Fintan Ramblings

Should CI companies be allowed to put pressure on deaf people that they must wear CI implants?

I got talking to one member of Deaf UK Chat on MSN.

It all started when she wanted help in setting up a website she was doing for a hobby.

Knowing I co-run the forum with Tony, she asked if I could post about CI, as she was a little shy. She knew I was anti implanting CI against children’s will, and hate companies that give deaf people half-truths!

First of all she contacted the RNID (Royal National Institute for Deaf ) who were only interested in giving her charity tickets and donating to them which is not surprising really!

She wanted more information, the doctor gave her very few leaflets and a search on Google gave her few results (it’s mostly children with CI)

Although I was born deaf, I am not a CI user, so I am not the best person to ask.

I posted on Deaf UK chat.

We are a levelheaded bunch, and another member helpfully posted a link to a CI forum .. I did not ask what information they give her so she went to doctor armed with more questions.

Not surprisingly she found it hard to understand them. They did not offer to write all this down and make sure she understood it all.

I can understand why people who lost their hearing later on in life want to do anything to try and get it back; she is an adult, she can make her own mind up.

What she hadn’t bargained for was the constant persistence that she must wear CI

She got various letters, and representative came knocking at her house trying to persuade her.

She was offered a holiday to meet other CI user and she was paired with (her words) an articulate CI user and a really thick deaf person.

She suspected he had other problems let alone just being deaf

A good ploy don’t you think after all most people believe that without hearing you cannot be educated, hence why they want a mass implantation on children.

I hadn’t seen her for a while and was worried about her, when I caught her online she was suffering from depression.

Understandable really when your divorced, children to bring up and her dad had just died.

But she said it’s the relentless persuasion by this company, she told them that she could not afford this and needed money to travel all the way to Ivory Coast for a funeral hoping that they will go away.

Sadly she never got to see her dad get buried…

What she hadn’t bargained for was that they came back with grants from the council for her to sign even a social worker was present.

Don’t worry your local council will pay for CI and all you need to do is sign on the dotted line.

What horrible pressure, I even offered to drive all the way there and film this and give them a piece of my mind.

She took my advice and went to Citizens Advice Bureau or a solicitor (cant remember) which and I am happy to say has put all the persistence to a stop.

In my opinion the best people to ask is other late deafened people. The doctor should have offered her counselling …

…and when she decided against having a CI they should have let her be…

P.S I know the picture is Homer Simpson brain but it doesn’t half look like a CI doesn’t it?

The RNID and Sunday times have sparked disability hate crime.

Take a look at this link
http://www.timesonline.co.uk

Very shoddy journalism, which I think missed the very issue that we are most concerned with - see this link.

http://stopeugenics.org
We are protesting to protect an embryo from being tossed aside once it is found to have the Deaf gene.

Digg and Fark
http://digg.com http://forums.fark.com
along with so many forums and discussion board are headed with the words “string the deaf people up” “inbreeds” “ I hate deaf people” to “Fucking retards”

They are referring to inaccurate reporting and an inaccurate statement from Jackie Ballard that deaf people demand deaf babies over hearing.

This is a eugenics issue NOT a designer baby issue.

I am unhappy that forum boards are awash with disability hate which is against the law in the UK.

Neither Sarah-Kate Templeton (Sunday Times Newspaper) and Jackie Ballard (RNID) will apologise for it!

Below was taken from Dans website

DISHING THE DIRT ON THE R.N.I.D.
THEY STEAL OUR VOICE; THEY STEAL OUR CASH;
THEY LOCK US AWAY.
RNID (otherwise known as Really Not Interested in the Deaf)

The Royal National Institute for Deaf People is basically a million-pound charity that is strangely unpopular with the very people it claims to serve.

For example, the Government recognised British Sign Language (BSL) as a language in its own right. The RNID showed very little interest in the 5-year BSL recognition campaign, which was led by community based BSL users, until BSL was finally recognised and the Government put up £1 million for bidding.

Suddenly, they were ‘experts’, despite being led by hearing people who can’t sign! The RNID with their wealth of resources are actively bidding against the deaf campaigners and their organisations for the government’s money despite being asked not to.

We want rights, not charity. We don’t want to see ‘Deaf Pounds’ going straight into the pockets of the RNID’s fat cats. If they couldn’t support the campaign why should they get the cash?
This is typical of how these charities operate.
SLOW TO ADVOCATE FOR POSITIVE CHANGE
BUT QUICK TO TAKE RESOURCES AWAY FROM THE PEOPLE.

Their Chief Executive is hearing which sends a clear message to Deaf People and the wider world that they (deaf people) are not capable of running their organisation. Deaf people say that they are ready and willing to take over the organisation and work with the disability movement for concrete change.
If they seriously want to advise the government on employing deaf people they could start with themselves.

The RNID is the main culprit for keeping Deaf people locked in ‘care homes’ that they have set up all over the UK. Until the RNID is GOT RID OF deaf people will not have the chance of full inclusion into our society.

Despite all this the RNID is still whispering in the ear of government and is recognised by this government as a leading advisor.
We call on the government to listen to Deaf People
not the RNID

We call on the RNID to get our of out lives.

This study has been done before, with walkmans remember them?

And another study with MP3 players done in America, why did RNID conduct a study in UK?

Brian Lamb, Acting Chief Executive of RNID, said: “MP3 player manufacturers have a responsibility to make their customers aware of the dangers by printing clear warnings on packaging and linking volume controls to decibel levels.

Why target mp3 players?

Not everyone uses that format from a technology view,this was also said about ipods
In ear mobile phones damage hearing too.
Warnings are there on booklets, but RNID wants it to be bigger and clearer!!
Sound like a nanny state very similar to smoking having health warnings on cigarette packets.
Spending money on research like others have already done is wasting money.
Its just another case of “RNID letting people know we are here and donate more money”
So come on RNID do what your supposed to do and represent REAL needs for Deaf people to which clearly you don’t.

An article in The Register today explains that Vodafone is now buying secondhand Nokia 9210’s on eBay to sell to D/deaf customers using the service provided in association with the RNID.

Below taken from Register
Vodafone UK is hunting eBay for obsolete handsets that support its Textphone service for the deaf.
British telephone companies are required to provide services for deaf customers, who generally use a keyboard to type text messages. Text- and instant messaging have mitigated the need to an extent, but seeing every key typed is a better communication experience, according to the RNID (Royal National Institute for Deaf people).
Vodafone’s service uses software provided by the RNID running on Nokia’s Communicator 9210. The problem is that Nokia doesn’t make the 9210 any more. And while rival networks use two-device solutions, Vodafone is forced to source Communicators from anywhere they can, including eBay, until it comes up with something better.
A Vodafone spokeswoman told us: “We buy Communicators secondhand from a variety of sources, including eBay, and clean them up for our customers.”

Why is a mobile phone operator forced to scrounge second hand phones to support a service that was once a flagship.
Why do us deaf people have to use second hand goods?
Why couldn’t global operator with over 200 million customers to ask a manufacturer to design a handset fit for 2007 specifically for the Typetalk service.
The Nokia 9210 would have remained in production had Vodafone offered the service to the deaf community around the world and ordered a sufficient number of handsets to make this viable or cheaper …

I cant think of what this charity has done for us ,
Never knew of them till year 2000 so where have they been in all 30 years my life?
On website it reads
Changing the world for deaf and hard of hearing people. RNID (The Royal National Institute for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People) is the largest charity representing the 9 million deaf and hard of hearing people in the UK

So they represent 9 million deaf and hard of hearing well I find that hard to believe.
Before anyone mentioned minicom I have yet to meet any of my deaf friends using them. They came way to late.
I used it 5 times was to call the deaf centre as they are only ones answer to minicom.
Treid calling banks as they advertise that they use minicom they never answer or pick up the phone to speak and find it makes a lot of noise (like a fax) and put phone down. but seem to be more of a problem now due to data protection act they wont speak to third party. Don’t get me wrong the device is usefull for some people but what has the RNID done since then can we use Minicom on VOIP? I guess not .

Looking at a RNID website to what they are campaigning next .

Reduce hearing aid waiting times, MPs say - 18 May 2007
A group of MPs have said they want the Department of Health to tackle long waiting times for hearing aid services. The Health Select Committee says that half a million people are waiting for NHS audiology services, and some are waiting for more than two years.

A little misleading as they are talking about switching from analogue to Digital hearing aids.
Now I am the lucky few that have digital hearing aids but it took a little getting used to but sadly the build quality is rubbish. Depends on where you live moisture gets into it easily and I had to send back broken ones. They wont give me spare one so I go DEAF for a few weeks till its replaced.

Saw another campaign

Campaign for more subtitles on ITV digital channels
Subtitling levels on ITV digital channels are really low. ITV3 and ITV4 only subtitled 13.8 percent of their programmes in 2006 even though most of their programmes are repeats that were subtitled when first shown.

Support our campaign if you think deaf and hard of hearing people should be able to enjoy repeats of programmes such as Inspector Morse, Midsomer Murders, A Touch of Frost, Prime Suspect and Foyle’s War.

Take action! Send an email to Michael Grade (external link, opens new browser window), Executive Chairman of ITV, saying how important subtitles are to you….
Section: How you can help
Date published: 08 May 2007

Now bear in mind that

ITV2 launched on 7 December 1998

ITV3 launched on 1 November 2004

Why is RNID campaigning now? Whats taking so long for a charity that has £50,000,000 in the bank?