MASKS in a Pandemic!

    As we all know by now, opaque masks make things very difficult for people with hearing loss.  The problem caught the attention of the press, and I was interviewed for an article for the North Jersey Record.  I was also asked to sit for a photo session, and give a two-minute narrative on the impact of masks for people with hearing loss.

This all went quite well, as I was also able to refer the reporter to others who had the perspectives he was seeking.  And so, as expected, the online version came out on July 10th, with the video also embedded in the online article. The video was OPEN CAPTIONED, at my request, so it was accessible to people with hearing loss as well as the mainstream.

I subsequently learned that the print edition came out on Monday, July 13th because my friend contacted me and said I was on the FRONT PAGE of the newspaper!  YIKES!  

Well, my objective was to get this information out to the mainstream, and this sure did it!

SOOOOO - - - - Here it is - the online version, which also includes the video.

North Jersey Record Mask Article and  Video

And here are photos of the front page coverage which appeared in several of the syndicated editions of the North Jersey Record.

Cochlear Implants Meet Politics

I just attended a very worthwhile event -

New Jersey 2018 Democratic State Committee Conference 

- held in Atlantic City, at the Harrah's Resort & Casino.  This was my very first time attending a large Democratic convention, but I have been a member of the NJ Democratic Disability Caucus, so I felt I needed to get to know more about the political process.  Atlantic City is about 2 1/2 hours from my home, so I made hotel reservations there for two nights, driving on my own.

As always, everything is always about hearing - not always bad - but most definitely interesting.  When I checked into the hotel, I made sure I had a room with visual fire alerts. When my cochlear implant (CI) processors come off at night, I am deaf and cannot hear alarms, so this was essential. They gave me a great room - 24th floor with a view of the bay.  This room was equipped with other alerters as well - great to see them devote a desirable room for people with hearing loss.

I found the appropriate elevator (this place is BIG), hiked to my room, inserted my room key - and - nothing. UH-OH - I really didn't want to hike back to the front desk, so I looked for a house phone, and there it was, on the wall near my room. YES - I can hear on phones - YAY!  I called the front desk, was told a security person would come to my room - and she appeared a few minutes later, opened the door, and said I could go to the front desk to get a new key, at my convenience. Oh - the joys of being able to hear on the phone. It just never gets old!

And yes - the room was gorgeous - newly renovated - with a spectacular view (for NJ.)

Now I was ready to head to the Convention Center, another long hike, to attend the first event - the opening reception with Governor Phil Murphy and Senator Cory Booker.  I had requested captioning, and hoped that it would be provided - and it was!

BIG BEAUTIFUL CAPTIONS!

And the breakout session of the Disability Caucus was also captioned.  👌👌👌

I have been quite successful being able to "work a room" with my bilateral CI's.  I have an "ULTRAZOOM" program setting that uses directional microphones to bring in speech sounds in noisy environments, and it has worked very well for me.  So I was mingling among all these wonderful people, networking about issues impacting people with hearing loss - and political issues in general.

And I had some great photo ops, too!

Senator Cory Booker

Governor Phil Murphy

Me with Senator Bob Menendez

Me with Senator Cory Booker

I met a LOT of people and I came away with one 

VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE.

PLEASE MAKE SURE TO VOTE!

If you need any help registering or finding a polling place, let me know.

And please join me in voting a 

straight Democratic ticket - 

up and down the ballot. 

Our lives and our country depend on it!

CI Moment - 20 years later

I've just celebrated my 20th anniversary of my cochlear implant!  Back when it was all new, fellow CI users would talk about our "CI moments" - events that were notable because we could now hear, but would have been impossible before getting our CIs.

Well, wouldn't you know - yesterday, I had a "CI moment" - an experience that surprised me because I was hearing something that was totally unexpected.  This event would have been totally impossible without my CI, but I suspect wouldn't even have been possible without many years of CI practice.

I was in a large drug store, getting a prescription refilled. I had told them that I would shop in the store while waiting for it to be ready.  I was engrossed in checking out all the various make-up and Halloween displays, when I thought I heard "Arlene to the pharmacy please" over a loudspeaker. It wasn't very loud, and I had never been aware that they would make that kind of announcement, but I went back to the pharmacy and asked if they had paged me.  Yes - indeed they had!   Definitely a CI moment, for sure!

There's more to the story, though.  Recently, I have been listening to recorded books while driving in my car - something I hadn't done in many, many years.  I used to listen to "books on tape" as audiotherapy practice, but had given that up long ago.  Just recently, though, I had gotten very tired of listening to the radio - the news reports were so depressing - so I figured getting some books on CDs would be a good alternative. 

I had just finished the 29-CD recording of the biography Alexander Hamilton, by Ron Chernow, that had inspired the Broadway show.  I found it fascinating, and looked forward to driving so I could listen to more.  What I discovered, interestingly, was that I seemed to be hearing "better" in general situations.  It was just an impression, and certainly still not "totally normal" hearing, but definitely relatively "better."  I seemed to be able to get words at greater distances with improved clarity.  And this practice was also forcing my brain to rely only on sound - no captioning or other cues. 

Fast forward to the "Arlene to the pharmacy" announcement, and it fits right in with my recent experience.  Getting better speech discrimination, and awareness.  Just what I had been practicing in my car - and plan to continue doing!

Progress - with practice - after 20 years!

In Memoriam: Ira Z. Romoff (1947-2013)

My beloved husband of 43 years, Ira, passed away suddenly on Tuesday, July 30, 2013.  The funeral was held Thursday, August 1, 2013 where open captioning was provided.  I delivered the following eulogy in his honor.  Additional eulogies were delivered by my son and daughter. Donations in his memory can be sent to the Center for Hearing and Communication www.chchearing.org  A detailed review of his professional accomplishments can be found at    http://leasingnews.org/Pages/extra_romoff.html



IRA ROMOFF EULOGY

AUGUST 1, 2013 – Arlene Romoff

 

This is such a difficult task for me – yet seeing all of you here today – friends, family, colleagues - I just have to tell you that it means so much to me to have your support and your love.   

And, speaking of love, let me tell you the story of Arlene and Ira – it goes all the way back to the High School of Music & Art in Manhattan – starting in Mr. Howard’s English class in 1963.  Ira was somehow partial to redheads – and I enjoyed being adored – so that was a pretty good way to begin a 50-year relationship.  Our first date was a New York Philharmonic rehearsal at Lincoln Center – I bought the tickets – a dollar each!  By our next date, the 1964 World’s Fair, romance was blossoming by the moonlit fountains.  And did you know that Ira came to my Sweet 16 Party – and was annoyed that there were other people there!  Next – on to City College – and a ZBT fraternity pin – and then an engagement ring by our senior year. We were married in 1970 – and our first dance was “Someone to Watch Over Me.”

And THAT song was prophetic.  As I started losing my hearing, Ira did, indeed, watch over me.  He was devoted to me, to my well-being, and to my happiness – just as he was always devoted to his family and to his friends. 

 We did work as a team, though – as I became “the banker’s wife” – and we became “Michael and Emily’s Mom and Dad.” We were quite a team, too – and outwardly looked so normal.  Yet my hearing loss was the invisible damper that couldn’t be ignored.  

But – for those of you who knew Ira in business – good strategy can triumph over weaknesses. Just last week, Ira told me that when we were tennis doubles partners, many years ago -  he would call “SWITCH” so our opponents would think I would cross the court – but he knew I wouldn’t hear it, so wouldn’t switch.  (Are you following this? It’s really quite brilliant!) 

We had other strategies too (that I was actually aware of!)  I communicated by subtle facial expressions when I needed his help understanding something – and he always “got it.”  He most surely “watched over me” – and I really needed him to.  And he never faltered – or complained. 

And then a miracle happened – something we never could have imagined back in 1970 - cochlear implant technology allowed me to hear again – and with two devices, one in each ear, I could finally turn to the sound of my name – something that had eluded us for four decades.  Can you imagine the look of joy on Ira’s face when he could finally do something as simple as call my name, and I would turn around?   No matter how many times we did this, we still smiled – it just never seemed to get old.

And that brings us to the present – just as recently as this past weekend, Ira helped me participate in a cochlear implant convention – assisting in my booksignings and such. He took such joy in being that “someone to watch over me” – as if nothing had changed in 43 years.  Except today I’m on my own – but I’m pretty sure he’s still watching over me – and watching over you, too.

 

 

CAPTIONING ADVOCACY: Playbill from the first Open Captioned Broadway Performance - 1997!

I was sorting through my papers, and came across a stack of old Playbills.  These weren't just any old Playbills - they were all from open captioned Broadway shows.  What is distinctive about these Playbills is that the Theatre Development Fund (TDF), which arranged the open captioning of these shows, always had an insert stapled into the Playbill, just under the large advertising centerfold. 

I kept all the Playbills of the shows I had seen over the years because they represented a triumph - to be able to attend a Broadway show, without missing a word - a mission that I had spearheaded back in the 1990's.  Although I hadn't looked at these Playbills in years - they were stashed away in a box - I knew what was in that stack - the Playbill from the very first Open Captioned Broadway performance - Barrymore, a one-man show starring Christopher Plummer - on Wednesday, September 24, 1997.  And it turned out that I had saved two copies of this Playbill! Here's what it looked like:






Playbill from the very first Open Captioned Broadway performance.

 

 



It turned out that I saved more than just the Playbill - I also saved the ticket stub!  And here is the insert from the Playbill, announcing that this is the very first open captioned Broadway performance.




Special Playbill insert announcing the FIRST Open Captioned Broadway performance and the ticket stub - September 24, 1997. Historic!




And here are the insert pages that explain about open captioning, the captioner, TDF, and the audience that benefits from captioning.

Program Notes about Captioning and the Captioner



Program Notes about TDF and the people who helped make this captioned performance happen. Note my name mentioned, recognizing my "advocacy and perseverence"!

This is such a significant find - as it documents a milestone in captioning advocacy and accommodations for people with hearing loss.  And it also represents a dream of my own - to be able to walk through Times Square late at night, carrying a Playbill - a souvenir of a wonderful theater experience - just like everyone else.

Additional documentation:
The New York Times ran an article about this event, entitled "Device Opens the Theatre to the Deaf" , published on September 16, 1997.

My second book, Listening Closely: A Journey to Bilateral Hearing (Charlesbridge/Imagine 2011), contains a brief history of captioned live theatre advocacy, on pages 24-25. Click here to access the Amazon website for the book, and click on the "Look Inside" feature to find the excerpt.



 

 

Cochlear Implant Miracles: Opera! Bravo! Encore!

I'm no novice with cochlear implants, having gotten my first CI in 1997, and being bilateral since 2008.  I always was able to enjoy music with my CIs - it took a while to adapt back in 1997, with some music genres taking longer than others to sound "normal."  I had never been an opera buff prior to losing my hearing, though, but being deaf and enjoying music has made me want to try it all.  I do listen to classical music, so opera wasn't exactly a huge leap.  I learned about the Metropolitan Opera HD simulcasts a few years ago - these are live performances that are beamed by satellite into local movie theaters. The ticket price is a fraction of a live Met performance, and in some respects, the simulcast experience has additional benefits unavailable in the live theater.  

With that as background, I looked forward to the first opera of the season - Verdi's Otello - which had Renee Fleming in the leading female role - a wonderful opportunity to see the best!  This opera would run 3 1/2 hours with one intermission.  The interesting part about going to the opera is that it is wonderful music practice.  Even though I do well listening to music, it still does get "better" after listening for 3 1/2 hours.  

There were several movie theaters in my area showing this performance - a few of them sold out.  Arriving a bit early  ensures getting the pick of seating location - no extra charge!  And so, waiting for the 1 PM curtain, I always pack a picnic lunch - the theaters don't mind, understanding that popcorn and Verdi aren't really made for each other.   The countdown to the opera begins about 5 minutes before, with this on-screen update: 

Waiting for Otello to begin 

Knowing that this is being broadcast live is exciting. There are rebroadcasts at other times, which I've attended.  But there's something special knowing that a mere 10 or so miles away in NYC, all this is happening "live from New York"!    And then, the focus is on that massive curtain and stage!

Metropolitan Opera awaiting the beginning of Otello

There are several benefits to attending these simulcasts:  

• Subtitles are placed right on the screen, in perfect sync with the lyrics, in easy-to-read font size.
• They always have some famous opera star doing interviews with the performers at the intermission (but not captioned). 
• The cameras zoom in on the performers so you can see them up close - much closer than even front row orchestra seats!
• The camera also zooms into the orchestra pit to highlight the instrumental passages.
• The cameras are behind the curtain during scene changes, showing the incredible infrastructure that allows for these elaborate stage sets. And they interview the production personnel as well.
• And, my absolute favorite part, which begins the excitement, is when the production manager speaks into the intercom, "Maestro to the pit!" - signaling that it is showtime, the production is ready to begin, and the conductor is needed to start the overture!

And now to the music!  This was the first time I was going to be listening with my new software program, ClearVoice, set on my processors.  I've listened to music with it, and actually prefer the sound with ClearVoice on, but this was my first opera, so I was curious about how everything would sound.

And  . . .   I liked it!  ClearVoice seemed to give greater clarity to the instruments and to the voices.  I switched back and forth to my non-CV program, but CV won every time.   The bass voices are the ones I have the most difficulty with, as each ear hears that register slightly differently. But as I expected, I was doing better with this during the last act than in the beginning. The tonality was still good, it was just hearing the baritone as low as it really was. The sopranos were angelic, as usual.

When I first started going to these performances, I thought I'd never be able to sit through hour upon hour of opera.  But the sound, the sets, the costumes, the subtitles, the camerawork, the interviews - all make it a most enjoyable way to spend an afternoon.  And with each opera, I sit there in utter awe, never forgetting that I am a deaf person, enjoying the enchantment of the Metropolitan Opera - and I still can't quite believe it.

Cochlear Implants: Book talks and more

I've been busy talking!  Book talking, that is.  I had three interesting book talks scheduled in the past few weeks - presentations to groups with hearing loss and beyond!

Let's start with the National Court Reporters Assn convention, held in Philadelphia last month.  I was asked to present on "The Basics of Hearing Loss and the Need for CART and Captioning Services."  I was really looking forward to doing this one, as court reporters are the wonderful folks who do realtime captioning (CART), something I desperately needed to function prior to getting my cochlear implants - and that I still use depending on the event and environment.  I had intended to speak and answer questions for an hour and then do a booksigning with the remaining 30 minutes.  But the discussions got so intense and meaningful, we overflowed to 90 minutes - and then continued with the booksigning in the hallway!  A few days later, I was delighted to see an NCRA member review of my session posted on the NCRA website - calling my session "beyond inspiring."  Made my day!

And then a few days later, I learned that one of the court reporters, who had attended my session, lent a copy of my book Listening Closely to one of her neighbors, whose daughters have Usher's Syndrome (deaf/blind).  Again, I was delighted to learn that the mother had written a blog about my books entitled "A special book and author"!  I wrote those books to help others, so it was such an incredible feeling to know that goal was being met once again.

The second book talk was at my temple's Book Club.  They had chosen my book, Listening Closely , to discuss.  I was looking forward to this discussion too - new territory for me - as I wanted to delve into the spiritual aspects of my book, not just cochlear implants as miracles, but the interesting circumstances that surrounded the events and writing of this book. We began with the title - that it refers to more than just hearing. Two hours later, we were still going strong, with many opinions and perspectives - but had to stop then because they had to close the building.  I'm looking forward to addressing other groups on this topic. After all, a device that allows the deaf to hear is a miracle - with much to discuss if you listen closely.

And the third book talk occurred yesterday, when I addressed the Morris County (NJ) chapter of the Hearing Loss Assn of America.  Since this group included people with hearing aids, cochlear implants, as well as spouses, I made sure to cover the entire landscape. And that is what is so incredible about my 40 years' experience with hearing loss - it encompasses:

• normal hearing
• a slow degenerative hearing loss that provided experience with all degrees of hearing loss - mild, moderate, severe, profound
• using a cochlear implant in one ear - vintage 1997
• enduring a device failure after 10 years
• understanding what sudden deafness is like - as a device failure plunged me from hearing into silence
• being reimplanted, and comparing and contrasting new technology to old
• using one CI was like having single-sided deafness
• the benefits of bilateral hearing with two CIs - particularly from the user's point of view, not just booth testing

With that as background, I mentioned why my blog is called ASK ARLENE, and why my Walk4Hearing team is also called ASK ARLENE !  And ask they did!  And I also did a booksigning - and I know those books will help others understand hearing loss and cochlear implants.

That's what's been keeping me busy - speaking and connecting with others - on hearing loss, cochlear implants, and beyond.

Cochlear Implant Adventures Part V: LIVE - Jeopardy & Opera!

My whirlwind week in California continued to go according to plan (except for the Los Angeles traffic jams.)   What an amazing experience to see my expectations met and exceeded!  A quick recap - Advanced Bionics visit, Nethercutt Collection, Palm Desert weekend, Huntington Library and Gardens - plus brunches and dinners with friends in Rancho Mirage and Pasadena.  (I like saying the word "Pasadena" - makes my mouth happy.)  Now back to Los Angeles for Jeopardy in the morning, and the LA Opera in the evening - with the beach in between. 

Remember that I'm a deaf person with bilateral cochlear implants, with a long history of dealing with hearing loss.  I have always chosen carefully where I planned to visit and what I planned to do, never forgetting what my preferences are, and my limitations.  Although I watch Jeopardy on television, I always watch it with the captioning on, and I knew that going to a live taping of Jeopardy would have no captions and no assistive listening system available.  I had my eyes wide open on this.  I was confident enough now that I would be able to function reasonably well there.  And as for opera - I have been attending the Metropolitan Opera simulcasts in the movie theaters, so I knew I was ready to experience it live and that I would hear it well enough to enjoy it  - and  invest in the price of the tickets (our live opera tickets cost six times the price of the movie theater version).  It was ironic that both events ended up on the same day, especially considering that the opera and Jeopardy are not every-day occurrences. 

Here's a picture of me right outside the Jeopardy sound stage at the Sony Studios in Culver City, near downtown LA.  

Arlene outside of the Jeopardy studio

Those sound studios are BIG.  We had our tickets in hand, but had to wait and wait until we were allowed to enter the studio and take our seats.  As we were waiting, I struck up a conversation with a woman who was in LA visiting her son.  We chatted up a storm, and discovered we had so many things in common.  I guess it's not surprising to find like-minded people on a line for Jeopardy - but still, it was delightful to make a new friend, something I surely couldn't have done at all without my CIs, and certainly easier to do with my bilateral equipment.  

Here's what the Jeopardy set looked like. We were seated more to the right, so could see behind the contestants.  We learned that they are standing on little elevator platforms that could be raised or lowered, so that all their heads would be at the same height from the front.  

Jeopardy TV stage set

When the show started, I could watch the stage, or view the video screen off to the side. There were no captions, of course, as those are added post-production - and no assistive listening devices.  I was on my own.  I actually did quite well - and interestingly, I could understand the announcer, veteran Johnny Gilbert, best of all.  I could understand his voice without looking and without concentrating.  I couldn't really understand some of the contestants all the time, but if I knew the answers, then I did better than when I didn't.  Verdict on my decision to see Jeopardy?  WIN!  Yes, I would do it again.  Maybe next time as a contestant!  (NOT!)

Having a little fun at the Jeopardy studio

Interestingly, Wheel of Fortune is also taped in this sound studio, so we had our picture taken with this poster as well:

Arlene & Ira at Sony Studios

We spent the rest of the afternoon looking at the Pacific Ocean at Venice Beach, and then realized that getting back to our hotel would involve getting stuck in more LA traffic!  Oh no!  We left too little time to get back to the hotel to change our clothes, so I went to the opera wearing my jeans and sneakers!  (Oh, my!)

Arlene outside the LA Opera

When I researched the LA Opera, I couldn't believe that one of the few performances by Placido Domingo would fit exactly into our plans.  He was playing the title role in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra, an opera I had already seen in the Met movie version, so this gave me an opportunity to compare. 

Placido Domingo as Simon Boccanegra

This opera house looked a bit like the Met in Lincoln Center in NYC - similar outside architecture. 

LA Opera

Inside, it had what most opera houses have now - supertitles over the stage to display the text line by line.  (By comparison, the Met has seatback captions - and the Met broadcasts in the movie theaters display the text as subtitles on the screen.)

LA Opera with supertitle screen over the stage

They also had display screens on the side of the orchestra, near my seats.  

Screen on the side to display the text

I always enjoy visiting theaters I've never been to before, and observing the audience.  Each location seems to have its own style and rhythm.   I could hear the music quite well - the orchestra sounded better to me in person than the Met movie version - a fuller sound.  The soloists, however, didn't have as robust a sound as the movie theater experience.  It seems as though they didn't have the balance right between the orchestra and the soloists. It could have been the sound mixing, the voices, the microphones, or just me.

At the intermission, we looked out from the terrace, and were able to see Disney Hall, the new Frank Gehry building with its avant garde architecture.

Disney Hall by Frank Gehry

That was on my "to see" list as well, so I'm glad we had a chance to see it up close!  

I was really thrilled to have had the chance to experience opera like this - live and in person is like nothing else.  I especially like the curtain calls - the standing ovations, the bravos - on and on and on.  I loved being part of it, live and in person!  And because I had the confidence to purchase these tickets, that I knew I would be able to hear it, I was able to experience the excitement of it all.  Priceless!

Christopher Plummer: Oscar winner and captioned theater pioneer

Like many others around the world, I watched the Academy Awards presentations on Sunday night. I had actually seen many of the movies, thanks to the Rear Window Captioning available at many movie theaters in New Jersey.  I was particularly delighted, though, when Christopher Plummer won his first Oscar ever for best supporting actor.  Evidently, at age 83, he became the oldest actor to win an Oscar.  I realized that I knew something most people probably didn't - that Christopher Plummer was a first in another area of the entertainment industry.  He was the first actor to star in an open captioned live theater production on Broadway.

The year was 1997, and after a triumphant debut of open captioning at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey, the year before, we set our sights on Broadway.  Enlisting the aid of Lisa Carling, director of the Theatre Development Fund's (TDF) Theatre Access Program (TAP), we were hoping that Lisa could convince a Broadway producer to take the pioneering step of open captioning the very first Broadway show ever.

It took a lot of banging on doors, but Lisa finally was successful in lining up captioning of the musical "Jekyll and Hyde" - and we all looked forward to that with great anticipation.  But then we got word that Lisa had also gotten the go-ahead from the producer of "Barrymore", a one-man show with Christopher Plummer in the title role.  I don't know how this came about, but a date to offer open captioning for this show was scheduled before the "Jekyll and Hyde" date, giving "Barrymore" the historic distinction of being the very first open captioned live theater production on Broadway.

There's no doubt that Christopher Plummer must have agreed to this - thus elevating him to hero status for being the pioneer to say yes to this endeavor, which would remove the barriers of exclusion to those with hearing loss who needed the text to enjoy a theater performance.

And so the word went out - with the New York Times running the following article in its September 16, 1997 Arts Section, in anticipation of this historic event:
Device Opens Theatre to the Deaf

When I resurrected this archived article, I beamed it to Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.  I didn't realize that my own name was actually mentioned in the article, down "below the fold" of the ads running in the center of the piece.  But look closely, and you'll see it there, along with Lisa Carling - who convinced a Broadway producer to be a pioneer - and Don DePew, the court reporter who loaded the very first Broadway script into his computer, and scrolled it in synch with Mr. Plummer's rendition of "Barrymore."

We needed to drum up an audience, so collaborated with the Center for Hearing and Communication, then known as the League for the Hard of Hearing.  We had 150 people turn out for that historic performance.  And then, as I describe in my book, Listening Closely, I got my first cochlear implant one month later.

This performance laid the foundation for C2 Caption Coalition - which provides open captioning to theaters across the country - and was the inspiration for Stagetext in the United Kingdom, which was founded in 2001, and provides open captioning of live theater in the UK.  Captioning has also spread to Australia with Captioning Studio providing live theater captioning as well.  And there are other theaters around the country, independently providing this service as well.

But we knew, back in 1997, that to capture the credibility of open captioning of live theater, it had to be done on Broadway - and with that first performance Christopher Plummer made theater history. 

Now go and "share" this with everyone you know!

Bilateral Cochlear Implant presentation with Clickable Transcripts (captioned in English and Spanish)

If you've been to my website at http://www.listeningclosely.com/ then you may have seen the video links available there.  One of the videos is a presentation I gave on bilateral cochlear implants to the staff at Advanced Bionics, the maker of my cochlear implants, at their Connect to Patients program three years ago.  I was still writing my second book, Listening Closely, at that time, and had only been bilateral for a few months, so it's interesting to see my behavior in the process of adapting to bilateral hearing. 

When I embedded the video on my website, I made sure that it had accurate captioning - and  the Captioning Studio (based in Australia) did a great job. Then it was suggested to provide the captions in Spanish as well, so thanks to Galindo Publicidad, Inc , the video is also captioned in Spanish.  The video can be viewed on the http://www.listeningclosely.com/ website, or click on the screen there to view the Video on YouTube.

But then, the Captioning Studio suggested trying their new innovation called Clickable Transcripts - and that's where the fun begins.  When viewing the video on my website (not clicking through to view it on YouTube), you'll see the entire transcript to the right of the video screen.  Click here to go to the Presentation video with the Clickable Transcripts

You can select the English or Spanish transcript. When you point your cursor to a sentence in the transcript, the video will automatically advance to that part of the video.  That allows you to browse the transcript and go to the portion of the video you want to view. 

There's also the option of putting English or Spanish subtitles below the video. That allows subtitles to be put onto videos that don't have captions. 

Now that I've given you the instructions, it's time for you to go and play! 
 Click here to go to the Presentation video with the Clickable Transcripts

And while you're playing, you'll get a great preview and behind-the-scenes look at my book, Listening Closely: A Journey to Bilateral Hearing 

It's rare to get caught on video in the middle of writing a book - but here it is, with captions. 

Cochlear Implant Miracles: Music to my ears

I went to the local movie theater yesterday to see and hear the Metropolitan Opera broadcast of Gounod's FAUST.  These broadcasts are either live simulcasts or rebroadcasts of live Met Opera performances, available in movie theaters throughout the world, and are subtitled. I've done this before, always wondering if I'm going to be able to sit through hour upon hour of opera. Last night was no exception - arriving at 6:30 and finishing up over four hours later, including two intermissions - and the result was the same - enthralled!  What's really amazing about going is that the cost is so reasonable for opera (about $20), but it's also a great way to do music listening practice.  When the opera begins, my brain is always a little tentative about the voices, especially now that I'm bilateral and it has to balance both sides. It sounds good to start, but gets even better the more I listen.  Last night, the closing act and scenes were so intense - both subject matter and music - it was spine-tingling.  One thing about my CI processors, they do a really great job of separating the instruments in the orchestra and the voices as well.  This is a wonderful and natural way to get in that music practice, and it has opened up an entirely new interest for me - and my husband.  Never would have believed it - a deaf person listening to opera for four hours, and loving it.   

Cochlear Implant WOW moments

I had a WOW moment yesterday - and one would think these don't happen after 14 years with a cochlear implant (CI) - and three years of bilateral CI use.  A WOW moment is the realization that you could do something or hear something you never would have been able to do without the miracle of your cochlear implants.  Here's the story:

My husband bid on and won tickets (at a charity silent auction) to a dinner/magic show held at a posh location in Manhattan. It was the kind where they do magic tricks at your dinner table, and then a magic show with a lot of interaction with the audience. I was a little leery - I never like to put myself in a position of potentially not hearing - and this had no assistive listening devices or captioning - so I knew I'd be flying without a net.

When the magician did his magic at our table, I interacted with no repeats - did all the "pick this" "tell me that" instructions and answers instantly.  WOW!  And then the magic show itself - in this small room environment, everyone was in the hot seat - I got called on to "knock on the wall" and "do this, do that" - from 20 feet out.  I got it all - and even the jokes, and laughed along!  They never suspected I was deaf.  WOW!

There was one coin trick the magician did at our table, where I held two coins in my closed fist - and he magically "dropped" a third one into my closed hand - and I HEARD the "clink," and when I opened my hand, I had three coins!

I told my husband immediately (and excitedly) that I heard the "clink."  Turns out that he wasn't going to mention it to me because if I hadn't heard it, he didn't want me to be upset (I think that's why we're married 41 years).  But nope - I heard it - and you better believe that I wasn't expecting to!  So add another WOW there.

This was bilateral WOW - and it's "advanced WOW" - because I put myself in this position - it didn't just happen to me. The confidence to try to do something I never would have done before. That's the WOW part - and my husband, who often knows better how I'm hearing than I do, thought I could. And he was right.

TOUR ARLENE ROMOFF'S WEBSITE www.listeningclosely.com

It's been a while since I've blogged - plenty of good reasons for that - but the big news now is that my new website is ready for your viewing pleasure!  Just click here and you'll be taken to http://www.listeningclosely.com/  or really, MY WORLD.

First you'll notice that it's the same color pink as the cover of my book, Listening Closely: A Journey to Bilateral Hearing .  That sets the tone because that book is all about me and hearing loss, and so is this website. 

The categories to choose from:

HOME - quick links to current reviews, articles, book links, videos - plus my favorite picture, Albert Eistein and me taken at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles.

VIDEOS - all captioned in English and Spanish -  make sure to watch my TV interview - and also my bilateral cochlear implant presentation.

ABOUT ARLENE - a brief introduction, with lots more info available in my books.

RESOURCES - current articles, information about organizations, captioned movies, captioned theater (in the US, UK and Australia!)

AWARDS - nice to be recognized by some wonderful organizations and agencies that care about advocacy and hearing loss - including the NJ State Legislature and Senator Frank Lautenberg!

TESTIMONIALS - reviews of my books, reviews of my presentations - and some fan mail.  Too much to list it all, but a nice sampling.

CONTACT - easy to reach me at  arlene@listeningclosely.com

That's the quick tour - you'll now have to go see for yourself, so CLICK HERE to begin.  I welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions.  You might even want to connect with me on LinkedIn !

And don't forget to sign up on this blog to get email notifications of future blog entries.

September 11, 2001: A Remembrance

My thoughts turn now to remembrances of that grim day - September 11, 2001.  It was a day we had been looking forward to, the date chosen months before for the League for the Hard of Hearing's annual Comedy Night.  It was a fundraiser for the League, the agency that is now renamed the Center for Hearing and Communication, but for us, this event was always more than about raising money. It was the one evening where people with hearing loss could experience professional standup comedy without missing a word because open captioning and asisstive listening devices were being provided. Comedy Night had always been our favorite event, and we were expecting almost 100 of our friends and family to join us that evening.  We started getting ready early in the morning, since we would be heading into the city in the afternoon to fine tune all the seating plans.  And then we got the phone call - my sister-in-law saying that a plane had just crashed into the World Trade Center. 

My immediate thoughts were that this was a freakish airline accident.  But we rushed to turn on the television, and followed the horrific news as it unfolded.  I watched in horror as the second plane dove into the second tower - and I vividly remember realizing, incredulously, that one of the towers had just collapsed. 

Needless to say, we knew our plans for the day - and beyond - were forever altered.  My recollections of these events have a second layer of meaning, though.  Like everything else, it always has to do with "hearing."  I was watching the live news coverage, and it was captioned - in realtime.  My cochlear implant was allowing me to hear a lot of the live reporting, but I still needed the captioning to fill in whatever I was missing.  And that meant the difference between being part of this tragic event, or merely a bystander wondering what was going on. 

I mention this because this is in stark contrast to my experience a mere ten years prior, at the beginning of the militrary actions of the Persian Gulf War in 1991.  At that time, my hearing was at the profound level, and my hearing aid didn't help me much, if at all.  Although many television programs were captioned, live breaking news typically had no live captioning coverage - not yet required by law.  I remember desperately trying to understand what General Schwartzkopf was reporting to the news media, so important to me because I had a friend in the military now in harm's way.  I was a nervous bystander, hoping someone else would please tell me what was going on.

September 11, 2001 was vastly different - with the captioning being steadily streamed, so I could know exactly what was going on, at the same time everyone else was.  Being connected isn't just for the good things - it's as important, if not more so, during trying times.  I learned later that it wasn't by chance that the captioning continued to scroll throughout the morning when the reporting was so important.  I read about how the captioners needed to stay at their stations for hours on end without a break because they didn't want to lose their phone connections.  The dedication of these professionals to their consituency is one aspect most of us don't think about - or didn't, until then.  The National Court Reporters Association documented these real stories of how captioning continued on September 11 and they give a glimpse into what was going on behind the scenes. 

I "only" knew one person who perished that day - the mother of my daughter's friend. But knowing even one person makes it personal.  I watched the memorial ceremony on television this morning, the reading of all the names. I could hear most of it with my bilateral cochlear implants, but I had the captions scrolling, as a reminder of why my recollections of that infamous morning ten years ago are still so vivid.

Captioned Theater - A TRU Story



Bob Ost presenting Humanitarian Award to Arlene



They say that one picture is worth a thousand words. Well, the above picture is of Bob Ost, Executive Director of  Theater Resources Unlimited, a professional organization for theater producers, presenting me with TRU's Humanitarian Award for my captioned live theater advocacy work. One look at TRU's website and you'll know what this organization is about - everything to do with professional theater. That photo was taken in 2008 at their annual "TRU Love" benefit luncheon. As you can see from the photo below, the event was open captioned (see the LED screen to the right of the picture?)  And as Bob pointed out to the audience of mostly theater people, nobody would miss a word of the lyrics with those captions scrolling. (Assistive listening devices - ALDs - were supplied as well.)

Arlene giving acceptance speech while captions scroll on the LED screen

A curious thing happened the next year, 2009, as Bob was preparing for the annual TRU Love benefit once again. He realized that if TRU didn't provide open captioning, then Arlene and other people with hearing loss wouldn't be able to attend! And Bob also realized that people with  hearing loss don't only want to attend events related to hearing loss - they want to attend what everyone else is attending, too.  SOOOOO - the 2009 TRU Love benefit luncheon provided open captioning again, even though nobody with hearing loss was being honored that year.  So I went - along with a bunch of others with and without hearing loss - not only because it was captioned, but because this event is really super!  There's a wonderful cocktail hour, then a gourmet luncheon, and top notch professional entertainment - in addition to the award presentations.  AND - and this is very important - it supported this amazing organization that "got it" about people with hearing loss being able to attend a mainstream event "with dignity" - and the need for captioning in the theater.  

Some of the entertainment at the 2008 TRU Love benefit luncheon

So another curious thing happened in 2010 - again.  TRU made sure to have open captioning for its TRU Love benefit luncheon again, even though no one with hearing loss was being honored.  Bob was committed to making this event accessible to people with hearing loss.  And now, the "regulars" with  hearing loss returned for another delightful afternoon of food, drink and professional entertainment - while hobnobbing with REAL theater people - producers, actors, writers, and I imagine a few angels as well. This event is beyond just being accessible or a captioned theater performance - this is a REAL New York theater experience!

The 2011 TRU Love benefit luncheon planning is now in the works - NOVEMBER 6, 2011 - and once again TRU plans to have open captioning and ALDs.  With the cost of a ticket at about $100 (higher levels of support available), that's a pretty good deal for cocktails, lunch and entertainment - all without missing a word.   And supporting this amazing organization that educates the entire theater community about the benefits of captioning - PRICELESS!

If you'd like to thank Bob for his amazing work, just email him at TRUnltd@aol.com and tell him Arlene sent you.

WICKED captioned at the Kennedy Center

I promised to talk more about the captioned live performance of WICKED at the Kennedy Center - one of the highlights of the HLAA convention held in Crystal City, just outside of Washington DC.  This was also an enormous challenge for the Kennedy Center, as it had to prepare for 600 convention attendees, eager to enjoy the show - with captions!

As I've mentioned, and is noted in my book, "Listening Closely", I've been involved with advocacy for live theater captioning since 1996 (prior to getting my cochlear implants), when we were successful in getting the first open captioned performance at Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey.  I've also been attending the LEAD arts access conferences, sponsored by the Kennedy Center. Here's the brochure from the 2010 conference - flip to Page 5 to see me using a neckloop and infrared receiver, while trying out a handheld device for museums -
 http://www.kennedy-center.org/accessibility/education/lead/LEAD-ConferenceBrochure.pdf

The captioned performance was a sight to behold - as the show's stage set and the theater itself are grand and impressive.  There were LED signs on either side of the stage, and 5 more hung from the balcony so that people in the rear orchestra could also read the captioning.  The theater was looped temporarily for this occasion (so people with t-coils on their hearing aids or cochlear implant processors just had to turn them on), in addition to having 600 receivers available for the infrared system.  It was all taken care of so professionally that no one suspected what grandiose preparations had taken place behind the scenes.
According to Betty Siegel, Director of Accessibility at the Kennedy Center, this was like planning for D-Day.  And for David Chu of C2 Caption Coalition, he had the daunting task of coordinating seven LED screens - some with two lines of text and some with three - aside from all the electronics involved.

Betty borrowed LED signs from everyone they knew - George Mason University, Gallaudet University, National Museum of the American Indian, C2, Inc and from as far away as VSA Arizona.  David Chu, C2, Inc. worked his way thru countless technical glitches, and then did an absolutely stellar job with the captioning itself, ensuring that the timing and scrolling was precise on all 7 signs (so good that two hardened stage hands were overheard to say it was "amazing" and the best they'd ever seen). And, of course, there were support staff collecting the signs, coordinating with the production office, dealing with tickets, and so much more.

So when the final curtain fell to a standing ovation, it all looked as though they do this kind of thing all the time.  Well, yes - they do open captioned performances all the time - but to pull this off without a glitch for 600 people - this is one for the Guinness Book of Records!  Memorable and wonderful!

Bravo to all who made this happen - allowing 600 people with hearing loss to attend an incredible show "with dignity."

LTV Easthampton ACCESS talk show

This is the studio at LTV 20 Easthampton Long Island, recording the "ACCESS with Richard Rosenthal"  talk show now airing in June and July. We were going to do one 28-minute show, but we had so much to discuss, we ended up doing two shows, which will air separately.  See this link for show times -  http://www.ltveh.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=11&Itemid=7

Richard Rosenthal lost much of his hearing during WWII, attended Oxford University on the GI Bill, and has been an advocate for people with hearing loss for a long time.  With his experience, he knew just what questions to ask, and we covered all sorts of topics relating to hearing loss - my two books, advocacy, assistive devices, cochlear implants, hearing aids, psychosocial considerations - and I seemed to have an opinion on everything!  Next step is getting these programs up onto YouTube - with captioning! 
Stay tuned  . . . . 
(Here's the link - now available)
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=arlene+romoff&aq=f