Assistive Technology Comment

If I had to use the assistive technology that i researched my life wouldn't be the same as it is now. I researched mostly about hearing aids and how people said that they were “different ". I don't believe in "different". Everyone is the same to me , if you’re in a wheel chair , deaf , blind , have hearing aids , elitism , I would never treat them like their slow or have disabilities. I grew up with people with disabled people in my life. I got taught to never treat anyone different.

I hate it when people I know stair at people that are in a wheel chair or people that have turrets. I smack them and tell them not to stair because you wouldn’t like it if you got stared at if you were like them. And they usually look at me weird because I’m sticking up for people I don’t know , and in their eye’s people that are “ different ” . If I had hearing loss the number one thing my paper was about , like I said before my life would be different then it is now. I would yell at people that I seen staring at me. Tell them I’m no different from you I’m just more special.

assistive technology

Hero's of the past !

Deidre Downs – Miss America 2005 / Pediatrician-to-be

Deidre's brother and father had hearing loss so she got tested before she started school. She was 5 when she was diagnosed with hearing loss. She will fight until she get all 3 million children what they need so that they don't have to suffer what she went through as a child.

Rosalyn Carter - Former First Lady

Ms. Carter has worked most of her life to improve the quality of life of people around the world. She with her husband former President Jimmy Carter run The Carter Center a private, non-profit institution founded in 1982. They work as advocates for mental health, early childhood immunization, human rights, and the empowerment of urban communities. Their building of homes for the needy has received prominent media coverage. She championed public awareness of tinnitus since she herself suffers from the affliction. In her BHI public service announcement she stated, "These noises can range from bothersome to devastating, but the good news is that hearing aids sometimes help mask the constant and frustrating effects of this condition". As a member of the American Tinnitus Association, Ms. Carter strongly supports tinnitus research and education "As a sufferer myself", she said, "I hope someday soon we'll be able to find a cure for this nagging affliction".

Reggie Williams - NFL Star & Politician

"A hurdler doesn't stop after the first hurdle", said Reggie Williams, an athlete, humanitarian and politician who has soared over hearing and speech challenges himself. Mr. Williams was national chairman for the Council for Better Hearing and Speech Month in 1991 and has done numerous public service announcements for BHI as a means of helping others to overcome the hurdles of hearing loss.

School wasn't much fun. I had, as was discovered in the third grade, a hearing problem that resulted in a speech impediment," he said. By high school graduation, he had developed his athletic and academic prowess so completely that the third-grader who had been taunted as a "dummy' set off for Dartmouth College, the first Ivy League player to be drafted into the NFL. After his remarkable football career Mr. Williams served the city council of his adopted hometown of Cincinnati.