The CapTel Phone, which use voice recognition software to display the text of conversations on a high-visibility screen, brings the use of the telephone back to hearing impaired people. It was launched in Parliament on the evening of 28 February; the Foundation's CEO Louise Carroll took New Zealand's first ever CapTel call from Communications Minister Amy Adams.
Read more about the CapTel launch and find out more about the CapTel Phone.
The message of Hearing Week 2013 is simple: if you or someone you care about has a hearing loss, get help promptly. A visit to a professional could markedly improve the quality of life for thousands of New Zealanders.
Hearing loss often develops over a number of years and the first step, which can be very challenging, is to actually acknowledge it exists.
Watch Lance Cairns talk about his hearing loss and find out what you can do on our Hearing Week 2013 webpages.
Applications for grants are now being accepted by the NFD Trust for the Noonan Bequest.
The Noonan Bequest grants funds for the general purposes of supporting deaf children who reside in the Province of Canterbury. The children need to have resided in the Province for at least 12 months and be under the age of 21 years. Find out more.
Brent Macpherson from Stretch Productions recently visited the San Isidro Care Centre in the Solomon Islands, where he produced a brief video clip about their work supporting Deaf Solomon Islanders to learn life skills. Read more.
The first ever World report on Disability, produced jointly by WHO and the World Bank, suggests that more than a billion people in the world today experience disability. The report provides the best available evidence about what works to overcome barriers to health care, rehabilitation, education, employment, and support services, and to create the environments which will enable people with disabilities to flourish. Download here
Disabled people’s organisations have welcomed the first set of indicators developed to track equal employment opportunities for disabled people. The release of the Human Rights Commission report on 1 August 2011 entitled ‘Tracking equality at work for Disabled People’ highlights the need for more leadership to address the fundamental inequalities faced by disabled people in employment. Download here
NFD has been advised by Cochlear Limited that they are doing a voluntary recall of their un-implanted Cochlear Nucleus C1500 cochlear implant range. For more information, download the consumer information sheet.
The NFD has prepared a practical guide to fire safety for the hearing impaired. Download your copy here