Do you have general questions on the experiences of disability?  As suzi
suggests in item 2, response 2, many people might have a need to ask
questions that can best be answered by those who are living the actual
experiences. Some topics might develop that could be turned into their own
item, while this item could remain an area for general discussions.

25 responses total.

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One of my friends roomed with a grad student last year who had to rely on
lip reading for her courses.  From talking with her I learned that it
takes quite a bit of concentration in the classroom, as of course she
didn't catch every word, not to mention the odd turned back and so forth. 
They had a "real time" transcription service she used but I don't think it
was always available.

I learned from her these things which seem obvious, but really require
some conscious effort for a while:

Face the person you are talking to (duh) and be sure you are situated so
your face is well lighted.  This can be a problem in many social settings.

Speak in your normal tone of voice without exaggeration.  People trying to
speak with special emphasis don't move their mouth in a fashion that lends
to lip reading particularly.

Jokes and especially ironic remarks are really hard to communicate at
times when tone of voice and other slight inflections contribute to the
meaning.

Not every word will be understood, but in a setting with few distractions
and a relaxed conversation with a friends, a good lip reader can read a
great percentage of what is being said.  So, there is the potential for
missed understanding when soundalike words are used in ambiguous context. 
Give some thought to what you are saying.  (advice we all could use no
matter what the setting)

When watching sporting events on television, sometimes you can learn what
players, coaches and other people are saying, aside from the expletives
most of us sighted individuals learned to read at an early age.

Communication between friends is more than just words.  You don't have to
do extra talking just to fill silence.

She had to do pronunciation excercises that depend on another willing
person to tell her when things where coming out right.  It can be hard to
find someone willing to sit through this drill, but the effort really
helped her brush up on the fine points of pronunciation.  If you want to
understand your friends better, maybe offering to spend part of your
conversation with this work would be an idea.  (depending on the individuals)


---

That's what little I know, but I thought it was worth sharing....

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!

First, feel free to ask the individual!  No one else is qualified!  Actually
speech is a series of fine motor movements.  Context plays an important role
in communicating.  ONLY 30 % OR LESS SPEECH IS VISIBLE ON THE LIPS.  Tongue
and air propellation make up for seventy percent plus.  Gestures, facial
expression help MUCH (see previous message).  For everyone, communication
can be improved if the subject matter is a given.  For the Deaf you may use
a rule of thumb  TIME, SUBJECT, VERB, ELOBRATION.  This helps establish the
context.  
        BTW, why practice or learn ASL?  Signs?  BECAUSE OF A THING CALLED
OLD-AGE DEAFNESS (presbycusis).  I do not face this prospect but all hearing
persons will need to think about it.  1/3 of all Nursing Home residents have 
a hearing loss.  I use this only as an example.
        There are more persons with aural deficiencies than combined Blind,
heart problems, MS, cancer, kidney disease, TB and VD!!!!!!!   When you think
about communication as the backbone of socialization.....think about what will
happen if/when you lose your receptive abilities?   YOU GAIN A BENEFIT WHERE
OTHERS MUST LISTEN TO YOU BUT YOU DO NOT HAVE TO LISTEN TO THEM. :-) 
(teasing).

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!

How do they do on exams in school?  I trust they would not use ASL for 
incorrect reasons....(children will invent ways...)   :-)

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!

To prevent any misunderstanding....the manual alphabet (fingerspelling) is
english and not ASL.  It is used for names, towns  but PURE ASL has no 
fingerspelling...Your commetns are most interesting...THANKS

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.

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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?

What are your feelings regarding romance and sex with a significant other who
is a high functioning person with a developmental disability?  Do you feel some
prejudice or the viewpoint that "he/she cannot handle this?"  Can they get ma[A
r

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?

Forgive my ignorance, but what is a developmental disability?

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

re #14...the term "Developmental Disability" refers to the inadequate
delvelop-ment of a mental, physical or emotional major life function skill.  To
clarify, a major life function is considered to be seeing, hearing, speaking,
walking, self-care, learning, etc.  In short, you need a major life function
skill in order to care for yourself, work and support your family and to do
this you also need an education.  DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITY can cover a wide
range.
        (To those who read previous comments [#13 and prior], Developemental
Disability is not intended to include physical sexual objects.)

  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?

I would think that the real trick computers might be able to do eventually
is real-time word recognition and display the words themselves.

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.

Solzhenitsyn wrote the Seventh Circle (I think) about people working on a
system for identifying people from their voice patterns.  I just asked under
item #1 what developmental disability means and don't need the answer now,
except does developmental mean congenital?  Is dyslexia a d. d. if the person
can function without help, but functions better with some help (don't we
all)?.

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?)

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

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Hi. I'm Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing, if anyone has any questions or comments or 
anything, feel free to bring it up here or e-mail me :)  -Brooke

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