A win for who?

The DWP will pay nearly £50,000 in damages to a deaf man after repeatedly failing to provide him with the interpreters he needed for job-related interviews. Paul Rimmer said he believed his local Jobcentre failed to provide the support he needed because they found it “too difficult and too expensive”. The employment tribunal has now told DWP to pay Rimmer £49,880 in damages and interest payments for the years of discriminatory behaviour. Mr Rimmer warned most DWP staff “do not understand the difficulties facing me as a profoundly Deaf person”.

He told Disability News Service: “I am shocked about the barriers and discrimination that I have had to go through. I was shocked about the lack of training [DWP/Jobcentre] staff have had, lack of deaf awareness and how I have been stuck in a system and unable to move on. “I was shocked by what I have heard in evidence from DWP staff. I am proud of what I have achieved and hope that it helps other people as well as myself.” He added: “I know that the same thing happens at other jobcentres and I hope things will change more widely.

“I hope it doesn’t just change at Leeds but that the DWP look more widely at the training of staff across the country.” Nick Whittingham, chief executive at Kirklees Citizens Advice and Law Centre, said: “This case shines a light on the way that disabled benefits claimants are treated by the DWP, and is particularly important in light of current political rhetoric. “The indications are that failings are systemic and that provision for supporting deaf and other disabled people is limited both by funding constraints and by an institutional failure to understand, or even attempt to understand, their needs.”

A DWP spokesperson said: “We are considering this judgment. We are committed to providing accessible services to ensure customers who need extra assistance can access our help.”

ATR COMMENT:  A victory for BSL-using deaf but a hollow one for deaf or the HI who do not use sign language, with the refusal to offer them text or lip-spoken support is an accepted norm.  Even areas dedicated to their support offer access piecemeal or via post code lottery.  ATR did a FOI request to all Health trusts in Wales, none, returned data on text or lip-speaking access provision, most offered BSL instead to deaf who don't use it. Why aren't non-BSL charities more aggressive in demanding the support they are entitled to?

Can you benefit by gene therapy?

Who could benefit next from gene therapy that restored deaf toddler’s hearing?

Thousands of children across the world who suffer from deafness and hearing loss have been given hope after a ground breaking trial allowed a British girl to hear noises for the first time. Opal Sandy, aged 18 months, was born deaf because of auditory neuropathy, which is caused by the disruption of nerve impulses travelling from the inner ear to the brain.

Now, thanks to a “one and done” gene therapy trial being carried out in the UK and worldwide, Opal’s hearing is almost normal – and could yet improve after she became the first person in the world to take part in a ground-breaking gene therapy trial. Opal, from Oxfordshire, was treated at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge. The surgeon and chief investigator for the trial said he hoped she would be the first of many people to benefit from new kinds of gene therapies that can treat inner ear issues, such as hers, and potentially other kinds of hearing loss as well further down the line.

“These results are spectacular and better than I expected,” said Professor Manohar Bance, a surgeon and chief investigator for the trial. “Gene therapy has been the future of otology and audiology for many years and I’m so excited that it is now finally here. This is hopefully the start of a new era for gene therapies for the inner ear and many types of hearing loss,” he said.

How does the treatment work?

Auditory neuropathy can be caused by a fault in the OTOF gene, which is responsible for making a protein called otoferlin. This enables cells in the ear to communicate with the hearing nerve. To overcome the fault, the “new era” gene therapy – from biotech firm Regeneron – delivers a working copy of the gene to the ear. In Opal’s case, she received an infusion containing the working gene to her right ear during surgery last September.

Opal’s surgery was very similar to fitting a cochlear implant, according to Professor Bance. He said the inner ear (cochlea) was opened and the treatment infused using a catheter over 16 minutes. “We have to make a release hole in another part of the ear to let the treatment out because it has to go all the way through the ear,” he said. “And then we just repair and close up, so it’s actually a very similar approach to a cochlear implant, except we don’t put the implant in.”

Can anyone who is deaf benefit?

Children with a variation in the OTOF gene often pass the newborn screening, as the hair cells are working, but they are not talking to the nerve. It means this hearing loss is not commonly detected until children are 2 or 3 years of age – when a delay in speech is likely to be noticed.

Professor Bance said: “We have a short time frame to intervene because of the rapid pace of brain development at this age. Delays in the diagnosis can also cause confusion for families as the many reasons for delayed speech and late intervention can impact children’s development.” 

ATR VIDEO

 

How many countries offer free Hearing aids.

Examples of countries that offer free or low-cost hearing aids:

United States:

The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) provides funding for research and development of hearing aids, but it does not offer free hearing aids directly.  Some non-profit organizations, like the Starkey Hearing Foundation, offer free or low-cost hearing aids to individuals who cannot afford them.

Canada:

The Canadian Hearing Society offers free hearing aids to eligible individuals through its "Hearing Aid Program" in certain provinces.  Some provincial governments, like Ontario, offer subsidized hearing aids to eligible individuals through the "Assistive Devices Program".

Australia:

The Australian government's "Assistance for Eldest Residents (AER)" program provides financial assistance for hearing aids, including some free or low-cost options.  Non-profit organizations, like the Australian Hearing Society, also offer free or low-cost hearing aids to eligible individuals.

United Kingdom:

The National Health Service (NHS) provides free hearing aids to eligible individuals who have a diagnosed hearing loss.  Some charities, like the British Academy of Audiology, offer free or low-cost hearing aids to individuals who cannot afford them.

Sweden:

The Swedish government's "Hearing Aid Program" provides free hearing aids to eligible individuals who have a diagnosed hearing loss.

Finland:

The Finnish government's "Hearing Aid Program" provides free hearing aids to eligible individuals who have a diagnosed hearing loss.

Denmark:

The Danish government's "Hearing Aid Program" provides free hearing aids to eligible individuals who have a diagnosed hearing loss.

New Zealand:

The New Zealand government's "Subsidies for Hearing Aids" program provides financial assistance for hearing aids, including some free or low-cost options.

Ireland:

The Irish government's "Hearing Aid Program" provides free hearing aids to eligible individuals who have a diagnosed hearing loss.  These programs may have specific eligibility criteria, such as age, income level, or disability status. Additionally, some countries may have other programs or initiatives that offer free or low-cost hearing aids.

How many deaf genes are there?

There are around +-140  specific genes that can cause hereditary deafness, the exact number is not well-defined. Deafness can be caused by mutations in a variety of genes that are involved in hearing, such as those involved in sound perception, auditory processing, and the structure and function of the inner ear.

According to the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) database, which is a comprehensive catalogue of human genes and genetic disorders, there are over 1,000 known genes that can cause hereditary deafness or hearing loss. These genes are involved in a wide range of biological processes, including:

Auditory hair cell development and maintenance

Inner ear development and structure

Sound perception and processing

Auditory nerve function and transmission

Cochlear function and maintenanc

Some of the most well-known genes that can cause hereditary deafness include:

GJB2 (connexin 26)

SLC26A4 (pendrin)

TMC1 (transmembrane channel-like protein 1)

MYO7A (myosin VIIA)

OTOF (otofelin)

CDH23 (cadherin 23)

It's worth noting that many cases of deafness are caused by genetic mutations that affect multiple genes or pathways, rather than a single gene. Additionally, many cases of deafness are caused by non-hereditary factors, such as exposure to loud noise or certain medications.

Looks like the BSL Community has its work cut out.....

UK deaf: Years behind Latvia...

A deaf woman who moved to the UK to study said the UK was well behind her native Latvia for people with hearing problems. Beate Grinspone was born deaf but said she never felt like an outsider in her home country. Every cinema had automatic subtitles, interpreters were always available and Latvian people were more than happy to find alternative ways to speak to a deaf person, she said. But after moving to the UK she said she experienced discrimination and little effort from others to support her.

Through a BSL (British Sign Language) interpreter, Beate, from Smethwick, said: "I didn't feel disabled in Latvia. I was born deaf but my family are all hearing so I am the only deaf person. "I was always left out of everything because I could not voice my opinion, so I just followed. I was sent to an oral school and I was taught to speak, sign and lip read.

"Latvia is a small country and they had interpreters, if you go to court or a theatre they have connections to deaf organisation who make it accessible. All films have subtitles and on a court date they provide an interpreter immediately. "You (UK) are regarded as quite advanced but you are quite behind. There is a massive fear in England of being sued, health and safety breaches and fear of us."

1,9m live in Latvia, London alone has  9.7m.  The issue is Language, if she had stuck with Latvian she she may have been better off, because the UK BSL area is chaos anyway. Immigrants tend to have fewer issues accessing support than the locals. Immigrants know what they have to do to manage life and work in the UK.  The UK deaf natives just complain and do nothing, instead, demanding everyone else conforms to them.  NOT going to happen, we have to be pro-active and adjust.  

Incidentally London and Wales are the best areas of the UK to be deaf in.  The UK isn't a village, currently not even a country or a kingdom United.  The key thing is to not get angry about it, the UK is still way ahead of France and other countries (sorry best we can suggest!).  Deaf have to stop sniping from cultural cover and get with it.  There are laws in Wales empowering the native Welsh speaker, not really working either. less than 29% do, in perspective, only ONE percent of deaf are fluent in...... BSL, or have a qualification in it, perhaps start there?

Deaf people and Isolation.

More than a quarter of deaf people say they have been ignored in public, according to a major survey by a leading charity. The Royal National Institute for Deaf People asked more than 8,000 deaf people and people with hearing loss about their experiences and found that many say they still face considerable stigma in their daily lives.

Two-thirds (67%) of respondents said they had experienced negative attitudes or behaviours in the past year. Nearly half (48%) said they had experienced this from their own family members. The regular exclusion from social situations has an impact, with large numbers of those surveyed saying it had left them feeling lonely, isolated and lacking in confidence.

Sarah Adedjei, 23, from Erith in southeast London wasn't born deaf but lost her hearing as a child. "One time, somebody came up to me and asked for directions. I said: 'Sorry I didn't catch that, I'm deaf,' and they said 'Oh, it doesn't matter'. I said, 'No, I can help, just repeat what you said,' and they just said 'Oh, sorry, it doesn't matter,' and walked off. This happens so often. It makes you feel like you don't matter."

Crystal Rolfe, director of strategy at the charity, said: "Our research shows that every day people face negative attitudes and behaviours at work, when they're out shopping, and even from their families.

ATR Comment: A percentage of deaf people may never be able to integrate, regardless how accommodating others are.  Issues of communications, degree or type of deafness, time acquired, and lifestyles can have a direct bearing on inclusion, as can societal attitudes of a minority of deaf areas.

It is all too easy to go to media and apportion 'blame' to everyone else because deafness has limited your options,  or affected your ability to effectively socialise.  Of course there are areas within mainstream who don't have the patience or take the time to include, you just have to accept this will always be the case.  We deaf work at percentages 100% inclusion is a pipe dream, I could suggest 30% or less is nearer the most accurate guess, the same percentage as the effectiveness of lip-reading..   You cannot legislate the man in the street to accept or include you, so it comes down to their attitude, and, ours.  various inclusion laws and Acts only apply to SYSTEMS.  We both have to work at it. Many areas of the Deaf community don't actually want inclusion as most would assume the definition is, but prefer 'own' society as such. 

We can take examples or racial/ethnic or religious areas e.g. who like  'Deaf' prefer their own 'community' with own ethos and norms, and own 'language'.  Deaf people are just one area of 100s who already run social areas on a parallel direction, but not along with,  what we define as the 'mainstream'.  The endless drive to attain status for the Deaf communities, 'deaf-only' areas, even sign language which may well assist some deaf, but just is another 'barrier' perhaps mainstream won't try to overcome to help, and anyway is only one type of communication assist amid numerous others deaf use. 

Even then there is no consensus which 'format' is 'best' for deaf people.  Each deaf person has own road to travel, it is perhaps illogical to insist mainstream accommodate them all.  Nobody mentions the elephant in the room deafness itself is a debilitating sensory disability, and no amount of portraying deafness and hearing loss,  as something else, is changing the realities, because 10m suffer from it, and most of those would want rid of it, even those who go deaf after formative education, are against the aspect of a deaf community,because it is still Isolation, a cell with curtains on the bars,  with strict rules and norms to accommodate a drive for cultural status, and in an endless linguistic war it isn't really winning.  Many deafened or HI, don't  adopt sign language use, because they believe it restricts options, and it means reliance on others.  Whilst Deaf BSL users may accept this as a norm, most of us won't, we have had hearing  so we know what we have lost, or are losing.  We also know the first reaction to deafness is why me? followed by anger at others.  Deaf who never heard, rebrand it as a personal discrimination.

LOSS is the main criteria here, loss = Disability.  Those for whom hearing is something they have never had, are really in no position to declare deafness is not an issue, and the simplistic answer is to teach everyone with hearing to use sign language, it would not meet many millions who either do not want it, or want a cure or alleviations instead.  Taken in perspective (And playing Devil's advocate), Mainstream has 1,000s of areas (Hearing and disabled), demanding they adapt to include all manner of needs (And some not so much needs but politics).  Whilst BSL/Culture/clubs can meet a social need, it probably ruins members of it, for seeing a valid point in integrating with others not like them, or even unable to communicate with properly. Statistically the basis of the culture is diminishing too, with an 80% reduction in deaf schools, mainstreaming of deaf children, and huge demise's of deaf clubs too.

We are in transition mode, and the 'Deaf' community looking like it's fighting a desperate rear-guard action to stem the tide. In any case, they are a minority amid deaf and HI, so consensus on what they believe is the way ahead, isn't actually relevant to the majority.  If they lose a deaf culture to deaf being included is that not a price worth paying?  Clearly some say no, it is that area, which will basically oppose real inclusion.  

The article included from the RNID, I fear is unhelpful, it's stats including non-deaf people, workers in the field, and vested interest charities too, 6,000 out of 10m suggests, nothing substantive, or definitive.  We cannot keep blaming the many, for the antics of the few, or, we alienate them too. Life happens, we just need to accept and get on with that.  We also need to clarify the minority are not the majority or can speak for them either.  Nothing for us without us, but nothing without mainstream either.   If we treat them as enemies we are always at odds.  We aren't numbers, but we have very complex needs, with no single answer.

Who supports Gene therapies?

ATR found  6, most American.  No RNID, no BDA, no NADP, no Signature, no SignHealth, No group supporting BSL etc in the UK.  They all want us deaf so they can control us,  and make money out of many being reliant on them instead.

(1) The Deafness Research Foundation (DRF): Based in the United States, DRF is a non-profit organization that provides funding for research on hearing loss and deafness, including gene therapy. They have funded several studies on gene therapy for hearing loss.

(2) The Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA): While not exclusively focused on gene therapy, HLAA is a non-profit organization that supports research and advocacy for hearing loss and deafness. They have provided funding for research on gene therapy for hearing loss.

(3) The Deafness Gene Therapy Foundation (DGF): Based in the United Kingdom, DGF is a charity that aims to raise awareness and funds for gene therapy research for hearing loss and deafness. They have supported several research projects on gene therapy for hearing loss.

(4) The Sense About Science (SAS): Based in the United Kingdom, SAS is a charity that promotes scientific literacy and public understanding of science. They have funded research projects on gene therapy for hearing loss and deafness.

(5) The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD): While not a charity, NIDCD is a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States that provides funding for research on hearing loss and deafness, including gene therapy.

(6) The Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB): Based in the United States, FFB is a non-profit organization that supports research on inherited retinal diseases, including those that can cause hearing loss. While not exclusively focused on gene therapy, they have funded research projects on gene therapy for hearing loss.

These organizations provide critical funding and support for researchers working on gene therapy for hearing loss and deafness. If you are interested in supporting their work, you can visit their websites to learn more about their mission and how to donate.

Blink and you will miss it!

 ATR successes and multi-blogging

Blogs you can read now...LOOK RIGHT ---->

BSL Deaf attack gene success.

Swiftly following on from a great success in enabling hearing in a deaf child.  Leading UK deafie like Rose Ayling-Ellis admitted she's "heartbroken" and "frightened", and the BSL Charity the BDA attacks gene therapies as undermining deaf people and their culture.  Rose attained fame by NOT using BSL, and was a lip-reader, who went over to the 'dark side' to enjoy BSL luvvie status instead and become a martyr for their lost cause.  The BDA charity a pain in the hearing loss backside.

Go Opal!

What right do these people have to tell parents of a deaf child or us as deaf adults, to not support or opt for medical advances that help us?  Rose isn't this child's mother, the BDA is not this child's family either.  Don't tell others what they should or shouldn't do.

ATR asks, is it not time these extreme areas of 'Deaf' people (Obviously we aren't because our face didn't fit), were put in their place for their relentless assaults on any sort of alleviations of deafness or possible cures and research on hearing loss?  Since day one it is don't have CI's, don't wear hearing aids, don't lip-read (That's oralism), and question the value of BSL under pain of eternal damnation.  

Maybe we could start  by asking fund-givers, and ask the charity commission, to lay down more strict criteria on handing funds over to an area, that represents people who want to prolong reliance, maintain a disability, erect a tiered education system with its own language' dominant, to create deaf have, and have-nots, and to promote some sort of sign-using elite,  and undermine free choice?

10m people exist in the UK with hearing loss from slight to profound degree. 10m these people only recognise when they want more money to promote their own way of life.  Whose entire membership is point.00002% of us all.     Should we be taking any notice of a a small, group of secular deaf miseries who would begrudge a small child an opportunity in life, because they don't want it, or it won't work for them? So who is forcing them? NOBODY is!  They should openly admit it means less deaf they can control, less kudos and ego's to be inflated, and less money for them to spend on themselves.

It's time we exposed these people as totally unrepresentative of fair-minded deaf people.  They shame us all.

How to Zap charitable beggars

 

Manage unwanted charity communications

The Fundraising Preference Service is a free service, run by the Fundraising Regulator, that can help you or someone you know to end contact with charities that you no longer want to hear from.

We know that people can be very generous when giving to charity, but that does not mean they want to hear from every charity. Some people can feel overwhelmed by the number of unwanted asks for donations they get, and do not know where to turn for help.

The FPS is the UK's official service which can help you to manage direct marketing communications from registered charities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that are sent by addressed mail, emails, text messages or phone calls.

AH! Let's see....

RNID [Check]

BDA  [Check]

BDA [Check again, you can't be too careful]

3 down 2800 to go......

New Computer game for the Deaf

 

Can you destroy all the genes before the hands take over?

The Deaf hear again.

A baby girl born completely deaf can hear for the first time after receiving ground-breaking gene therapy. Opal Sandy from Oxfordshire was eleven months old when she was treated at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge. She is the first British patient and the youngest child to receive this type of treatment.

Opal was born deaf because of a rare genetic condition, auditory neuropathy, caused by the disruption of nerve impulses travelling from the inner ear to the brain. Within four weeks of having the gene therapy infusion to her right ear, Opal responded to sound, even with the cochlear implant in her left ear switched off.  Clinicians noticed continuous improvement in Opal’s hearing in the weeks afterwards.

At 24 weeks, they confirmed Opal had close to normal hearing levels for soft sounds, such as whispering, in her treated ear.  Now 18 months old, Opal can respond to her parents’ voices and can communicate words such as “Dada” and “bye-bye.”  Opal’s mother, Jo Sandy, said: “When Opal could first hear us clapping unaided it was mind-blowing.

We were so happy when the clinical team confirmed at 24 weeks that her hearing was also picking up softer sounds and speech. "The phrase ‘near normal’ hearing was used and everyone was so excited such amazing results had been achieved.”

ATR COMMENT:  We know there will be mutterings this is a one-off success over a rare deaf gene, but ATR welcomes the brilliant work of those dedicated professionals attacking this pandemic of deafness and hearing loss.  We know certain deaf areas oppose intervention, but today nobody is going to listen to them.  Today one gene is addressed tomorrow maybe more, at least something positive is beginning to emerge, after years and years of 'breakthrough's' that never manages to.

Why we need to avoid AI.

Hard pressed researchers have hit a brick wall as regards to search options online via AI, those with deafness and hearing loss get told why by AI itself, do NOT use us. Sadly for cultural deaf this means AI doesn't recognise you...

AI Quote: As an AI language model, I do not have the capability to "research" specific types of news or differentiate between capitalized and uncapitalized terms such as "deaf" and "Deaf." My responses are generated based on a vast dataset of text that has been pre-existing in the model. 

When asked for news updates on a specific topic, I draw upon the information available in that dataset to provide relevant information. The information provided is not based on real-time or current news sources but rather on patterns and data contained within the model. For the most current and accurate news on a specific topic, I recommend referring to reputable news sources and websites related to that topic.

Wassup Yorick?

 

Teaching resources designed to make Shakespeare accessible for deaf students are being sent to every deaf school and significant deaf unit in the UK. (They will find the terminology and grammar an issue.)

Inclusion For the elite few?

 

AVT. The fight goes on...

Despite BSL-using deaf  attacking AVT as oralism and an attack on deaf people. (Isn't attacking Makaton enough for them?).

LINK:  Sade and Topaz Oram from Warminster are supporting a call for auditory verbal therapy to be made available on the NHS. 

Two deaf sisters from Warminster are backing a call for auditory verbal therapy to be made available on the NHS. (An appeal  for AVT support was made in Wales also, but rejected in favour of BSL.

Sade Oram, 24, and her youngster sister Topaz Oram, 22, were both diagnosed as deaf soon after birth and wear cochlear implants. They attended an auditory verbal therapy programme supporting them to learn to speak as young children. They are backing a call by the Auditory Verbal UK [AVUK] charity during Deaf Awareness Week, held from Monday, May 6 to Sunday, May 12, for the government to make the therapy available on the NHS.

New research by AVUK, has revealed that more than a quarter (27 per cent) of adults in the South West of England believe it is not possible for a child born deaf to learn to speak as well as a child without hearing loss. Sade and Topaz say that with early and effective support from auditory verbal therapy, deaf children can learn to speak like their hearing peers.

Sade said: “I am proud to be deaf and proud of what both myself and my sister have achieved because of the support we had as young children with auditory verbal therapy and of course our family. “But it is disappointing that so many people still aren’t aware of what deaf young people can achieve. I am never held back by being deaf. “I love travelling to new places - going skiing in the winter and going to different music festivals in the summer. I'm always looking for a new adventure.”

Topaz added: “Challenging perceptions about the abilities and opportunities for deaf children and young people is so important to me, my sister and our whole family. It really is time to raise expectation and change attitudes of what deaf children and young people can achieve.” The charity's chief executive, Anita Grover, added: “We know that when deaf children and young people, like Sade and Topaz, have access to early and effective support, their opportunities in life can be transformed. Early and effective support is vital whether a child uses sign language, spoken language or both.

“This Deaf Awareness Week, we want everyone to increase their expectations of what deaf children and people can do and take action, big or small, to challenge the current knowledge gap so all deaf children can have the same opportunities in life as their hearing peers.”

Deafness communication is NOT just about hands (Take note BDA).

ATR - MEDIA

 

Awareness isn't working....

ATR has long advocated that since disabled and deaf people were given major inclusion and access laws, we have less now than before they were enacted. It is as if once laws were on the statute, we stopped making sure they worked properly. 

At core, was the disability organisations over-focus on the individual, as averse to the collective approach. Once we pushed the individual right, we abandoned the collective rights of others. Removal of legal aid ensured only a very few disabled could take areas to court and force them to obey the laws we all fought for. 

The Deaf area ignored this, and campaigned solely for themselves, with recent successes via a BSL Act, which wasn't needed in Wales, because the local government there had accepted the inclusion law day one, they also blurred the definitions between the individual and the collective, by using a master-stroke that was so simple, the systems never saw it coming, they just capitalised a single letter (d, to D), then, all, became one.  A minority became the majority by default, a sensory loss became a way of life and a right, and a cure or alleviation, cultural genocide. Unfortunately it also created divisions, by Db, language, and way of social life, defeating own inclusion policies.  

It labelled most with deafness and hearing loss, with a culture they never had, and a communication format they never used, which caused many to actually LOSE support, because systems had bought into the hype of the minority, and re-applied it wrongly, all emphasis was on support they didn't use or want.

Support and funding went to the minority instead.  The rest of the UK government/business has clearly not accepted or endorsed, access and inclusion laws. Even when going to court, no precedent is being set so other disabled unable to speak for themselves,  could benefit, the individual being paramount, meant all have to go to court one at a time to get needs met. The disabled/deaf communities just lobby for another Act or law.  Grassroots find legal action is impossible. HM Government had removed free legal aid.

The biggest issue we face today is a total lack of real awareness, and the state dismantling the welfare state, and attacking the most vulnerable.  Despite various charities and others going it alone, they all appear to have failed, and by own admissions, as campaigns complain society (Whoever they are), are not aware of what they need to do, but still taken £M's in funding with them, with nil, to show for it, least of all awareness. 

Others quickly realised there was a profit to be made from us, non-disabled people set up courses online, many with zero awareness or qualifications themselves, via training, and 'lessons' in awareness, etc, and they now run most of not it all. Just sub-standard and biased/poor awareness tips. Disabled/deaf became a commodity to be exploited, and others got the work and got paid for it and still do.  Charity became corporate, a business, and the bottom and their relentless line was to keep us all reliant, if not on the state, on charity itself.  The state helped them along, by offering less and less support themselves, so many had to rely on charity.

Funding has not produced awareness or any advances.  Given so many random areas joined the awareness bandwagons, setting up 'hubs' as a catch-all, centre for awareness, they endorsed 'political' campaigns and approaches to awareness, campaigning as if access and inclusion laws didn't exist at all, when the reality, was they just didn't work. This was obvious in the 1990s when Disability Act demands were well advanced.  However, Charities reneged on grassroots fearing lack of own support, and persuaded the government to adopt the Act, but agree to water down any effect it might have.

The real aim of charity, was kudos and funding for set ups run by a few, on a computer somewhere.£1000s vanished overnight as no checks were made on them. The systems then proceeded to endorse nothing with us, or to include us, and disabled memberships of leading campaigns became selective and isolated in approach. Deaf do this, Blind do that, mental health do another etc. Nobody seems to understand we cannot succeed this way, united we stand, divided we fall etc... Our biggest enemy y is our own refusal to support each other. cest la vie has made us all reluctant to say 'Look, this isn't working, you going that way, and us going the other, we need to go together.'

AI, is it a threat to deaf & disability access?

Online UK BSL campaigners said yes, because of widespread issues with English and its grammar. Europe says no it doesn't.   Find below examples of huge advantages AI offers.   Accessibility tech hasn't traditionally been popular among developers. In 2022, disability tech companies attracted around £3.2 billion in early-stage investments, which was a fraction of the investment to other areas.

One reason is that disability tech start-ups are often considered too niche to attain business viability -- at least on the scale that venture capital demands. By definition, they are assumed to be building for a minority. However, some start-ups in the space have also begun serving the wider population — and throwing in some AI always helps.  Both cases are a balancing act: The wider business case needs to make sense without losing sight of the start-up's mission statement. AI, meanwhile, needs to be leveraged in a non-gimmicky way to pass the due diligence sniff test.

Some accessibility-focused start-ups understand these necessities, and their strategies are worth a look. Here are four European start-ups doing just that. 

Visualfy

Visualfy leverages AI to improve the lives of people with hearing loss. The Spanish start-up is focused on safety and autonomy -- this includes a sound recognition AI that recognizes fire alarms and the sound of a baby crying at home. "AI is crucial for our business," CEO Manel Alcaide told TechCrunch last month.  The firm offers consumers an app that also serves as a companion to Visualfy Home, its hardware suite consisting of three detectors and a main device. It also entered the public sector with Visualfy Places -- it’s no coincidence the start-up recently raised funding from Spain's national state-owned railway company, Renfe.  One reason Visualfy is gaining traction on the B2B side is that public venues are required to provide accessibility, especially when health and safety are on the line.

In an interview, Alcaide explained that the devices and PA systems Visualfy will install in places like stadiums could also monitor air quality and other metrics. In the EU, meeting these other goals could help companies get subsidies while doing the right thing for deaf people.  The latter is still very much top of mind for Visualfy, which is set up as a B Corp and employs both hearing and non-hearing people. Incorporating deaf individuals at all steps is a moral stance — "nothing for us without us." But it is also common sense for better design, Alcaide said.

Knisper

People with full hearing disability are a smaller segment of a large and growing group. By 2050, 2.5 billion people are projected to have some degree of hearing loss. Due to a mix of reasons, including stigma and cost, many won't wear hearing aids. That's the audience Dutch B2B start-up Audus Technologies is targeting with its product, Knisper.  Knisper uses AI to make speech more intelligible in environments such as cinemas, museums, public transportation and work calls. In practice, this means splitting the audio and mixing it back into a clearer track. It does so without increasing background volume noise (something not every hearing aid company can say), which makes it comfortable for anyone to listen to, even without hearing loss.

A former ENT doctor, Audus founder Marciano Ferrier explained that this wasn't possible to achieve with similar results before AI. Knisper was trained on thousands of videos in multiple languages, with variations such as background noise and distorted speech. This took work, but Audus is now leaving the development stage and focusing on adoption, managing director Joost Taverne told TechCrunch in February. "We are already working with a number of museums, including the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston," said Taverne, a former MP and diplomat who spent time in the U.S. "We also do audiobooks with a Dutch publishing house, where we make the audio book of Anne Frank's diary accessible for people with hearing loss. And we now have the solution for the workspace."

B2B go-to-market is not an easy route, so it makes sense for Audus to focus on clients like museums. They are often noisy, which can make audio guides hard for anyone to hear. Using Knisper's technology to make them more intelligible brings benefits to the general public, not just those with hearing loss, which makes adoption easier.

Whispp

Dutch startup Whispp also focuses on speech, but from a different angle. As TechCrunch reported from CES earlier this year, its technology converts whispered speech into a natural voice in real time. Whispp brings electronic larynx voice boxes into this millennium Whispp's core target audience is "a currently underserved group of worldwide 300 million people with voice disabilities who lost their voice but still have good articulation," its site explains. For instance, individuals with voice disorders that only leave them able to whisper or use their esophageal voice; or who stutter, like CEO Joris Castermans. He knows all too well how his speech is less affected when whispering.

For those with reduced articulation due to ALS, MS, Parkinson's or strokes, there are already solutions like text-to-speech apps -- but these have downsides such as high latency. For people who are still able to articulate, that can be too much of a tradeoff.  Thanks to audio-to-audio AI, Whispp is able to provide them with a voice that can be produced in real time, is language agnostic and sounds real and natural. If users are able to provide a sample, it can even sound like their own voice.

Since there's no text in the middle, Whispp is also more secure than alternatives, Castermans told TechCrunch. This could open up use cases for non-silent patients who need to have confidential conversations, he said. How much users without voice issues would be willing to pay for Whispp's technology is unclear, but it also has several monetization routes to explore with its core audience, such as the subscription it charges for its voice calling app.

Acapela

Acapela Group, which was bought by Swedish tech accessibility company Tobii Dynavox for €9.8 million in 2022, has been in the text-to-speech space for several decades, but it is only recently that AI changed the picture for voice cloning. The results are much better and the process is faster too. This will lower the bar for voice banking, and although not everyone will do it yet, there may be demand for individuals who know they are at risk of losing their voice after getting diagnosed with certain conditions.

Acapela doesn't charge for the initial phase of the service, which consists of recording 50 sentences. It is only when and if they need to install the voices on their devices that users have to buy it, either directly through Acapela or via a third party (partner, reseller, a national health insurance program or other). Besides the new potential unlocked by AI, the above examples show some routes that start-up's are exploring to expand beyond a core target of users with disabilities.  Part of the thinking is that a larger addressable market can increase their prospective revenue and spread out the costs. But for their customers and partners, it is also a way to stay true to the definition of accessibility as "the quality of being able to be entered or used by everyone, including people who have a disability."