Deafblindness

In this experience paper we consider the relevance of social policy to the design of personal cameras for accessibility. As researchers with different backgrounds, in disability studies, accessible computing, AI-based systems, HCI and disability policy, we reflect broadly on our experiences of developing assistive technology for and with people with deafblindness. For designers of assistive technology there are usually few restrictions placed on what may be investigated, provided certain ethical and legal standards are met. However, deafblind and disabled people experience many more barriers in how the products of design may be accessed and how they may be used. Social policy is one of the mediators that governs the allocation of resources and benefits, especially for disabled people. We discuss these issues for researchers in the field, using the example of personal cameras: an area of high policy intervention. Awareness of policy is limited in HCI research, and we argue that it has the potential to add focus to work on design and assistive devices for disabled people. Designers have an important role to play in this process.

В работе проводится сопоставление двух научно-исследовательских программ психического развития слепоглухих детей – рефлексологической (Соколянский) и культурно-исторической (Выготский). Обе эти программы утверждают общность законов психического развития в нормальной и патологической сферах, имеют важные точки соприкосновения в дидактическом плане, но кардинально расходятся в понимании природы психики и фундаментальных принципов воспитания ребенка. Загорский эксперимент осуществлялся на стыке этих двух программ – Мещеряков и Ильенков обошли данный факт молчанием, и до сих пор не предпринималось попыток исследовать проистекающую отсюда теоретическую коллизию.

Structured abstract: Purpose: Previous studies have guided the development of deafblindness rehabilitation by reporting on the priorities of researchers and of deafblind individuals; however, service and care providers may be able to bring a different and important perspective to shaping the development of this clinical field and its research. The present study aims to give them a voice in this process. Methods: We conducted a qualitative survey in which 68 stakeholders in deaf-blind rehabilitation from 6 countries described their perceived research and rehabilitation priorities for the coming decade. Verbatim transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis through open coding, creating categories, and abstraction. Results: Three categories of priorities emerged: those common to rehabilitation and research (such as assistive technology, communication services , and interdisciplinarity), those unique to rehabilitation (such as augmented service provision), and those unique to research (such as recruitment databases and measurement tools). Conclusions: When viewing the findings from within the context of the existing research literature, the overlap indicated that research and rehabilitation efforts are moving in a congruent direction for researchers, service providers, and persons with deafblindness. Future efforts should focus on information exchange in order to improve evidence-based rehabilitation practice.

Este livro narra a pesquisa de mestrado que analisa o processo de ensino de um garoto surdocego de onze anos efetuado pela autora, com a ajuda de sua orientadora.  Para promover a aprendizagem dos conteúdos, a pesquisadora criou recursos didáticos, utilizando o método da Comunicação Aumentativa e Alternativa, para colocar Jhonny em contato com o mundo. Antes disso, ele não sabia expressar seus medos, angústias, anseios e, não conhecia seu próprio corpo. Nesta obra, o leitor vai perceber que existem estratégias pedagógicas que os educadores deveriam usar para se comunicar e ensinar conhecimentos dos mais diversos campos do saber, às pessoas com deficiência, desde os científicos até a formação de valores éticos e afetivos. Porém devem atentar que esse processo exige atenção, dedicação, empatia e, sobretudo, acolhimento com amorosidade.

tekst opublikowany w: Przemiany prawa publicznego i prywatnego na początku XXI wieku, red. Robert Frey, Wyższa Szkoła Ekonomii i Prawa im. prof. Edwarda Lipińskiego, Kielce 2012, ISBN: 978-83-60056-88-2, ss. 81-95; opracowany do wersji online, skorelowany z ostateczną wersją wydawcy i poprawiony o dostrzeżone błędy w druku 3 sierpnia 2014 roku przez Karola Dąbrowskiego na licencji Creative Commons Uznanie autorstwa -Użycie niekomercyjne -Bez utworów zależnych 4.0 Międzynarodowe (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Karol Dąbrowski 1 Prawna regulacja głuchoślepoty Wstęp Niniejszy tekst jest kontynuacją artykułu poświęconego modernizacyjnej roli prawa wobec statusu osób niepełnosprawnych 2 . Złożony jest z trzech części: wprowadzenia poświęconego głuchoślepocie i pokrótce badaniach nad nią; syntetycznego przeglądu przepisów prawnych dotykających spraw osób głuchoniewidomych wraz z uzasadnieniem starań o prawne uregulowanie głuchoślepoty w polskim ustawodawstwie; a następnie obszernego opisu postępowania sądowego, jakie toczyło się przed Sądem Najwyższym w sprawie Stanisława G. -głuchoniewidomego 3 . Był to bowiem pierwszy przypadek -i to zakończony sukcesem -gdy sprawa osoby głuchoniewidomej trafiła do tak wysokiej instancji w polskim wymiarze sprawiedliwości. Precedens ten otwiera drogę sądową innym głuchoniewidomym niemogącym uzyskać adekwatnego orzeczenia o stopniu niepełnosprawności, wymieniającego oba kody niepełnosprawności: na wzrok (04-O) oraz na słuch (03-L), co przy braku kodu 13-G, który mógłby określać głuchoślepotę nabiera kolosalnego znaczenia dla tej grupy osób niepełnosprawnych.

This article is based on the analysis of customer interactions of Pradip, a deafblind man, with street sellers and shopkeepers in Mumbai. Pradip made use of visible and tactile gesturing including pointing at and tapping on objects (to indicate them), using emblematic gestures, and tracing the shape of objects on the hand. The fact that the sensory ecology is not reciprocal for the interlocutors is crucial for our understanding of what interaction means in these contexts. The material contexts themselves exert pressure on practices because of the constraints they pose for Pradip and his interlocutors; and routine/patterned ways of interacting in those contexts also exert pressure on practice: conventionalised schemes for customer interactions do not necessarily work in interactions between a deafblind and hearing sighted person. Pradip, as an experienced customer, negotiated the lack of shared conventional mechanisms for coordinating and signalling attention by abundant repetitions and by establishing tactile contact either immediately prior to, or during the utterance, including the production of signs on the interlocutor’s hand. The study thus shows that an experienced customer can successfully initiate new participant frameworks, without naturalising the constraints that are negotiated.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to describe the benefits of a social prescribing service for older people with sensory impairments experiencing social isolation. The paper draws on the findings from a 12-week programme run by Sense, a voluntary sector organisation, and illustrates how integrated services, combining arts-based participation and voluntary sector support, can create positive health and wellbeing outcomes for older people. Design/methodology/approach -The research took a mixed-methodological approach, conducting and analysing data from interviews and dynamic observation proformas with facilitators and quantitative psychological wellbeing scores with participants throughout the course of the programme. Observations and case study data were also collected to complement and contextualise the data sets. Findings -The research found that participatory arts programmes can help combat social isolation amongst older people with sensory impairments and can offer an important alliance for social care providers who are required to reach more people under increasing pecuniary pressures. The research also highlights other benefits for health and wellbeing in the group including increased self-confidence, new friendships, increased mental wellbeing and reduced social isolation.

Four linked sessions about (historical and) contemporary ethical dilemmas in deaf education, specifically in the praxis of deaf pedagogy.

The aim of the workshop is to identify and interrupt problems in deaf education which have long frustrated its transformation. Each of the three sessions will be led by Skyer, consisting of a multimodal presentation of instructional materials (Lecture), with identified focus areas (Questions), and educational objective. Sessions will require interactive participation by the audience, grouped in one of several Learning Pods. Each Learning Pods will consist of ~5 MU-MA/Deaf Ed. students, ~2 MU Faculty, and ~10 deaf community members. Participants will use Lecture materials and Questions to explore and apply concepts in novel contexts. In doing so, pods will create artifacts and generate discussions (documented via video technologies) that will constitute evidence of learning. Following the three sessions, MU Faculty facilitators will facilitate a closing discussion using a Roundtable format.

Attendees will leave the workshop with a better understanding of:

Session 1: The Curious Case of Vygotsky in Soviet Russia: History, Theory, Deaf Pedagogies
Session 2: Phonocentrism and Ocularcentrism: A Tale of Two Contrasting Discourse Ideologies
Session 3: Transformation and Deaf Multimodal-Visual Pedagogy: Evidence from the Field
Session 4: Theory and Strategy for Deaf Education in 2021 and Beyond: A Roundtable

This study was conducted to explore the learning of special needs students in reading and writing; determine their preferred teaching approaches; and obtain their suggestions to improve the teaching of both reading and writing modules. Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was conducted in obtaining pertinent information. Results regarding what the learners learned; and the best approach for teaching English revealed interesting insights which could guide special needs teachers. Suggestions which aimed at improving English teaching were also provided.

This study was conducted to explore the learning of special needs students in reading and writing; determine their preferred teaching approaches; and obtain their suggestions to improve the teaching of both reading and writing modules. Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was conducted in obtaining pertinent information. Results regarding what the learners learned; and the best approach for teaching English revealed interesting insights which could guide special needs teachers. Suggestions which aimed at improving English teaching were also provided.  Article visualizations:

This writing paper discusses metaphor for language Acquisition. In my own opinion, the metaphor that best represented language acquisition was growth and development of a newly born baby. We (mother)  can not grab the arm or legs of a newly born baby and pull them to grow. This occurs naturally and this is what language acquisition is all about. Language acquisition was also discussed in the context of Sign language as this is paramount in Deaf education

COVID-19 is deepening pre-existing inequalities. Emerging research suggests that people with disabilities across the world have experienced various rights violations and been disproportionality affected by the health, economic and social impacts of the pandemic and responses to it. The aim of this research was to better understand how people with disabilities who are often excluded from research have experienced the evolving COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh and Nepal. In order to better understand how it has affected some of the most marginalised groups of people with disabilities, this study used in-depth qualitative research to focus on people with intellectual, psychosocial, deafblindness and other multiple impairments.

Deafblindness is a dual sensory impairment that affects many aspects of life, including mobility, access to information, communication, and social interactions. Furthermore, individuals living with deafblindness are under a high risk of social isolation. Therefore, we identified opportunities for applying assistive tools to support social interactions through co-ideation activities with members of the deafblind community. This work presents our co-design approach, lessons learned and directions for designing meaningful assistive tools for dual sensory loss.

COVID-19 is deepening pre-existing inequalities. Emerging research suggests that people with disabilities across the world have experienced various rights violations and been disproportionality affected by the health, economic and social impacts of the pandemic and responses to it. The aim of this research was to better understand how people with disabilities who are often excluded from research have experienced the evolving COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh and Nepal. In order to better understand how it has affected some of the most marginalised groups of people with disabilities, this study used in-depth qualitative research to focus on people with intellectual, psychosocial, deafblindness and other multiple impairments.

Deafblindness, also known as dual sensory loss, is the combination of sight and hearing impairments of such extent that it becomes difficult for one sense to compensate for the other. Communication issues are a key concern for the Deafblind community. We present the design and technical implementation of the Tactile Board: a mobile Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device for individuals with deafblindness. The Tactile Board allows text and speech to be translated into vibrotactile signs that are displayed real-time to the user via a haptic wearable. Our aim is to facilitate communication for the deafblind community, creating opportunities for these individuals to initiate and engage in social interactions with other people without the direct need of an intervener.

This study was conducted to explore the learning of special needs students in reading and writing; determine their preferred teaching approaches; and obtain their suggestions to improve the teaching of both reading and writing modules. Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was conducted in obtaining pertinent information. Results regarding what the learners learned; and the best approach for teaching English revealed interesting insights which could guide special needs teachers. Suggestions which aimed at improving English teaching were also provided.

It is generally understood that the human senses are interconnected and always work in relation to each other. How does this work when one or two senses are lost due to a dual sensory impairment? Deafblind persons' perception and experiences of arts are based on their residual auditive and visual senses, and touch. Their haptic exploration, their touch, movements and orientation towards the objects give blind persons direct, independent experience. Few studies explore the aesthetic experiences and appreciation of artefacts of dual-sensory people, and how they would interpret and express their perceived experience through another sensory modality. This pilot research describes and analyses six different deafblind people sharing their interpretation of five statues in vocals, sounds and written descriptions based on their haptic experiences. The informants found new and multimodal ways of expressing their experiences. We conclude that it is possible to transfer felt experiences fr...

Deafblindness is a dual sensory impairment that affects many aspects of life, including mobility, access to information, communication, and social interactions. Furthermore, individuals living with deafblindness are under a high risk of social isolation. Therefore, we identified opportunities for applying assistive tools to support social interactions through co-ideation activities with members of the deafblind community. This work presents our co-design approach, lessons learned and directions for designing meaningful assistive tools for dual sensory loss.

Deafblindness, a form of dual sensory impairment, significantly impacts communication, access to information and mobility. Independent navigation and wayfinding are main challenges faced by individuals living with combined hearing and visual impairments. We developed a haptic wearable that provides sensory substitution and navigational cues for users with deafblindness by conveying vibrotactile signals onto the body. Vibrotactile signals on the waist area convey directional and proximity information collected via a fisheye camera attached to the garment, while semantic information is provided with a tapping system on the shoulders. A playful scenario called “Keep Your Distance” was designed to test the navigation system: individuals with deafblindness were “secret agents” that needed to follow a “suspect”, but they should keep an optimal distance of 1.5 meters from the other person to win the game. Preliminary findings suggest that individuals with deafblindness enjoyed the experien...

eBAY continues to engage in direct, intentional, ignorant discrimination against deaf as a matter of POLICY by requiring phone calls to resolve common business issues such as shipping a heavy item. eBay threatened to cancel the sale causing me extreme financial hardship six days before I leave for Europe because of an ongoing LACK of any deaf com policy other than completely ad hoc make it up as you go along. I demand enforcement of existing federal standards for eBay's immediate and total compliance with written language requirements for deaf, no calls, no talky talk and no exceptions will ever be made for any living person.

I have been both a successful seller and buyer for 15 years on eBay. In the past two months, I sold over $5,000 worth of old stuff that was laying around my house, at a loss, but sold, quickly and made money for eBay. Yet eBay consistently treats me worse than talkers. Why?

Through the 1980s for more than a decade, Lesbian and gay d/Deaf persons formed groups that didn't become subcultures, but which helped persons doubly-marginalised connect and explore identities. The internet now articulates many groups and relationships. Blind persons remain relatively excluded and largely isolated, partly due to inaccessible venues and websites, but also due to discrimination, with gay and lesbian 'scenes' and environments operating from parameters of selectivity and exclusion in ways that are similar to the excluding processes of dominant cultures.

COVID-19 is deepening pre-existing inequalities. Emerging research suggests that people with disabilities across the world have experienced various rights violations and been disproportionality affected by the health, economic and social impacts of the pandemic and responses to it. The aim of this research was to better understand how people with disabilities who are often excluded from research have experienced the evolving COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh and Nepal. In order to better understand how it has affected some of the most marginalised groups of people with disabilities, this study used in-depth qualitative research to focus on people with intellectual, psychosocial, deafblindness and other multiple impairments.

COVID-19 is deepening pre-existing inequalities. Emerging research suggests that people with disabilities across the world have experienced various rights violations and been disproportionality affected by the health, economic and social impacts of the pandemic and responses to it. The aim of this research was to better understand how people with disabilities who are often excluded from research have experienced the evolving COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh and Nepal. In order to better understand how it has affected some of the most marginalised groups of people with disabilities, this study used in-depth qualitative research to focus on people with intellectual, psychosocial, deafblindness and other multiple impairments.

Deafblindness is a condition that limits communication capabilities primarily to the haptic channel. In the EU-funded project SUITCEYES we design a system which allows haptic and thermal communication via soft interfaces and textiles. Based on user needs and informed by disability studies, we combine elements from smart textiles, sensors, semantic technologies, image processing, face and object recognition, machine learning, affective computing, and gamification. In this work, we present the underlying concepts and the overall design vision of the resulting assistive smart wearable.

Deafblindness, a form of dual sensory impairment, significantly impacts communication, access to information and mobility. Independent navigation and wayfinding are main challenges faced by individuals living with combined hearing and visual impairments. We developed a haptic wearable that provides sensory substitution and navigational cues for users with deafblindness by conveying vibrotactile signals onto the body. Vibrotactile signals on the waist area convey directional and proximity information collected via a fisheye camera attached to the garment, while semantic information is provided with a tapping system on the shoulders. A playful scenario called “Keep Your Distance” was designed to test the navigation system: individuals with deafblindness were “secret agents” that needed to follow a “suspect”, but they should keep an optimal distance of 1.5 meters from the other person to win the game. Preliminary findings suggest that individuals with deafblindness enjoyed the experience and were generally able to follow the directional cues.

An important issue in the education of children with disabilities in contemporary Japan is the enhancement of measures to deal with the severity, pluralization, and diversi cation of disabilities. This requires an improvement in teachers’ expertise at schools for children with disabilities. As part of the effort to support such an improvement in the expertise of teachers, we addressed the issue of school consultation, organized this concept, reported the actual situation in schools for children with disabilities, and assessed the signi cance of school consultation. Speci cally, the following items were assessed and discussed: 1) whether school consultation is a cooperative effort with teachers and teachers’ organizations to make the best use of shared expertise in resolving problems; 2) the effectiveness of consultation in specialized training through practical efforts; and 3) the importance of on-site training (training in the classroom) based on school consultation in improving teachers’ expertise.

COVID-19 is deepening pre-existing inequalities. Emerging research suggests that people with disabilities across the world have experienced various rights violations and been disproportionality affected by the health, economic and social impacts of the pandemic and responses to it. The aim of this research was to better understand how people with disabilities who are often excluded from research have experienced the evolving COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh and Nepal. In order to better understand how it has affected some of the most marginalised groups of people with disabilities, this study used in-depth qualitative research to focus on people with intellectual, psychosocial, deafblindness and other multiple impairments.

Reunidos em banquetes para comemorar o aniversário de nascimento
do abade Charles-Michel de l’Épée (1712-1789), os surdos-mudos franceses contribuíram ao seu modo com o modelo civilizatório que a França emanava para o mundo no século XIX. Por meio dessas confraternizações Berthier incentivou a criação da Sociedade Central dos Surdos-Mudos de Paris, agregou os pares em torno de pautas comuns, apontando a necessidade de serem percebidos como membros valorosos da humanidade para a qual nada faltava, exceto essa transformação. Os falantes testemunhavam a expressão de ideias numa mímica plena pela qual se comprovava que uma educação adequada despertava a potência presente em cada surdo-mudo. Seus encontros e realizações eram anunciados na imprensa, integrando-os aos debates
políticos e culturais da época. No capítulo “Surdos-mudos do mundo inteiro, uni-vos!”: uma carta de Berthier sobre os banquetes em
homenagem ao abade de l’Épée” foi escolhida a carta como gênero textual. As autoras se permitiram transitar entre Atas dos banquetes e materiais jornalísticos. Para entendermos a realidade da época, as chamadas de referência estão em notas de rodapé. Apoiamos-nos em Diderot para quem a carta permite conversar livremente, “e onde a última palavra é suficiente para que se faça a transição (DIDEROT, [1751]1993, p. 16)46. Ousamos provocar uma conversa entre Berthier no século XIX e seus pares do século XXI. O irmão mais velho escreve para orientar as futuras gerações, esperançoso por ainda mais avanços em torno da causa. Não tocamos num assunto importante: a ausência das mulheres; mas incluímos uma aluna muito especial do Instituto de Paris. Os materiais consultado revelaram nomes e histórias pouco conhecidos, por isso procuramos incluí-los na conversa. As autoras falantes ficaram por perto, apreciando os reencontros.

Nowadays, the wide majority of Europeans uses smartphones. However , touch displays are still not accessible by everyone. Individuals with deafblindness, for example, often face difculties in access-ing vision-based touchscreens. Moreover, they typically have few fnancial resources which increases the need for customizable, low-cost assistive devices. In this work-in-progress, we present four prototypes made from low-cost, everyday materials, that make modern pattern lock mechanisms more accessible to individuals with vision impairments or even with deafblindness. Two out of four prototypes turned out to be functional tactile overlays for accessing digital 4-by-4 grids that are regularly used to encode dynamic dot patterns. In future work, we will conduct a user study investigating whether these two prototypes can make dot-based pattern lock mechanisms more accessible for individuals with visual impairments or deafblindness.

More than thirty years after her death, Helen Keller is still known internationally as the little deaf blind girl, the ‘miracle child’ who triumphed over adversity.  But behind the image, hidden from the public gaze, was a flesh-and-blood woman, writer and radical activist, suffragette and Socialist.  She was a woman who lived to old age, yet is fixed in the public imagination as an eternal child.

This paper charts the creation of Keller’s popular image and enduring iconic status, analysing their purpose and the implications they hold for us as disabled people.  It then examines the truth of her life, revealing how contemporary are the issues which determined it.  Finally, it explores the value of retelling her biography and the relevance it holds in the building of disability culture.

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