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Post by AgeA on Oct 15, 2005 3:47:54 GMT -5
www.crystalinks.comDolphins combat child deafness The Moscow children receive their musical medicine August 2000 - BBC News From Yevpatoriya in the Crimea, the BBC's Steven Rosenberg reports on an innovative treatment for deafness in children - one involving dolphins. It is showtime at Yevpatoriya's dolphinarium. The stands are packed, the crowds already on their feet, and down below, in a pool of rather murky water, the most famous double-act in town is ready for action. Two dolphins shoot into the air like rockets into space, their silvery bodies gleaming in the midday sun. More than just a trick Until recently, tricks were just about all that the dolphins, Raddy and Grand, were allowed to do. However, the two creatures have the chance of a new career away from showbusiness which could eventually benefit millions of people. Helped by a doctor, 10 deaf children line up by the side of the pool with their backs to the dolphins. They have travelled from Moscow to help test a revolutionary treatment for deafness. Musical medicine One by one, the children remove their hearing aids and wait for a dose of musical medicine. At the command, Raddy and Grand burst into song. It might not sound the most relaxing melody - but to the deaf children it is, quite literally, music to their ears. They raise their hands in joy. Suddenly, these children can hear sounds and noises that usually they are unable to detect. "I can hear a letter 'R' when the dolphins sing," says 11-year-old Antonina. "Sometimes, I can even hear a letter A!" Ultrasonic waves Local scientists believe that ultrasonic waves in the dolphin's voices are making all of the difference, helping to stimulate nerve endings in the ear and inside the brain. Viktor Lysenko is director of the Children's Rehabilitation Centre in Yevpatoriya. "When deaf children listen to dolphins, they hear a new sound, ultrasound, and as a result, the dolphins help deaf children with hearing," he explains. In a tiny room at the back of the centre, Antonina sits wired up to a machine, 20 electrodes spread from ear to ear. A computer image of her brain flickers on a monitor nearby. These types of tests help to pinpoint where exactly dolphin therapy is having most effect. Medical history According to Dr Igor Zagoruchenko, there is no doubt that the treatment makes it easier to make sense of sound. "It's like when you clean the lens of a camera," he says. "The picture doesn't get brighter, but it does become sharper." Dolphin therapy may not provide a complete cure for deafness. However, it does offer some hope. That is the reason why scientists in Yevpatoriya are convinced that Raddy and Grand are making medical history by bringing the joy of sound to those whose lives have forever been silent.
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Post by penndragon on Oct 15, 2005 12:08:34 GMT -5
Wow!
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Post by liza on Oct 16, 2005 9:27:31 GMT -5
This article bought up some anger for me that I'd like to take responsiblity for.. by inserting another prespective here on deafness while we're on the topic. Deafness is more of a precious cultural identity to some, and it's not viewed as something that is unfortunate. It's also true that some deaf people also don't want to be deaf. It's important to me that people, whether they are deaf or hearing, convey a sense of healthy self worth about themselves. I do admit that when I read something that glorifies treatments or cures for deafness, it makes me feel bad because I have made deafness a part of my core identity. I'm afraid I'll lose a part of myself that made my life so rich in one avenue, and once again play the victim for those who need to "rescue" one. But I digress. In all and all, it's everyone's undeniable choice to seek out treatment for whatever ails them... and I'm glad the dolphin's treatment is the most nicest of them as far as options go!  |
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Post by penndragon on Oct 16, 2005 12:44:02 GMT -5
Your core indentity is beatiful because....
You hear what others can't or won't take time to listen to.
You feel sound with everything but your ears, which means you feel where most don't.
You see sound, which flows straight to your heart, the windows of the soul.
In some cases, you're ahead of the game. I envy you, in some ways.
" Ultrasonic waves
Local scientists believe that ultrasonic waves in the dolphin's voices are making all of the difference, helping to stimulate nerve endings in the ear and inside the brain."
My "WOW", was more based on the fact that I thought it was wonderful that one being from a totally different species could actully hear another. Both mammals. Both intelligent. Vibrating a the same level. Ultrasonic: beyond the frequncy of sound.
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Post by Nicole on Oct 16, 2005 13:33:51 GMT -5
I get ya Liza! And I applaud you for being ok with being you! I suppose that if I had never been able to hear that I would probably want to hear. Not from a disadvantaged perspective but because I'd want to experience it. That said, if I suddenly went deaf it would be a loss on my part because I'd lose that ability. It would also be a "gain" because I'd gain the ability to hear like you do - how Penndragon described it. Either way, it's all relative to the person experiencing it!
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Post by sama on Oct 19, 2005 18:46:55 GMT -5
i have a degree of understanding of liza's point here, because i am losing my hearing, and quite rapidly too. but, as sound blurs, i find my other faculties becoming increasingly acute, so there is a gain in that sense.
but liza, hon, dont get too upset about the need that some have to hear. it takes nothing from those who are deaf and proud of being so, it simply presents a part of the world to those who have not experienced it, an additional beauty, if you like.
hugs
sama
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Post by liza on Oct 19, 2005 20:44:18 GMT -5
i have a degree of understanding of liza's point here, because i am losing my hearing, and quite rapidly too. but, as sound blurs, i find my other faculties becoming increasingly acute, so there is a gain in that sense. but liza, hon, dont get too upset about the need that some have to hear. it takes nothing from those who are deaf and proud of being so, it simply presents a part of the world to those who have not experienced it, an additional beauty, if you like. hugs sama Hon? Are you hitting on me?  I empathize with your rapid hearing loss, sama, and I hope you have support for it. It sounds like Meneries. Didn't we talk about that before? Just that we're on the same page... in your second paragraph addressed to me, I'm not sure where the "don't get too upset about about the need that some have to hear" came from. Were you just saying that in general or was there something you detected in the overrall tone of my post that warranted the comment? Just earlier tonight, I was watching the second season of Enterprise - and my husband wanted his turn to watch an earlier episode. I let him have have the TV, and then he asked me if something was the matter with the volume.. cos he couldn't hear anything. I told him just to read the subtitles.. he made the comment, "Oh, but it would be only half the experience for me." I just looked at him like he was a ferengi not wanting taxes (trekkie speak - ha!). I felt like he thought I was lacking in some kind of experience because I did not have hearing, and I felt a sinking sensation. Are we defined by the sum of others' experience? Or our own? Should we adhere to others' standards even if they don't resonate with us.. doesn't it seem crazy because these things have always worked for us, and have always struck true to us.. that they don't work for others? I guess that was how you probably felt by my earlier post? I could be wrong, but I sensed you might've been a little nervous... I'd just like to tell ya that I also believe we're a couple of beautiful souls, even if we are experiencing different things that might seem difficult to us both! Just for the record, I never have doubted that others have the need to "hear again." I hope they do! I'm involved in many communities with deaf people from all walks of life, and it has never bothered me. It just bothers me that some people have that kind of bigot attitude that degrades the validity of others' experience that might seem alien to them. That has been a can of worms for me, and achilles' heel probably.  |
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Post by penndragon on Oct 24, 2005 11:59:48 GMT -5
Liza, I'm sorry if you were offended by my comments on this subject. I haven't been deaf, but I have been black. I understand bigotry better than most. I wear my so called "challenge" where it's visable. People have been discriminating against me since 1959. I feel your pain, to some extent. It was not my intention to belittle your acceptance for your way of life. I too, have had to accepted things beyond some peoples reality. For instance, I am not only African American by American standards, I am also Acadian (Cajun). In the "cajun" world, Black people are not considered Acadian or descendants of Acadians. We are called "Sabine". Clifton Chenier is as black as the ace of spades. He has recorded many zydeco music albums. And, even so, most descendants of Acadian do not consider him "cajun", because of his skin color. Chenier is Acaidian for "oak tree". So like him, I am discriminated against two-fold. 1755 was the year we as a people were expelled and scattered by British forces from Nova Scotia. The surnames, customs, food and religion tells the tale of the tape. I can not discard what I am, on both accounts. But I have learned to embrace all of it. Finding the middle path towards a link with all. I just thought it was outstanding that another mammal species, a dolphin, was able to communicate on a vibratory level with another mammal, a human. For what it's worth, there was no degradation intented. I know all to well what that feels like. I just thought we, as a species, through exploration of vibration are coming close to a universal form of communication. I guess I was wrong.  |
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Post by Nicole on Oct 27, 2005 5:08:47 GMT -5
Penndragon,
Great to hear more about you! My boss is from an area near you and currently lives in Baton Rouge. I've actually learned a lot about Acaidia from him recently.
We are moving towards universal communication. It's not even telepathy, but some probably call it that. Have you ever just felt what another was saying without words? I have and I believe this is what it is. Even thought is vibrations.
Love!
Nicole
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Post by penndragon on Oct 27, 2005 13:25:15 GMT -5
Right on target, Nisroc!
I feel the vibrations strongly. I see more clearly, I feel more clearly, I smell more clearly (also a vibration), I taste more clearly, and I touch more clearly. As for being drawn to certain forums, I understand this also. It is a overlap, so to speak!
It is a universal language without words. All the senses are expanding and overlapping. That is why we are going one place that leads us to the next.
We may see something, that make us feel what we need to feel, which allows us to hear what we need to hear, that allows us to smell what we need to smell (danger or assurance, very primative, yet advanced lymbic system), which allows us to touch what we wanted to see. The senses are now beoming innerconnected, or BRIDGED.
The grid is activated, and we are doing beta test runs. It can be a little overwhelming at first, but all will get used to it if they welcome it. If they don't, it will cause them pain, psychosis of sorts. It will be beyond surreal as our planet Earth vibrates faster and faster.
I choose acceptance. In an insane world the sane man must appear insane. We are not human beings having spiritual experiences; we are spiritual beings have human experiences.
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