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Press Release Contact: Edward F. Ogiba 941-966-8999 ed@groupefo.com

Dee Boenau crowned National Realtime Champion by the NCRA (National Court Reporters Association)

Sarasota FL August 16, 2010

Deanna "Dee" Boenau of Sarasota won the National Court Reporters Association’s coveted National Realtime Contest in Chicago on August 7. This annual competition, along with the National Speed Contest, can be referred to as the "Olympics" of court reporters, CART providers, and captioners. The Realtime Competition is designed to recognize a stenographic reporter's accuracy for instant speech-to-text translation.

Sue Lynn Morgan, NCRA President presents Dee with the Realtime trophy.

Forty challengers from across the country vied for the 2010 National Realtime Champion title by typing dictation at speeds up to 225 words a minute on a steno machine, simultaneously outputting instant text translation to a computer. Upon completion of the dictation, contestants were not allowed to do any editing or correcting. Only seven of the forty qualified overall, including past champions. Dee won with nearly 99% accuracy.

The National Realtime Competition consists of two parts, and Dee has won gold in the two-voice testimony in 2007 and 2008, while taking the gold in the Literary portion in 2009. Before winning the 2010 title last week, she had placed either second or third six times in the overall competition.

Dee has also won the 2005 Pennsylvania Cup for Realtime and each of the three Florida Cups for Realtime.  Dee received the Florida Court Reporters Association Pro Bono award in 2004 for services she provided to various deaf and hard of hearing organizations. She also shared the 2005 Florida Association of the Deaf Achievement Award for Accessibility with partner Jack Boenau.

Dee is Vice-President of Sarasota-based AmeriCaption, Inc. and a Registered Diplomate Reporter, which is the highest level of certification available to court reporters, CART providers, and Broadcast Captioners through the National Court Reporters Association.

AmeriCaption is a Sarasota-based company that provides a range of services including Closed Captioning (CC) for TV, CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, and Convention Reporting. For more details, please visit: http://www.americaption.com

Do you need captions to enjoy a movie? Then you are in luck as our area offers several theaters that offer captioned movies every day.

Go to www.CaptionFish.com for all the Open Caption (OC), Rear Window Caption (RWC) and Subtitled  (ST)  movies running today and for the rest of the week. Use their handy feature to watch movie trailers with captions to help you select which movie is for you.

HLAS CHAPTER NEWS -  BOARD MEMBER  ED OGIBA ELECTED PRESIDENT

 

 

 

 

Ed Ogiba was elected president of our chapter by the general membership at the March 17, 2010 meeting.

His experience with hearing loss started in the US Army artillery at age 24.  Ed's hearing progressively declined. When he was 50 he got a hearing aid in the right ear.  Later, Meniere's disease greatly reduced the remainder of his hearing and at age 50, he received a cochlear implant for his left ear and he has an FM system for the right ear which provides him with the best hearing since before his illness.

 

Ed serves on the Board of Directors for the Ear Research Foundation. He currently runs Group EFO, a creative marketing and new product agency for businesses as well as NP Marketer, which provides marketing solutions for non-profits. He spent 20 years at Ogilvy & Mather managing major accounts and their new product subsidiaries in the US and Canada.

 

 

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Ralph Intorcio sent me a BBC link concerning a possible cure for deafness that uses stem cells. Click on the following to read the article. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/health/7974795.stm

 

HLAA IS WORKING FOR YOU     Cutting the Cord A Digital cordless telephones with new standard technology that reduces interference when used by people with T-coil-equipped hearing aids or cochlear implants are now available in stores. The standard - TIA-1083 - was developed by industry engineers working through the Telecommunications Industry Association with the advice and support of HLAA and researchers at Gallaudet University. Manufacturers Panasonic, Uniden and VTech are placing a TIA-1083 mark to identify their cordless phones that comply with the new standard as "hearing-aid friendly." "This shows that industry and consumers can work together to bring accessible products to market," said Brenda Battat, executive director of HLAA. "As a result of this collaborative effort hearing aid and cochlear implant users now have more phone options."

 

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Ringling Art Museum Accessibility Tours

Recently, members of our chapter attended a docent led tour of the art gallery at the Ringling Museum of Art that was designed specifically to accommodate persons with disabilities. The tour, led by trained docents, lasted about an hour and included wheelchair users and people that had hearing loss. The docents gave very interesting lectures about various works in their collection.

Members first stopped at the registration desk inside the Visitor Pavilion and picked up their wristband before proceeding to the art gallery where the tour began and assistive listening devices were distributed. The museum had received a grant to purchase the tour guide assistive listening system for their docents to use.

The new assistive listening system, manufactured by Williams Sound, consists of a small FM transmitter that has a microphone that the speaker wears on their head and a group of receivers that are equipped with neckloops or headsets. Each receiver has its own volume control that permits the wearer to adjust to their particular comfort level.

The new listening system works very well because the microphone is close to the speaker’s mouth and the receivers allow the users to hear the lectures clearly despite the poor acoustics found in several galleries.

Presently, the museum plans to only use the assistive listening system on special group tours that are arranged in advance, not for individuals. If you or someone you know would like to book an accessibility tour, call the Advance Ticket Sales Office at 941-358-3180 and tell the museum person that your group wants to use the assistive listening system.  [This article submitted by Frank Stocco - 24 Sep 08]

HOUSE PASSES BILL TO TRAIN REALTIME CAPTIONERS

From a press release distributed 2008 by Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons (NVRC
 
The National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) today lauded the U.S. House of Representatives for taking a bold step toward authorizing the creation of a grant program, championed by Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.), to train real time writers needed to ensure that the communication access needs of 30 million deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans are met. The NCRA initiative was included in the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007 (H.R. 4137), better known as the Higher Education Reauthorization bill, passed by the House on Thursday evening.
 
NCRA Executive Director and CEO Mark J. Golden, CAE, states, "Passing this language demonstrates that Congress truly understands that people with hearing loss deserve full and effective communication access which can only be provided by qualified stenographic real time writers. This funding will go a long way in helping to bring more real time writers into the workforce and meet the growing demand for this necessary service. We are honored that people who are deaf and hard-of-hearing and the providers who serve them have a champion like Ron Kind on Capitol Hill. NCRA has been working side-by-side with Congressman Kind since 2001 on this issue and congratulates him on this step toward success."
 
"Court reporters are the guardians of the public record, and closed captioners help our hard-of-hearing residents stay informed," Rep. Kind said. "Right now we are educating only half the real time writers we need, and I am pleased that this new grant program will increase awareness and interest in this vital profession."
 
NCRA will now diligently work toward ensuring that the same language is included in the final conference bill that is presented to President Bush for his signature and approval, as the Senate has already passed its version of the Higher Education Reauthorization bill.
 
"The Senate has passed similar language -- known previously as the Training for Real time Writers Act -- twice before unanimously," said Golden. "We hope that the Senate will once again rise to the call of those Americans in need of communication access services."
 
The House bill meets the mandates of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which set a 2006 deadline by which all new broadcasts in English were to be captioned. Unfortunately, that deadline has come and gone and the requisite hours of captioning are not being met. With 30 million deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans, closed captions are critically important to their livelihoods and safety.
 
The supply of court reporters still seriously lags behind demand for their services in courtrooms and law offices, in television studios to caption newscasts, and in schools and other settings to provide interpretive services for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. This comes as the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that employment of real time court reporters is projected to grow 25 percent, much faster than the average for all occupations between 2006 and 2016.
 
NCRA currently estimates that the total number of court reporters in the United States has dropped to approximately 35,000, down from 43,000 a decade earlier. Equally disturbing is the continuing downward trend in the number of court reporters who are graduating from schools and colleges whose training programs are certified by NCRA. In 2007, 62 certified programs across the U.S. graduated fewer than 350 court reporters.
 
The National Court Reporters Association, a 23,000-member nonprofit organization, represents the judicial reporting and captioning professions. Members include official court reporters, deposition reporters, broadcast captioners, providers of real time communication access services for deaf and hard-of-hearing people and others who capture and convert the spoken word into information bases and readable formats. Its main web site is at www.ncraonline.org.
 
NATIONAL COURT REPORTERS ASSOCIATION
http://www.ncraonline.org


 

Cordless Phone Manufacturers to Make All Handsets TIA-1083 Compliant

Arlington, Va. - The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and the Hearing
Loss Association of America (HLAA) announced today that Panasonic, Uniden, Thompson,
and V-Tech will have 100% of their new cordless telephones comply with the TIA-1083
interference standard.  This standard will curtail the interference experienced
by cordless phone users with hearing aids and cochlear implants.  These manufacturers
have indicated phased-in commitments to 100% compliance, with most achieving it
for new designs in 2008 and all expecting to comply by the beginning of 2010.

This milestone is the result of consistent, coordinated efforts by TIA, its members,
HLAA and the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Telecommunications Access
at Gallaudet University. Collaboration between TIA, the communications industry
and HLAA is productive on many levels. Good-faith negotiations allow all parties
to avoid burdensome regulations that might have unintended consequences for consumers.
Working directly with industry allows consumers with hearing loss to voice their
concerns and see their suggested changes brought to market as quickly as possible.

TIA-1083, Telephone Terminal Equipment Handset Magnetic Measurement Procedures and
Performance Requirements, defines measurement procedures and performance requirements
for the handset generated audio band magnetic noise of wireline telephones.  Simply
put, applying the TIA-1083 standard to cordless phones significantly reduces the
audio interference problems that had previously affected cordless telephone users
with hearing aids and cochlear implants.

"TIA believes that the more people who can access the telecom network, the more
powerful and useful that network is for everyone," said TIA President Grant Seiffert.
"The success TIA and HLAA have had in working together to solve this potential
problem is simply inspiring."

"This shows that industry and consumers can work together to bring accessible products
to market," said Brenda Battat, associate executive director of HLAA. "As a result
of this collaborative effort hearing aid and cochlear implant users now have more
phone options."

About TIA
For almost three decades the Telecommunications Industry Association has leveraged
its global resources to create the best possible business environment within which
our 500+ members can research, develop, manufacture, market and sell their products
and services worldwide. The association accomplishes this through its expertise
in standards, advocacy, business development, market intelligence, environmental
compliance and information security. TIA is committed to expanding market opportunities
while protecting and enhancing the reputation of the global communications industry
with all its stakeholders.

Source:  Hearing Loss Association of America

CURRENT SMOKE ALARMS UNABLE TO WAKE MILLIONS OF HARD OF HEARING PEOPLE

August 2, 2007: According to the July 2007 study, "Waking Effectiveness of Alarms for Adults who are Hard of Hearing," the typical audible signal used by smoke alarms failed to wake up 43 percent of tested subjects with mild to moderately severe hearing loss despite the fact that all were able to hear the 3100 Hz tone when awake. Strobe lights woke up only 27 percent of the hard of hearing subjects. In contrast, a specific audible multiple frequency signal consisting of a 520 Hz square wave [1] successfully alerted 92 percent of the subjects at the benchmark level of 75 dBA and alerted 100 percent at 95 dBA.

The study, authored by Dorothy Bruck and Ian Thomas of Victoria University, Australia, estimated at least 34.5 million people in the United States have partial hearing loss and projected that this number would increase due to the aging of the baby boomer generation.

The Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) has long suspected that people have died in fires because they could not hear or wake up to high-frequency smoke alarms, but government investigations of fire fatalities have not inquired into whether the victims had hearing loss. Neither audible smoke alarms nor strobe lights were specifically tested with hard of hearing people during stages of deep sleep until the twenty-first century. The findings of this study indicate that millions of people with hearing loss will not be wakened from deep sleep by audible alerts which use only one tone in the high frequencies rather than a range of frequencies beginning at approximately 500 Hz.

"This study shows there is a critical need for emergency warning systems to be redesigned or supplemented as soon as technically feasible, said Terry Portis, executive director of the Hearing Loss Association of America. "Millions of people do not and will not know that they will not wake up to the high-pitched tones used by most emergency alerts. We call upon manufacturers of emergency alerting equipment, such as smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms, and weather radios, to provide solutions that recognize this reality as soon as possible."

The study evaluated the performance of six different signals for waking up hard of
hearing people from deep sleep and found the 520 Hz square wave to be the most effective of all the signals. Bed and pillow shakers awoke 80 percent of the subjects at benchmark levels, waking the majority very quickly, but did not wake up 100 percent of the subjects even at higher levels of intensity.

For people with more severe hearing loss, the authors recommended studying the effectiveness of two or more different signals, such as a 520 Hz square wave audible signal with a tactile alert and/or a strobe light.

"Even though strobe lights may not be effective by themselves at waking up hard of
hearing people from deep sleep, it's important to remember that strobe lights are
still needed for alerting deaf people when they are awake and are not in contact
with a tactile alerting device," said Dana Mulvany, member of the Technical Panel
for the research project.

"Presently, there are no known emergency alerting products on the market incorporating a range of tones and also including a low frequency near 500 Hz," Mulvany said. "Other research has already shown that the 520 Hz square wave is superior to the 3100 Hz tone for waking up other vulnerable populations, such as elderly people and people under the influence of alcohol. All manufacturers of emergency warning devices, including smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms and weather radios, should explore methods of providing variations of the 520 Hz square wave as an audible alert so that people with unknown, temporary or permanent partial hearing loss can be awoken quickly from deep sleep. Manufacturers also need to specify the frequency response of their audible
alerts so that customers of all kinds can make informed decisions about their purchases."

Brenda Battat, associate executive director of HLAA, said: "Operators of hotels,
motels, college dormitories and many other facilities with sleeping areas must ensure that they provide equally effective communication access for people with hearing loss to the building alarm system, which is required by Title II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Many deaf or hard of hearing guests have been provided portable alerting systems with a bed shaker, but these systems have typically not provided effective alerting when the building alarm system is triggered and have only been activated by smoke within the guest's own room, which is too late for optimal notification. We urge people with hearing loss to file complaints under the Americans with Disabilities Act if they are not provided effective alerts to the building alarm system by ADA-covered entities."

Hearing Loss Association of America thanks the Fire Protection Research Foundation for commissioning this research study, and Drs. Bruck and Thomas for their intensive work on this study.

Act Will Include Hearing Aids Under Medicare

Rep. Gus M. Bilirakis (R-Fla) introduced the Medicare Hearing Enhancement and Auditor Rehabilitation (HEAR) Act, (HR 1912) to the House April 18. The legislation is designed to help seniors better afford hearing aids and other auditory rehabilitation services.

Medicare is specifically prohibited from paying for hearing aids by federal law. The new legislation would repeal this prohibition and direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop coverage policies based on other federal hearing aid programs, such as those currently offered by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense through its Tricare health program. HR1912 also would provide Medicare coverage for auditory rehabilitation services so that Medicare beneficiaries can receive needed ongoing care to optimize their hearing with the use of a hearing aid.

“We must begin a national discussion on how to help seniors afflicted with hearing loss or impairment, especially with more and more baby-boomers suffering from this condition becoming Medicare-eligible,” Bilirakis says. “As an American with hearing loss, I understand all too well the frustrations associated with this condition.  It makes good sense to help those who suffer from hearing impairment better afford devices, treatments, and services that will improve their quality of life.”

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), Rockville, Md, applauded Representative Bilirakis for introducing HEAR, and states that HR1912 would provide Medicare coverage for hearing aids and auditory rehabilitation services for seniors with hearing loss. “Congressman Bilirakis has demonstrated vital leadership in advancing this important discussion on Medicare's role in hearing loss among American seniors,” says Dennis Burrows, PhD, executive director of the Constance Brown Hearing Centers in Kalamazoo, Mich, and ASHA Executive Board member. “The Medicare HEAR legislation recognizes the critical value of providing auditory rehabilitation services from qualified professionals, such as audiologists, in addition to the hearing aids themselves,” Burrows says. “Without auditory rehabilitation services, consumers will not get the full benefit of their hearing aids.”

“ASHA has a leading, abiding, and very active commitment to making help like that addressed by the Medicare HEAR Act accessible to the public,” ASHA President Noma Anderson, PhD, says. “We applaud Congressman Bilirakis for introducing such important legislation. ASHA looks forward to working closely with him on making hearing aids and auditory rehabilitation services more available to our seniors who need them.”

The bill will encounter the challenge of being introduced in a time when fiscal restraint is a buzzword in Washington. Additionally, it has been pointed out by several hearing care and industry experts that Medicare coverage would almost certainly require fundamental changes in the way in which most dispensing audiologists conduct business and bill for their products and services. To see the original legislation, visit: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h110-191

Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) Travel Web Site www.HLAAtravel.org

Press Release – January 24, 2007 – Bethesda, MD.  HLAA has added a travel web site for members and supporters that will give money back to HLAA every time travel is booked on the site.

HLAA travel site has everything you need.  You get access to the same airlines, hotels, car rental companies, cruises, and vacation packages you find on all the other major travel web sites.  Best of all. . .you get some of the lowest travel prices on the Internet!  Plus, any time you book a flight, a hotel, a vacation for your family, a weekend getaway, a cruise. . .HLAA will receive 40% of the travel commissions. . .commissions that help our organization and our mission of creating awareness about hearing loss.

Maybe you are planning a trip right now, or maybe you would just like to daydream about a winter vacation.  Either way, why not take the HLAA travel web site for a “test drive”?   www.HLAAtravel.org.

Please bookmark HLAA’s travel site and use it to book your travel for the HLAA Convention 2007 in Oklahoma City.

Thanks for your commitment to HLAA and for trying out our travel service.

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