Implants changing life for Modesto girl born deaf
Brinley Reiswig is 15 months old, but only last month did she start hearing her mother's voice and the other sounds in her world.
The Modesto girl, who was born deaf, is experiencing sound with the help of cochlear implants, which should allow her to learn to speak and enjoy the same opportunities as other children.
These surgically implanted electronic devices were first made in the 1980s for adults who were not getting results from hearing aids.
Today, children of Brinley's age or younger are receiving the implants because of evidence their brains have a better chance of adapting to sound and learning language.
"We felt it was in her best interest to have the implants," said Shandra Reiswig, her mother. "The studies show the sooner she gets started with the implants, there is a much higher success rate for getting the full capabilities of her implants."
Soon after Brinley was born in the hospital, she failed a newborn hearing test in one ear. But nurses told her parents that the tests are not very reliable.
By the time Brinley was 7 months old, it was obvious she was not hearing. Loud noises never startled her. She would not respond to her name or turn around in her crib when her parents greeted her in the morning.
Reiswig and her husband, Rod, persuaded doctors to refer Brinley to Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland, where in December she was put to sleep for two hours for a brain study. The test showed Brinley did not respond to any sound, her mother said.
Reiswig used an iPhone application to learn sign language and started teaching it to her daughter. Her mother-in-law then saw a television news segment about cochlear implants for young children.
In late March, Brinley received implants for each ear during a six-hour operation at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Palo Alto.
The cochlear device consists of two main components: a sound processor and transmitter worn around the ear; and a receiver and electrode system implanted under the skin with cords attached to nerves in the inner ear.
A magnet connects the external components to the implants, and when the system is activated with a remote, signals from the sound processor are transmitted to the receiver under the skin. The receiver sends electric currents to the inner ear, creating a sense of sound.
When her implants were switched on in April at the Palo Alto center, Brinley was frightened by her first experience with sound, her mother said. She screamed, tried to pull the processors off and then pointed to the door -- her sign that she wanted out.
She soon became accustomed to sound, however, when the implants were activated at home. Her purple sound processors, sporting cheetahs and zebras, would not stay on her ears at first, so Reiswig fashioned headbands to keep them in place.
New things to learn
Now that Brinley has the implants, she must learn to understand this new dimension in her life.
A speech therapist and two other teachers from the Stanislaus County Office of Education come to the Reiswig home every week to work with Brinley.
They are trying to get her to associate sounds with the things that make them. As she progresses, she will learn that a cow moos and a duck quacks and that other sounds are associated with words.
It could take Brinley from four months to a year to start speaking, but she is making progress and vocalizing a lot more, her mother said.
"If the phone rings, we make sure to take her to the phone so she knows where the ring is coming from," Reiswig said.
Brinley often plays with a toy kitchen stove that makes a variety of noises. Exercises teach her to associate actions with words.
For example, her parents let out an exaggerated "whoosh" when their daughter goes down a slide.
One of her teachers gives Brinley a toy fishing pole, and as she reels in a fish, the teacher repeats "up, up, up."
Brinley has more fun with her 3-year-old sister, Danica, who no longer is frustrated when trying to get her to play.
"She is more engaged with her surroundings now," said Pam Martinez, a teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing for SCOE.
Martinez said most of SCOE's young charges with cochlear implants have learned language and are in regular education classes at school. Some require the help of a sign language teacher; others don't need assistance.
Martinez said her 7-year-old son received the implants after he was diagnosed with severe hearing loss. "He talks nonstop and he is fully mainstreamed in school," she said.
Reiswig wants to send Brinley to the Jean Weingarten Peninsula Oral School for the Deaf in Redwood City for intensive speech and language therapy. She will ask Mo- desto City Schools, which is responsible for providing special-needs education, to cover the tuition.
Portia Miller of Modesto said the district pays half of the annual $60,000 tuition for her son to attend the Children's Choice for Hearing and Talking center near Sacramento. The other half is covered by the school's fund raising, she said.
Her 3-year-old son, Bryson, got his first cochlear implant because of nerve damage in the inner ear and a second implant in March.
Some parents opt for two implants because of evidence the patient hears more clearly.
"He now hears equally well on both sides, so he understands a lot more," Miller said. "He loves to hear sounds and figure out what they mean."
Brinley's surgery to implant the internal device was not flawless. A spinal fluid leak is a complication in a small percentage of cases, and her doctors had to stop leaks on both sides.
There is some risk of infection with the implants, so patients are vaccinated for bacterial meningitis before the surgery.
Reiswig said the risks were outweighed by the opportunity to give her daughter the gift of hearing.
The Modesto City Schools secretary doesn't seem fazed by a layoff notice she just received. She said it will allow her to devote full attention to her daughter.
On a recent walk in their neighborhood, Brinley turned to watch birds rustling in the eaves of a home and flipped her head around to look at a passing truck.
"We have come a long way in the past few weeks," Reiswig said. "It is definitely getting better with time."
Shandra Reiswig keeps a blog about her daughter's experience at www.beautifulbrinley.blogspot.com.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Woman 'not deaf enough' for a Freedom Pass
Woman 'not deaf enough' for a Freedom Pass
A FREEDOM Pass holder of 28 years from Brentford has had it taken away because she is not deaf enough.
Christina Williams, of Hazel Close, told The Chronicle of her anger at Hounslow Council for withdrawing the ticket for free travel.
The 44-year-old teaching assistant at Woodbridge Park Education Centre said: "I have had problems with my hearing since I was six, it's a damaged nerve and it's never going to go away.
"This will affect my independence, it means I don't have to rely on people. Why give it to me in the first place, it's the principle of this that has annoyed me."
The mother of two has hearing problems in both ears and has to use a hearing aid. She says she has submitted three audiograms to Hounslow Council as well as appealing the decision three times but has had no success in overturning the decision.
After receiving correspondence from the council, Miss Williams claims to be only 2dBHL off being entitled to a pass under the new criteria.
She said: "They have told me I have only mild to moderate hearing loss, if this was the case as they say then why do I need a hearing aid and a loop installed in my home? Why after 28 years have they decided to take it now and why wait this long to change their policies?"
She is not the first reader to get in contact with The Chronicle, Yvonne Chappell, 39, of Bath Road in Hounslow was told her IQ was not low enough to be given a pass when she reapplied.
A spokesman from Hounslow Council said: “The Government sets clear criteria for those with hearing difficulties applying for a Freedom Pass. Unfortunately for Mrs Williams, she does not meet these. Her disappointment is understandable, but we hope she appreciates that these criteria are there to make sure the system helps those who need it most.”
A FREEDOM Pass holder of 28 years from Brentford has had it taken away because she is not deaf enough.
Christina Williams, of Hazel Close, told The Chronicle of her anger at Hounslow Council for withdrawing the ticket for free travel.
The 44-year-old teaching assistant at Woodbridge Park Education Centre said: "I have had problems with my hearing since I was six, it's a damaged nerve and it's never going to go away.
"This will affect my independence, it means I don't have to rely on people. Why give it to me in the first place, it's the principle of this that has annoyed me."
The mother of two has hearing problems in both ears and has to use a hearing aid. She says she has submitted three audiograms to Hounslow Council as well as appealing the decision three times but has had no success in overturning the decision.
After receiving correspondence from the council, Miss Williams claims to be only 2dBHL off being entitled to a pass under the new criteria.
She said: "They have told me I have only mild to moderate hearing loss, if this was the case as they say then why do I need a hearing aid and a loop installed in my home? Why after 28 years have they decided to take it now and why wait this long to change their policies?"
She is not the first reader to get in contact with The Chronicle, Yvonne Chappell, 39, of Bath Road in Hounslow was told her IQ was not low enough to be given a pass when she reapplied.
A spokesman from Hounslow Council said: “The Government sets clear criteria for those with hearing difficulties applying for a Freedom Pass. Unfortunately for Mrs Williams, she does not meet these. Her disappointment is understandable, but we hope she appreciates that these criteria are there to make sure the system helps those who need it most.”
Two shot, one fatally, on St. Paul Street
Two shot, one fatally, on St. Paul Street
wo men were shot, one fatally, in an apparent home invasion today at an apartment on St. Paul Street across from the Rochester School for the Deaf.
Police said the two men — both of whom were 28 and from the northeast part of the city — were in an apartment at 1580 St. Paul St. just before 3:20 p.m. when several people arrived at the door. An altercation occurred and the two men were shot, one in the shoulder and the other multiple times in the upper torso, said Rochester police spokesman Officer LaRon Singletary.
Neither the victims nor the suspects lived in the apartment, said Singletary, and it’s unclear who does live there or if anyone else was in the apartment at the time.
The suspects fled and the two injured men ran from the apartment and collapsed in the street — one on the east side of the street in front of the apartment, the other across the street in front of the School for the Deaf.
They were taken by ambulance to local hospitals and one man was pronounced dead at Rochester General Hospital at 4:05 p.m. The other, who was shot in the shoulder, was taken to Strong Memorial Hospital.
Several people in the area at the time of the shooting saw the men collapse in the street and tried to help them
“I was driving home. I saw him lying in the road and I called 911,” said Nicole Gonzalez of Norton Street. Gonzalez said the man was bleeding from the chest and mouth and was asking for help.
“I just held his hand and tried to console him,” Gonzalez said. A woman who she believes to be the dying man’s mother arrived at the scene and kept saying, “My baby, my baby,” Gonzalez said.
“It was very difficult to watch that,” she said.
By the time police arrived, the man was unresponsive, she said.
The school’s director of public relations, Frank Kruppenbacher, said some students and faculty were outside on athletic fields at the time of the shooting but were quickly brought inside and the school was placed in lockdown for about 20 minutes.
wo men were shot, one fatally, in an apparent home invasion today at an apartment on St. Paul Street across from the Rochester School for the Deaf.
Police said the two men — both of whom were 28 and from the northeast part of the city — were in an apartment at 1580 St. Paul St. just before 3:20 p.m. when several people arrived at the door. An altercation occurred and the two men were shot, one in the shoulder and the other multiple times in the upper torso, said Rochester police spokesman Officer LaRon Singletary.
Neither the victims nor the suspects lived in the apartment, said Singletary, and it’s unclear who does live there or if anyone else was in the apartment at the time.
The suspects fled and the two injured men ran from the apartment and collapsed in the street — one on the east side of the street in front of the apartment, the other across the street in front of the School for the Deaf.
They were taken by ambulance to local hospitals and one man was pronounced dead at Rochester General Hospital at 4:05 p.m. The other, who was shot in the shoulder, was taken to Strong Memorial Hospital.
Several people in the area at the time of the shooting saw the men collapse in the street and tried to help them
“I was driving home. I saw him lying in the road and I called 911,” said Nicole Gonzalez of Norton Street. Gonzalez said the man was bleeding from the chest and mouth and was asking for help.
“I just held his hand and tried to console him,” Gonzalez said. A woman who she believes to be the dying man’s mother arrived at the scene and kept saying, “My baby, my baby,” Gonzalez said.
“It was very difficult to watch that,” she said.
By the time police arrived, the man was unresponsive, she said.
The school’s director of public relations, Frank Kruppenbacher, said some students and faculty were outside on athletic fields at the time of the shooting but were quickly brought inside and the school was placed in lockdown for about 20 minutes.
Research paves the way for cure for deafness
Research paves the way for cure for deafness
The research, which involves regenerating the sensitive hair cells that turn sound vibrations into nerve signals, was described as "really exciting" and could benefit millions of people.
Humans are born with 30,000 hair cells in each ear.
When the cells are lost or damaged – possibly due to exposure to excessive loud noise or injury – it can lead to permanent hearing loss or tinnitus (ringing in the ears).
Damage to hair cells may also affect balance, causing symptoms of vertigo and dizziness.
Regenerating the sensory hair cells of the inner ear has been the holy grail of deafness research.
The new breakthrough is the culmination of 10 years' work by scientists in California.
A team led by Professor Stefan Heller, from Stanford University School of Medicine, succeeded in programming mouse stem cells to develop into immature hair cells.
Viewed under an electron microscope, they were seen to have bundled structures reminiscent of the hairlike tufts of "stereocilia" that give the cells their name.
"They really looked like they were more or less taken out of the ear," said Prof Heller.
Most importantly, tests showed that the cells responded to being moved the way hair cells do, by converting mechanical signals into electrical ones.
Experts hope the cells, which could be made in large numbers from multiplying stem cells, will provide an invaluable research tool for studying the molecular basis of hearing and deafness.
Further down the line, they may also help scientists find a way of coaxing a patient's hair cells to renew themselves.
The research is already being taken forward by scientists supported by the Royal National Institute for Deaf people (RNID).
Dr Ralph Holme, head of biomedical research at the charity, said: "The possibility that stem cells could one day be used to restore hearing is really exciting and could benefit millions.
"RNID-funded research has shown that human stem cells can also give rise to hairlike cells, an important step forward in developing a clinically relevant therapy.
"We are now supporting research to investigate whether hearing can be restored using these cells in preclinical models of deafness and to find ways of scaling up the production of safe, clinical-grade cells."
David Corey, Professor of Neurobiology at Harvard University in Boston, said: "This gives us real hope that there might be some kind of therapy for regenerating hair cells. It could take a decade or more, but it's a possibility."
The Stanford research, the first to create functional inner-ear cells, is reported in the journal Cell.
Prof Heller's team used both mouse embryonic stem cells and artificially "induced" stem cells made by reprogramming ordinary skin cells.
Embryonic stem cells, removed from early-stage embryos, are "mother" cells with the ability to transform into virtually any kind of tissue in the body. Induced stem cells have similar "pluripotent" properties.
In both cases, the cells were exposed to special cocktails of chemicals that caused them to pass through a range of development phases normally seen in the womb.
"We looked at how the ear develops in an embryo, at the developmental steps, and mimicked these steps in a culture dish," said Prof Heller.
"These cells have a very intriguing structure. They look like they have hair tufts of stereocilia."
Inside the fluid-filled inner ear, hair cells respond to currents set up by the vibrating ear drum via a set of tiny bones.
The movements trigger electrical nerve impulses from the cells that are transmitted to the brain.
A similar property was observed in the lab-manufactured cells.
The research, which involves regenerating the sensitive hair cells that turn sound vibrations into nerve signals, was described as "really exciting" and could benefit millions of people.
Humans are born with 30,000 hair cells in each ear.
When the cells are lost or damaged – possibly due to exposure to excessive loud noise or injury – it can lead to permanent hearing loss or tinnitus (ringing in the ears).
Damage to hair cells may also affect balance, causing symptoms of vertigo and dizziness.
Regenerating the sensory hair cells of the inner ear has been the holy grail of deafness research.
The new breakthrough is the culmination of 10 years' work by scientists in California.
A team led by Professor Stefan Heller, from Stanford University School of Medicine, succeeded in programming mouse stem cells to develop into immature hair cells.
Viewed under an electron microscope, they were seen to have bundled structures reminiscent of the hairlike tufts of "stereocilia" that give the cells their name.
"They really looked like they were more or less taken out of the ear," said Prof Heller.
Most importantly, tests showed that the cells responded to being moved the way hair cells do, by converting mechanical signals into electrical ones.
Experts hope the cells, which could be made in large numbers from multiplying stem cells, will provide an invaluable research tool for studying the molecular basis of hearing and deafness.
Further down the line, they may also help scientists find a way of coaxing a patient's hair cells to renew themselves.
The research is already being taken forward by scientists supported by the Royal National Institute for Deaf people (RNID).
Dr Ralph Holme, head of biomedical research at the charity, said: "The possibility that stem cells could one day be used to restore hearing is really exciting and could benefit millions.
"RNID-funded research has shown that human stem cells can also give rise to hairlike cells, an important step forward in developing a clinically relevant therapy.
"We are now supporting research to investigate whether hearing can be restored using these cells in preclinical models of deafness and to find ways of scaling up the production of safe, clinical-grade cells."
David Corey, Professor of Neurobiology at Harvard University in Boston, said: "This gives us real hope that there might be some kind of therapy for regenerating hair cells. It could take a decade or more, but it's a possibility."
The Stanford research, the first to create functional inner-ear cells, is reported in the journal Cell.
Prof Heller's team used both mouse embryonic stem cells and artificially "induced" stem cells made by reprogramming ordinary skin cells.
Embryonic stem cells, removed from early-stage embryos, are "mother" cells with the ability to transform into virtually any kind of tissue in the body. Induced stem cells have similar "pluripotent" properties.
In both cases, the cells were exposed to special cocktails of chemicals that caused them to pass through a range of development phases normally seen in the womb.
"We looked at how the ear develops in an embryo, at the developmental steps, and mimicked these steps in a culture dish," said Prof Heller.
"These cells have a very intriguing structure. They look like they have hair tufts of stereocilia."
Inside the fluid-filled inner ear, hair cells respond to currents set up by the vibrating ear drum via a set of tiny bones.
The movements trigger electrical nerve impulses from the cells that are transmitted to the brain.
A similar property was observed in the lab-manufactured cells.
Deaf couple files complaints against Derby
Deaf couple files complaints against Derby
DERBY — A deaf couple has filed complaints with the state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, claiming Derby police should have provided them with a sign language interpreter after they got into a car accident last year.
Wendell Hunte of 10 Boston Ave., Bridgeport, and Emori Tompkins of 57 Smith St., Derby, each filed a complaint against the city, the Police Department and police commission, claiming police violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and state law.
According to the complaints, Hunte and Tompkins are both deaf, their preferred method of communication is American sign language, and they have limitations in understanding written and spoken English.
The complainants claim the police officer who responded to the scene of the crash, Holly Whitman, asked them what happened. They used gestures to indicate they were deaf and needed to write a note to request a sign language interpreter, according to their complaints. They claim Whitman didn’t provide them with pen and paper, and instead asked their 5-year-old son, who can hear, questions.
The complaints claim Whitman didn’t take their statements at the scene, and later, after they were treated at a hospital and released, had a 16-year-old relative who can hear interpret for them.
“At no time did respondents provide ... an ASL interpreter or any other appropriate auxiliary aids necessary for effective communication,” the complaints allege.
The couple claims they were unable to communicate effectively about the accident without an ASL interpreter.
Attorney Paulette Annon of the Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities filed the complaints on the pair’s behalf. Jim O’Neill, a spokesman for the CHRO, said this week both cases remain open and pending. O’Neill declined further comment.
Derby police Lt. Salvatore Frosceno said police have no comment, and the matter has been forwarded to city Corporation Counsel Joseph Coppola.
Coppola said Friday the department denies some of the allegations.
“At no time did they ask for an interpreter,” Coppola said. “This was a car accident, and the officer needed an answer if they were hurt. It isn’t a situation where you can wait for an interpreter.”
One of the complaints says an ambulance attendant gave Tompkins a pen and paper at the accident scene, and she wrote down her 16-year-old daughter’s name and phone number on it for Whitman.
“There is an apparent contradiction — first the complaint says they weren’t given a pen and paper, and later says they were, but that wasn’t good enough,” Coppola said.
The accident happened on Aug. 16, 2009, on Smith Street near West Ninth Street. According to the accident report, written by Whitman, Hunte was driving, and Tompkins and their 5-year-old child were his two passengers.
The officer reported asking them if they were injured, and the report says Tompkins said her neck hurt, and Hunte said his knees were scraped, so Whitman called for an ambulance. The report indicates that Hunte and Tompkins are hearing-impaired, and says Tompkins wrote on paper “black man hit us, he ran away, he drove wrong way.”
A witness reported seeing a black male hit Hunte’s vehicle head-on. The man got out, inspected the damage, but then got back in his vehicle and fled the scene. Hunte grabbed onto the driver’s side window and was dragged a short distance, according to the witness, the report shows. Police deemed the unidentified hit-and-run driver to be at fault for the crash.
DERBY — A deaf couple has filed complaints with the state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, claiming Derby police should have provided them with a sign language interpreter after they got into a car accident last year.
Wendell Hunte of 10 Boston Ave., Bridgeport, and Emori Tompkins of 57 Smith St., Derby, each filed a complaint against the city, the Police Department and police commission, claiming police violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and state law.
According to the complaints, Hunte and Tompkins are both deaf, their preferred method of communication is American sign language, and they have limitations in understanding written and spoken English.
The complainants claim the police officer who responded to the scene of the crash, Holly Whitman, asked them what happened. They used gestures to indicate they were deaf and needed to write a note to request a sign language interpreter, according to their complaints. They claim Whitman didn’t provide them with pen and paper, and instead asked their 5-year-old son, who can hear, questions.
The complaints claim Whitman didn’t take their statements at the scene, and later, after they were treated at a hospital and released, had a 16-year-old relative who can hear interpret for them.
“At no time did respondents provide ... an ASL interpreter or any other appropriate auxiliary aids necessary for effective communication,” the complaints allege.
The couple claims they were unable to communicate effectively about the accident without an ASL interpreter.
Attorney Paulette Annon of the Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities filed the complaints on the pair’s behalf. Jim O’Neill, a spokesman for the CHRO, said this week both cases remain open and pending. O’Neill declined further comment.
Derby police Lt. Salvatore Frosceno said police have no comment, and the matter has been forwarded to city Corporation Counsel Joseph Coppola.
Coppola said Friday the department denies some of the allegations.
“At no time did they ask for an interpreter,” Coppola said. “This was a car accident, and the officer needed an answer if they were hurt. It isn’t a situation where you can wait for an interpreter.”
One of the complaints says an ambulance attendant gave Tompkins a pen and paper at the accident scene, and she wrote down her 16-year-old daughter’s name and phone number on it for Whitman.
“There is an apparent contradiction — first the complaint says they weren’t given a pen and paper, and later says they were, but that wasn’t good enough,” Coppola said.
The accident happened on Aug. 16, 2009, on Smith Street near West Ninth Street. According to the accident report, written by Whitman, Hunte was driving, and Tompkins and their 5-year-old child were his two passengers.
The officer reported asking them if they were injured, and the report says Tompkins said her neck hurt, and Hunte said his knees were scraped, so Whitman called for an ambulance. The report indicates that Hunte and Tompkins are hearing-impaired, and says Tompkins wrote on paper “black man hit us, he ran away, he drove wrong way.”
A witness reported seeing a black male hit Hunte’s vehicle head-on. The man got out, inspected the damage, but then got back in his vehicle and fled the scene. Hunte grabbed onto the driver’s side window and was dragged a short distance, according to the witness, the report shows. Police deemed the unidentified hit-and-run driver to be at fault for the crash.
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