response 3 of 25:

Feb 2 18:18 UTC 1995

I hired two deaf individuals.  One ,  a young woman with kids not much
younger than I, is profoundly deaf.  She came for an interview w/out
an interpreter--she reads lips well, but did not tellme that then for
fear of me relying on that.  We wrote.  I was impressed by her guts,
and never regretted hiring her!  Tho I learned some ASL, and was good
at it for a while, I was promoted and have no reason to keep up w/it.
Now, we chat about kids, work, in "pidgin ASL" and lip reading.
If I don't know a sign, I make it up.  

The other idividual does not lip read well.  He hears somewhat w/
hearing aids.  I understand him well...it's like picking up
a heavy accent. His wife is also deaf and speaks less clearly.  I find
if I concentrate I understand her, but as she knows her speech is not
always clear, she is not offended when I ask her to repeat something.
Rather, she is pleased I am interested enough to want to understand.

Sometimes, gestures help like if you are saying something is huge
and you gesture with your hands to whow how much.

Remember, lipreading usually is best in a one on one setting, not for group
chats.

If you talk about common terms, frequently, the lip reader may become very 
proficient at picking them up.  Our employees do better than the
interpreters at following jargon!

response 5 of 25:

Feb 10 19:47 UTC 1995

and another benefit...my kids (hearing) sign at dinnertime occasionally
when I say no talking with a full mouth, or some other ban on talking.  
I'm so tickled to see them use ASL I rarely stop them!  They "benefit"
by bending the rules!

response 7 of 25:

Feb 14 18:44 UTC 1995

They can't use ASL, because neither knows it well enough for accuracy, and
in my daughter's 4th grade, many kids don't know any ASL (came from other
schools for the advanced program).  In my son's 1st grade, where there is
a full-time interpreter for the deaf child, the kids simply do not spell
well enough in standard English, nor are the hearing kids conversant
enough to even dream of cheating on tests that way..  Notice, I don't say
they *wouldn't*! 

Before I ever knew a deaf person or heard of ASL, about 25 years ago,
a friend and I made up our own fingerspelling alphabet to get us through
the elem school "quiet" periods when talking wasn't allowed.
We were around 10 qat the time and used it daily for a few years, we got real
fluent!  Then I forgot about it, grew up, left home, and didn't think of it
til I was learning ASL, and all of a sudden remembered it all!

response 9 of 25:

Feb 23 03:00 UTC 1995

I'm looking for some information:  Does anyone know *precisely* what
Michigan State law is regarding driving after having had a seizure?  I
have heard two variations and need to know the exact law.  My daughter,
Jenny, has epilepsy and although she is a long period of time seizure-free,
this is a concern for us.  (The Sec'ty of State Ofc is even reluctant to 
make a statement.)  Would appreciate hearing from anyone out there who
knows the laws of this state.

response 11 of 25:

Apr 3 03:51 UTC 1995

Have all of us died and can no longer discuss or has the issue/interest
dried up? (heavens forbid!!!)    Thanks for the previous discussions.  It
kept me going through difficult days knowing I would log in at night with 
some interesting discussions.  Could we continue?  Do we need topics?

response 13 of 25:

Apr 10 02:40 UTC 1995

Raywms to Bruin:  THANKS BUT NO THANKS!   (Teasing you  :)    Actually, this
is an important subject.  I think romance involves different aspects of
emotions and sex involves emotions as well as physical [sorry guys..].  This
is especially true with the female gender.  So, I suspect that romance and
sex will vary from gender to gender, from individual to individual.  LET'S
LOOK AT THE TERM high functioning person with a developmental disability.
I know some persons without disabilities are turned off by the unknown
nature of a disability.  This is an ATTITUDUAL problem--theirs.  Truth is
there are many persons with severe disabilities happily married, enjoying
the wonders of sexual partnerships, parenthood, etc.   I have been told
by a few persons without disabilities  [I refuse the term "normal"]  that
a person with a disability possibally has an insight and is sometimes more
willing to share than persons without a disability who are tuned into "self"
so strongly no one can get close to that person.   LET'S SEE IF WE GET SOME
RESPONSES...proposals, comments anyone?

response 15 of 25:

May 10 00:37 UTC 1995

Janet (my soulmate) has a form of what was called mental retardation in a
less enlightened period of history.

response 17 of 25:

Jun 29 21:46 UTC 1995

  I was wondering the other day, as I was playing around with a
graphical digital music program, if real-time sound-wave displays
(like a microphone attached to an oscilloscope) have been used by
people without hearing to try visually understand speech or other
surrounding sounds.  I've heard of using computer programs like
this to help with speech therapy, by providing visual feedback
about the speaker's voice, but wonder if it could be applied to
actually understanding speech from a graphical depiction.  As
computers get smaller and more powerful, it seems like before
long, it would be feasible for a person to carry around a small
computer that's able to display sound waves, with a few buttons to
control the display (e.g., redisplay the last few seconds of
sound, etc.)  I heard some time ago about a guy in China who was
able to look at voice prints and say what the sounds were (though
I don't think he could do it in real-time), so I'm wondering if a
person without hearing used such a device, particularly from an
early age when most language acquisition occurs, if they might not
develop an ability to understand speech using just a waveform
display.  Any thoughts?

response 19 of 25:

Aug 30 13:36 UTC 1995

Wonderful insight, mwarner.  However, the speech patterns of individuals
is so complicated and the human ear so flexible....I hope some day ajax
and your idea will become a reality.  AT THE PRESENT TIME, voice recogn-it
ion is based on only the user's voice.  Computer artificial intelligence
may some day make computers (which only understand "on off" or "0  1"
language) flexible enough to adjust for accents, discrepancies in voice
patterns and other complicated voice vs ears receptive/expressive matters.
THIS WOULD BE WONDERFUL but the sad truth is   "NOT YET".  
        Years ago, trial glasses were attempted, and had lines with lights
implanted within the lens to attempt a form of what AJAX discussed.  No
such luck.....
        Now I need to sign off GREX until I establish a different contact
due to a reorganization (discharge from my position) with our Department.
I hope to re-establish contact with GREX but I do want to express my own
enjoyment and involvement with the Disabilities Conference!   THANKS GREX.

response 21 of 25:

Jan 12 19:47 UTC 1998

We are building a house, the first floor of which we hope will be usable by
people with various disabilities.  Apart from tile floors and wide doorways
and door knobs that don't need turning (no latch), and leaving space for an
entrance ramp, and making it possible to go in a circle through all the rooms,
what features would be helpful?  We are setting up the bathroom so that the
toilet could be accessed from the side, if the laundry tub is removed.  The
wiring system will be in conduit this side of the drywall so can be easily
remodeled (should there be a need for 220 voltage anywhere).  (Non-slip tile
floors with heat in them, can be covered with wall to wall carpet later if
needed).  The outlets will be at about 30", switches can easily be lowered
later from 48".  You can shower in the middle of the bathroom, which has a
drain.  First floor laundry, living room usable as a bedroom.  What sorts of
things have people had to do to existing housing to make it usable?
(Do I have this question in the wrong item?)

response 23 of 25:

Jan 13 23:52 UTC 1998

I will be happy to get definitions of either or both.