We’re being left out of the big society, say the deaf

Thousands of deaf people are socially excluded because of a lack of adequate services for sign language users, campaigners say.

Up to 70,000 people, many of whom cannot lip-read or have poor English skills, use British Sign Language (BSL) as their first language. But half of them leave doctors’ appointments feeling confused because of the poor quality, or absence, of interpreters, research suggests.

Action on Hearing Loss has called for improvements in healthcare access and standards for the hearing impaired. A survey by the charity, formerly the Royal National Institute for Deaf People, found that half of BSL users left medical appointments confused. “We are talking about vital information on medication or even traumatic diagnoses,” said Helen Arber, the charity’s head of capacity development.

It also wants the Government to set a minimum standard for communication for deaf people throughout society. Of the 10 million Britons who have some form of hearing loss, more than 800,000 are severely or profoundly deaf. “There is still a huge way to go to ensure any kind of level playing field for them,” Ms Arber added.

“We are proud citizens but we are treated as lesser citizens,” said Jeff McWhinney, a former head of the British Deaf Association, who campaigned for the formal recognition of BSL as a language.

Activists have also complained to the BBC that sign language interpreters were not shown on screen during big events such as the Olympics, the Diamond Jubilee and Barack Obama’s election victory speech. Television broadcasters are legally required to provide subtitles for 80 per cent of programmes and sign language in 5 per cent of programmes.

Caroline Hurley, an IT manager who is deaf, said subtitles were often inadequate: “They are, on average, seven seconds slow and frequently stop when live speakers talk too fast, so we miss important information.”

Source:  The Independent: Read More >

Hearing loss happens gradually you may not even notice what you’re missing. The best thing you can do for yourself and your family is getting a free hearing evaluation from an audiologist to determine if you even have a hearing loss. If you do, at Hidden Hearing our friendly staff will guide through the path to better hearing.

Why all old fogies are stone deaf, but only when it suits us

Motivational: David Richer led a walkout at his local gym due to its pumping music Photo: ANDY JONES

Three not-too-loud cheers for the old fogies who staged a mass walkout from the £300-a-year gym at the Marsh Academy Leisure Centre in New Romney, Kent, because they were fed up with listening to techno music while they lifted the weights and trod the treadmill. David Richer, aged 75 and the leader of the rebellion, handed in his membership because he could not stand all that pumping music any longer on his visits between 7am and 9am. According to reports, eight other older members followed his example.

It must be trying for a member of the Royal family gradually to lose one’s hearing. The sound does not carry right up to the Royal Box, and the bashful, murmured reply of the recipient as you hang the CBE round his or her neck must be hard to catch. Imagine what it must be like for the Duke of Edinburgh at a banquet, as the knives and forks of a hundred VIPs, dignitaries and worthies clatter on the best china and the wife of the president of somewhere-or-other, makes a polite observation. All he can do is smile graciously. It must be a relief to have a good old 21-gun salute or a fanfare of trumpets now and then.

Hearing loss happens gradually you may not even notice what you’re missing. The best thing you can do for yourself and your family is getting a free hearing evaluation from an audiologist to determine if you even have a hearing loss. If you do, at Hidden Hearing our friendly staff will guide through the path to better hearing.

Source: The Telegraph by Oliver Pritchett: Read More>

Prince Philip deaf to charms of Kylie Minogue, Alicia Keys, One Direction

THE QUEEN AND PRINCE PHILIP ARRIVE AT THE AT ROYAL ALBERT HALL FOR THE ROYAL VARIETY PERFORMANCE. PICTURE: GETTY IMAGES GETTY IMAGES

The 91-year-old royal consort this week accompanied the Queen, 86, to the Royal Variety Performance in London where the couple were treated to performances by artists including Kylie Minogue, Neil Diamond, One Direction and Alicia Keys.

After the event, hosted by Little Britain comedian David Walliams, Philip was asked which of the acts was his favourite.

“All of them … but to be honest we’re both stone deaf,” came his reply.

During American singer Key’s performance, Philip was spotted with his fingers in his ears, reported London’s Evening Standard newspaper.

The move follows the Queen’s use of earplugs earlier this year at a diamond jubilee concert staged in her honour in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace.

Hearing loss happens gradually you may not even notice what you’re missing. The best thing you can do for yourself and your family is getting a free hearing evaluation from an audiologist to determine if you even have a hearing loss. If you do, at Hidden Hearing our friendly staff will guide through the path to better hearing.

Link found between teenage hearing loss and smoking

Smoking not only kills, but deafens people and robs them of their memory as well. It causes nearly one in five deaths, according to the American Cancer Society.

Lung cancer was most deadly, ahead of liver and colorectal cancers. The lethal consequences of smoking are a clear reason to quit.

Other effects of smoking are less well-known. Hearing loss in teenagers has been linked to secondhand smoking, according to the Archives of Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery. Teens living in a smoking household had an 83 percent higher chance of losing their hearing in the lowest and highest frequencies, compared to teens in nonsmoking homes.

The study urged health care providers to add secondhand smoking as a risk for hearing loss, as 82 percent of the participants didn’t realize they had difficulty hearing.

Smoking’s dangers now include the increased likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s, which causes memory loss and results in death. It is untreatable and one in eight 65-year-olds have the disease.

A review of 43 studies examining the link between smoking and Alzheimer’s found smokers had a 72 percent greater likelihood of developing dementia, found researchers at the University of California, San Francisco in 2011. At Hidden Hearing we offer FREE health check for your hearing simply call us 0800 587 7267 or book online www.hiddenhearing.org