. A friend of mine with genetic hearing loss in her family told me how several members of her extended family had committed suicide over the years when their hearing loss had become severe enough that they were cut off from family and friends. These people weren’t connected with a hearing loss community, weren’t aware of other technology beyond hearing aids, and weren’t connected with anyone who could tell them that there were options for coping. Even though they had jobs, maybe Eddy and Marc didn’t have a community outside of their family. Isolation could have been a very real fear for them.

I don’t know what the services are like in Belgium. For that matter, services in the US for people who are deafblind leave a lot to be desired. Imagine having only an hour a week of a support service provider (SSP) who can help you with shopping and interacting with the world. The truth is there are plenty of deafblind people in the US who would be thrilled to have that much time with an SSP. Many states don’t provide any, and even if they did, there are not always enough trained people who can provide the service. If Eddy and Marc were using home signs, that would have made it more of a challenge to find SSPs who could work with them.

I also know families who are worried about what will happen to their adult son or daughter with a developmental disability when the aging parents who are supporting them are no longer able to care for them. I’m not making light of their concerns. Eddy and Marc’s reported concerns could be very real.

The thing is, there just had to be more to the story. I couldn’t imagine that two people who were creative enough to develop their own language between them couldn’t imagine other solutions for themselves. After doing quite a bit of searching I finally found out the brothers also had other serious physical issues they were dealing with (http://deafcapital.blog.com/2013/01/16/the-belgian-twins-euthanasia-and-the-myth/). One had spinal damage so severe that getting around was difficult for him, and the other had to sleep sitting up because of respiratory problems. One had just had surgery on his heart. There were limited medications they could take because of the glaucoma.

That’s the sticking point. They did not wish to die just because they were going blind. They were dealing with multiple health issues. The media reports I found took it for granted that it is reasonable for anyone who is deaf and blind to wish for death. The subtext is that such a life would not be worth living. If Belgian law stated that anyone who wished to die for whatever reason could seek out physician-assisted suicide, that would be one thing. But the media reports wrongly stated that the twins were able to convince a doctor to euthanize them because they were going blind and that being blind in addition to being deaf was intolerable to them. This is not what happened. The media either wanted this to be the story, or thought that was the story the public wanted.

The media is playing a dangerous game when they take such liberties. If you are posing the question of the acceptability of euthanasia in the case of an intolerable condition, the real question is, “Intolerable according to whom?” What if you have a condition that would make life intolerable in the eyes of others? How marginalized would you feel if, because of the tone of these stories, people were now looking at you as if your life were intolerable? At some point, will it justify others making euthanization decisions for you? Which is worse: euthanization or simply being locked away? What about sterilization? The days when this was true are not that long ago (and I’m sure are still true in many places. There are many stories of children with disabilities being kept locked up.). I am not against doctor-assisted suicide, as long as it provided after a well informed decision by the individual. The problem for people with hearing loss is that there is a history of bias in what information is given to them and their families. The media is perpetuating myths and stereotypes about life with disabilities. It can and does result in policy driven by misinformed public opinion that affects millions.

January 22 Update:

The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and the American Association of the Deaf-Blind (AADB) have issued a press release to respond to the media bias in the reporting on Belgium’s Euthanasia of Deaf-Blind Twins: http://www.nad.org/http%3A/%252Fnad.org/news/2013/01/beglian-twins-deaf-blind.

Photo credit: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/belgium/9800378/Belgian-twins-had-first-request-to-die-refused.html

The Mighty Telecoil

I haven’t focused a lot on the specifics of hearing assistance technology in this blog, but I can’t think of a better item to talk about than the telecoil. Wait, really? Isn’t there something sexier to talk about?

No, not really. This simple, unsung hero of an option on a hearing aid or cochlear implant can make the difference between tuning in or tuning out. Hearing aids and cochlear implants may be very effective in quieter settings, but when noise is introduced, the hearing device alone may not be able to adequately create a satisfactory signal-to-noise ratio. For people who have a hearing loss, the sound that they want to hear (signal) needs to be significantly louder than the surrounding background sound (noise) in order for it to be understandable. Although hearing aids may have some technology to reduce background noise, it can also compromise the speech signal. This is why using an additional assistive listening device (ALD) is so important. Telecoils are a simple option to hear better on the phone and to connect with ALDs.

How Telecoils Work

To understand how telecoils work you need to know a tiny little bit about physics. A wire with a current running through it naturally gives off a magnetic field. If another wire is placed near it, the magnetic field in one induces a field in the other. Magnetic fields carry signals. Sometimes the information is disorganized (e.g., static), and sometimes it is organized (e.g., music or speech). Telephone and stereo speakers give off this magnetic field unless the equipment has been shielded to prevent it. In ALD terms, an induction loop is a loop of wire connected to a sound collection system (like a microphone and amplifier) that gives off a magnetic field carrying speech or music signals.

So what’s that got to do with hearing aids and cochlear implants? Well, the telecoil itself is a small metal rod wrapped in wired (oooh…see where this is going?). Telecoils were first put in hearing aids to assist in hearing on telephones when it was realized that they could take advantage of the leakage of this magnetic field that telephone speakers emit. The user simply flips a tiny switch on the hearing aid to turn it on. When the user places the phone speaker near the telecoil, the signal is picked up (i.e., the magnetic field from the phone induces a magnetic field in the hearing aid telecoil) and the hearing aid converts it to acoustic sound waves, amplifies the signal according to the individual’s hearing aid prescription, and sends the new amplified sound into the ear canal. Cochlear implants now have telecoils, and some telecoils automatically come on when a magnetic field is brought close to the ear.

The trick is to get the best signal reception from the telephone speaker to the hearing aid. The phone earpiece might need to be moved around the hearing aid to get the best reception. For example, early hearing aids were often body worn, not the compact components worn behind or in the ear. This means that the telephone speaker would be put over the aid (even if it was in a shirt pocket or hanging around one’s neck), not over the ear for this signal reception with the telecoil.

How Telecoils can be Used

If hearing better on the phone isn’t enough, telecoils are an exciting option because they can also be used with a variety of ALDs. If a room or area is looped with an induction system, the user does not need any additional equipment besides the hearing aid to enjoy improved listening. As long as someone is speaking into the microphone attached to the system, the signal will be sent out from the loop of wire through the magnetic field. Newer induction systems come in a variety of styles, such as free-standing small panels, chair pads, and floor mats that can be used in a variety of settings. See Beyond Hearing Aids  for some examples.

Even if the room isn’t looped and an FM or infrared system is being used, a telecoil can be useful. For people who need more amplification, removing their hearing aids to use headphones to listen through an FM or infrared transmission system is not a viable option. They need the specialized amplification provided by their hearing aid prescription. Covering the hearing aid ear molds with headphones can result in feedback. Listening through a neckloop and telecoil prevents this. A neckloop is a coated wire that is worn around the neck and plugged into the headphone jack on the FM or infrared receiver. Like its room loop big brother, a neckloop gives off a magnetic field that is picked up by the hearing aid telecoils. For people who can’t use headphones or who would prefer a more discrete set up than headphones, the neckloop is a desirable alternative.

Get in the Hearing Loop Campaign

A movement started in Holland-Zeeland, Michigan by David Myers to Loop America is spreading. The Hearing Loss Association of America and the American Academy of Audiologists worked together to help consumers and professionals Get in the Hearing Loop. I was honored to be invited to participate in this committee, and helped to develop the informational brochure on Assistive Listening Devices. Those interested in looping Oregon should contact Duane Smelser www.yourhearinghealth.com.

If you are working with someone who is getting ready to purchase hearing aids, or if you know someone with cochlear implants or hearing aids who has trouble hearing in noise, make sure he or she is aware of the inexpensive telecoil option. The consumer needs to advocate for this, as audiologists may not realize that the individual will be using ALDs. Especially in newer hearing aids and cochlear implants, the telecoil must be programmed. A great deal of confusion stems from consumers trying to use it without checking with the audiologist first to be sure that it has been activated and that it is adequately powered to provide a strong enough signal.

My Telecoil Haiku

Wire-wrapped metal rod

Carries magnificent sound!

Sexy enough now?

ASL Interpreter takes New York By Storm

I was supposed to be in DC this week for a Project Directors meeting, but at the last minute decided to pay attention to this thing they were calling Frankenstorm and stayed home. Watching the news yesterday and today, I am so glad I decided not to go. My heart goes out to all the people dealing with it now.

Since I have family in Virginia and friends on the east coast, last night I was watching all the storm information and caught Mayor Bloomberg’s press conference. I noticed his ASL interpreter, Lydia Callis, was doing a great job. Then this morning I’m watching the news and it seems she has developed quite a following! Here is a snippet of her work I found on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_ktVn_86tw 

And here are a couple of other links about the impression she has created:

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/10/bloomberg-sign-language-interpreter-lydia-calas.html

http://signlanguagelady.tumblr.com/

The poster of this YouTube video labeled it “Michael Bloomberg Warns and Interpreter Entertains.”  She’s actually doing a great job, not just being entertaining. If you want to see an entertaining interpreter, here is the Spin City version of the Mayor of New York being interpreted:

Unfortunately, neither of these videos is captioned, although I did see that the emergency information was captioned on television. Can you imagine going through this storm without being able to get this emergency information? It has been only recently that it is required that emergency information on television be captioned.

Unfortunately, captioning for on-line video is still optional.  Try turning on YouTube’s automatic captioning feature (click on the CC) and see if you can understand anything that is being communicated in these videos. It simply isn’t adequate.  The Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness (GLAD) is suing CNN over their lack of captioning of news videos on the internet. CNN is claiming it is a violation of their first amendment rights to have to caption material before posting it. If CNN wins this argument, it will be devastating to the recent successes in captioning access.

Favorite Resources #1: YouTube Fun

This week’s post is to share some of my favorite video resources with you all and invite you to share your favorites with me. This group of videos make me laugh, give food for thought, and provide good material for discussion.

http://youtu.be/c593mFEoB4k Call Me Maybe ASL/VRS Version: There are a bunch of Call Me Maybe videos out there, and many are in American Sign Language. This video is one of my favorites because it incorporates making the call through a video relay interpreter. They really did a great job with this one! To turn on the captioning, click to play and then hover the mouse over the lower part of the video and click “cc”. There are several different caption tracks for it.

http://youtu.be/K3ai5IVfFdE Coming out Deaf: The sad thing is you only have to “come out” about things that society shames. This awared-winning video manages to put a humorous spin on it. It puts a new twist on denial and hidden disability. The son comes to his mother to tell her something he has been hiding from her, only it’s not what you expect. The flashbacks are perfect, and the twist at the end makes it even better.

http://youtu.be/us7nAFSfo1U Deaf Mugger: The reality is that interpreters often find themselves working in situations they wouldn’t normally place themselves, in this case, working with a deaf mugger. The interpreter explains to the victim how she came to be there.

http://youtu.be/VArCXBqArQY Read My Lips: This video from the New Zealand National Federation for the Deaf is about speech reading and very cleverly captions the video on the mouth that is speaking. They’ve also muddied the sound a bit to give the experience of a high frequency hearing loss.

http://youtu.be/1cqv84ywBSE A Few Minutes in the Life of a Sign language Interpreter, the Classroom: Every profession has its stresses that are commonly known among people in that profession. One way to work off the frustrations of the day is to make fun of the things causing the stress. This video is one that most interpreters can relate to. It has about every misconception they’ve heard except the offer of Braille to the Deaf student. I share this one with a little caution, because I don’t want to make fun of people who make these mistakes simply because they don’t know any better…and at the same time, I’m wondering where is the equivalent video for hard of hearing folks? I’m sure they have a few pet peeves they’d like to share!

That’s it for Favorite Resources #1. As the name implies, I’ll share more as I get them. So, what are your favorite videos? Leave a message below with a link to your favorite videos (doesn’t have to be YouTube!) and why you liked them. I’d love to add some more to my list!

Audism Redefined: The Dictionary and the Mad Man*

That’s “mad” as in angry…

I remember hearing a story on the radio several years ago about atheism. The reporter defined atheists as people who don’t believe in God. An atheist caller took umbrage with this and responded that the definition the reporter provided presupposed there was a god not to believe in. Atheists take the position that there are no deities, period, not that they don’t believe in the gods that everyone else knows exist. It was a fascinating point to me. Unchecked, we interpret the world and those in it through our own perspective. It is a privilege that those in the majority rarely explore unless some cognitive dissonance requires it.

More recently, a colleague and friend, CM Hall, shared with me her ire over a radio broadcast she had heard. A story on Oregon Public Broadcasting was covering a speech recognition technology for captioning Youtube videos that was developed by a Deaf employee. The reporter referred to the individual as “hearing impaired” several times. CM sent this feedback: “We don’t say straight-impaired for members of the lesbian, gay, or bisexual community. We don’t say white-impaired for people of color. I just think it’s way beyond time that we as hearing folks who, I believe, are attempting to be culturally sensitive, begin using the language that Deaf and hard of hearing people prefer.”

Which brings us to the Dictionary and the Mad Man. The dictionary was the American Heritage Dictionary (AHD). The mad man was John Lee Clark. He didn’t start off mad; on the contrary, he was excited to hear that audism had finally been added to a dictionary on that sunny day in July, 2012. So imagine his surprise when he looked it up and found audism defined as follows:

With synonyms like these, who needs enemies?

“Discrimination or prejudice against people based on the fact that their ability to hear is impaired or absent.”

Please take a moment to consider this definition. Does it seem reasonable to you? At first blush, maybe (especially if you don’t experience hearing loss yourself). But compare this definition with the new one that replaced it:

1. The belief that people with hearing are superior to those who are deaf or hard of hearing.

2. Discrimination or prejudice against people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

The first definition draws a conclusion and practically leads the reader to discriminate (i.e., if someone is impaired aren’t they “less than” in some way from those who aren’t?). The second definition leads the reader to questions: Do some people think they are better than others based on their hearing status? What does that behavior look like? Have I ever acted like this? What does being treated equally look like? The new definition leads to a completely different mindset.

How did this dramatic change come about? John Lee Clark wasn’t just any mad man. He is a deafblind poet, blogger, and advocate, and quite eloquently dissected (and I do mean dissected!) the definition and the assumptions behind those words in an open letter to AHD, which he also posted to his blog http://www.johnleeclark.com/?p=52. Clark got an almost immediate response to his complaint from the Executive Editor of AHD. Because he spoke up, the definition was changed. Kudos to AHD for their receptiveness!

What does discrimination look like? It may be obvious like refusing to provide interpreters or a speech-to-text transcription service. It may be more hidden in employment practices. Sometimes it comes out in attitudes, expressed as “Why do they need internet captioning? They should be happy that most television programs are captioned now.” (Tip…if you hear yourself saying “they,” pause and reflect!) People who are hard of hearing or Deaf face regular microaggressions (“What did you say?” “Nevermind. It’s not that important.”) that build up over time.

Interestingly, I don’t see the word audism used by people who identify as hard of hearing. Discrimination is a word they relate to, but not audism. I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts on this!

*Title Redefined…

I thought I was being clever with this title and giving a nod to one of my favorite books which is about the development of the Oxford English Dictionary. I remembered the title as “The Dictionary and the Madman.” Perfect, right…mad man/madman…get it? When I was doing my final research for this post, I found out the correct title is The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of The Oxford English Dictionary. Argh! Thwarted again! Still, it’s an excellent book even if the author made my loose association even looser. This is the description from Amazon.com: The compilation of the “OED,” begun in 1857, was one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken. As definitions were collected, the overseeing committee, led by Professor James Murray, discovered that one man, Dr. W C. Minor, had submitted more than ten thousand. When the committee insisted on honoring him, a shocking truth came to light: Dr. Minor, an American Civil War veteran, was also an inmate at an asylum for the criminally insane. See how I snuck a book recommendation into this blog? Now if I can figure out a way to work The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks in, I’ll have really done something!

Handhelds handy? Hardly!*

What is the attraction that public venues have to handheld captioning devices? I am part of a group that is advocating for captioning in public venues such as movie theaters, live theater, and sports events. We have had many positive responses from these venues. Some may be reluctant initially, but are won over when they see the positive responses from the public. For some reason, most venues have heard of handheld devices and gravitate towards them, even when they are told that they are one of the least-preferred options by consumers.

So what’s the big deal? Why don’t people like using handheld devices to receive captioning? To answer this question, I challenge you to try it out yourself, and you can do it in the comfort of your own home.

If you have a smart phone, look for free captioning apps. There is one for the iPhone called “Subtitles.” It gives you access to subtitles for many, many TV programs and movies. I was watching a DVD of Sons of Anarchy. There is an Irish character in the program, and for the life of me I can never understand a word he says. I searched for the episode on my iPhone in Subtitles, picked my language, started the subtitles, and started the episode. (Once you start the subtitles, it advances automatically at the pace of the program. You don’t have to do anything else unless you pause the program. It doesn’t identify who the speakers are unless there is the “slash-ear” icon next to it.) Now, the iPhone is light weight and unobtrusive. The episode is only an hour long. I held up the phone to read the captions when the character was on. On one level, it worked beautifully, and I finally understood this character.

But let’s examine this a little deeper. The reality is I was laying in bed and watching the show. As small and light as the iPhone is, I was propping my arm up in many different locations to stay comfortable, and scootching down in the bed so that I could more easily look back and forth between the captions and the TV. I didn’t need the captions to understand all the characters, so I had the luxury of looking away from the phone for several minutes at a time. Normally I don’t use glasses to watch TV, but now I needed my reading glasses to read the captions. This meant I was looking over my glasses to see the TV and having to refocus to watch the fast moving captions on the screen.

Cheryl demonstrating iPhone Subtitles App

If I had been in public, this would have been more of an issue. Have you ever sat in the middle seat on a flight, with strangers on either side, and gone through that silent negotiation for who will use which half of the armrest? Imagine needing to explain the captioning device to the person. Now imagine having the conversation when you really don’t hear very well and the lights are down. What if you had something else in your hands, like popcorn, a drink, a program guide, or a tissue? What if you wanted to hold hands with a loved one? What if you couldn’t get comfortable reading the captions and seeing the stage/screen unless you held the device slightly outside of your seating area in the next theater-goer’s space? What if that person is bothered by the light from it no matter where you hold it?

Then I thought of the people I know in the Hearing Loss Association of Oregon who would be likely to use the devices. Many are older, have had a stroke, or have other physical difficulties. How would they manage to hold this in a way they could read it for a 2 hour program? Not a very attractive option.

The stories from people who have used them in real venues include having to get up in the middle of a show to get a different device when the one they have malfunctions; having to replace batteries; and being inconvenienced by needing to hold on to it, stand in line to get it, and stand in another line to return it. One person got her ticket refunded and was able to come to a different show when her device malfunctioned. The next time she checked out two devices. Sure enough, one of them malfunctioned again, but this time she had a backup.

Another issue my friends call “the ick factor.” Who disinfects these devices between uses? As you are juggling things in your lap, do you put it on the floor? How many people have sneezed and coughed with it? What about going to the bathroom? What do you do with it while you are there? Do you wash your hands? Come on, inquiring minds want to know!

For some reason, it takes a lot of convincing to get venues to understand why the handheld devices are not well received. It’s not just hard of hearing people being picky or difficult. If they install a system that interferes with people’s ability to enjoy the show, it will be a waste of money because the public won’t use it. And it is a public smart venues should be courting. Beginning 1/1/11, 10,000 Baby Boomers reach the age of 65 daily until 2030, and well over a third of the population over 65 experiences hearing loss.

Which brings me to my final point: with handheld devices, you can only reach an audience equal to the number of functioning devices you have on hand. Every new customer means more devices, maintenance, and storage. At the same time, many people who are becoming hard of hearing tend to avoid these activities because they expect they will not be able to  follow the dialogue. They stop attending because they aren’t aware of access devices they could request. In venues where it is possible, reader boards really make the most sense for the customer and the business.

Slowly but surely, people who are hard of hearing or deaf are not limited to the Tuesday 2:00 show of the movie that least interests them at the one participating theater within 50 miles of their home. The most successful venues have relied on input from individuals with hearing loss as they make decisions about where to place reader boards, what types of devices to use to deliver the text to the user, and how to incorporate assistive listening devices with the text delivery. As advocates, we are learning about what challenges they face, and they are learning about the challenges and needs of the hard-of-hearing public.

If you want to read more about captioning, legal issues, and success stories, check out Hearing Loss Law at http://www.hearinglosslaw.com/articles/washcap-1/ and www.or-cap.org.

*My thanks to Clark Anderson for the title!

RCDHHA 2012

Rehabilitation Counseling

with Deaf and Hard of Hearing Adults

This summer’s program: 6/25/2012-7/19/2012

Next summer’s program will be: 6/24/2013-7/18/2013

http://www.wou.edu/rcdhha

Program Goal
The goal of the Rehabilitation Counseling with Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Adults (RCDHHA) training program is to improve the employment and independent living status of deaf and hard-of-hearing people by increasing the number of rehabilitation professionals and their community partners nationwide who have the necessary knowledge and communication skills to serve this population.

Who Should Attend
Western Oregon University offers this four-week, intensive deafness orientation session to:
• Rehabilitation personnel
• Mental health professionals
• Employment specialists
• Independent living trainers
• Social workers
• Coordinators of services for students with disabilities
• Transition and career development specialists
• Other professionals in social service occupations

Scholarships
Scholarships will be awarded to all selected participants who live beyond a commutable distance from WOU. Scholarships include a tuition waiver for the 9-credit program plus a $2,000 (approximate) stipend, which may be applied to travel, housing, meals, etc.

These awards are made possible through an RSA long-term training grant that requires completing a two month service obligation in a State VR or related qualifying agency. If this requirement is not met within 26 months, the award must be paid back. Complete information will be provided upon acceptance into the program, or look at the Web site: http://www.wou.edu/education/sped/rehabscholarshipinfo.htm.

Registration
Credit for the program is offered through WOU’s Division of Extended Programs. All students register during the first week of the program for 9 credits. Undergraduate courses may be taken for either letter grade or pass/no credit. Graduate courses may be taken for a letter grade only. Students who hold an undergraduate degree must register for RC 590 and TPD 584 for graduate credit.

Course of Study
Participants in the RCDHHA program enroll in three academic courses and have considerable opportunity for interaction with deaf and hard-of- hearing people.

The program offers 9 credits (6 graduate/3 undergraduate or 9 undergraduate), 120 contact hours. All participants will have until approximately Aug. 3, 2012, to hand in required paper.

SpEd 101 (102, 103 or 201) American Sign Language (3 undergraduate credits only)
Expressive and receptive exposure and practice in American Sign Language, the preferred communication mode used by American deaf adults, and a focus on the cultural values and beliefs of this community. Students are assigned to sections according to skill level after consultation with instructors.

TPD 484/584 Introduction to Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Studies (3 undergraduate or graduate credits)
Introduction to the cultural, audiological, educational and vocational issues of people who are hard of hearing, deaf, or deaf-blind.

RC 490/590 Professional Issues: Rehabilitation Counseling with Deaf Clients (3 undergraduate or graduate credits)
Psychological, social and vocational implications of deafness. Extensive review of the rehabilitation service system’s response to the unique needs of people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Lecture Series: Assistive Communication Options
These lectures are offered by qualified practitioners and provide students with an opportunity to build a basis of knowledge regarding speech communication and technological communication options. Special emphasis is placed on the needs of those people who may be hard of hearing, oral-deaf, late deafened, or cochlear implant users.

Housing
Housing is available on campus and through motels and rental units within walking distance of the university. Off-campus housing is competitively priced. Contact WOU’s University Residences office to obtain a list of off-campus housing (toll free 1-877-877-1593). On-campus housing is approximately $850 per person for the four-week session and is in Arbor Park Apartments on the north end of campus. Each four-bedroom apartment is fully furnished and has two bathrooms, a living room and a full kitchen. The housing rate for the apartment includes a linen package (clean linens furnished on a weekly basis). Computer access to the campus network is available for $10 to 35, depending on your set-up needs. Meals can be purchased through WOU Food Service (approximately $30 a day). These are estimates; exact rates will be known in May 2012.

Accessibility
All campus programs, services and facilities are physically and communicatively accessible. Interpreters and an FM assistive listening system are provided for all deaf and hard-of-hearing program participants. Upon acceptance, information will be provided regarding the process for requesting accommodations.

Application Process
If you are interested in attending, please request complete application materials. Your application file (including long-form application and three reference letters) must be completed by April 1, 2012. Complete workshop details including specific housing information and the four-week class schedule will be sent to you upon acceptance into the program. Note: Please list an e-mail address you check regularly as we will use this to send you program updates.

Application due date: April 1 each year.

Contact:
Cheryl Davis, Ph.D., Director, Regional Resource Center on Deafness
Western Oregon University, Monmouth, Oregon
rrcd@wou.edu   503-838-8444 v/tty / Fax 503-838-8228   http://www.wou.edu/rcdhha