Owner: I look so I can hear URL:http://funnyoldlife.wordpress.com Join Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2007 18:48:34 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Living with a hearing loss in London's rat race Site statistics:Click here
Tate Britain, Friday 7 September 2007 : silent films 2007-08-31 07:50:50 Late at Tate Britain
- Image and Sound 18.00 - 22.00
Iconic British silent films will be shown with live music, dominating the enormous central gallery, and Steve Beresford, Scanner and David Toop perform together for one night only. An ideal event for deaf and hard of hearing people as you can enjoy the films!
Late at Tate Britain is a free event on the first Friday
of every month with an eclectic mix of events and a bar in the gallery.
Artprojx Hi Fi presents
An artist film compilation featuring:
Alice Anderson - Alice Anderson’s Journal 2004-2005
David Blandy - The White and Black Minstrel Show
Dexter Dalwood - 1800
Ravi Deepres - Eden
Rineke Dijkstra - Annemiek
Nathalie Djurberg - Florentin
Haris Epaminonda - Light, Tarahi II, Tarahi IIII, Tarahi V
Pamela Golden - Love & Hysteria
Jesper Just - It Will All End In Tears
Idris Khan - A Memory… After Bach’s Cello Suites
Joshua Mosely - Beyrouth
Michael Nyman - Moscow 11.19.31
Terry Smith - Overture
Emily Wardill Read more:September
Deaf sailing 2007-08-30 15:45:45 If you have not booked a week’s holiday in September or a weekend in October, then here is your chance!
DSUK (Deaf Sailing UK) have a few places left for one week’s cruise to France and Channel Islands with Rona Trust from Monday 10 to Sunday 16 September. Costs only £175 including full board accommodation on yacht.
Also RYA Dinghy Level 1 course weekend on Sat 13- Sun 14 October at Sussex Yacht Club with qualified Deaf Instructor and 4 qualified Deaf Assistant Instructors! Costs to be confirmed but around £70.
Also if you are between 15 and 25 years of age, you can take part in a thrilling sailing weekend on Fri 5- Sun 7 October with Rona Trust and participate in a “Small Ships” race with other small ships! Costs £75.
All information is on the DSUK website.
Book ASAP to avoid disappointment! And ……. happy sailing
Pizza by text 2007-08-30 15:22:08
Do you like Domino’s Pizza
? They have launched a SMS text ordering service.
It’s a straightforward process.
You register on their website
Create a favourite meal and submit this to 61212 (Domino’s Pizza) with a memorable name for it.
Domino’s will send a text back straight away to confirm your order (at no charge to you) and give you an order reference number
Text ‘Yes’ to confirm your order or ‘No’ to cancel the order if you’ve changed your mind
o If you text ‘Yes’, Domino’s will confirm your order is on its way along with an order reference number and remind you of the payment method you’ve chosen
o If you text ‘No’, Domino’s will confirm your order has been cancelled and that you haven’t been charged.
If you change one of your previously created favourite meals, Domino’s will send you a text to confirm your details have been updated.
Domino’s Pi
The brick walls are still out there 2007-08-30 14:45:48 I have just read this article about a young deaf girl who dreams of working with children. Emma Genovese can’t get a placement because employers are too frightened to take her on. Why are they so frightened? Because she’s deaf. She needs a placement to qualify as a child care professional. Emma has been doing relief work and her colleagues have been raving about her empathy with special needs children and her enthusiasm. She can obviously do the job and is willing to learn - unlike so many lazy yobs on the streets today.
I thought this kind of discrimination didn’t happen nowadays (see my previous post). Obviously, it still does. I still remember what it feels like to be strong enough to stand up and fight for what you want in the hearing community, but you come up against this brick wall where people just don’t want to know. It’s awfully demoralising.
I hope Emma records her applications and lodges complaints with the Disability Rights Commission. These e
New yoga classes for deaf people in London 2007-08-30 13:48:30 YOGA FOR DEAF PEOPLE
with Sarah Scott
Thursdays 7.30 & 9.30pm
Commencing Sept 20th 2007
Sarah Scott is partially deaf and a qualified Inner Yoga practitioner. Since 1984 she has experienced the teachings of some of the most respected yoga teachers and has developed her own unique way of sharing yoga with people
of all abilities. Sarah’s classes are taught in sign language with vocal instruction on request for those who do not sign. Sarah’s teaching aims to guide people through an exploration of ‘being’ yoga.
THE SPECIAL YOGA CENTRE
2a Wrentham Avenue
London NW10 3HA
Tel. 020 8968 1900
Website : Special Yoga
Email : info@specialyoga.org.uk
Registered charity number: 1103848
Drop-in: £7.
Concessions: £3.50.
Please contact The Special Yoga Centre to book your place in advance.
For information on yoga workshops and all classes in London for deaf people, click here
250 free subtitled cinema shows 2007-08-30 06:12:09 Fancy a few hours off school to catch a subtitled film at the cinema? For free?
Then check out National Schools Film Week 2007. FREE screenings include Pixar’s Ratatouille, Casino Royale, Chronicles of Narnia, Simpsons, Night at the Museum, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, Flushed Away, Stardust, Blood Diamond, Cars, Shrek the Third, Charlottes Web and many more. Read all about it here: Your Local Cinema
£500,000 funding available for subtitled cinemas! 2007-08-30 06:11:09 Not content with kickstarting and part-funding ‘accessible’ cinema in the UK, the UK Film Council is to input another £500,000 in grants, to assist independent cinemas to upgrade equipment and infrastructure so that ALL audiences can have access to the cinema-going experience.
People! It’s UP TO YOU to persuade cinemas to apply to this fund. The more cinemas that apply, the better chance of more ’subtitled cinemas’ in the future. PLEASE contact cinemas in your local area and request that they take up this fantastic offer, which ends on 30th November of this year. Read all about it here: Your Local Cinema
Read more:available
Apple Mac users 2007-09-22 06:35:05 A new egroup has been formed for Apple
Mac users
. It is dedicated to Deaf, hard of hearing and Usher/deafblind Mac users where they can discuss and share news, views, experiences and give consumer and technical advice about Apple Inc’s Macintosh computer hardware, iPods, OS X and its’ software and other Apple products as well as the supported third party hardware and software.
Hearing Mac users are most welcome as long as they acknowledge and appreciate the egroup’s emphasis on deaf Mac users.
Disability = Sin ? 2007-09-20 15:54:12
This post brought back an old memory.
I was staying with a family who had been friends of my parents for some years. They were intelligent, educated people. They also happened to be Christians. Which was fine by me. One day we had a conversation, where they asked why I am deaf. I explained.
Their reply was …. “Oh no, the REAL reason you’re deaf is because you sinned in a past life. You did something very VERY bad. This is your punishment.”
Huh? What?! Run that one past me again?
I was stunned. I have NO idea where they got this strange idea from. I certainly haven’t lived a past life. I cut that conversation short and walked away. Quickly.
*shudder*
Be any religion you want to be. Just leave me and my disability out of it.
Read more:Disability
Petition results for DVD access 2007-09-20 11:38:07 Epetition reply - 19 September 2007
The UK government received a petition asking:
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to All Region 2 and promotion DVD must have subtitles and made accessible to minority groups.
Details of Petition:
We want all dvd’s to have subtitles so our access to these services are available for when we request them, this also applies to promotion DVD (newspapers, government funded DVD, etc) ad also accessible to minority group.
The Government’s response:
The UK Film Council, the Government’s strategic agency for film, is fully committed to increasing access to film for those with sensory impairments, and has a number of schemes designed to assist with this. With specific regard to DVD subtitling, it is a condition of UK Film Council funding that subtitle and audio description materials must be created for every film. However, due to the complexity of the distribution and exhibition process, which involves several deals to which the U Read more:results
Black testicles 2007-09-20 05:55:59 Being deaf, it’s not easy making sure you have understood other people correctly. This can lead to all sorts of misunderstandings, and some of them can be quite funny. You certainly need a sense of humour to survive on the deaf planet! I wonder what it’s like to manage a hearing loss in different careers. Which one would be the hardest career to cope with? Which would be the most hazardous? Which would be the easiest? What do YOU do for a living and how much does your hearing loss affect your working life?
At work, I’m interviewing people and giving talks. It feels as if I am defying my hearing loss daily, I’m trying to fly in the face of my deafness. No room for shrinking violets here! No room for the deaf nod either. It’s so important to acknowledge the problem and do something about it. This approach gives hearing people the opportunity to meet me half way.
I think one of the hardest careers for a deaf person would be in medicine. Can you just imagine i Read more:Black
New Access London theatres e-bulletin 2007-09-19 17:40:09 There is a new online comprehensive accessible show bulletin, which will give you the latest up-to-date accessible show details for captioned (deaf, deafened and hard of hearing patrons), BSL (Deaf Sign Language users or BSL students) or Audio described performances in the London area only. You need to subscribe to receive regular updates - click on this link.
Read more:Access
Deaf = great tactile workshops … try African drumming! 2007-09-18 11:07:19 Learn to play the African
drums in this fun and lively workshop at
Bikram West, Sep 23 at 7.30pm
Bikram City, Oct 14 at 7.30pm
In this one hour 15 minute beginners workshop you will learn to play the Africa djembe, and find yourself as part of a fully functioning African Drum orchestra. We will discover the sounds of the drum, learn to play call and response patterns, and practice a traditional African rhythm - complete with breaks and interlocking parts. By the time the session is over you will be left feeling energised, exhilarated and very, very funky!
Ailon Free is a yoga teacher and drummer who runs African Drum workshops at corporate events, festivals and parties. His belief is that if you are into yoga then you may very well love drumming - as it too will blast your chakras wide open and liberate your feelgood energy.
2 sessions:
Sunday 23rd September 2007, 7:30-8:45
Bikram Yoga West
260 Kilburn Lane
London W10 4BA
020 8960 9644
Sunday 14th October 2007, 7:30-8:45
Bikram Yoga Read more:hellip
Free training for deaf young filmmakers 2007-09-18 04:11:33 One week until the deadline! Please circulate this to who may be interested. FREE Deaf Filmmakers Workshops & Competition!
Are you Deaf?
Aged 16 to 25?
Interested in Film Production?
Fancy yourself as the next Steven Spielberg?!
Want to receive training and guidance to create a short film or animation?
Check out:
Deaf Young Filmmakers Training
For more information about this FREE course and to apply online please see the website
Limited spaces available!
Deadline for applications: Friday 21st September 2007 by 5pm.
Kind regards Nikki Stratton Director Zebra Uno Ltd & Zebra
Access Creative Industries Centre, Wolverhampton Science Park, Glaisher Drive WV10 9TG
Tel: 01902 421919 Fax: 01902 837401
Email: info@zebra-uno. com
www.zebra-uno.com
www.deafmediaresource.org
www.deaffest.co.uk
Read more:young
, filmmakers
Hear no evil, see no evil 2007-09-17 17:18:27
There are so many blogs out there, where the writer wants to improve their hearing by getting better hearing aids or a cochlear implant. It seems to me that most deaf people want to be able to hear.
Aren’t deaf people happy with not being able to hear well? Does this mean they aren’t happy with themselves?
If you could choose to be deaf or to be hearing, which one would it be? And why?
What’s wrong with being deaf? What’s good about being deaf?
But hey, what’s good about being hearing?
….or, what’s wrong with being hearing? - now, doesn’t that sound odd? Why so ….?
How to read your audiogram 2007-09-17 16:08:54 Have you ever been puzzled by your hearing test results?
This link explains how to read your audiogram.
It’s useful to keep your audiograms so if you change hospitals, you can show your specialist how your hearing loss has progressed. I’ve lost my hearing in large leaps and this seems to be common among my (young) deaf friends. I’ve always asked for a copy of my audiogram, sometimes they grumble and get difficult about it, but it’s my right to have a copy. It’s useful as hospitals in this country have lost all my medical records so can’t track anything beyond the last hospital I visited. Impressive, huh?!
Access to equal communication 2007-09-16 18:06:54
Are you dreading the traditional family christmas gathering?
A lot of people with imperfect hearing find such events very difficult because they are so isolating.
Just imagine…..
you are all sitting together at christmas dinner and you can’t join in the conversation because you can’t hear it
you have gone to midnight mass with the family but you have to sit/stand/genuflect in line with everyone else and you can’t hear a single word that’s being said
you are opening presents on christmas morning and can’t hear all the jokes and comments that everyone else can
you watch TV all of christmas day and half of it isn’t subtitled so you can’t hear it (gawd how boring!)
people are stressed anyway because they are trying to cater for umpteen relatives on Christmas Day and they get annoyed when you mishear them or don’t hear them at all
I seem to spend all of christmas running round after (hearing) people trying to keep them happy. What a Read more:Access
, communication
Deaf Ramblers Group 2007-10-10 15:32:42
I stumbled upon a group called Deaf Ramblers Group
and joined them on their September ramble in Bedfordshire.
This group organises a ramble for each month in different parts of the country, within reasonable travelling distance of London. They also organise walks within London itself. This year, some of their rambles have been as follows ;
June - Marlow Circular (Buckinghamshire) 12.1 miles
The Thames above Marlow is a lazy, tranquil river, which flows between pleasant meadows and overhanging trees, occasionally overlooked by fine old manor houses.
July - Two Trees Island & Hadleigh Castle Country Park Circular (Essex) 10 miles
The 13th century Hadleigh Castle ruins were painted by Constable.
September - River Ouse and Bromham Mill (Bedfordshire) 10 miles
Riverside and ridge walking with views over Marston Vale.
The upcoming walks are as follows ;
October 21 (Sunday) - Tring Circular (The Chilterns, Hertfordshire)
11 miles / 5 hours 30 mins
Tring was first mentioned in the Ang
Tate introduces hand held palmpilot tours 2007-10-10 05:29:11
Tate is going to introduce a hand held palmpilot tour of selected works from the exhibition displays, entirely in BSL with optional subtitles. This service will be available at Tate Britain, Tate Modern and at Tate Liverpool from December 2007.
They are in the process of filming the BSL sequences at the moment, and one important thing they want to do is to include some film clips showing the views of Tate’s visitors. They would like to invite you to come along to two filming sessions next week in order to be filmed responding in BSL to some of the artworks on the tour. It will be a very enjoyable experience, you will be well looked after with a cheese and wine reception. They are filming at Tate Modern on Friday 15th October from 6.00pm - 8.00pm. They are then filming at Tate Britain on Tuesday 16th October again from 6.00pm - 8.00pm.
You do not need to have any art history knowledge, they just want some genuine responses to the artworks they will be discussing. These respons
London deaf netball tournament, November 3rd, 2007 2007-10-08 13:43:30 The London Deaf Netball Tournament will be held on Saturday 3 November
2007, between 10.00am and 5.00pm.
The venue is the Camden Town Outdoor Centre, on the corner of Plender Street and Camden Street. The nearest tube is Camden Town or Mornington Crescent.
The cost is £45 per team (maximum 9 players).
For the first time ever there will be a Demonstration Match for the men at lunch break. It will be London V Allies. Afterwards, there will be a presentation and social party in Camden Town.
Ladies - To play netball and organise a team for the tournament, please ask your rep to contact London Deaf Netball for a team registration form.
Men - If you are interested in joining either the London team or the Allies team, please get in touch with London Deaf Netball directly.
For more info, contact Jessica Wilde or Melly Scacco-Mudawi.
Email londondeafnetball@yahoo.co.uk or jessica.wilde@dering.biz
Feedback wanted! 2007-10-04 17:07:15 For the National Deaf Children’s Society Youth Consultation.
Are you deaf/hearing impaired? Aged 9-18? Do you want to shape the future?
Join the NDCS in the first ever national discussion with young deaf and hearing impaired people. The NDCS want to spend more time and money on services for young deaf people across the UK and they want you to tell them what they should spend it on. Take the lead….. and shape your future.
“NDCS really want to understand your needs and wants” says Tyron Woolfe, Deputy Director for Children and Youth. “We want you to take the lead as we develop our services for you and we want everyone to hear your views loud and clear. I am really looking forward to getting your views. The more of you who get involved the bigger your impact will be”. Read all about it here.
Read more:Feedback
, wanted
Casualty departments are just that. 2007-10-01 17:51:29
I hate casualty departments almost as much as Kyle really really really really hates banks.
The last time I went to casualty was to the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading. I sat there for five hours with a fractured metatarsal before storming off home.
I had done something to my foot in karate and it had been very sore for three weeks. This time, I was fed up enough with this injury that I decided to go to casualty after work today.
At the casualty reception, I was asked for my details and for information about my injury. The nurse filled in a duplicate form and I was told to wait. The form had ‘Deaf, please shout’ written across the top. Grrr.
I waited and waited. And waited. People came and went. It was bedlam. This foreign lady sat next to me and started telling me all about her pet dog and how it would alert her to the phone and doorbell. She explained she had too much wax in her ears, she’d had it removed, and is still deaf. She wanted to know how my Hearin Read more:Casualty
New car stereo for the hard of hearing 2007-10-13 10:15:03 Seen this? It’s a new car stereo, designed specially for the hard of hearing. It’s really REALLY loud. Take out your hearing aids, wind down the windows, and watch the fun unfold.
(Thank you Macian)
Coffee shot 2007-10-13 05:43:55
Oh boy. I’ve done it *again*
I’ve made a cup of coffee and it was cold. Isn’t it amazing how many times you boil the kettle for a cup of coffee and don’t realise it hasn’t boiled, because you didn’t hear it boil? I can hear the kettle boil but it isn’t a sound I’ve ever attached any significance to, and it can be very hard to hear, so I don’t listen for it when I make coffee. Even though I should!
So I made myself a second cup of coffee, checked the water was hot this time before pouring it into the jug, and sat back to reflect on another crazy week.
I recently met an entrepreneur who gave me a mental shot by talking about how busy he was with various projects. He asked me what my five year plan was. I said I didn’t actually have one but didn’t elaborate. A five year plan? Heck, I have *one* year plans. So I’ve just come to the realisation that I can do even more. This year has been a strange one for me, I&rsquo Read more:Coffee
Career opportunities for disabled people 2007-10-21 15:22:50 The Commission for Disabled Staff in Lifelong Learning, coordinated by NIACE, aims to investigate and report on current practices in the employment of disabled people
in order to make recommendations that positively influence culture and practice and promote career opportunities for disabled people.
The interim report of the Commission was launched in September 2007. This report details the findings so far and highlights issues relating to the inequalities experienced by some disabled staff working in the lifelong learning sector.
The interim report is out to consultation until 7 December 2007. Everybody with an interest in disability issues in the lifelong learning sector is urged to respond to the consultation to advise whether the Commission has identified the key issues affecting disabled staff and what other issues should be explored and highlighted.
The Commission is also collecting evidence about personal experiences and employment practices through questionnaires until 16 Novem Read more:Career
easydiscrimination.com 2007-10-19 17:01:25
I’ve joined easydiscrimination.com easycinema.com, a DVD rental service where DVDs are sent and returned by post. There are many films on the site that I would like to watch, however they often don’t state whether the film is subtitled or not, the listing will usually say ‘Subtitles: Unknown’. I have discovered it’s only safe to risk renting a film where it explicitly says there are subtitles or it is a foreign language film (where it isn’t stated that there are subtitles in English!).
To clarify the issue, I wrote to customer services and said -
I am deaf and have just joined your service. Many of your DVDs say ‘Unknown’ under the subtitles listing. I don’t want to rent a DVD only to find I can’t watch it because there are no subtitles.
Please do something about this. Under the Disability Discrimination Act you are required to make a reasonable adjustment, and to provide an equal service to people with disabilities. Indica
Cops n witches 2007-10-25 14:54:57
On 5 June 2007 in the House of Commons, it was asked if the Secretary of State for the Home Department would set up a nationwide 999 text message service for deaf people who cannot telephone the emergency services. The reply was that an emergency text relay service is already available to give the deaf and hard of hearing access to the emergency services. (Yeah - landlocked and slow Typetalk! - also only useful if you can get an operator available!) In addition a working group, including representatives from the emergency services and the mobile operators, has been set up by the 999 Liaison Committee to see whether an SMS emergency number service can be provided.
It’s about time and I hope they won’t take too long.
I was walking my dog in the park yesterday and this woman of about 20 (I use this term very loosely) was sitting on a park bench. She said she doesn’t like dogs. Fine, not my problem, I walked on. Next thing I knew, she had kicked seven bells out of Smudg Read more:witches
Is amusia amusing? 2007-10-22 17:53:02
Can you hold a tune? Can you perceive music? A lot of people can’t understand how I can hear music and play an instrument, but not hear speech. It’s simple. Speech has lots of very high frequency sounds which I can’t pick up, which isn’t the case in music. I can pick out and hold a rhythm, pick out individual instruments if they are distinct enough within an orchestra, listen to a tune.
Why are some people tone deaf or unable to hold a tune? Only 1 in 20 people really has amusia (tone deafness). Some people who sing badly can hear music just fine. Amusics can’t pick out differences in pitch or follow simple tunes.
Would you like to test your ability to perceive music? Newcastle Upon Tyne University and University College London are carrying out a study into musical perception ability. You can take the musical listening test here. It involves 2 tests of less than 8 minutes each.
The average score on test one is 25.39 (I scored 22) and the average score o Read more:amusing
Alternative health 2007-10-29 18:29:28 Are there any deaf alternative health practitioners out there? We are looking for any ~ email me by posting a reply to this blogpost. If you would rather not have your name / company made public on the blog, just say and I won’t publish it.
Read more:Alternative
EasyJetText 2007-10-29 17:28:04
I booked flights with EasyJet this week and got an interesting email from them, inviting me to try out their EasyJetText service. This service offers free flight information:
* Booking reference reminder
* Check-in details
* Boarding Reminder
and exclusive discounts on:
* Foreign currency
* Duty Free
* Electrical goods … and more
How do you sign-up? You just click the sign-up link in your invitation email, confirm your details and tell them your mobile phone number (if they don’t have it already). They’ll send you a confirmation email and you’re ready to go!
How much does easyJetText cost? If you have a UK or European registered mobile phone, easyJetText is completely free, it won’t cost you a penny to receive their text messages. It may be possible to use the service with a non-European mobile phone, but you should check with your network operator before using the service - they may charge you to receive text messages from the UK
Recommend Site To A Friend
