Well the audiology appointment was a bust! I was assured in several emails from Vocational Rehabilitation that the appointment, paperwork & an interpreter would be ready for me on the 3rd. (after a failed appointment last January due to no paperwork sent). My SSP (need an explanation?) picked me up & we drove an hour and half one way to the appointment. Upon arrival the Audiology Center informs me that my appointment was for the 5th! Sooo, back home I go and wait 2 days....

Thursday arrives, my SSP and I again make the long haul to the city. First there was no interpreter, I can understand that, it's hard to book one on short notice. We finally go in and sit with the Audiologist and she says "What can we do for you today?" So I explain the whole story again, my C.I. broke, need a replacement, VR sent me here.....

"Well all we have here from them is an authorization for a hearing test"
(I flash a look of "WTH" at my SSP)
"Let's go into the booth and test you then". She puts on headphones and tells me "Raise your hand when you hear anything"
Three minutes later she returns to the booth "Ok, we're all done"...I didn't raise my hand once!
"Yep, you're deaf"
"No shit Sherlock" I mutter....

Sooo, after I return home I fire off some e-mails to my VR Counselor & learned that she's now currently on a leave of absence and the new one was speechless at the lack of progress and confusion. So today (Friday) my new counselor has been making phone calls and e-mailing me and saying she's working on it. So I'm hoping better progress would be made here on out.

Now I wanted to share some results so far in the Poll I gave:

25% said "Cover Up"
56% said "Show Off"
19% said "Don't Care"

After sharing my last post on several forums I've had varying reasons ranging from "I want people to see me for ME and not my H.A. or C.I." to "If people don't see my C.I., how would they know they need to face me to talk to me?" Which are all valid reasons, and some even disagreed with my reasons for covering up. Sorry y'all I was talking from my own experiences growing up with H.A.s and all.

Now I'd like to expand the poll a bit if y'all don't mind:

Soooo I will update y'all any further news, but for now I'm stuck with the Tinnitus and "ear-worms"
Tracy,
One finds limits by pushing them" ~ Herbert Simon

It seems that today every kid wants to have their own cell phone. Additionally, kids want to get their first cell phone at younger and younger ages every year. This can make a lot of parents nervous. There are a lot of safety concerns that need to be addressed with letting kids have their own cell phones, as well as the issues with distractions from school work and other important tasks.

There are a lot of things that parents can do to help give their kids a safe and productive way to have their own cell phone. Any family can use these simple ideas to regulate cell phone use in the home and create a healthier relationship with technology. Parents can also use these ideas to help keep their kids safe when they are using their cell phones. Here are five smart cell phone rules for kids.

Work on a family plan

Many kids will want to have their own cell phone plan. This may seem harmless to many parents, but it can be an issue for a few reasons. First, having a separate plan allows kids to conduct more activity with their cell phone that parents will not know about. Second, when they order Vonage in New York family plans, families can save a lot of money on their cell phone bills.

Turn off phones at bedtime

Having cell phones at night can cause a lot of issues for kids. Using their cell phones at night can cause kids to lose sleep, which can affect their performance in school the next day and cloud their judgment. Parents should keep their children’s phones at night to prevent this issue.

Inform kids about the dangers of sharing their information online

Having a smart phone allows kids to connect to the internet anywhere, anytime. Parents need to be sure that they inform their kids about the dangers of sharing their information online. There are still a lot of cases of identity theft today, and age is no deterrent for some hackers. Parents should stress this importance whenever their kids are using the internet.

Set some no phone times

Some people might notice that cell phone use is affecting a child’s ability to function properly in certain settings. For example, phone use can cause children to lose focus when studying or at the dinner table. Parents can set no cell phone times to fix this problem, not allowing their kids to have access at certain times to help them focus and be more productive.

Set passwords for buying new apps

There are a lot of mobile apps that kids have become obsessed with today. These apps can help kids be more productive, but many can be a big distraction to them throughout the day. Parents should have a password that only they know on the account that kids will need to use to buy or download new apps. This will ensure that parents have to OK every single app that is on their child’s phone. 

When I read this story I eyerolled and groaned. Yet another device to "fix" the deaf, more work for the deaf to figure out how it works, more frustration.

"It will require practice for the user to interpret the signals sent to the tongue as sound, but Leslie Stone-Roy, assistant professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, believes it can be done with a couple of month’s practice." 

That's what they said about Cochlear Implants, Hearing Aids, Speech Therapy, etc. The majority of this was forced on us as children with years of work and stress.. But when we request someone to learn sign language to communicate with us, "Oh it's too much work". Huh?

Instead of concentrating on fixing the deaf, why not concentrate more on communication access? Better speech-to-text programs, put the monies into scholarships for interpreting programs, make it easier to get interpreters on demand, and offer more sign language classes?


Can anyone else think of a better use of College Inventor's time than these useless gadgets? Comment on how you feel? I'd love to hear from y'all.



Tracy,
One finds limits by pushing them" ~ Herbert Simon

On January 24 & 25th 2015 is the Online Deafblind National Conference. The title is ""The DeafBlind Community:
Communication, Trends & Techniques". All you need is a computer with a high speed connection, no webcam required.


Guests are nationally recognized experts in the Deafblind community & include: Chris Woodfill, Eugene Bourquin, Christopher Tester & Jelica Nuccio and a bunch more!


Topics include: State of the Deafblind Community, Common Eye diseases & Interpreting strategies, tactile maps as communication tools, Pro Tactile, & Understanding the Community.

CEUs are offered for Professional Studies as well.

For more information, registration & fees check out the DBTip Site

We need more professionals to understand our community,
Tracy

After the shutdown of Purple Communications IP-Relay Service, I've been waiting patiently for Sprint Relay to contact me with a new registration number and ability to make relay calls.

Sprint Relay requires a Driver's Licence or State Photo I.D. & a copy of the utility bill where you live. I sent those but only showed company name and our address (no account number, amount owing and such). Today I get an email saying to contact Customer Service to finish the registration. They asked a series of questions such as High School, College attended, mother's maiden name, etc. With each question, the knot in my stomach grew tighter as they get more personal. They requested a better copy of the Utility Bill with more information on it. I lied and said I'll do that later.

As soon as I finished with Customer Service I went to the FCC.gov site and tried to search for information on why the FCC (allegedly) needs all this information just for me to make a damn phone call? With no answers in the search, I went ahead and filed a complaint form:

"I would like to know why the FCC (according to Sprint Relay) is requiring new registers to provide a Drivers Licence or Photo ID and a copy of a Utility Bill as proof of person? Then a series of questions based on their "search" which feels like a violation of privacy. There must be a better way to be able to make an IP relay call without having to expose everything about myself! Please provide your reasons for requesting these information if they are in fact valid? IF not, please look into Sprint Relay and their inquest into our lives!"

Here's an excerpt their reply:

"Among other things, the interim rules required each IP CTS provider, in order to be eligible for compensation from the Fund for providing service to new IP CTS users, (i) to register each new IP CTS user by obtaining the consumer’s name, address, and telephone number; (ii) to obtain from each consumer a self-certification regarding the consumer’s understanding of and need to use IP CTS" 

Here's their reason for the implementation of these rules:

"the Commission initiated a rulemaking proceeding to address the misuse of IP Relay 
and VRS.1 The Commission noted that it was concerned that people without a hearing or speech disability were taking 
advantage of the anonymity of the IP Relay service by calling merchants to place orders using 
fake, stolen, or otherwise invalid credit cards. Such abuse drains the Interstate TRS Fund and 
harms legitimate consumers whose calls are rejected by individuals and businesses that have 
been the victims of such misuse."

Well there you have it! Stupid idiots abusing the system! It's hard enough to convince people that it's a relay call from a Deaf consumer, you have these idiots faking it for criminal use!

As much as I hate sharing private information, I need to rely on Relay Services for every day family management.

Tracy,
One finds limits by pushing them" ~ Herbert Simon

I just got the news that my regular Relay Service I use to make calls (ip-relay.com) will be shutting down on November 14th due to changes in FCC Codes. (For an explanation of Relay Service check out my old post). 

This is disheartening since I have poor vision I opt to use text relay instead of video relay 

There's only one Internet Relay Provider left and that's through Sprint.. I could go back to using Video Relay but I haven't used one in many years and do not know which provider is better. 

I could also use my CapTel phone which works like a standard phone but has a screen for a relay operator to type out the other person's conversation. Because of this there's an "unnatural" delay as I wait for the captions to appear and understand what's being said. So even after explaining to the caller about my phone and my "deaf accent" I still get a lot of hangups. Some days I get phone phobia and just rather not deal with any phone calls at all. Don't get me started on Government directories! By the time I find out what Option 1, 2 and 3 are, they've hung up!

It would be so much easier if there were more:

• Pop up Live Chats on Company Websites
• Directed Corporate e-mail service to go directly to the right department. I finally got an e-mail reply to a question I sent....a year ago!
• Listings of Telephone Option Directories, so you can find out what buttons you'll need to push before you start the phone call.
• Updated Technology at Companies, they've got dedicated "TTY" phone numbers for Deaf users, but I can't remember the last time I've used one!
• Patient people!

I guess I'll have to keep researching video relay companies to find which is a good fit for me.

Til then...I'm not answering the phone!

Tracy,
"One finds limits by pushing them" ~ Herbert Simon