“His patients love him, our staff loves him, and he actually does a wonderful job in back of the ambulance, better than some of my hearing staff." Find out more about Chad Grabouskyhere.
Brian Hogg is the first person in the UK to undergo a new procedure to treat his hereditary deafness. His ear was fitted with an implant called a Bonebridge - made with a piece of his own rib because he is unable to wear conventional hearing aids. The BBC has a report here.
There are accusations of serious abuse against Florida's National Deaf Academy in Mount Dora, north of Orlando. Repeated violations have not been reported to state authorities, say two former employees. They accuse managers of covering up what's going on--including choking, punching and pinning patients during takedowns. Rooms are not cleaned while rotting food and insect infestations are common. Licensed clinical social worker Kyle Gilrain and licensed mental-health counselorCarol Savage filed the suit. The facility is operated by Pennsylvania's United Health Services which responded by saying:
The deaf academy “takes the safety and well-being of its patients and employees very seriously. There has been erroneous information circulating about the facility, regarding allegations of abuse and neglect. These allegations are unfounded and have been unsubstantiated by the state regulatory agencies.”
Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration has issued the facility citations for 95 violations this year. There have been hundreds of calls from the facility to police in the last few years because of fights, missing patients, and other problems.
Paul Stanley, singer in the rock band KISS, says "I'm virtually deaf on my right side" because he was "born without an ear canal..I've had an implanted hearing aid for years now." Watch the CNN video interview with him below on DeafNewsToday.com (with captions).
A UK hospital is being accused of failing to provide an interpreter for a deaf patient--and possibly performing surgery without her consent. Scotland’s Public Services Ombudsman, Jim Martin, says the woman was unable to communicate with the staff of Ninewells Hospital located in Dundee for 12 days. During her hospital stay, the unnamed patient had her appendix removed. Martin is accusing the hospital of not putting enough effort into finding an interpreter. The patient used BLS (British Sign Language) and had little lip-reading ability. She handed staff members interpreter cards and even pointed at a poster on the wall repeatedly. It said the hospital would provide an interpreter when needed. But it turns out the outdated poster included the wrong contact information. Martin says Section 20 of the Equality Act of 2010 clearly says that when the staff was first alerted to the need, there needed to be a plan put in place to provide the patient with the means necessary to communicate with the staff. In this case, a sign language interpreter. The hospital eventually did make two calls to a terp service over the weekend, but without success. Hospital officials complain there is a shortage of interpreters in the UK but agreed to change their procedures--including allowing patients to schedule an interpreter themselves and training staff on the use of basic sign language. Read the PDF report here.
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Members of the Deaf community often get misdiagnosed and inappropriate treatment is given when they are suffering from mental health issues. That's the finding of a new study out of the Indiana University School of Medicine. Researchers found there are few health providers who are suited to work with the Deaf population--that is, health professionals who know ASL, have been exposure to the Deaf community, and understanding Deaf cultural values. The situation is especially difficult, the researchers say, when it comes to diagnosing serious problems, such as schizophrenia. For instance, explaining the concept of "hearing voices" or "talk therapy" to someone who has been deaf from birth. They call for specialized mental health training for ASL interpreters who work in psychiatric settings. Details of the study are in Journal of Psychiatric Practice.
It takes a lot of time for physicians who are deaf to set up the tools they need to do their jobs. Tools like electronic stethoscopes and closed-captioning technologies and submitting requests or coordinating with interpreters. While these items help the users, they can take as much as ten hours a week, according to a new study. Researchers asked questions of more than 50 medical students, residents and practicing physicians. Here's what the study found they used the most.
The researchers come from the University of California at Davis, the University of Texas Health Science Center, and University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. You can read details are in the latest issue of the journal Academic Medicine.
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A deaf couple in the UK say hospitals have not provided them with an interpreter on 5 occasions in the last couple of years. Paul and Samantha Voisin use BSL (British Sign Language). Their son has had health issues since his birth 5 years ago and say hospital personnel asked her daughter, age, six, to interpret earlier this year. But an administrator at the East and North Hertfordshire Trust, located north of London in the town of Stevenage, says the facility has never refused to provide an interpreter. In fact, she says the Voisins were provided interpreters 60 times in the last three years, at a cost of 8000 pounds. The only time there is a problem, the hospital says, is when the couple arrives in an emergency situation and not by appointment, when interpreters can be scheduled ahead of time.
Are you in need of an interpreter for your deaf or heard of hearing client? Our interpreters are available all day, everyday to best fulfill your communication needs. We even offer Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) for "off-site" assignments and maximum flexibility.
As an employer, how can you hire a deaf or hard of hearing employee and facilitate communication that works successfully for your business? Our Employment Training programs could be just what you are looking for!
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