I just became aware of From Silence to Sound, a documentary that tells the story of the first recipient of a bilateral cochlear implant in Oklahoma. The film is slated to play at the New York International Film Festival on Friday, Oct. 23, 2009, and because of that, I received a press release. It seems like an interesting film, so I thought I'd ...

Peculiar People Day... Lost Sock Memorial Day... Smile Power Day... Winnie the Pooh Day. If you didn't already know (don't feel bad if not; I didn't), these are all celebrated holidays. They obviously aren't in the same league as a Christmas or Thanksgiving, or heck, even Groundhog's Day or April Fool's Day, but they exist, because... well, I ...

Short Message Service (SMS) communication has advanced tremendously in recent years, but in many ways, it hasn't all been for the good. Although text messaging has added a new convenient way to communicate, it can lead to some pretty annoying social gaffes. With the lack of an established etiquette, I've started to tire of SMS and often wonder if ...

I recently read two interesting articles that raised some serious questions about the relevance of American Sign Language (ASL), albeit in slightly different contexts. The first details a controversy in Western New York surrounding the appointment of Thomas Burns, a hearing individual who does not know ASL, as executive director of Deaf Adult ...

Most of us are not in the practice of laughing about hearing impairments (hopefully), but I recently learned of a comedian who consistently makes them the brunt of his standup sets. I know--even though the late George Carlin often claimed you can joke about anything, it sounds in bad taste. However, comic Mike Murray is just doing what all ...

Obviously a long time has elapsed between postings. Sorry about that; I was on vacation in St. Louis last week for the All Star Game, and so I didn't have a chance to post. It would've been nice to see a National League victory, but the trip was fun, and it inspired my blog this week (sort of). Despite being just a 25th round pick in 2006, Tyson ...

Wisconsin is poised to become the first state to mandate coverage for cochlear implants in children, but a last-minute petition is being waged by some in the deaf community to persuade Gov. Jim Doyle to veto the decision. The main argument from the deaf community seems to be that cochlear implants are a threat to their culture and that requiring ...

Deaf dogs are making headlines in the news. Peter Scheifele, PhD, director of the University of Cincinnati's Bioacoustics and Canine Audiology Clinic, says the canine hearing aid he is developing for dogs with acquired hearing loss will be ready for the market by the end of the year. Dr. Sheifele began working on the technology when his ...

As many of you are aware, there is debate over whether or not cochlear implantation should be used in deaf individuals. Many in the deaf community accept their deafness as a natural part of life and believe cochlear implants would infringe upon that. The deaf community has developed a rich culture, a recent example of which, the First Annual Deaf ...