From: Karen.Keil@p0.f809.n104.z1.fidonet.org (Karen Keil)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: SHHH report 3 of 13
Date: 12 Aug 92 21:32:10 GMT
Reply-To: Karen.Keil@p0.f809.n104.z1.fidonet.org
Organization: FidoNet node 1:104/809.0 - Fantasy Mountain, Golden CO
X-Fidonet: Silent Talk Conference

Index Number: 23909

[This is from the Silent Talk Conference]

     Part 3 of the SHHH Convention---Cedar Rapids, Iowa

June 26, 1992--cont.

Attended three workshops, which were:

Breaking the Myth of "Perfect Hearing":  What People Without
Hearing Loss Really Hear
by K. Patterson, G. DeRosear, J. Moore, J. Nealon, K. Walters, T.
Wicks

Quote from the Program book--
'Frequently, the person with hearing loss assumes that a person
who does not have a hearing loss can and should hear everything
occurring around him.  This may lead to a communication barrier
between the norma. hearing person and the person with a hearing
loss.  Learn what those with "perfect hearing" don't hear and
bridge the communication gap.'

They broke the components of communication down to:
     1.  the sender
     2.  the message
     3.  the medium
     4.  the environment
     5.  the receiver

Anything that interferes with any of the components can interfere
with communication---e.g. type of communication--sign,oral,etc.,
stammering, dialects, phrasing of the message, how the message is
sent (clearly, distinctly), noise, distance, and room acoustics.

I'm guilty of assuming that hearing people hear everything---even
they can't always!  Even with that in mind, I still assume they
can hear everything without strain or effort. Even when hearing
people do have to strain or put out effort, they have it a whole
lot easier than hearing-impaired people who have to strain and
put out the effort not just sometimes, but ALL THE TIME!  Still,
it was enlightening how they broke it down--so much that it was
put down here.

----------------------

911 Emergency for Hearing Impaired People
by Toni Dunne

Quote from program book:
'Over the past decade, technological emergency advancements have
been made to better serve their communities.  However, vvery
little is known about the unique needs of the hearing impaired
population.  The Americans with Disabilities Act  (ADA) mandates
all 9-1-1 systems be accessible to individuals with speech and
hearing impairments.  This session will inform conferees on the
requirements, legal implications, training and education required
in order to assure the provision of quality services.'

Ms. Dunne gave a handout, 9-1-1 Emergency Communications with
various information and articles.  One thing she pointed out was
that the ADA requires telephone emergency services to provide
direct access to individuals who use TDDs and computer modems.
She asked us if we use 9-1-1 or another emergency number in our
local area.  It made me realize that my area doesn't have 911 tdd
access---if we want to call emergency, we have to call a special
TDD number (not 911!) which is prominently displayed in the front
pages of the Denver directory.  She stressed we are responsible
for bring direct access about in our local areas if the situation
is otherwise.

---------------------------

What Did They Say?...Enhancing Communication Accessibility at
Large
by Randolph Mowry, Steven Boone

They conducted a survey of convention attendees at the 1991
convention and only 202 people returned their surveys!  It was
interesting to note that oral and sign interpreters were
generally least helpful while FM systems and captioning were most
helpful.  I submitted my name to get a copy of their results so
will not mention anything further here.

-----------------------

The Awards ceremony was held at 5:30 at which Jack O'Keeffe
accepted an award on behalf of the editor of the Pittsburgh #1
chapter for Outstanding Newsletters.  I watched the awards and it
was pretty informative.  One of the people from the Boulder, CO,
Chapter, Colette Ancelin, accepted an award for Ann Pruitt for
all her efforts, among them chairing the 1991 Convention in
Denver.

At this ceremony, Jack O'Keeffe introduced me to Nancy Wessner,
who serves on the SHHH Board.

The Exhibit Reception will be covered next...
To be continued....
--
Uucp: ..!uunet!bunker!hcap!hnews!104!809.0!Karen.Keil
Internet: Karen.Keil@p0.f809.n104.z1.fidonet.org