It’s Difficult to Fit In Being Deaf

Check out my post on bubblews at:  http://www.bubblews.com/news/527190-it039s-difficult-to-fit-in-since-i-am-deaf-and-nobody-really-knows-what-i039m-going-through

Guest Post: The Essay Writing Service UK by Paul Smith

SEO tips for bloggers

I am Paul Smith. I am extremely fond of travelling, blogging and I work as a writer at http://essaywritingservice.co/uk.php .   I hope that you will find these tips useful for your blogging career. I will be glad to discuss with you different issues and additional questions on my site.

Blog – is a communicative platform, successfully used in the Internet marketing as a source of information you want to spread over the society. Blogging gives you an opportunity to attract a great number of your target auditory and offer them everything you want. However, blogging alone is just a platform, so you should promote it for your ideas to be heard. This time you should remember a very popular word in the sphere of Internet marketing – SEO. What does it mean? Some of the bloggers want just to share their thoughts or ideas with the others, find the like-minded thought leaders, because blogging for them is just a way to spread an excellent content. However, your voice will not be heard in case you don’t promote it.

At the very beginning, the SEO strategies were rather simpler than now. Every blogger, who wanted to promote his site, just needed to use frequently used keywords in the search engines and put them in the articles from his blog. The more keywords the better – it was the only condition of successful blog’s existence. Now, this tip won’t help you anymore, the other way round, quality content is appreciated more than ever, and these frequently used keywords can push your ranking down instead of up. However, it doesn’t mean that you have no acceptable possibilities to improve your blog position. Here are some of the most effective ways:

What about keywords, so, you can use them, but it would be more effective if they will be richer (using phrases related to your content) and used in the right context. Google is smart enough to recognize the right context and there are more chances to better traction.

Take care about the quality of the content. You don’t need to spend sleepless nights creating something incredibly unique and impressive. Just think about your audience’s needs and try to provide them with the information that is useful for them, so that they want to share it with their friends. Thus, you will increase the number of the users and you will get more natural links, that will connect to your blog.

Analytics is your friend. If you don’t use it, remember, you lose a lot in the process of optimization. Install analytics to your blog, thus you will see the most read blogs and phrases people write to find the information. In this case, you will learn what posts are the most popular, so it will be appropriate to write more about it.

Use images. Images, used in the field with posts make them more visible, especially when they contain the title or the main idea of your article. It will capture readers’ attention and attract your like-minded persons.

Get your own domain. Your own domain fulfills two important functions at the same time: it increases your page rank and makes your blog more credible. The authority is one of the main factors, which is taken into account by the  search engines. Moreover, if your domain contains the title of your brand, it will be trustful to your audience and will make an impression of your serious attitude towards the blog.

Follow the Search Engines innovations. If you want to deal with SEO of your blog, it is better to be up-to-date with its new tendencies, because search engines frequently improve algorithms on the quality content. One more advice is to learn SEO new strategies.

Here is the list of most common and effective techniques, however it depends upon you, if they bring a promotion to your blog. It doesn’t mean that you cannot use the other devices for promotion, you can even design your own way of popularization of your blog and share it with us.

Deaf Lady Uses Subtitle Glasses For The First Time

Today I went to the movies and I asked for the subtitle glasses at the ticket counter. I wore them as I watched the movie and I was able to understand everything that was going on. It has closed captioning on the screen of the glasses and I was pretty comfortable with it. At first I thought it would be difficult to use them. But once I tried them and watched the movie I was very pleased. These are good glasses for the deaf to use at the Regal Cinemas. I am very grateful that they are out now for those who can’t hear.

Make sure you read my article about the special glasses on bubblews at:

http://www.bubblews.com/news/502551-deaf-lady-uses-subtitle-glasses-for-the-first-time

 

 

One of the Best Money Making sites In The World Is Bubblews

If you want to make money writing posts, join Bubblews. It’s one of the best money making sites I know of in the world. You can join it by clicking this link below.

http://www.bubblews.com/?referral=513bfc85367461.88563695

How it works, is you need to be creative when writing posts. They need to have at least 400 characters in them. They have a list of rules in The Bank page that you need to follow. It helps if you use your own pictures for the posts you write.

How you make money on Bubblews? You get paid for every comment, like and view on your posts. When you comment on other people’s posts, you get paid for every like on your comments too. Then you can share your posts with Facebook, Twitter, Google and other social media sites. That way you will get more views on them. They even have a dislike button that if someone hits that you still get paid for it. When you join, you need to make connections with others.

Bubblews is on facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/Bubblews?fref=ts

Make sure to check out some of the posts I wrote on Bubblews:

http://www.bubblews.com/news/395169-i039m-so-happy-that-i-received-my-second-payment

http://www.bubblews.com/news/389936-it-would-be-a-miracle

http://www.bubblews.com/news/317732-bubbleworld

http://www.bubblews.com/news/332707-swimming-pool

Good Luck!

New Hearing Aids At Last

Good evening everybody! It’s so good to be here tonight. Last summer I had requested for new hearing aids from Beltone. They worked terrible, so I had them returned. Later my regular audiologist ordered a new pair of Phonak hearing aids for me. I had no idea how that would turn out due to my bad experience with the Beltone hearing aids. Believe me, I will never go back to Beltone, their hearing aids were awful. When I went to see my audiologist, he tested these new hearing aids on a machine hooked up to a computer. We had to pick out the level of the sound that I was comfortable with.

A few weeks later, I received a check given to me by my Empire Plan Insurance company. Happily I paid my audiologist the 3,000 dollars from my insurance company. That covered my hearing aids and my new ear molds, plus the batteries. So I didn’t have to pay a dime. You could say I got them free. Boy I was lucky. Then I tried them on and they were very comfortable with the ear molds. I was very happy. These are much better than my old ones. I was hearing some sounds I never heard before in my entire life! So that is amazing. These are really good hearing aids.

NFTA Meeting In March

I was really very impressed by the progress being made in the NFTA meeting. There was so much new information at the last one in March. I was glad that the staff has been listening to my ideas and using some of them. They do record everything I say, and then it is written into an agenda for everyone to read. So I just received the meeting agenda for March 28th, 2013 and it was well done.

One of the things the agenda states is that deaf travelers  can email TSA-ContactCenter@dhs.gov regarding questions when traveling at airports. People with disabilities or who need extra assistance in the Buffalo airport can can call TSA at 1-855-787-2227, 72 hours in advance. At the airport, TSA now has Passenger Support Specialists(PSS).

Towards the end of the meeting we discussed problems for the deaf on the train. I was telling them about how I can’t hear the announcements and they are not closed captioned. I was very impressed with Todd describing to the NFTA staff with what the deaf riders goes through not knowing what is going on. He was excellent at explaining to everyone about some of the problems I experienced on the train not being able to hear. It made me feel happy that someone in the meeting understood how I felt when I could not hear or understand the announcements being made. So I’d like to thank Todd, the guy in the wheelchair for helping me at this point. He made it clearer to the people in the meeting what the deaf riders need when traveling on trains. I will be attending the next meeting in April and will keep you updated.

Guest Post: Alexis Bonari of College Scholarships

About the Author:

Alexis Bonari writes for one of the largest open databases of college funding opportunities. Specific topics like student grants are described in detail to provide multiple resources for students.   Her personal website is http://www.collegescholarships.org/    Here is her article on how to get in shape.

EXERCISING

How to Get in Shape When You Hate Exercise

 

You know you need to exercise, but you just can’t muster the motivation. You keep hearing people tell you how “amazing” they feel after exercising and how much energy it gives them, but every time you try to work out, you end up doubled over and gasping for air after only 10 minutes. You’re grabbing your side from pain and all you want to do is crawl under the covers and take a nap.

 

Not everyone loves exercise. Even those who do may have found it to be a long courtship. When you’re body’s not used to doing exercise, it will take some time for it to get used to the activity and to start reaping the benefits, such as increased energy and elevated mood. In the meantime, you either have to fake it until you make it, or you have to find other ways to sneak in exercise without it feeling like you’re exercising. Here are a few ideas:

 

Do Something Fun with Friends

 

Any activity seems to go by a little faster when you’re having fun, and who better to have fun with than your friends? Plan a meet up to do something low-key where you can exercise while socializing. You might take a walk in the park, go to a yoga class, or even head out for a night of dancing. Whatever you do, the key is to find something that will get you moving and that will allow you to have fun!

 

Do Something You Like Doing Anyway

 

Have you heard that expression “find something you love to do and you’ll never work a day in your life?” The same is true for exercise. If there is something you love to do that is physical, you won’t feel like you’re exercising when you’re doing it. This can be dancing with your sweetie. Or it can be playing a vigorous game of tag with your kids. Or maybe it’s playing in the weekend softball league with your company.

 

Again, the key is to simply have fun. Find something you love to do that gets you moving, and do it often.

 

Perform Projects around the House

 

Raking the leaves, weeding the garden, painting the pantry. These are all jobs that can get you working up a sweat and building your muscles. They are also jobs that have to get done, so you can’t avoid doing them because the thought of “exercise” makes you want to curl up in front of the TV with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s.

 

Look for other projects around the house that have to get done, and make it your mission to complete them a little at a time every day. You’ll get the exercise you need, and you’ll have a house that you’ll be proud to call home.

 

Add Little Bits of Activity Into Your Day

 

The thought of going to the gym to work out for an hour can be unappealing even to those who enjoy exercise. Instead of setting out a chunk of time to exercise, just focus on adding more activity throughout your day. Studies have shown that smaller bits of exercise are just as effective as longer stretches. So three 10-minute walks are just as effective as one 30-minute walk.

 

Take short breaks and go for a walk around your block. Walk up and down the stairs a couple of times on your lunch break. Ride a bike to the market if it’s close instead of taking your car. The more things like this you do, the more activity you will get throughout your day.

 

Getting in shape doesn’t have to be hard. Whether you like exercise or you can’t stand it, you can easily get the healthy activity you need by following these simple tips.

 

How do you fit more exercise into your day? Share your tips in the comments!

Third NFTA Meeting

Thursday, March 28th, I made my third attendance at the NFTA meeting.   I had no clue what was going to happen when I was there that time.    When I got to the meeting room, it was packed.   Thank god there was an empty chair for me to sit in.    There was another girl in a wheelchair that was partly deaf there.    It was nice to see her again too.  She was just starting to learn to speak sign language.   This time I decided not to be a chatterbox and to try to listen to what every one else was saying.

While I was there I noticed these people didn’t bring up stuff regarding deaf people.  The only time they seemed to mention the deaf society was whenever I was talking about it.   Other than that they would be discussing everything else.   The meeting wasn’t about me anyway.   Who am I to think that, so it’s okay.   I was just there to listen, and I tried to keep my mouth closed.    Last time I felt I took over the meeting by talking non- stop.  So I did my best to stay silent.

This time I managed to stay quiet for about 15 minutes.   By then I couldn’t wait any longer to say what I had to say.    Come on I wasn’t trying to be a show off.  There was just some things I had to get off my chest.   They weren’t talking about deaf people, so I interrupted and started a whole new topic.   I had no clue what they were talking about before.  It doesn’t matter, they all knew I was deaf.  What I was saying must have been off the point, of what they were discussing.    Since I was deaf, I can get away with it.

I made my announcement finally.   I told the NFTA staff, the directors of NFTA and whoever else was there to go and learn some sign language.   The top people who worked for NFTA that I never seen before looked at me.  So I told them you can go look on YouTube and learn it for free.  They just nodded, like okay.   Did you know that everything everyone says at the meeting gets recorded?   Well I knew I was being recorded word by word.  So I had to watch what I was saying.  It seems like I was telling some jokes at the meeting also.    Well that’s a good thing.    The girl in the wheelchair that was partly deaf looked at me in surprise.   I just think It would help the deaf customers if more people would make an effort to learn how to sign a few words.   So that was my speech at the NFTA meeting.  It probably had nothing to do with what they were discussing, but so what.  I said what I had to say.

Deaf Lady Teaches You To Sign Good Morning And Other Words

Learn how to sign good morning and several other words.

Have a Happy Easter Everybody!

Guest Post: Victory Lean writer of DICIGS.com

My name is Victory and I’m working for Dicigs.com as a writer. This job arose in me the wish of having a healthy and happy life. Since I’m quite passionate about human’s body health, I wanted to share my knowledge and experience with the readers of this site. Eventually, our site is a showcase to electronic cigarettes and of course they are a first step to quit smoking and have a better state of mind and body. Electronic Cigarettes are much healthier than smoking tobacco; they reduce the negative impact on environment and would lengthen a smoker’s life. But in order to forget about smoking and even to improve a man’s health, he should enhance his quality of life by going in for sports; having a fresh air walk everyday; and having a proper meal. So, to those who decide to quit smoking try to fulfill your time; this will help you forget about smoking.

                            Focusing on The Whole During a Workout

When working out, it can be very easy to focus on one target area and to forget to pay any attention to the others.  This is fine every once in a while. However, when people get too hung up on working only one set of muscles, it can become a problem.  Men especially tend to do this.  A man might really like to work on his biceps because he finds them to be the best part of his body, thus neglecting the other body parts like the legs, for instance.  Not only does this make him look very disproportionate, but it also causes him to be weak in areas that may actually be important to him in daily life.

The Cause

Men with very large legs and small arms or super toned abs but less than nice looking calves can be found just about anywhere.  This is because men have the tendency to favor certain parts of their body over others.  When a man knows he has great abs, he almost becomes obsessed with working on them as much as possible.  Not only that, but they also like to avoid places where they might not feel as strong.  If a man does not really like his legs or thinks they are weak, he might tend to avoid working on them.   This can make these individuals look pretty silly in some cases.  It is important to focus on the body as a whole when working out in order to get each body part equally as large and strong as the next.

The Problem and Solution

The major problem that this disproportioned figure causes is that these men cannot always do what they would like to be able to do.  For example a man who only focuses on his arms may have a very rough time completing a long hike or a sustained run.  For parents who want to be able to do things like that with their children, this can be disheartening.  Men who may only work out their legs, abs, or another muscle group might face similar problems.  This imbalance can cause insecurity problems as well. These individuals might not feel as confident in themselves if they are not as well balanced as other men might be.

This is a simple fix.   However, when at the gym, make sure to focus on the whole entire body as one, rather than singling out certain muscle groups or body parts.  Soon enough, everything will balance out and enjoying the little things in life will be much more feasible.

Victory Lean is a writer at Dicigs.com which is about the  Electronic Cigarette showcase.  She likes to share lifestyle tips and advices for healthy living.

Deaf Lady Teaches You How To Sign Some Emotions

Add Media

How Much Money Did I Make Blogging?

Good evening everyone. I hope you are all doing well today. The other day I was reviewing the comments that I am still working on answering.  A few people have been asking me if I am making money on this blog. The answer is none. I just became a blogger last November, so I am still learning how to do new things on here. There is another site called Bubblews that I am on, and I’m hoping that will earn me a little extra pocket money. But I just started so I will have to see how it turns out.

Since I just started not too long ago, I am still working on getting this blog out there to as many sites as I can. There’s still a lot of people that don’t know this site exists. And it will be a while before I will get a large amount of traffic coming in. I really don’t know anything about making money blogging.   But I heard once I start getting a large huge amount of traffic hits, that’s when I will start earning the $$$$.  It’s hard to believe, but that’s what people told me. So I will wait and see what happens. I enjoy writing articles for this blog, so I am not doing it to try to get any money. This is for free, and always will be free. I truly enjoy this hobby of writing articles for this blog. Have a good day everyone.

To My Amazing Readers

Hi everyone, I had just got done writing a special post to all of you, only to hit the wrong button to see everything get deleted accidentally. So now I got to start over. Thank you all for reading, commenting and visiting my blog. It means so much to me that you have been commenting and enjoying my posts. A few weeks ago I received over 400 comments complimenting me and telling me that this was an amazing website. Some people even told me that I was a skilled blogger and that they thought this website was excellent. At first I thought I was dreaming, this can’t be true is it? Am I really that good of a blogger? Is this website really that good? I was just amazed that so many of you loved reading my posts and have learned so much from them. I really never assumed I was that good at this as I just started last November with zero experience. My blog would be nothing without all of you here to read, study and to comment on my articles. I loved reading all of your wonderful comments, they were so nice.

And it means a lot to me that all of you took the time to tell me what you thought of this blog too. I still have 350 pending comments that I am working on answering when I have time. I’m so sorry I haven’t posted in a while, but I have been busy with other projects as well. And I’m hoping to answer more comments down the road. So please don’t feel bad if I haven’t gotten to your comment yet, there’s so many of them. So I hope to get to it sooner or later. But it means a million that you have commented on this site and I appreciate it so much. Thank you all, really I mean it.

Guest Posts Are Welcomed Here

People have asked me if they could do a guest post on my blog.  And I want to apologize for not getting back to you  much sooner.   I have been busy doing a variety of projects and working, so now I am putting aside some time to write to all of you.    If you would like to do a guest post here, please send me an email to me at wanda4848@gmail.com.    If you are someone I already know from bloggers, or wordpress, then just send me your post and a link to your blog  and I will look it over.   And don’t forget to add a photo with it.

These are my Rules for Guest Posting On This Blog

1.  Make the content interesting and exciting.

2. Use a good sense of humor if you can on the post.

3.  It has to be related to Health, Fitness, Blogging and Deaf Topics.    I’m sure you can come up with something.

4.  Your post needs to please the readers.  If it is boring and is too long, or doesn’t make sense, I can’t use it here.

5.  Make sure it is in english.

6.  I can only post some of them, as I am very picky.  And I want to keep this blog in good shape.

7.  I am looking forward to working with you and to helping you get more visitors this way.

8.  If you are someone I don’t know, please email me your ideas first before writing a post.   I need to make sure I can use your ideas on this blog.

9.  To get in touch with me, just email me at wanda4848@gmail.com.  Or, send me a comment on my last post.

8.  Good Luck!

Traffic-Here’s How To Get More Visitors to Your Website

There are hundreds of ways to get more traffic to your website.    First I started off at bloggers.  You can meet hundreds of other bloggers and review their websites, and follow them.   And they will do the same and follow you back .    This is a really good social site because the people on it are  friendly.   There’s also Bloggers Talk which is kind of like a questions and answers chat room on this site.   There you can start your own talk to get other bloggers involved.  Or you can join other people’s talks.   I would definitely advise you to try this site.  The people here made me feel very welcome when I was new and didn’t know anything about blogging.   I also gained a ton of visitors here.   You could also join other forums and discussion boards and leave your link behind when you comment or start a talk.   Link Referral has lots of discussion groups to pick from.    After I joined bloggers, I joined linkreferral and it was the best thing I have done.     After the first day I noticed I received an extra 100 visitors a day.   My traffic increased a lot.   When you are using the site, make sure you review other members blogs.  You also should add some favorites and start a topic in the forums in order to gain more visitors.

When you join sites to make money, you are also increasing your traffic on your websites.   One interesting way to make a little bit of money is to join http://www.bubblews.com/.  You get paid each time someone reviews and comments on your posts.

Do guests posts on other people’s blogs.
Comment on their posts.
Join surfing sites. If you surf 300 blogs, you will get 300 visitors back.
Join facebook, twitter, pinterest, tumblr, reddit, and so on.
Add your blog to search engines and directories.
Send emails with links to your blog.
Add pictures or cartoons to your posts to make them interesting.
Make sure you do a new post at least once a week if you want your visitors to keep coming back for more.
Add blog buttons. I have three buttons on the bottom right side of my blog at Susana the Deaf Lady at http://deaf47.blogspot.com/. You can just grab the code and past it onto your websites.  When you add photos to your posts, use a simple keyword to name it so that search engines can pick that up.

Good luck blogging!

             

Related articles

• Ten Simple Ways to Get More People to Your Blog (scalablesocialmedia.com)
• How to Increase Traffic on Your Blog (wanda4848.wordpress.com)
• One Simple Idea To Grow Your Blog’s Traffic (johnchow.com)

Do Deaf Drivers Know When A Cop Is Behind Them?

When I drive, my music is usually playing, and it is pretty loud.  Therefore I cannot hear anything that is going on outside of the car.   Even when it’s off, I cannot hear the police siren  behind me.   Usually I am looking at the mirrors every five minutes to see if anyone is driving too close .    That’s one way how I find out of there happens to be a cop behind me.
If someone is blowing their car horn at me, I can’t hear it unless they honk it more than 3 times.  Sometimes when the other driver is honking at you, they will give you an angry wave if you don’t respond to their beeping .   It would be helpful if all deaf people would keep a deaf visor card in their car.

I put a Visor Card in my car so that if a cop ever pulls me over, it explains that I am hard of hearing so that the cop will know.   It also tells the cop how to communicate with me properly.    What I could use is a big waterproof sticker that says I’m deaf and stick it on the back of my car.  And one for the front too if needed.  Except I don’t know where to get these things.   I hope someday someone will invent these kind of stickers for the deaf drivers to help keep them safe on the road.

http://www.rcil.org/index.php/advocacy/success-stories/82-new-visor-card-assists-police-deaf-communications

Related articles

• Mirror, (hand) signal, manoeuvre: Meet the driving instructor teaching deaf people to drive through sign language (menmedia.co.uk)
• Why New York Doesn’t Need ‘Don’t Honk’ Signs (motherboard.vice.com)

Deaf Lady Teaches You More Sign Language

Nightmare For Two Innocent Deaf Ladies

Sue is completely deaf.    She is unable to speak or to use her voice.  She communicates using her hands in sign language or by writing.     One day, she was walking across the street and a cop was telling her to wait for the car to pass by first.    She didn’t hear him, so she kept going.  He used the whistle to try to get her to stop and to turn around.  Nope, she continued on and didn’t hear a thing.    Before she knew it, she was handcuffed and thrown inside  the police car.    She had no idea what happened or what she did wrong.   She was in the back and the cop was talking but did not face her.    She still had no idea why she was arrested and she was unable to speak for herself as she was handcuffed with her hands behind her back.     There was no way the cop was going to be able to get any feedback from her, if she couldn’t use her hands.    She did not know how to speak.    As he was driving her to the jail, Sue cried hopelessly.   Once they got there, she was hoping she could call her parents on the TTY.   She had no chance to do that because the cop was fed up with her not answering any of his questions so he threw her into a locked up room alone.     And she was left there alone with no way out.    

Mary is a quiet hard of hearing lady, that was being driven to the jail also by another cop.   She had no idea why they arrested her, as she couldn’t understand what the authorities told her as she couldn’t lip read what they said.    She walked inside the jail and saw Sue come out of the room they locked her up in.    Sue was still in handcuffs and crying.   Mary knew this deaf girl, and couldn’t understand why she was there.     Mary was having a hard time herself being there, not knowing why.    She wears two hearing aids and was worried that once her batteries go dead, she won’t be able to hear at all.    She didn’t have extra batteries with her for her hearing aids.    And she didn’t think the jail staff would provide her hearing aid batteries while she was there.    It was unheard of, not many deaf people in jail these days.    So she got upset thinking about this because soon she will go completely deaf if not being provided new hearing aid batteries soon.

Mary wanted to speak to Sue and ask her why she was there.  Unfortunately, Sue was in handcuffs and was unable to use her hands to use sign language.    This made Mary very upset, because she noticed Sue had no way of communicating with anyone for what she needed, and this was an innocent deaf girl.    Sue looked at Mary hopelessly from the jail and cried, she can’t speak, so she was having a hard time.   Now this is sad and very scary.   Mary could not figure out what to do , and the staff in the jail did not know they were deaf.    Sue had no way of telling the staff she was deaf, since she was in handcuffs.    Finally Mary asked to speak to the person in charge and explained to them they needed interpreters.     The people there were shocked, they had no idea Sue could not speak and that she was deaf.   This is one terrible nightmare for these two girls.     Let me stop here, this never happened.   This is something someone had a bad dream about and brought this story up. But things similar to this made up story have happened in real life.   Now , there are groups out there that are going to help the community learn more about how to speak with deaf people.   Are they planning on going to the jails and to teach the people there about deaf people’s communication needs? Are they going to educate the cops better about deaf individuals?  They need it , that’s for sure.

Related articles

• Justice Department opens investigation into violation of deaf prisoner rights in Denver (rawstory.com)
• http://www.nad.org/issues/justice/jails-and-prisons/rights-deaf-inmates
• http://www.ascdeaf.com/blog/?p=210

Deaf Lady Teaches You More Sign Language

Learn How to Sign Daily Activities Words

Learn How to Sign Daily Activities Words

NFTA Meeting In February

hsbc1 (Photo credit: rogerdupuis2)

  This was my second NFTA meeting, it went well except I talked too much this time.    There was a girl that was deaf  in one ear sitting right next to me and I never even knew she was partially deaf.    I had passed out my agenda for the directors and everyone else to read on what the deaf  passengers need at airports and on trains.       For weeks, I spent time preparing myself to make a little speech on stuff that nobody have heard about.    Here I am going on and on about how I didn’t get any closed captioning screen at my gate and on the plane at the airport.     Then when I asked if the airport could provide me these services on my next flight, I didn’t get the response I wanted to hear.   They told me that the airport doesn’t always have the funding for these services.    That’s when I blurted out that I had filed a complaint against Delta Airlines, I wanted them to know I thought Delta Airlines sucks.   Then a few people understood where I was coming from and made some good suggestions which I really appreciated.   For some reason, I kept on talking about what deaf people need on the trains and at the airports.  I went on and on about it.   Really, I wish I would just shut up for awhile, and let someone else talk.  It seemed like all I was doing was complain endlessly, and I felt close to making a fool out of myself there.

  Finally the blind lady with the cute quiet dog that came said she was amazed that I really stood up for the deaf people, and this is rare.   That made me feel better and pretty good about myself being there.     And I wanted to shake hands with the man in the wheelchair that supported my speech.  Really, I felt like I was taking over the meeting, I have never talked so much in my life.   Boy I was worried I was going to bore everyone with my endless speech.   Surprisingly they all listened to what I had to say.     I made two requests and asked one of the  directors of NFTA to find out if they could close caption the important announcements on the Buffalo metro rail trains.     He said he will look into that.    I had also asked him if he could find out of they could educate the police on the trains better on how to talk to the deaf riders when checking out their tickets.      I had made a complaint about that because the cop was talking to me from behind and I didn’t hear or understand a word being said.    And he was very nice and said he will check that out also.  So I thanked him and finally I stopped going off with my mouth about the lack of deaf services.     The last thing was I asked for some kind of ID for me to show to people that I am deaf.   And luckily there was a director there that told me I can get a visor card.

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So I was happy about that, never knew those things existed.   Right now they are updating the website, so it will be some time before it is done.   After I said something about how the Delta Airlines website sucked for the deaf people, they have been changing it.   And I really appreciate that a lot.    At least they are doing something.    And I will continue on with my fight for the rights for the deaf passengers.

Related articles

• Metro Rail – Deaf Lady’s Bad Experience (wanda4848.wordpress.com)
• Delta Airlines Didn’t support me as a Deaf Passenger (wanda4848.wordpress.com)

Paying Attention Was Not Easy

          

                   When I was working in church years ago doing a side job the person in charge, often accused me of not listening.  Especially on that day when a man name George came in with a set of tools.  He gave some kind of speech for an hour standing across the room.     I did my best to try to listen to George by watching him talk the whole hour.  Unfortunately he had a beard and I couldn’t lip read half of what he said.  So I didn’t understand any of the instructions.   I got very bored watching him talk.   George stepped backwards and tripped over a bucket of paint, which spilled all over the floor.    One thing I did hear was him  swearing, the F word.  It was loud and clear. That’s all I heard.

 

After George was done talking, Chucky told me to go do what George taught us. I told him that I didn’t hear what he was telling me to do.  That’s when Chucky flipped out .  He said that I wasn’t  paying attention and for me to stop playing games.   Then I tried to tell him I wasn’t playing around, that I did my best to listen.   He said that’s no excuse and walked away.

     Boy, did he make me feel bad.   He wasn’t very  understanding when I tried to explain about my hearing problem.  Well either he was having a bad day, or just wasn’t educated on this subject.   So don’t assume that a deaf person is going to understand everything you say just because they are looking right at you when you talk.   And please don’t get impatient with deaf people when they can’t figure out what you said, if they can’t lip read you at the time.    People need to understand that deaf people can’t hear, and it’s not always easy to lip read others, especially from a distance.   It’s hard I know for the deaf at times.

Related articles

• Communicating with a D/deaf Child (earlylearninghq.org.uk)

NFTA Meeting for February 2013

 

To NFTA:

                         I have typed up an agenda and made copies that I’d like to pass around to people at the meeting.  It’s basically on ideas I hope that can be used to help deaf people.  I just hope I don’t forget to bring the folder with me.    I mostly have stuff I need to discuss regarding problems with deaf riders on the metro rail train, that I ran into when I rode on it.   At the last meeting, I pretty much said what I hoped to improve in airports, but I have a problem with viewing the website.   I have tried looking up the Buffalo Airport and I still can’t find any information what kind of services they provide for the deaf passengers.   And the other problem is I still don’t see where or how I can sign up when I take my next flight for special accommodations for myself.   This is to have them give me a closed captioning monitor at my gate and a closed captioning monitor on the airplane to display the words on the screen when they do the safety demonstration.   As far as a number, I rarely use the phone.   I would rather sign up online, than to call.

I saw nothing in the buffalo airports website describing the deaf services in the airport and I was disappointed.   At one point I came to one of the websites and it said deaf and it had one number, that was it.  I’d like to know where is the website that describes what services the airport provides for the deaf people. How they can sign up for it?  

 

When I looked up the airport, I tried to go under deaf services at buffalo airport and got nothing.   Then I tried to look up deaf help and nothing.  I don’t know where it is.   As far as I do know you told me they were updating the website, so I guess it isn’t there yet.    At the meeting can someone please speak up and direct me on how to sign up for what I need when it comes to getting a closed captioning monitor at the gate and on the plane for my next flight.

 

I hope this can all be explained to me at the meeting.   I do understand some of the deaf people got the services as Bev told me that. But all deaf people should be able to get these services just some. I was never given any special accommodations when I was there even though I  told them I was deaf when I checked in my suitcases.

 

And I think it is very important for the airport to find a way to print out deaf brochures describing their deaf services and how to get them, even if it costs money. It really shouldn’t cost that much, as there’s not that many deaf passengers it could just be sent to the passengers that can’t hear.

 

One more thing, I needed to ask you.   Would it be possible for NFTA to print out special I.D. cards for the deaf riders?   All I want is an i.d. card given to me from N.F.T.A. saying I am deaf, so I can show it to the cop that asks to see our ticket.    The cop was behind me on the train last week and was trying to ask for my ticket and I didn’t hear her.    I would like to show them proof I’m deaf, so that they don’t think I am ignoring them when they ask for the ticket as I couldn’t hear her from behind me.    So can someone ask the cops that check our tickets to walk in front of us, not from behind so that I can lipread what they are saying?   If I can get an i.d. card from N.F.T.A. to use on the metro rail train, it would be really helpful.    All it needs to say I’m deaf, and I’m willing to pay 1 or 2 dollars for it, if it can’t be done for free,  as that would save me a lot of trouble when the cops approach me and ask for my ticket when I don’t hear them .

 

 

Metro Rail – Deaf Lady’s Bad Experience

                               This morning was another nightmare riding as a deaf passenger on the Buffalo Metro Rail train.    As I am waking up, I figured to save gas on my car, by taking the train instead.    So I parked it […]

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Delta Airlines Didn’t support me as a Deaf Passenger

On Saturday December 22, 2012 I arrived at the airport in the early afternoon to take a flight into Detroit Michigan with my daughter. First thing we did was park and board the shuttle bus in the airport. Yes, I told the shuttle bus driver I was deaf because he was asking me where to drop me off. The driver didn’t follow me, and he continued to talk and not look at me so I didn’t understand a word he said. Therefore my daughter had to speak for me. And I never heard the rest. Then we went to check in our bags. As soon I gave the lady my license at the check in counter to check us in, I told her I was deaf. Listen, I can’t read minds, but the first impression I got was she gave me a very disturbing look as if she was pressured and uncomfortable as she didn’t know what to do since I was deaf. Then to cover up that look she smiled. She did not hand me any pamphlets or brochures with any information on any help for deaf passengers that the airport might have to help me. Therefore I assumed the airport had nothing. I looked at her hopelessly, after 40 years of flying, I thought she might have something to help me in the airport as a deaf passenger. Nope, she gave me my license back and gave me a big smile as if I was cool because I was deaf. Have a nice day is all said. She was a very nice lady, but since she worked there, she should have referred me to whatever services the airport had to offer for deaf passengers. No, she didn’t, and I knew nothing about their services.

Then we proceeded to the Security Checkpoint area. This is when I get nervous because after 40 years of flying, I have never been able to understand the guards in this section of the airport. There were closed captioned screens above us, about three of them. This is the first time I saw them and I applaud the airport for finally putting those up. These things were fantastic for the deaf. But there was still a problem. I didn’t see anyone using sign language that worked in the Security Area, so I did my best to lip read. The worst part was walking through the booth and putting your arms up as they scan you because they tell you to look straight ahead at the wall instead of the person that is checking you through. Therefore I couldn’t even lip read or understand what that guard was saying. I just pray to god, I don’t do the wrong thing when not hearing what the guards are telling me to do there. This is the most difficult part. When are the airports going to notify the guards in the security area that they have a deaf passenger going through and needs someone there to use sign language to tell them how to proceed through? Believe me, I had to go through this for 40 years of not understanding what is going on. Same old story, but my daughter would be there to save me in case I said or did the wrong thing. I was worried that the security guards might think I wasn’t following their directions if I didn’t hear what they told me to do. Well if your airport had trained some of your staff sign language to help the deaf, why didn’t you provide me with that help when I was there? Why didn’t you send me any information on this, or put in the paper, or on commercials on t.v. I never knew what help you had there.    Oh wait, you have your information on the websites?   Where?  My computer broke down, I can’t get online to find anything.    As a matter of fact I don’t always use the internet. So how am I going to find out about your deaf services if I don’t use the internet?     Where do I find it?  So you have phone numbers to call  regarding deaf services?    I can’t hear well on the phone, and I don’t use the TTY.   And when I tried to call the Delta Airlines in Dec. for help on my Caption Call phone, their line was always busy with recordings .     I could never get through to you.   So you have a website for deaf passengers at the Delta Airlines?     Why do you tell me this after my flight is over, and where is it online?   Why didn’t you notify me before I arrived at that airport so we could make some kind of arrangements?

NFTA Meeting

Today I was invited to attend an NFTA meeting for the first time. It was my turn to say what I had to say.   Colleen handed me the microphone.  Now I have not used a microphone in over 15 years, I didn’t know how to work it.  It was sort of embarrassing the way it squealed when I tried to talk and the sound was bouncing on and off.  Anyway, I gave my speech over that microphone.   What I mainly discussed was telling them a little bit about my deafness and then I told everyone that I wasn’t happy with the services for the deaf passengers in the airports.   I told them they need to add closed captioning screens on the airplanes when they do the safety demonstrations, otherwise I will never understand what is going on.   And the people at the NFTA meeting did a great job of facing me when they spoke so that I could lipread and they all spoke loud and clear for me.  I was absolutely amazed at how well they did to help me understand what was going on in the meeting.  So I thanked them all for making me feel welcomed there and for understanding my communication needs.   They used the microphone for me and that was very nice of them.   So it went well.

Here’s My Latest Articles On Bubblews

 

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My Younger Brother-http://www.bubblews.com/news/468166-what-is-on-the-other-side-of-the-woods

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Travel Resources for the Deaf

Travel Resources for the Deaf.