Resources for Individuals who are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing

1. Resources for Individuals who are Deaf orHard-of-Hearing Lisa Shigio, Au.D. Audiologist Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind 719-578-2183 lshigio@csdb.org

2. Technology? Times sure have changed…

3. We are all familiar with hearing aids and cochlear implants

4. Why would deaf and hard-of-hearing people need assistive devices? • My child / students already have hearing aids / cochlear implants • Isn’t that good enough?

5. Sometimes yes, sometimes no • HAs and CIs have to be removed at times • Sometimes the listening environment is challenging • People who lose hearing after they have already learned spoken language may need less “assistance” than someone who was born deaf

6. Speech Banana

7. Even with hearing aids or cochlear implants, some of the speech sounds may be missing, making it difficult to understand what is being said

8. Some people choose not to use amplification and communicate using sign language

9. What is an assistive device? • Equipment that helps someone hear better in difficult listening situations • Devices that help someone who cannot hear to communicate with hearing people • Apps that help people practice listening, learn ASL, etc. • Telephone services for deaf or HOH people • Devices to make life easier, more pleasurable, or safer for deaf or HOH people • Equipment to help students in the classroom • others

10. How can deaf people communicate with hearing people?

11. TranslatorsHarris Communicationswww.harriscomm.com Krown Sign Language translator: Enter words using the touch screen keyboard and watch a video clip signed by a live individual.

12. TranslatorsHarris Communicationswww.harriscomm.com Interact-AS Instant Transcription and Translation of Conversations Software deaf and hard of hearing individuals can now directly communicate with people who do not know sign language using their PC laptop, netbook or tablet.

13. Use cell phone or iPad to write out messages

14. Ubi Duohttp://www.scomm.com/ • Face-to-face real-time communication device • Six pounds • Look like laptops

15. ASL Interpreters • Sign Language Network –Colorado Springs www.signlanguagenetwork.com • Rose Interpreting –Denver http://roseinterpreting.com • Independent Interpreters of Northern Colorado – Ft. Collins to Denver http://www.aslinterpretercolorado.com/index.html • 24 hour Sign Language Services (also have video remote interpreting) http://www.24hrsls.com/

16. Devices to make life easier and more enjoyable

17. Listening to iPod, phone, other devicesGeemarc Telecom Clearsound Neck Loopwww.geemarc.com • Use the t-coil setting in the hearing aid or CI

18. Vibrating Watch and Alarm Clock • Watch: the vibration on your wrist will alert you and not others. • Alarm Clock: vibrates and/or flashes a light. Can interface w/ phone so don’t sleep through calls • Can put cell phone on vibrate and put under pillow for alarm clock

19. Bluetooth Streamers • Use with bluetooth compatible HAs, CIs, cell phones, MP3 players, iPods, TVs, etc. • PhonakiCom www.phonak.com

20. TV Amplifiers • Infrared wireless earphones Noisefreeheadphones.com

21. Amplified TelephonesProductsForTheDeaf.com

22. Amplified answering machine clearsounds clearsounds.com

23. Doorbell and phone signaler • Door beacon w/ LED light Also can get a high intensity doorbell ringer • Loud ringer light box for phone Rehabmart.com

24. TV MessengerGlobal Assistive Devices www.globalassistive.peachhost.com/Home.htm • Enjoy the convenience of identifying incoming calls on your Television set

25. Cap-Tel • Captioned telephone • www.captel.com • WebCapTel lets you view captions on your smart phone, tablet, or computer.

26. Other Relay Services • Sorenson • Sprint VRS • AT&T Video Relay • ZVRS • Purple VRS • others

27. Sprint VRSwww.sprintrelay.com • CapTel • Relay service • instant messenger • Relay conference captioning

28. Sorenson Communications • SIP Relay Free text-based relay calls from PC or mobile device http://www.sorenson.com • Videophone service • ASL interpreters • Offers free Sorenson videophone for deaf individuals

29. AT&T Video Relayhttp://relayservices.att.com/ • Captioned Telephone: CapTelis a free phone captioning service for web, mobile and home. • Instant Messaging: make relay calls from AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) • Speech to speech relay: STS relay allows consumers with speech loss to communicate over the phone • TTY: TTY relay is for individuals who prefer to use a TTY device to communicate with a hearing person.

30. ZVRS http://www.zvrs.com/home • Videophones for desktop or portable • Free download for Apple mobile device

31. Purple VRShttp://www.purple.us/ • Video Relay Services (VRS) • Purple text relay • On-site interpreting • Purple VRI (on-demand ASL interp over live internet) • This service is free to their Deaf and hard-of-hearing customers • For PC, Mac, iPhone, Android • Purple mail for iPhone and Android

32. Of course, there’s always Skype

33. alldeaf.com • Blogs • Deaf community • chat • Calendar of events • FAQs • Products for the deaf CAUTION: Parents should check it out before letting their child get on this site, as anyone can write anything on it

34. Events happening in the Deaf community Colorado Deaf.com

35. OIC Movieswww.oicmovies.com News and information in ASL

36. There are other websites but I will let you do your own web search. I don’t want to get…

37. International Hearing Dog, Inc. www.ihdi.org/Home.html • rescues dogs from animal shelters, • trains them to assist deaf and HOH people • places them with recipients throughout the US and Canada • free of charge.

38. Family dogs • Some deaf individuals train the family pet to alert them to environmental sounds in the home

39. Closed captioned DVDs • Check amazon.com for a list of captioned DVDs • Allows you to watch captioned DVDs on your computer

40. Exercise DVD for Deaf or HOHHarris Communications • A colorful light burst flashes to the music's rhythm and changes color to help translate the sound of the music into a visual energy form.

41. ASL Exercise DVDHarris Communications • Exercise DVDs taught in ASL

42. Devices to make life safer

43. Smoke alarm & carbon monoxide detectors • Can be used with flashing lights or vibrator

44. Baby Cry Signalerlight or vibrator • Justbecuz.com

45. Motion Sensor • Can monitor entry, hallway, or window areas of home for security and peace of mind. Maximum range: 80 feet.

46. Body worn receiver kitSilentcall.com • Body-worn receiver alerts the user to doorbell, smoke detector, phone, baby cry, etc.

47. NOAA Weather RadioSilent Call and Harris Communication • Provides critical warnings of life threatening events to the deaf and hard of hearing. • Activate alerting devices such as vibrators, bed shakers, pillow vibrators, strobe lights and other alerting systems. • receivers can be programmed to set off an alarm for specific events (tornado, flash flood, etc.) www.nws.noaa.gov

48. Deaf MD www.deafmd.org ASL videos explaining medical information Many diseases Find a deaf-friendly physician Understanding tests

49. Devices for students in the classroom

50. FM Systems