Deafness And Music: Can Vibration Be Used When Playing Music Together?

Performing music or singing together provides people with great pleasure. But if you are deaf (or hard of hearing) it is not always possible to listen to other musicians while trying to sing or play an instrument. It can be particularly difficult to perceive different musical pitches with a hearing aid or other hearing-assistance device. However, the human body can transmit musical sounds to the brain when vibrations are applied to the skin. In other words, we can feel music. Our research has identified a safe way for deaf people to hear musical notes through the skin of their hands and feet. We have shown that vibration allows people to safely feel music on the skin. This approach allows people to identify a musical note as being higher or lower in pitch than other notes, and it helps musicians to play music together.

Pakistan sign language translation tool in educational setting: teachers perspective

PurposeThe current study aims to determine the viability of the tool developed by Abbas and Sarfraz (2018) to translate English speech and text to Pakistan Sign Language (PSL) with bilingual subtitles.Design/methodology/approachFocus group interviews of 30 teachers of a Pakistani private university were conducted; who used the PSL translation tool in their classrooms for lecture delivery and communication with the deaf students.FindingsThe findings of the study determined the viability of the developed tool and showed that it is helpful in teaching deaf students efficiently. With the availability of this tool, teachers are not dependent on human sign language (SL) interpreters in their classrooms.Originality/valueOverall, this tool is an effective addition to educational technology for special education. Due to the lack of Sign Language (SL) understanding, learning resources and availability of human SL interpreters in Pakistan, institutions feel dependency and scarcity to educate deaf students in a classroom. Unimpaired people and especially teachers face problems communicating with deaf people to arrange one interpreter for a student(s) in multiple classes at the same time which creates a communication gap between a teacher and a deaf student.

Health care of deaf persons during coronavirus pandemics

ABSTRACT Objective: To reflect about the barriers experienced by the deaf population during the COVID-19 pandemic, the proposals to overcome communication barriers in health care and the role of public policies in effecting the social inclusion of deaf people. Methods: Reflection based on studies on health care for deaf people, the COVID-19 pandemic and public accessibility policies. Results: The global crisis of COVID-19 has deepened pre-existing inequalities in the world, in addition to highlighting the vulnerability of people with disabilities, including deaf. Government, institutional and social initiatives to mitigate difficulties in communicating to deaf people have been made, but they are still insufficient to guarantee protection for them in this pandemic and full inclusion in health care. Final considerations: Social inclusion, supported by law, and the linguistic accessibility of deaf people still need to generate broad and concrete actions so that deaf people can enjoy their rights as citizens.

Głusi i tłumacze PJM o tłumaczeniu języka migowego w Polsce kiedyś i dziś

Sign Language Interpreting in the Opinions of Deaf Persons and Polish Sign Language Interpreters The article presents the results of a research conducted among 12 deaf people and 11 Polish sign language interpreters, aimed at depicting the state-of-the-art situation of sign language interpreting in Poland while it simultaneously reflects upon the past as well. The interviewees reported on the changes in this area over the last twenty-five years. According to them, situation in Poland has improved significantly with regard to language, interpreting as such, legal-administrative and social issues. Still, in many respects sign language interpreting needs further improvement in order to attain full accessibility for deaf persons as well as full professionalisation for sign language interpreters.

Computer Vision-Enabled Character Recognition of Hand Gestures for Patients with Hearing and Speaking Disability

Hand gesture recognition is one of the most sought technologies in the field of machine learning and computer vision. There has been an unprecedented demand for applications through which one can detect the hand signs for deaf people and people who use sign language to communicate, thereby detecting hand signs and correspondingly predicting the next word or recommending the word that may be most appropriate, followed by producing the word that the deaf people and people who use sign language to communicate want to say. This article presents an approach to develop such a system by that we can determine the most appropriate character from the sign that is being shown by the user or the person to the system. To enable pattern recognition, various machine learning techniques have been explored and we have used the CNN networks as a reliable solution in our context. The creation of such a system involves several convolution layers through which features have been captured layer by layer. The gathered features from the image are further used for training the model. The trained model efficiently predicts the most appropriate character in response to the sign exposed to the model. Thereafter, the predicted character is used to predict further words from it according to the recommendation system used in this case. The proposed system attains a prediction accuracy of 91.07%.

Bank Kosa Kata Untuk Tuna Rungu dan Tuna Wicara Berbasis Web

Communication is the most important key to mastering this era of globalization. There is no denying that language is the most important part of communication. When one person uses the same language or understands another person's language, they can communicate well. Sign language is a language based on artificial communication, i.e. body language and lip movements during communication. This sign language is standardized as SIBI (Indonesian Sign Language System). SIBI is one of the media in the form of books that are able to communicate with deaf people in the community. Its shape is a systematic arrangement of groups of fingers, hands and various movements, symbolizing the word Indonesian. Book media does not seem to be easily understood by users, so it takes an application that can provide moving images to facilitate sign language learning, one of which is web-based.

Barriers to Access in the Norwegian Criminal Justice System

This chapter presents and discusses barriers that Deaf people who have Norwegian Sign Language as their first language face in encounters with the Norwegian criminal justice system. Since this system is based exclusively on spoken language, and mainly depends on the individual law professional’s ability to establish critical, self-reflective practices in each case, Deaf people’s legal safety, as demanded by the rule of law, cannot be taken for granted. Establishing a public, independent, professionalized sign language interpreter service in Norway, however, has helped to reduce risks for Deaf people. Independent interpreters can demand changes in the criminal justice system’s practices, thus making these practices more accessible to Deaf people. Empirical examples illustrating the interaction between Deaf people, law professionals, and interpreters are presented and analyzed. This interaction is less characterized by conflict and more by cooperation and mutual recognition, where both Deaf people and law professionals state their confidence and trust in their interpreters. The chapter concludes that structural change and organization, such as the establishment of an independent public interpreter service in Norway, trump general and well-meant inclusive intentions in organizations such as the Norwegian criminal justice system when it comes to secure Deaf peoples’ rights and the prevention of miscarriage of justice.

Ka puāwai ngā kōhungahunga turi: a study of the nature and impacts of early intervention for Māori deaf children and their whānau

<p>This research investigates the early experiences of Māori deaf children, documenting whānau (family) perspectives on interactions with early intervention professionals and environmental sources of information, the effects of these on whānau perceptions of deafness, how decisions around communication and language use are arrived at, and how these affect a sense of parental competence. The features of a whānau-centred model of intervention are explored by whānau participants and the researcher in order to provide an understanding of how early intervention services could be more effective from Māori perspectives. Developing age appropriate language, communication skills and social acculturation is a synchronous process which typically occurs within the context of families. The majority of deaf children, however, are born to hearing parents and families with little experience of deaf people from which to develop a subconscious repertoire of skills with which to engage, facilitate and teach language to a deaf child. Early intervention services seek to support deaf children and their families in this process. In New Zealand a family-centred model of early intervention is accepted practice. Māori children are over-represented in deafness diagnostic statistics and their early language and social development takes place within a social context that is configured differently to the prototypical non-Māori family, that is, the whānau. Little is known or documented about the characteristics and efficacy of a family-centred model in relation to Māori deaf children and their whānau. The Māori metaphor of transformative praxis was used to frame a kaupapa Māori approach to case study research. Kete mātauranga (woven baskets of knowledge) were co-constructed between whānau participants, early intervention professionals, and the researcher, using Māori methods of qualitative data collection: kōrero-a-tinana (observations of action and behaviour), kōrero-a-waha (spoken language), kōrero-a-ringaringa (signed language), kōrero-a-tuhituhi (written language). Analysis of the data suggests that whānau perceptions of their deaf child evolve as the child moves through developmental stages and as the whānau encounters different sources of information and experiences relating to deafness. The study shows how the relevance of information, spoken, written, and signed, from early intervention professionals and observational knowledge gained from others with lived experience of deafness, deaf people and their whānau, was interpreted and weighed by participants as they interacted with their own deaf child in everyday social contexts. Participants' aspirations for their deaf children centred on a holistic perspective of wellbeing and development, the whānau providing the foundational context from which this developed. Recognising that their deaf child was situated at the borders of multiple cultural and linguistic groups, through either familial or social connection, whānau aspirations centred on the child’s active social and linguistic participation within these groups. Initial encounters with professionals focused on medical perspectives of hearing loss, positing deafness as a medical concern remedied through routine technical and medical interventions. However, as the child entered developmental stages, whereby language acquisition and the social acculturation process began, whānau started to relate to their deaf child in more social terms, and required more social and linguistic support to ensure participation in various home and educational contexts. Early intervention services were seen by some participants to constrain, or conflict with, their social-cultural aspirations for the child, through a focus on acquisition of spoken English and facilitating participation in mainstream educational contexts. Whānau expressed frustration at the compromise they endured as a consequence and wished for a model of support that engaged with whānau aspirations and relational styles more effectively. Potential features of a whānau-centred model of early intervention were composed by the researcher and whānau participants during a wānanga (forum) held as a part of the research. The features identified utilised the tradition of raranga (weaving) as a metaphor with which to frame relational and participatory components of a whānau-centred early intervention model for Māori deaf children.</p>

Ka puāwai ngā kōhungahunga turi: a study of the nature and impacts of early intervention for Māori deaf children and their whānau

<p>This research investigates the early experiences of Māori deaf children, documenting whānau (family) perspectives on interactions with early intervention professionals and environmental sources of information, the effects of these on whānau perceptions of deafness, how decisions around communication and language use are arrived at, and how these affect a sense of parental competence. The features of a whānau-centred model of intervention are explored by whānau participants and the researcher in order to provide an understanding of how early intervention services could be more effective from Māori perspectives. Developing age appropriate language, communication skills and social acculturation is a synchronous process which typically occurs within the context of families. The majority of deaf children, however, are born to hearing parents and families with little experience of deaf people from which to develop a subconscious repertoire of skills with which to engage, facilitate and teach language to a deaf child. Early intervention services seek to support deaf children and their families in this process. In New Zealand a family-centred model of early intervention is accepted practice. Māori children are over-represented in deafness diagnostic statistics and their early language and social development takes place within a social context that is configured differently to the prototypical non-Māori family, that is, the whānau. Little is known or documented about the characteristics and efficacy of a family-centred model in relation to Māori deaf children and their whānau. The Māori metaphor of transformative praxis was used to frame a kaupapa Māori approach to case study research. Kete mātauranga (woven baskets of knowledge) were co-constructed between whānau participants, early intervention professionals, and the researcher, using Māori methods of qualitative data collection: kōrero-a-tinana (observations of action and behaviour), kōrero-a-waha (spoken language), kōrero-a-ringaringa (signed language), kōrero-a-tuhituhi (written language). Analysis of the data suggests that whānau perceptions of their deaf child evolve as the child moves through developmental stages and as the whānau encounters different sources of information and experiences relating to deafness. The study shows how the relevance of information, spoken, written, and signed, from early intervention professionals and observational knowledge gained from others with lived experience of deafness, deaf people and their whānau, was interpreted and weighed by participants as they interacted with their own deaf child in everyday social contexts. Participants' aspirations for their deaf children centred on a holistic perspective of wellbeing and development, the whānau providing the foundational context from which this developed. Recognising that their deaf child was situated at the borders of multiple cultural and linguistic groups, through either familial or social connection, whānau aspirations centred on the child’s active social and linguistic participation within these groups. Initial encounters with professionals focused on medical perspectives of hearing loss, positing deafness as a medical concern remedied through routine technical and medical interventions. However, as the child entered developmental stages, whereby language acquisition and the social acculturation process began, whānau started to relate to their deaf child in more social terms, and required more social and linguistic support to ensure participation in various home and educational contexts. Early intervention services were seen by some participants to constrain, or conflict with, their social-cultural aspirations for the child, through a focus on acquisition of spoken English and facilitating participation in mainstream educational contexts. Whānau expressed frustration at the compromise they endured as a consequence and wished for a model of support that engaged with whānau aspirations and relational styles more effectively. Potential features of a whānau-centred model of early intervention were composed by the researcher and whānau participants during a wānanga (forum) held as a part of the research. The features identified utilised the tradition of raranga (weaving) as a metaphor with which to frame relational and participatory components of a whānau-centred early intervention model for Māori deaf children.</p>

Deaf Ni-Vanuatu and their signs: A sociolinguistic study

<p>This thesis provides the first documentation and description of the signs created and used by deaf individuals in Vanuatu. The specific aims of this research were as follows: to establish the sociolinguistic context experienced by deaf people in Vanuatu; to identify the repertoire and characteristics of signs used by the deaf participants; to compare features of participants’ individual signs with the characteristics of home signs and emerging sign languages; and to consider the degree of similarity and potential similarity of signs between participants and how this reflects individuals’ opportunities for contact with other deaf people and signing interlocutors. The limitations of this study are that field methodology for data collection was developed in situ as conditions allowed. The sociolinguistic context for deaf Ni-Vanuatu confirms that language isolation leads to marginalisation from community and society. The study established that these home sign lexicons were limited in quantity and conceptual range, and that shared background knowledge was essential for comprehension. Overall, 22 handshapes were documented, and the predominant handshapes unmarked. Most participants preferred handling strategy for depicting signs. Some evidence of noun-verb distinction was noted in the repertoire of some participants. However, across this range of formational characteristics, results showed significant individual variations. Furthermore, multiple barriers have precluded development of a shared sign language and any form of deaf community.</p>