We are thrilled to announce that Jana Roberts (formerly Harbaugh) has been named MCD’s Civil Rights Program manager!

  Jana comes to MCD with decades of experience working with Deaf and hearing clients at MMC, GBSD and Community Counseling Center, with a strong emphasis on mental health, advocacy and civil rights access.  Jana is fluent in American Sign Language.  She got her Masters degree in Social Work from Gallaudet University, and she has extensive experience in managing multiple programs and competing priorities.  She will be transitioning to MCD from her position at MMC during the month of February, after which she will keep a regular office schedule at MCD. 

  We are excited to have such a terrific addition to the MCD family, and look forward to continued excellent work from our Civil Rights Program.

Welcome Jana!!!

www.sec.gov

They can mean real $$ for MECDHH to provide programming for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students!

Cut out the symbols and bring them to the Deaf Culture Festival at MECDHH on October 1, 10-4 or mail them to the school at MECHDD, 1 Mackworth Island, Falmouth, ME 04105.  Thanks for your support!

This updated alert is to warn potential investors, including deaf investors, about the risk of “advance fee fraud” schemes involving companies with names similar to Imperia. Advance fee fraud gets its name from the fact that an investor is asked to pay a fee up front — in advance of receiving any proceeds, money, stock or warrants — in order for the deal to go through. The bogus fee may be described as a “processing fee”, a commission, regulatory fee or tax, or some other incidental expense. Sometimes, advance fee frauds brazenly target investors who have already lost money in investment schemes.

We urge investors to be skeptical of any request for an advance fee and to thoroughly research the person or group making the request.

Read more:  http://www.sec.gov/investor/alerts/imperiaupdate.htm

By J. Hemmerdinger
Portland Press Herald Staff Writer

PORTLAND — Representatives of Maine’s telecommunications industry will meet later this week in Portland to discuss how federal efforts to expand broadband access will affect residents who have disabilities, particularly those who are deaf, hard-of-hearing or blind.

At issue is the ability of disabled people to access and use broadband Internet service, which the federal government sees as critical to growing the economy, creating jobs, improving global competitiveness and increasing Americans’ standard of living.

Also to be discussed is the potential impact of the Federal Communications Commission’s National Broadband Plan on funding for so-called relay services, which traditionally help deaf and hearing-impaired people communicate via telephone, but are increasingly needed for online communication.

The event – “The National Broadband Plan: What is it? Why Should I Care?” – will be held Thursday and Friday at the Holiday Inn by the Bay and is open to the public.

The forum is presented by Maine’s Telecommunications Relay Services advisory council, which advises Gov. Paul LePage and writes contracts with companies that provide telephone relay services to people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Citing FCC data, a news release from the council said that only 42 percent of people with a disability use broadband Internet service, compared with 65 percent of the broader population.

But even if they have broadband access, disabled people face barriers to using the Internet, said the release.

For instance, Web pages typically aren’t designed for people with vision or hearing difficulties, and online videos often lack captioning.

Also, specialized software and hardware that help disabled people use the Internet can be prohibitively expensive.

Among those expected to speak at the event are Maine Public Utilities Commission chairman Thomas Welch and Karen Peltz Strauss, FCC deputy bureau chief in the consumer and government affairs bureau. Representatives from the ConnectME Authority, Maine’s Office of the Public Advocate, Time Warner Cable and others also are scheduled to talk.

People who are deaf or heard of hearing already have free access to services that allow them to make phone calls through an electronic device called a teletypewriter, or TTY. They can also receive discounts on relay equipment and telephone bills.

But similar programs are largely unavailable for Internet users, said Claude Stout, executive director of Silver Spring, Md.-based TDI, a nonprofit group that promotes improved telecommunications access for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

For instance, said Stout, who is hard of hearing and spoke through an interpreter, there are no programs to help disabled people purchase computer equipment or pay monthly Internet bills.

Barbara Keefe, vice chair of the advisory council, said her colleagues are particularly interested in how the broadband plan will affect funding for relay services, which are currently paid for through the Universal Service Fund. Traditional telephone companies pay into the fund with money collected from consumers, who pay universal service fees tacked onto phone bills.

Keefe, who works in Falmouth and is an outreach specialist at PEPNet-Northeast, a group that helps schools improve programs for deaf or hard-of-hearing students, said telephone companies could be forced to raise rates if universal service fees on telephone bills are eliminated or reduced by the broadband plan.

Congress directed the FCC in 2009 to create the National Broadband Plan to bring affordable broadband Internet access to all Americans. According to the FCC, some 100 million Americans lack access to broadband services at home.

According to the Telecommunications Relay Services Advisory Council, broadband is available in 90 percent of Maine.

Staff Writer Jonathan Hemmerdinger can be contacted at 791-6316 or at: jhemmerdinger@mainetoday.com

For more information about the Broadband Forum or to register contact Maine Center on Deafness at 207.797.7656 or info@mcdmaine.org

The FCC will discontinue free toll-free numbers (800 and 866 numbers) for VPs in the near future. If you would like to continue using a toll-free number (800 or 866 number) you’ll have to pay for it separately, like the hearing world. This will not affect local numbers (such as those starting with area code 207), only toll-free numbers (800 and 866 numbers). There will be a one year transition period for this change to take affect, meaning if you have an existing toll-free number it will still be free until the end of August, 2012.

Get Emergency Weather Alerts

The federal agency NOAA, which tracks violent weather (hurricanes, tornadoes, typhoons, etc) has posted a new site for the benefit of the deaf that need access to such emergency announcements.   Click here for more information or to enroll: 
 http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/special_need.htm

As I was listening to the story (a link is included at the end of this article), I found myself hoping that I would learn there was a new cure or therapy on the market.  Honestly, I was surprised by that.  I don’t think of myself as someone who wants a cure to my hearing problem, because I don’t really view it as a problem for most of the time.  But there are those moments, I am realizing, when I would like the constant ringing to stop.  And it doesn’t.  It just doesn’t stop.  So I can’t run away from it, I can only do my best to find ways to live with it.  According to the story I heard, there aren’t any amazing new cures out there, although some folks find relief (acceptance?) through the use of meditation.  I haven’t tried that myself (I’m not good at sitting still and clearing my mind, as those who know me can attest), but I would be willing to give it a go at some point.  For now I have put the notion of a cure behind me, and I am firmly back in the “I am not going to let this bother me” camp again.  Let the bells in my ears ring all they want; sometimes I don’t hear them at all because I am outside listening to the birds and the wind in the trees instead.

http://www.npr.org/2011/07/18/138163304/tinnitus-why-wont-my-ears-stop-ringing

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/07/18/138166813/rethinking-tinnitus-when-the-ringing-wont-stop-clear-your-mind?ps=rs