Project Appleseed

Our Welcome Center => Adaptive Appleseed Program => Topic started by: MeanStreaker on October 01, 2009, 11:17:57 AM

Title: Hearing Impaired Student
Post by: MeanStreaker on October 01, 2009, 11:17:57 AM
On Sept 12-13, 2009 in Athens, OH we had a lady attend that was hearing impaired.  She is a friend of RedNekEngr's family and they took her to the range a few times in preparation to get used to how an Appleseed is run.

Lyberty is our official Ohio sign language Technician  O0  and did a great job signing the lessons throughout the day.  (At least from what I could tell.)  ;D  I asked the Instructors to try and remember to be facing her way and worked out ahead of time to have Lyberty be paired with this student all the time so that very distinct "Fire" and "Cease Fire" commands could be given to her.  the "Cease Fire" command was a strong pat in the center of the back.  We didn't want it to be a tap on the shoulder in case an Instructor just wanted to tell her something, and we didn't want it to be a kick of the rear foot, as Instructors usually do this to tell people to get their trigger knee pulled up.

Everything went perfectly fine, due to RedNekEngr's preparation and Lyberty's dedication.  Both slim and I spent some time on the phone with them ahead of time, but because I think that family can do just about anything and do it perfectly, they had it covered.
Title: Re: Hearing Impaired Student
Post by: glocker21 on October 01, 2009, 11:25:00 AM
Excellent work.

That is one skill I need to learn as I am beginning to lose more and more of my hearing
Title: Re: Hearing Impaired Student
Post by: desertrat144 on October 02, 2009, 11:57:12 PM
I'm glad to hear everything went well for the Hearing Impaired shooter, and that she had the dedication to do enough 'dry runs' to the range to get a feel for how Appleseeds are run, and great work arounds on line commands. How did she do in the shooting and scoring?  Better yet it sounds like there may be some new folks to the Appleseed ranks.  Having access to a Sign Language Tech that is into the shooting sports and history is great!  glocker21's observations about hearing loss will be hitting close to home for several generations of shooters, solutions like this will be of help to letting these generations participate. 
Quotethe "Cease Fire" command was a strong pat in the center of the back.  We didn't want it to be a tap on the shoulder in case an Instructor just wanted to tell her something, and we didn't want it to be a kick of the rear foot, as Instructors usually do this to tell people to get their trigger knee pulled up.
The line commands, and the reasons that you worked out may be good standards to build on.  This is the type of field tested expedients that work that need to be posted.  Kudos to the Instructors for their help too.  I hope that emails were sent thanking the appropriate Instructors.
Title: Re: Hearing Impaired Student
Post by: funfaler on October 03, 2009, 11:48:00 AM
We did something similar in Lexington in 08.

Though, no signing available, the student got one on one face time with an instructor for each instructional period, along with what printed material we had which explained what we were teaching at that moment.

This printed material was a huge help, though not as complete as it could have been.   

Much easier to convey in the spoken word than writing, but then again, sometimes the less preferred method is the only one available.

Some standard "tap signals" would be handy, better thought out.   MS suggested a couple which we did not use, and I can see where ours may have lead to some confusion.

Appleseeders making it happen.   Good job  O0
Title: Re: Hearing Impaired Student
Post by: MeanStreaker on October 03, 2009, 12:03:45 PM
Yeah, having something written up would be a good idea.  I asked RedNekEngr if he thought I should send her stuff ahead of time so she could read during the event.  He said her lip reading skills were good enough that that probably wouldn't be necessary.... especially with Lyberty's help signing.

But it would probably be easy to have something written up and attached to a thread in this section or the Ins Manual.  I just copied/pasted stuff from my Red Hat PC that I was going to give to her.
Title: Re: Hearing Impaired Student
Post by: BaldDragn on October 04, 2009, 01:09:06 AM
For those of us with copious facial hair...

If you know you are going to have a hearing impaired person on the line, trim that moustache.
Title: Re: Hearing Impaired Student
Post by: Dinky Dao on October 06, 2009, 11:41:11 PM
Meanstreaker,

You left out one of the most fascinating things Lyberty did during the weekend with this student. She signed all the history being presented, including The Three Strikes of the Match. That in itself was quite astounding to watch! That young girl is truly very inspirational...as is that whole entire family. O0

Dinky
Title: Re: Hearing Impaired Student
Post by: MeanStreaker on October 07, 2009, 11:03:31 AM
Oh, did I?  ::)

Quote from: MeanStreaker... did a great job signing the lessons throughout the day.

It was truly an amazing job!
Title: Re: Hearing Impaired Student
Post by: Dinky Dao on October 07, 2009, 01:48:52 PM
Quote from: MeanStreaker on October 07, 2009, 11:03:31 AM
Oh, did I?  ::)

Quote from: MeanStreaker... did a great job signing the lessons throughout the day.


LOL.

Ok...guess Three Strikes of the Match is a lesson...  :D


Dinky
Title: Re: Hearing Impaired Student
Post by: MeanStreaker on October 07, 2009, 01:50:07 PM
a pretty darn important one!   &)

;D
Title: Re: Hearing Impaired Student
Post by: Canadian Princess on January 24, 2011, 04:40:05 PM
I too am profoundly deaf though I do not use sign language (hearing aids and lip reading only). Many techniques described above I have found to be helpful for me but one thing I would highly recommend is more use of visual aids during the shoot (write everything down... most deaf or hard of hearing individuals are visual learners and do not process information well using their hearing). This goes for rules, explanations, perhaps even names/dates/places during the history section. I would love to read more ideas and experiences that anyone with a hearing loss has had. I've been to two Appleseeds and find that less people on the line is better, trim that moustache, always ensure that the person is ready to read lips if you are going to tell the group something, designate one instructor to work with the person for the entire weekend (switching people is confusing), and always let the person know the schedule ahead of time (transitions are difficult).
Title: Re: Hearing Impaired Student
Post by: desertrat144 on February 04, 2011, 12:41:26 AM
CP and others,

There's a lot of work arounds in the A.AS threads.  There's a possible work around pending positive results for scrolling signs.

News at 6, film hopefully at 11.

Tom
Title: Re: Hearing Impaired Student
Post by: Historicalreenactor on March 11, 2011, 01:31:57 PM
I'm a sign language interpreter in FL and have attended 2 Appleseeds so far.  I agree wholeheartedly with Canadian Princess that more visuals are needed and not only for the deaf or hard of hearing group.  Most folks learn visually and being able to see what the instructor means would be a huge benefit to all.  It's great to see more deaf participants because there is a literal TON of information that this portion of the population misses out on.  Also,  :bow: "Job Well Done" for Liberty - 2 days of pretty much all day interpretation is exhausting!  I'm assuming no team interpreter for Liberty and that's a lot of work for 1 person. 
Title: Re: Hearing Impaired Student
Post by: Unbridled Liberty on March 11, 2011, 09:42:04 PM
Quote from: Historicalreenactor on March 11, 2011, 01:31:57 PM
I'm a sign language interpreter in FL and have attended 2 Appleseeds so far.  I agree wholeheartedly with Canadian Princess that more visuals are needed and not only for the deaf or hard of hearing group.  Most folks learn visually and being able to see what the instructor means would be a huge benefit to all.  It's great to see more deaf participants because there is a literal TON of information that this portion of the population misses out on.  Also,  :bow: "Job Well Done" for Liberty - 2 days of pretty much all day interpretation is exhausting!  I'm assuming no team interpreter for Liberty and that's a lot of work for 1 person. 

Would something like this help?
http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=14520.0;attach=30203 (http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=14520.0;attach=30203)

http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=14520.0;attach=29986 (http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=14520.0;attach=29986)

BTW, as part of my day job I am currently working on an assistive technology communication solution for a woman who suddenly became deaf 4 years ago at about ago 50.  She has not learned sign language, but reads lips fairly well.  In the course of my research I discovered software called Interact-AS which promises highly accurate real-time speech-to-text close captioning on a laptop.  For best results the speaker should wear a wireless mic.  The down side?  The cost is presently about $700.00 for just the software.  But I remember when Dragon Dictate (as it was known then) was $1,500.  Dragon Naturally Speaking is now about $175 for the Premium version.  This technology was initially developed for the military so that American soldiers could communicate with Iraqi's without having a translator present.  Anyway, here is a link to the Speechgear website: http://www.speechgear.info/products/interact-as (http://www.speechgear.info/products/interact-as) , and here is a link to some YouTube demos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNtnCRALoMw (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNtnCRALoMw) .

If there is no terp present, one possible FREE solution to facilitate face-to-face communication between AS personnel and a deaf participant is to use Dragon on an iPhone or Blackberry.  If you haven't tried it, you really should.  It is amazingly accurate, and much faster than writing.
Title: Re: Hearing Impaired Student
Post by: Historicalreenactor on March 11, 2011, 11:18:53 PM
 
[/quote]

Would something like this help?
http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=14520.0;attach=30203 (http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=14520.0;attach=30203)

http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=14520.0;attach=29986 (http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=14520.0;attach=29986)
[/quote]

Yes, I think this would be helpful.  Also, having something visual for the steady hold factors and something for the person to refer to while they are reloading magazines (esp. if it's his/her first Appleseed - lots of info thrown at the person and it's hard to retain it all). 

As far as the captioning device, sounds like a decent idea....for those that can read well enough.  I'm not trying to be super picky, but many of the deaf/hard of hearing people here in America have something like a 4th grade reading level.  Your client that suddenly went deaf as an adult is a great candidate for the captioning.  Other deaf/hard of hearing can read just fine, or well enough to get by.  Some, for all intents and purposes, are functionally illiterate.  My point is that communication needs should be flexible - whatever is needed for that person to convey that message.  Hope some of this is helpful  :)
Title: Re: Hearing Impaired Student
Post by: desertrat144 on March 19, 2011, 06:58:25 PM
Hello,

I'm back for a bit and catching up on things.  From this post, I would say first and foremost that the effected individual comply with the A.AS Manual Hearing Impaired criteria.  A Care giver &c. to act as interpreter/coach/guide would be a necessity.  There are just too many things waiting to go wrong.  There has not been any further feed back from three of the A.AS Team member's that were going to research some of these items, so any real time based feed back is solicited.  

The scrolling signs need battery times and bright light visibility verified.  As far as reading the signs, symbols, traffic lights &c. could be used to bypass reading issues.  Once there is useful info, they could be written in.  

The ASL issue of line commands & rifle nomenclature is still going for want of an answer- the last hope- CMP, has been unsuccessful to date.  What's needed is something that will survive any insurance challenges should something go wrong.  Anyone out there having workable & cost effective solutions for these issues please give UB or me a shout.

Regarding changing course parts into text, Dragon Speaking Naturally v.11 is out at $100+, and v. 10 can be had for less than $50 now.

Tom