Disabled American Veterans
Blind
Veterans National Chapter #1
WEB
SITE: http://www.davbvnc1.com/contents.htm
March-April
2016 Newsletter
Editor:
Dennis O’Connell
Email
address: bvnc1@optonline.net
"IF I CANNOT SPEAK GOOD
OF MY COMRADE,
I WILL NOT SPEAK
OFFICERS OF THE BLIND CHAPTER
Commander James Hogan (CA)
Phone
661 251 7870 email: ja2paroses@aol.com
Senior vice commander: Ron Lester (AZ)
1st Junior vice Commander David May
(PDC, PC) (OH)
2nd Junior vice Commander Leonard
Pope (NJ)
3rd Vice Commander Dennis
O’Connell (PC) (NY)
4th Junior vice Commander
Robert Abshire (CO)
Judge Advocate Richard Bugbee (PC) (AZ)
Chaplain Rev. Tony Martino ( PDC) (IL),
Phone 847 736 2111, email: deaconmartino@gmail.com
Adjutant/Treasurer Paul Kaminsky (FL) (also webmaster),
Phone 904 291-0576, email: pkjax@kaminsky.com
Immediate Past Commander deceased
Carroll Prosser (PDC) (SC)
PLEASE, if you know of any member who
is sick or deceased inform one of the officers whose contact information is
listed above ASAPP.
R I
P
Charles
Powell, Charlotte NC
Carroll
Prosser PC PDC, Surfside Beach SC
Jack
Shapiro, Renton WA
PART 1-Deaf-Blind Access Technologies and Strategies
Out of Sight or Out of Sound: There Is Always a Way--Living with a Secondary
Hearing Impairment
By Deborah Kendrick, AFB'S "Access World, February 2016"
Ask
any seasoned deaf person if they would prefer coping with no sight or no
hearing and, pretty consistently, you'll get the answer that it is far easier
to be deaf than blind. On the other side of the sensory arena, ask any seasoned
blind person the same question and you will get an absolute declaration that
blindness is the easier sensory loss to address.
In
either case, part of the solution to "working around" a sensory loss
is to use the other in its place. Blind people learn to "see" what is
around them by using sound. Deaf people learn to "hear" what is
around them by fine-tuning their sense of sight.
When
the sensory input channels for both sight and hearing are diminished or
diminishing, the challenge of finding methods for communicating, participating
and, in short, fully engaging in the joys of life loom larger, but are never
insurmountable.
In
the 21st century, where technology blossoms exponentially on an almost daily
basis, there are plenty of work-arounds to be found. Because AccessWorld regularly
addresses the use of technology for those who are blind or have low vision,
this article will look at the combined vision/hearing disability from the
vantage point of someone who has little or no hearing and a secondary
disability of impaired vision.
Approaching
the problem is simply for perspective in this article.
There
are an
estimated
four million Americans with combined vision and hearing disabilities and as we
live longer, that number is steadily increasing.
Tell
It Like It Is
With
any disability, candor simplifies. If you have central but no peripheral
vision, carrying a long white cane informs those around you that you have
difficulty seeing, rather than allowing them to assume that you are rude or
clumsy.
Similarly,
if you tell those around you that you have difficulty hearing, they will
generally speak up. If you don't tell them, you leave room for the mistaken
assumption that you are not paying attention or not very smart!
Take
Charge of Your Own Sound Environment When you are blind or visually impaired,
your hearing doesn't magically increase, but your attention to what you hear
does. Hearing becomes more acute.
In
a social context, this means you listen more carefully to what is being said
and how. Many blind people work in professions where the nuance of
communication is essential-- psychology, social service, law, and
journalism--and individuals find that these nuances can be gleaned using clues
other than the visual ones of body language and facial expression.
But
if your hearing has decreased, the game changes somewhat. Perhaps you can hear
just fine in a quiet room if the person speaking to you is three or six or
perhaps eight feet away, but if the environment is noisy or the person
addressing you is at a greater distance, their voice is inaudible or
unintelligible.
The
solution is to do everything you can to take charge and create an audio
environment that works for you. At a meeting or in a restaurant where there
will be ambient noise, choose a seat with a wall behind you. Thus, only the
sound in front of you will come into your ears. Select a seat that is centrally
located, placing you within equal range of as many of the voices as you want to
hear as possible. If there is a choice, always choose smaller rooms over larger
ones, and smaller groups over larger ones as well. In a lecture or performance
situation, sit in the first or second row, and as directly in front of the
person speaking or performing as possible. If background music is playing (and
competing with the sounds of human voices that you want/need to hear), ask if
it can be turned off or the volume decreased. Apply the same principles in your
own home or the home of a friend or family member. If people are gathered for a
meal, choose the most centrally located seat at the largest table. If the focus
of the gathering is to share a movie, sit close to one of the speakers.
Sound
Technology
It
may sound clichéd, but there has been no better time to experience hearing loss
than in the 21st century! Digital hearing aids are tiny and powerful. Many of
them are nearly invisible and, while the sound may not be exactly what it would
be if your biological hearing was perfect, the enhanced volume and clarity such
devices can provide is astonishing.
As
with any change, there is an adjustment period involved in learning to hear
with hearing aids. You may experience the sense that your clothes are crackling
or your hair is, that your own footsteps are clattering, or that the commonplace
sounds of running water or opening food packages are suddenly raucous.
When
hearing
aids are new, fine-tuning them to the individual takes a bit of time and
expertise. Three or four trips to the audiologist, along with some patience and
a willingness to analyze the situation, will improve your experience and have
you reveling in the joy of hearing birdsongs and human conversation again with
ease.
But
hearing aids are just the tip of the technological iceberg when it comes to
hearing loss. Bluetooth speakers and headsets can enhance the volume and audio
clarity of your TV, telephone, audio book player, and more. A high performance
Bluetooth sound bar, for example, can be paired with your TV, tablet,
smartphone, and more, to deliver room-filling sound that is loud and clear for
everyone.
Similarly,
both wired and Bluetooth headsets can bring the sound from most electronics
directly to your ears. Using a headset with your iPhone, for example, makes it
much easier to hear and understand any audio from the phone, whether you are
listening to music, an audio book, spoken GPS directions, or the other person
in a phone conversation.