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I have only worked with deaf people at my workplace, I was fascinated at how they communicated, and now find that I almost automatically try to use what little sign language I do know when I meet one. I know very little, but seems many are impressed that a hearing person would even try.

One time though, it led to a rather funny situation! Some guy was scamming people at a restaurant along the Interstate, leaving photocopied notes taped to ten cent pens on each table explaining that he was deaf, and please help him and his family by buying a pen, the price was $2.00. So, I signed to him, "Hey! Do you know sign language?"

He sure did stay clear of me after THAT! I got a free pen out of the deal, but I did learn that apparently, you can run in just about anywhere, make two quick circles in a restaurant, and walk out with at least $30 in less than five minutes. And, there are a LOT of restaurants along the Interstates! Just, act deaf!

Actually though, most of the hearing impaired people I have known try to hide it, and look down on those who look for charity because of that impediment.

Of course, there is a major difference between people who have been deaf since birth, and those who lost their hearing later. I am not really sure which group faces the greater challenge. Those born deaf are used to it and do the best they can, those who lose their hearing as an adult sometimes retreat into their own world.

But a lot of people who have never been able to hear at all learn to read quite well. This is an awesome achievement, I think. And it certainly disproves the idea that you MUST know phonics in order to do it.

For some students, phonics really is the best way. It just depends on how the individual is "hard wired", what he brings with him to the classroom (I mean what he has already learned), and what his motivation is.

I worked with my nephew some, he had problems reading at first. I really wanted him to think of a word as an idea, and not as a collection of sounds. So I was quite at odds in teaching technique with his other instructors. But I think it was good though, as many different methods were explained to him, and now he can read rather well, so one of the methods must have worked!

This relates more to math: An idea should be presented several different ways. An astute instructor should then see which technique of explanation the student follows, and then complete the explanation using that method. For instance, I never did understand trigonometry, in the sense of "opposite over hypotenuse" and etc. But, when presented with the unit circle in college, I was like a fish in water, and I could then follow that old opposite and adjacent story. But I was NOT "hard wired" to follow the memorization required to track on "tangent = opposite over adjacent". Even now, that makes no sense to me. I am more of a "concept" person, as evidenced by the fact that it was almost impossible for me to memorize the multiplication tables. My fourth grade teacher once told my mother in a PTA meeting that I did multiplication by counting on my fingers. I cannot remember now how I did that, I think it was a successive counting method. I could understand the CONCEPT, but memorization was, and still is, very very difficult for me. And spelling for me, is the "look" of a word, although I do sound out some words in my head. The summation of the above rather long paragraph is that, normal teaching methods did not work for me. I was barely at a C level for just about all of my education. But today, I can read, I can write, I can design electronic circuits, am considered by many who know me to be a genius, BUT I cannot memorize to this very day! So, I feel rather strongly that concepts are much more important than memorization.

If a kid REALLY WANTS TO KNOW what is inside of books, it's going to be easy to teach him to read. If he doesn't care, well, then, an instructor is going to be against a brick wall. Based upon my experience, giving kids books that contain stories and information that they are eager to know about will frustrate them to the point of really putting forth an effort.

So, I believe that finding the motivation is the first step. Find a kid's interest, then get him a book that he WANTS TO READ! If he wants to know what's in the book, well, he's just gonna have to learn to read.

I've been fascinated for quite some time with visual displays of sound, and have been working on a project that does exactly that - the SonoSphere, a baseball sized low voltage unit that displays a visual interpretation of sound. I don't know how useful it will actually be though, but at least a door knock or a siren should be visible.

Essentially, each unit is to be a 12 channel color organ, a set of three would then be a 36 channel set. Red for bass, Yellow for midrange, Blue for tweeter. It is all based upon the musical scale. That is more information to be processed than a normal cochlear implant. Also, a single wideband unit is in the works.

However, I have been assured by people who would know, that the market for mass production is simply not there, so it is to be sold more for nightclub lighting than for anything else.

Only recently have LEDs that are bright enough to do the job become available, I've been working on this project for quite some time. I hope to get it done soon!