This week is Deaf Awareness Week
Nearly 15% of the population have some degree of deafness. For every 10,000 people:
10 will be born profoundly deaf. They probably get little or no benefit from Hearing Aids and mainly use Sign Language to communicate.
20 will have become profoundly deaf. They may use Sign Language and probably also lipread.
100 will be partially deaf. They may have difficulty following what is being said, even with hearing aids. Mostly they will lipread and some use sign language as well.
600 will be hard of hearing. They will be able to follow what is being said with a hearing aid and will be able to use a telephone if it has an adjustable volume or has been designed to be used with a hearing aid.
800 will be mildly hard of hearing. They may have difficulty following conversations particularly in large groups or in noisy situations. Some will wear hearing aids and many find lipreading helpful.
- British Sign Language (BSL) is the first or preferred language of around 70,000 people in the UK.
- About 2 million people in Britain wear hearing aids, maybe another million would benefit from doing so.
- Almost all deaf and hard of hearing people rely on lipreading to some extent.
- Many combine signs from BSL with English in order to communicate.
"Being deaf is about experiencing the world visually"
Tuesday 3rd May -1968 The first heart transplant in Britain is carried out at the National Heart Hospital in Marylebone, London.
Wednesday 4th May - 1979 The Conservative Party wins the general election making Margaret Thatcher Britain's first woman prime minister.
Sears Tower, now known as Willis Tower, is a 108-story 1,451 feet (442 m) skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. At the time of its completion on 4 May 1973, it was the tallest building in the world.
Thursday 5th May - Amy Johnson was the first female pilot to fly alone from England to Australia, which she achieved at the age of 26.
On 5 May 1930, Amy set off from Croydon in a Gipsy Moth aircraft named 'Jason',and landed in Darwin on 24 May, a flight distance of approximately 11,000 miles.
Friday 6th May - 1954 Roger Bannister ran a mile in less than four minutes.
Puzzle of the week
Take the letters ERGRO. Put three letters in front of it, and the same three letters behind to form a common English word.
Ned's Joke of the Week
How does a monkey make toast?
Put bread under a gorilla!
