Miss-Delectable
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http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051025/NEWS10/510250396/1016/NEWS
Along with cookie decorating, jumping, sliding and socializing at the annual Deaf Fun Day, deaf and hearing impaired students were introduced to technology Monday that could improve their communication and reduce the sense of isolation.
Called a video relay service, the technology puts deaf people together through their computer screens or TV sets with a small camera mounted on top of the screen. They're able to see each other on the screen and communicate in sign language.
"I can't wait, this is so cool," said Shawna Hafen, an interpreter with the Washoe County School District who works at Stead Elementary. "We will get to talk to each other and face each other and speak the same language."
It also helps deaf or hearing impaired people communicate with others. A deaf person could contact the sign expert via the Internet or telephone, communicate with the sign expert using the screen and camera and the sign expert would relay a voice message to the hearing person.
The technology would vastly improve the best technology available today for the deaf, which includes TTY deaf telephone service, e-mails and text messaging, officials said.
Many of the elementary students who attended the Deaf Fun Day are extremely interested in any technology that can improve their lives, officials said. Students from five Northern Nevada districts took time out from their fun activities to learn more about the technology from Dean Papalia, an account representative of the Hands On Video Relay Services Inc., of Rocklin, Calif.
"The kids are so into technology stuff," Hafen said. "Anything that deals with computers, they want to learn it. It's good to learn about it now, so it will be more normal for them as adults."
Students and teachers, interpreters and speech pathologists at the Deaf Fun Day were excited about the potential of the new technology.
"I would like to use it to talk to my family, my grandmother in Mexico," said Andres Sandoval, 10, a sixth-grader at Bordewich-Bray Elementary School in Carson City.
Students met other deaf and hearing-impaired students for the first time Monday. The new technology could help them stay in touch from their own classrooms, some said.
"As far as education goes, it will open up classroom to classroom communications," said Suzanne Sawyer, a program consultant for the Student Support Services of the Washoe County School District. "We will be able to tap into what is going on in other classrooms. We'll be able to tap into higher education. It will really open up the lines of communication."
About 150 people attended the Deaf Fun Day, organizers said.
"We hope this (Deaf Fun Day) can increase the students' self-esteem," said Gary Olsen, director-advocate for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing Advocacy Resource Center in Carson City. "We hope that they can meet new friends, become pen pals and things like that."
Along with cookie decorating, jumping, sliding and socializing at the annual Deaf Fun Day, deaf and hearing impaired students were introduced to technology Monday that could improve their communication and reduce the sense of isolation.
Called a video relay service, the technology puts deaf people together through their computer screens or TV sets with a small camera mounted on top of the screen. They're able to see each other on the screen and communicate in sign language.
"I can't wait, this is so cool," said Shawna Hafen, an interpreter with the Washoe County School District who works at Stead Elementary. "We will get to talk to each other and face each other and speak the same language."
It also helps deaf or hearing impaired people communicate with others. A deaf person could contact the sign expert via the Internet or telephone, communicate with the sign expert using the screen and camera and the sign expert would relay a voice message to the hearing person.
The technology would vastly improve the best technology available today for the deaf, which includes TTY deaf telephone service, e-mails and text messaging, officials said.
Many of the elementary students who attended the Deaf Fun Day are extremely interested in any technology that can improve their lives, officials said. Students from five Northern Nevada districts took time out from their fun activities to learn more about the technology from Dean Papalia, an account representative of the Hands On Video Relay Services Inc., of Rocklin, Calif.
"The kids are so into technology stuff," Hafen said. "Anything that deals with computers, they want to learn it. It's good to learn about it now, so it will be more normal for them as adults."
Students and teachers, interpreters and speech pathologists at the Deaf Fun Day were excited about the potential of the new technology.
"I would like to use it to talk to my family, my grandmother in Mexico," said Andres Sandoval, 10, a sixth-grader at Bordewich-Bray Elementary School in Carson City.
Students met other deaf and hearing-impaired students for the first time Monday. The new technology could help them stay in touch from their own classrooms, some said.
"As far as education goes, it will open up classroom to classroom communications," said Suzanne Sawyer, a program consultant for the Student Support Services of the Washoe County School District. "We will be able to tap into what is going on in other classrooms. We'll be able to tap into higher education. It will really open up the lines of communication."
About 150 people attended the Deaf Fun Day, organizers said.
"We hope this (Deaf Fun Day) can increase the students' self-esteem," said Gary Olsen, director-advocate for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing Advocacy Resource Center in Carson City. "We hope that they can meet new friends, become pen pals and things like that."