AsiaOne News has a story about a deaf child slave in Bangladesh. The article calls him a "labourer," but also uses the word "master," making it clear it is slavery. The boy is only seven years old and is referred to as deaf and dumb (obviously no education). Illustrated with pictures of the boy being hit on the face by his "master."

Everyone knows that a busted (perforated) eardrum can cause hearing loss. How do you know when your eardrum is "broken?" What can be done about it, and is the hearing loss caused by it temporary or permanent?

After reading this article in the Fernandina Beach, Florida News-Leader, I think you will agree that "horrible" is a perfectly appropriate term. Imagine going to court over a child support case and the person who ends up interpreting for you is your ex-spouse! This is what happened to one deaf man who went to court and found his court-assigned interpreter was so unqualified that she could not even interpret the judge's questions.

It gets worse. According to the article, Florida does not have any laws to require national interpreting certification. In addition, there is no licensing requirement, AND interpreters only have to be "qualified" with that term lacking clear definition.

Deaf and hard of hearing people in Florida have been trying for years to get a licensing law passed. Their efforts are being stymied by the Florida Medical Association.

Hat tip to Deaf News Today.

In Australia (The Age, December 7, 2009), movie theaters are asking to be exempted from the country's Disability Discrimination Act, for two and a half years. In return for the requested exemption, they are offering to slightly increase the number of movie theaters accessible to deaf and blind people. Presently they offer access in just 12 theaters, and claim they are doing it in "good faith." They would increase this to 35 theaters, but one parent quoted in the article calls that offer a "joke."

It is snowing outside right now. A friend is a signing Santa at a shopping mall. What better time to put up this Christmas signs gallery?

The Federal Communications Commission has just announced a December 17 workshop on VRS Reform, that could play a major role in determining the future of VRS. The reason why? Thanks to the recent VRS scandal, the FCC is taking a hard look at whether VRS will remain a competitive service, or change to competitive bidding whereas a contract or contracts would be awarded.

If they change to competitive bidding, what could that mean for us? Obviously it could mean a sharp reduction in the number of VRS service providers, because only the winners of competitive bidding would get the contract(s). What do you want or think should be done? Do you think that VRS should continue to be provided by numerous companies, or should there be a change to a contract system?

My personal opinion is that there should be a change to a contract system from having competitive service (multiple providers) because having fewer companies sharing the VRS pie should make it easier to monitor them. Thereby preventing this type of scandal from happening again. On the other hand, a change could mean several VRS companies going out of business, which would mean lost jobs for both hearing and deaf people.

Hat tip to Cheryl Heppner, Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons

The news site China Tibet Online has a brief photo-illustrated article about a school that educates deaf students in Lhasa, capital of the Chinese Tibet Autonomous Region. This school is the Special Education School in Lhasa. The article is also about a teacher there who has fallen in love with her job.

Ians1958 on the forum is struggling to cope with the tinnitus associated with his hearing loss. He wrote:

I've got a hearing loss and wear a hearing aid. As my hearing has got worse I've started to suffer with tinnitus in the form of hissing and whistling noises in my head. I find that during the day I can cope a little with this as my hearing aid seems to help, but my tinnitus keeps me awake at night in bed.

Some people have already responded to Ians1958, but perhaps you have more advice based on your own experience.

Many of us have family members with diabetes, because it unfortunately is so common. We should be telling our family members who have diabetes, to be sure to get their hearing checked. Diabetes has already been linked to hearing loss.

The British Daily Mail reports in "When Daddy Goes Deaf: How Men Really Don't Hear Babies Crying While Asleep," (November 30, 2009) that they have proven through a study that sleeping men are more likely to wake up at the sound of a fly than the loud cries of a baby. Now that they have proven it, I wonder how many marriages will be saved?