Some of the important years when the BBC made advances in captioning. 1979 - A documentary called "Quietly in Switzerland" is the first program to be subtitled on the BBC. 1986 - "Blue Peter" becomes the first live program to be subtitled on the BBC. 1990 - The first live BBC broadcast is captioned by a stenographer. 1990 - The BBC begins subtitling its news. 2001 - Respeaking is used for subtitling for the first time by the BBC. 2008 - The BBC moves to full subtitling in all

Here's what WON'T happen during a hearing test. image: Bundesinnung Hörakustiker No one will use a needle, and there will be no request to take off your clothes. Here's what WILL happen: An audiologist will check to make sure you don’t have a build-up of wax in your ears before taking you into an acoustic testing chamber that cuts out outside noise. You’ll put on headphones that cover your ears and listen to tones. You’ll indicate when you first hear the tone. She’ll start at

These travel tips will make getting through air travel easier for the deaf and hard of hearing. Arrange for pre-boarding and have a friend or family member escort you to the gate. Escorts can obtain a gate pass that allows them through security and to the gate. Airlines will often seat you at the front of a plane if you request it to improve lip-reading or if you have a service dog. Take a piece of paper with you explaining your situation and how you’d like to communicate. Sh

Hilbok was Gallaudet University's student body president during the 1988 Deaf President Now protest. image from gallaudet.edu Profoundly deaf since birth, Hilbok was the first deaf law student at Hofstra University. He oversaw the FCC's Disability Rights Office from 2010 to 2016 and now serves on the Gallaudet University Board of Trustees.  Hilbok is  currently Chief Legal Officer for video relay service providers ZVRS and Purple Communications. Read more here .

Lance Allred would go on to play basketball with LeBron James in the NBA. image from TEDx video Allred experienced health complications at birth on Feb. 2, 1981. With few resources available to him as a child, Allred had no one to teach him sign language and was given large hearing aids. He has said the bullying and abuse he endured led him to consider taking his own life. Discovering basketball as a young teen gave the 6'11" Allred purpose in his life. He played basketball f

It was on this day in 2001 (Feb 1), Joseph Mesa, Jr. murdered Benjamin Varner in his Gallaudet dorm room. Mesa stabbed his classmate more than a dozen times. This wasn't Mesa's first fatal attack. A few months earlier, Mesa beat Eric Plunkett to death in his dorm room as well, leaving the school's campus shaken. Mesa turned himself in to the police ten days after the Varner killing. In July of 2002, a DC judge gave Mesa six life terms without the possibility of parole. Prosec

A deaf bank customer helped stop a bank robbery on this day (Jan 30) in 2003. A bank teller in Rochester, New York, tipped off the man as he was going through the drive-through. The robber had entered a branch of HSBC, yelled that he was robbing it, then jumped on a counter and pistol-whipped a teller. Another teller at the drive-up window just happened to be helping a deaf customer at that moment. She mouthed the words "we are being robbed." The lip-reading customer then dro

A deaf bank customer helped stop a bank robbery on this day (Jan 30) in 2003. A bank teller in Rochester, New York tipped off the man as he was going through the drive-through. The robber had entered a branch of HSBC yelled that he was robbing it, then jumped on a counter and pistol-whipped a teller. Another teller at the drive-up window just happened to be helping a deaf customer at that moment. She mouthed the words "we are being robbed." The lip-reading customer then drove

It was on this day (Jan. 28, 2021) that the film CODA had its World Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. In the movie CODA, Emilia Jones plays the only hearing member of a deaf family. She has to decide whether to leave and pursue her music dreams or stay at home to help her parents. The story is based on the French film La famille belier. The costumes for the actors, including Academy Award winner Marlee Matlin, come from the imagination of veteran designer Brenda Abbanda

Downs, one of the most responsible people for newborn hearing screening in the U.S., was born this day (Jan. 26) in 1914. Audiologist Marion Downs published two books and over 100 articles on the topic during her lifetime. The Marion Downs Hearing Center is located at the University of Colorado Medical Center. WVXU radio in Cincinnati has more on this remarkable woman here . She was 100 years old when she died on Nov. 13, 2014. Read more about her here .

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

Grace Anna Goodhue was born on January 3, 1879, in Burlington, Vermont. She is known to history as the wife of the 30th president of the United States, Calvin Coolidge. What many people don't know is that she was a teacher of the deaf. As the first lady, she worked hard to educate the public and invited Helen Keller to visit the White House. Helped by the President, Mrs. Collidge raised $2 million for the Clarke School for the Deaf. Read more about her life here .

Ian Berry became the first deaf man to walk to the South Pole on this day (Dec. 31, 2009). The UK native dragged a sled across 112 miles of ice to raise more than $40,000 for the National Deaf Children's Society. The 43-year-old reached the pole on New Year's Eve as part of a five-person team.