Volume #7
Feb. 2008
NW Connection
Your Eyes and Ears in the Northwest
Happy New Year Everyone!
Hello
Everyone!
2007 has been a good year and I would
like to share some of the highlights with you.
In June, HKNC in collaboration with
the Oregon Commission for the Blind’s Older Blind Program had the 1st ever
“Confident Living Program on the Road” event at Oral Hull retreat in
Last October, I met with Margi Morgan,
President of the Oregon Association for the Deaf. As a result of this meeting, a workshop on
deaf-blindness will be presented early 2008.
One of the goals of the workshop is to provide awareness and knowledge
of individuals who are deaf-blind and to recruit volunteers for a future SSP
program.
The Independent Living Committee of
which I am participating on was successful in getting over four (4)
recommendations into the State Independent Living Council (SILC) State Plan for
the next five (5) years. These four (4)
recommendations are geared toward improving communication access for
individuals who are Deaf, Deaf-Blind or Hard of Hearing. We are now meeting with the director of SILC,
Robert Honan, to discuss plans for implementing these recommendations.
Taryn and I look forward to the coming
months of 2008 and to continue to serve you in various capacities.
HKNC GOAL
This newsletter is for the deaf-blind people of the
Northwest and the people who live with them, work with them and socialize with
them. The
Your Regional Representative is
Address is:
SOMETHING FOR NOTHING
ReadThisToMe is a FREE reading
service for people who are blind. All the person needs is a phone line and a
fax machine. Here’s how it works: You can fax any document to a volunteer -
whether it be a handwritten letter, a recipe, a can label, a multi-page
magazine article - anything that can be faxed. The volunteer then calls you
back and reads the document. That’s it! The service is available throughout the
LOW VISION BLACKBERRY OPTION FROM BAPIN (HKNC TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT
The Blackberry 8800 series is the
latest model and the screen size is no bigger than 4 inches. You can enlarge
the font up to 14PT and make it bold. Alternatively, you can purchase a mobile
phone/PDA running under Windows Mobile and purchase a screen magnification
program. There are two known screen magnification programs for mobile
phones/PDAs: One is called Mobile Magnifier from Code Factory (www.codefactory.es)
and the other is called Zooms from Nuance (www.nuance.com/zooms)
SEABECK CAMP
Here are the dates for the Seabeck
Camp for 2008 so you can plan to attend!
They are: Sunday, August 24th through Saturday, August 30, 2008. Did you know this with be their 30th year?!?
FALLS AND
PREVENTION GUIDELINES**
It is important to be cautious and aware of risk factors for falls. Problems can arise when caution leads to fear. Fear of falling causes many older adults to limit their activities — thereby becoming inactive and often more isolated. This is especially true if the person has fallen before.
If you avoid staying active because you’re afraid of falling, talk to your doctor. He or she can recommend a carefully monitored exercise program that’s right for you or refer you to a physical therapist who can help design a safe exercise program.
Here are four important things to remember if you do fall. 1. Try to remain calm and check yourself for injuries; 2. If you think you are injured and someone is nearby, call for help. 3. If no one is nearby, try to get up or crawl to a TTY or telephone to call for help. 4. If you cannot get up, try to keep warm. Pull any nearby rugs, coats, or blankets over and under you, if possible.
There are several ways to get up from a fall, which method is best for you will depend on your health and your injuries. Here are three (3) possible ways to get up from a fall. 1. Roll and Crawl: Roll onto your stomach, get up on all fours, crawl to a nearby piece of furniture, place your hands on it, and bring one foot forward — putting it flat on the floor — and stand up. 2. Shuffle. If painful knees prevent you from crawling, shuffle on your bottom to a nearby piece of furniture, pull yourself onto your knees, and stand up. 3. Using Stairs: Shuffle on your bottom to the stairs, then gradually move up or down one step at a time until you reach a height that makes it possible for you to stand. If you get up, take a few moments to recover and then call for help.
Please try to practice these techniques before you need them, so that you can be prepared. You can also safeguard yourself by doing a home safety check, placing a telephone on a low stool or shelf you can reach from the floor, and arranging for someone to call or check in on you daily.
CORDLESS PHONES TO BE HEARING AID COMPATIBLE
Wonderful news for those who use
cordless phones. Several telephone
manufacturers have agreed to make ALL their cordless phones hearing aid
compatible!
The Telecommunications Industry
Association (TIA) and the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) announced
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.
SIGN ME UP
Every time the National Braille
Press puts out a new product they send a message to people who have signed up
for their email list. If you would like
to be put on this list, call their customer service department at 800-548-7323
or email orders@nbp.org and say “Sign me up for
elist!” The list is NOT shared with
anyone else.
HKNC'S CONFIDENT LIVING PROGRAM FOR SENIOR ADULTS
This year the Confident Living Program
for Senior Adults who are hard of hearing and blind or visually impaired, is
scheduled for May 7-14, 2008 at HKNC Headquarters. The program has been restructured to run one
week instead of two. This year the
program will begin on Wednesday and end the following Wednesday. We are hoping the one-week program will be
more affordable consumers and sponsors.
The cost of the program is $800.
There is also a possibility of a
Confident Living Program for Senior Adults who use sign language and are blind
or visually impaired to be offered in 2008 but the dates have not yet been
announced.
If you have any questions or would
like an application for either of these programs; please contact
NEW LIST SERV
Former
HKNC student, Addison Gethers, has started a new listserv called Deaf-Blind
Inspirational Life Group. Here is the
info if anyone wants to join: http://groups.google.com/group/DBILG/about?hl=en
WHO’S BEHIND THE WHEEL?
Here
is a link to the web site that lists the minimum vision requirements for
driving in each state. It is a doctor’s
web site and has lots of good information for people with low vision on the
Home Page. http://www.lowvisioncare.com/visionlaws.htm
PREVENT CARBON MONOXIDE
POISIONING!
Carbon
monoxide is a poisonous gas that cannot be seen or smelled and can kill a
person in minutes. Carbon monoxide is
produced whenever any fuel such as gas, oil, kerosene, wood or charcoal is
burned. Once inhaled, carbon monoxide
can also cause permanent brain damage.
Prevent
carbon monoxide poisoning by NEVER using the following inside your home or
garage: a generator, camp stoves, charcoal stoves, charcoal in the fireplace,
gasoline powered equipment, kerosene heater, etc. You also need to be careful about idling your
car in the garage even when the garage door is open. Be safe!
If you are in doubt, DON’T!
Hundreds
of people die accidentally every year from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by
appliances that are not used properly or that are malfunctioning. Carbon monoxide can build up so quickly that
victims are overcome by the fumes before they can get help.
If
you suspect someone has been poisoned by carbon monoxide move the person
immediately to a place with fresh air and then take them to an emergency room
and tell the staff you suspect carbon monoxide poisoning.
MY E.T. / BY JIM BROWN
My
E.T. is definitely NOT extra terrestrial.
It rides on three wheels and is firmly held to earth by my 175 lbs. It is an electronic tricycle that was
especially assembled with what I thought would best serve my needs. It is a heavy duty tricycle with two front
wheels made in Australia and has a special two wheeled geared peddle crank for
hill climbing, a wind and rain covering over my forward stretched legs, an
under seat “glove box”, a broad semi reclining seat only 12” above ground for
comfort and heads up viewing, under seat steering so my shoulders are in a
natural restful position, a trunk bag on top of a rear rack to carry personal
possessions, and a wire basket on either side of the rear rack to carry
groceries. I have also added an electric
motor to the rear drive wheel, a 36 volt Lithium Ion rechargeable battery and
electronic controls for the power assist package.
My
E.T. gets me around the lower Skagit Valley (half way between Seattle, WA. and
Vancouver, BC) on the days the local transit service will not give me
Dial-a-Ride Para-transit service. Their
2 assigned days a week do not include my LOV and HOH support group meeting days
nor Sunday church. My older 72 “speed”
reclining trike carried me 2000 miles in 3 years. Lately the hills seem to grow steeper,
distances greater, and head winds stronger, so last summer I decided to upgrade
to power assist. I still need to peddle
to make it go but the electric/electronic power assist helps up the hills and
against the head winds. By law, such
vehicles are limited to less than 20 MPH and that is plenty fast enough for my
restricted vision and in one case it was too fast. I was cruising down what appeared to be an
empty 4 lane street gawking at the adjacent light industrial buildings when I
found I was about to run underneath a parked black pickup truck. I managed to swerve in time to keep from
mashing my peddles and front gears but the rear basket hit the truck bumper and
I went sprawling on the asphalt pavement.
A bit embarrassing, but no major damage.
I skinned the back of a hand, bruised a shoulder and broke a trike
mirror. Luckily there was no
traffic. After that, I decided to try
the 28 mile ride across the Skagit Flats to attend our HOH support group
meeting again. That was a very pleasant
ride in September and saved me 2 hours over the multiple bus trips. Well…the headwinds were stiffer and required
a lot more power assist and I ran out of battery power. The daylight was shorter and ride home slower
so I ran out of safe riding time even with my flashing head and tail
lights. I parked my E.T. at a friend’s
house half way home but they were not home yet.
So, I ended up walking in the dark on rural roads (with the flashing
headlight) 13 miles home. Result: very
sore feet and an E.T. recovery trip with a driver and van so I could recharge
the battery at home.
The
feeling of independence and freedom to make my own decisions of when and where
to travel locally is well worth the expense of energy and outfitting. In fact, I feel GREAT because of the physical
exercise. I wish the weather was better
so I could ride more often. More info or
questions? Please contact me at my email
address which is: JimBrown70@juno.com
READ ALONG WITH A BLIND CHILD
BrailleInk has newly designed
children’s books which allow a sighted person to read along with a blind child
who is reading Braille. The design
reproduces the print and illustrations exactly as they appear in the original
book and places them on the top portion of the page. The bottom portion of the page is embossed in
Braille and has corresponding print letters above each Braille cell—even
identifying the contractions. With this
format, Braille readers need not cover the print and illustration with their
hands so print readers are able to read along with them. Each page in the book has an embossed border
to prevent the Braille from being flattened when you close the book! Isn’t that neat? Go to www.exceptionalteaching.net to read more
about the books.
WEBSITE FOR KNITTERS
Check
out http://www.lionbrand.com/cgi-bin/patternFinder.fcgi
for free knitting patterns
accessible in straight text without pictures for those who use voice output or
Braille. On the site, be sure to pick
the display option of view without images.
LISTEN UP: IT'S RADIO
FOR THE DEAF
Talk radio may soon get
a whole new audience: the deaf. Harris
Technology recently demonstrated a technology that would enable the deaf to
"read" talk radio broadcasts in real time. The systems works a lot like close captioning
does for television. The company will
piggy-back a data stream on the standard audio signal. The text can then be read on radio fitted
with a display. The system will only
work with digital broadcasts, but the company says an Internet-based solution
is possible. Currently more than 1,500
radio stations are currently broadcasting in HD Radio in the
DOWNLOAD FREE BOOKS
Project
Gutenberg is a web site where you can go and download free books. They have a collection of about 20,000 free
books. Go to their web site for more
information: http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page.
DISCOUNTS ON PRESCRIPTIONS
The
state of WA is offering RX cards free with discounts to residents, regardless
of age or income. The cards have discounts of about 20% on brand-name drugs and
60% on generics. To enroll go to www.rx.wa.gov or
call 1-800-913-4146.
HELP US SAVE TREES
Help us save trees by using email instead of a paper format to get our annual newsletter! Just contact us by email, phone, mail or in person and we will be happy to change the format for you!
SIGN LANGUAGE AND CELL PHONES
MobileASL
is a
LIONS CLUBS INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION/REXTON PROGRAM FOR LOW-COST DIGITAL HEARING AIDS from Paige Berry, HKNC
The Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF), in
partnership with Rexton, Inc., is offering two digital hearing aids through
Lions hearing programs and Lions clubs. This pilot program is only in the
This announcement is being sent to numerous nonprofits serving people who are deaf or hard of hearing by Jimmy Ross, the Chairperson of the foundation.
The hearing aid program is rooted in the desire by Lions club members and audiologists to serve low-income people with hearing loss. The Lions act as a conduit between audiologists and hearing aid recipients. Typically, the audiologist is asked to test the patient, make ear molds, program the hearing aids and provide follow-up visits. The audiologist and Lions club agree on the charges for services, which are paid by either by the Lions club or other sources. (Eligibility for the program is limited to people at up to 200% above the federal poverty level). Hearing aids are shipped directly to the audiologist after they are manufactured by Rexton.
WEB EYES PROGRAM FOR
THE INTERNET
Interested
in a program specifically for the Internet that allows you to increase/decrease
font size by hitting a + or – sign? The
program doesn't distort the web page or put blocks of content on top of each
other, etc. and you can choose the "Read Like a Book" option and flip
pages rather than scroll up and down.
This is great since text that's enlarged tends
to go on and on.
WebEyes is only $24.95 if you download
the program or $34.95 if you purchase a CD of the program. Once installed it appears on your toolbar
anytime you go to the internet. You need
to have Internet Explorer and you can get more information at the following web
site: www.WebEyes.us
“RUMBLER” --- NEW HIGH TECH POLICE DEVICE
Soon you might be able to feel the police coming up behind
you! The “Rumbler” is a high tech
blaster and it is currently being tested in a few areas in the
Low frequency tones have the distinct advantage of penetrating and shaking solid materials allowing vehicle operators and nearby pedestrians to FEEL the sound waves, and perhaps even see their effects through a shaking rearview mirror. The product was developed by Federal Signal Corporation. If you want to get more information visit their web site at http://www.fedsig.com.
“DEAF MOSAIC” AT GALLAUDET VIDEO LIBRARY
Interested in seeing one of the
old Deaf Mosaic episodes?
REFEREE SIGNAL
BRACELET FOR THE DEAF ATHLETE
Celia Beron is an eighth grader from
The 9th International CHARGE Syndrome Conference will be held on July 24th - July 26th, 2009the Indian Lakes Resort in Bloomingdale, Illinois, which is located about thirty minutes from exciting Chicago. Online registration and updated information will be available for the 2009 conference on the CHARGE web site of: http://chargesyndrome.org.
*NEWSLETTER LINKS AVAILABLE ON HKNC.ORG
As you read the newsletter, you will
note many web sites. For those of you
who prefer to just click on the web site to review the information you can do
this by going into the www.HKNC.org
website
(please wait a little while for the newsletter to be put on the site). Scroll down to Region 10 Newsletter, Winter
2008. Locate the article with the
website and then and click your mouse and it will give you the web page.
HOW CAN WE HELP YOU?
Questions, Comments, Changes of
Address or Email? Would you like to receive your newsletter in a new way
(Email, Large Print, Braille Grade I and Braille Grade II)? Just contact Taryn by phone at 206-324-9120
(V/TTY) or by email at hkncnw@qwest.net
and she will be happy to make any changes you would like. We are always happy to hear from you! Newsletter
editors are
**NOTE
Information for the article on
Falls and Prevention Guidelines was obtained from both the Autumn 2007 issue of
the “Prism” newsletter by the Community Services for the Blind & Partially
Sighted and Publication DOH Pub 341-013 titled “Stay Active & Independent
for Life / An Information Guide for Adults 65+” by the Washington State
Department of Health.
GENERAL NOTE FOR NEWSLETTER
Products, services or activities
listed in this newsletter do not imply endorsement by HKNC. They are provided for informational purposes
only.