A driving force in the Deaf community died on this date (Jan. 20) in 2008. James LeVoy Sorenson passed away at a Salt Lake City hospital at the age of 86. Utah's richest man was estimated to be worth $4.5 billion by Forbes magazine. Perhaps best known for co-developing the first real-time computerized heart monitor and for founding Sorenson Communications, he donated more than $5 million to Gallaudet University. Read more about his life here.

A 16th century Spanish monk is recognized by most historians as the first teacher of deaf children. Pedro Ponce de Leon lived from 1520 to 1584. However, some point to Spanish painter Juan Fernández Navarrete as the first. He lived in the early part of the century. Ponce de Leon was a Benedictine monk who took a vow of silence and developed a form of sign language to communicate. He apparently taught finger-spelling to deaf children who probably arrived at his monastery alrea

When you see a blue sign shaped like a human ear, it's a cue for hearing aid users to press a tiny button to hear a special broadcast sent directly to their device. This is called a hearing loop—a thin copper wire that radiates electromagnetic signals in a room. A tiny receiver called a telecoil, built into most hearing aids and cochlear implants, picks up the signal. With the flip of a switch on the device, sound comes through with greater clarity than someone with normal he