Utah Deaf Technology
Compiled & Written By Jodi Becker Kinner
Edited by Valerie G. Kinney
2013
Edited by Valerie G. Kinney
2013
The Evolution of Hearing Aids
The history of hearing aid technology has progressed over the years. The first hearing aid was created in the 17th century. Over the years, hearing aids have changed from ear trumpet to modern hearing aids.
The history of hearing aid technology has progressed over the years. The first hearing aid was created in the 17th century. Over the years, hearing aids have changed from ear trumpet to modern hearing aids.
Joseph Burnett. UAD Bulletin, June 1975
The Growth of Cochlear Implants
1950s-1960s - The cochlear implant was first invented in the 1950s. With the spread of cochlear implants in the 1960s, the Utah Association of the Deaf was apparently curious about this technology.
1963 - In 1963, the Utah Association for the Deaf Convention featured a speaker, Dr. David A. Dolowitz, an otologist at the University of Utah School of Medicine, about the Deafness Research Foundation Temporal Bone Bank. Through its convention, UAD helped publicize the Temporal Bone Bank Program and stood ready to assist people wishing to pledge their temporal bones to help doctors with research, which may help others to hear (UAD Bulletin, Spring 1963).
1975 - In 1975, Joseph B. Burnett, Utah School for the Deaf alumnus of 1933 and Gallaudet College alumnus of 1937, got his new cochlear implant in Los Angeles, California (UAD Bulletin, June 1975). It is believed Joseph was the first deaf person in Utah to get his cochlear implant. Today, more deaf children as well as deaf adults are getting cochlear implants.
1950s-1960s - The cochlear implant was first invented in the 1950s. With the spread of cochlear implants in the 1960s, the Utah Association of the Deaf was apparently curious about this technology.
1963 - In 1963, the Utah Association for the Deaf Convention featured a speaker, Dr. David A. Dolowitz, an otologist at the University of Utah School of Medicine, about the Deafness Research Foundation Temporal Bone Bank. Through its convention, UAD helped publicize the Temporal Bone Bank Program and stood ready to assist people wishing to pledge their temporal bones to help doctors with research, which may help others to hear (UAD Bulletin, Spring 1963).
1975 - In 1975, Joseph B. Burnett, Utah School for the Deaf alumnus of 1933 and Gallaudet College alumnus of 1937, got his new cochlear implant in Los Angeles, California (UAD Bulletin, June 1975). It is believed Joseph was the first deaf person in Utah to get his cochlear implant. Today, more deaf children as well as deaf adults are getting cochlear implants.
W. David Mortensen. UAD Bulletin, June 1972
The Telecommunication System
1960s - Before 1960’s, deaf people had to drive to a Deaf or hearing friend’s home to see them for business or pleasure. They also relied on neighbors make calls for them. Those who had a telephone at home would ask their children to make calls for them, and these repeated requests sometimes put a strain on the relationship between parents and children (Walker, 2006).
1964 - Although Deaf people lived with these difficulties and inconveniences, they dealt with the challenges for many years until TTY came into the picture in 1964. Robert H. Weitbrecht, a Deaf scientist, and Dr. James C. Marsters, a Deaf orthodontist, invented a way to transmit phone lines through a teletype machine, the same machines used to transmit telegrams. It was known as the Teleprinter Phonetype Units (TTY) for communication over the telephone. The TTY was first publicity shown at the 1964 Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah (Mortensen, UAD Bulletin, September 2012).
1965 – After that, Mr. Weitbrecht and Dr. Marsters set up the first company to market TTYs. TTY had a big impact on the Deaf community. Dennis R. Platt, president of the Utah Association for the Deaf (UAD) noted, “TTY is catching on in many areas in the United States like wildfire” (Platt, UAD Bulletin, Fall 1969). At long last, the advantage to having TTY was tremendous, as it saved Deaf people from depending on neighbors, friends, relatives and their children, on the availability of a car to see other people, and avoided the frustration of not finding people at home.
1970s-1980s – The large mailbox TTY machines were replaced with portable typewriter size machines, which fit conveniently on a desk or counter (Walker, 2006).
1960s - Before 1960’s, deaf people had to drive to a Deaf or hearing friend’s home to see them for business or pleasure. They also relied on neighbors make calls for them. Those who had a telephone at home would ask their children to make calls for them, and these repeated requests sometimes put a strain on the relationship between parents and children (Walker, 2006).
1964 - Although Deaf people lived with these difficulties and inconveniences, they dealt with the challenges for many years until TTY came into the picture in 1964. Robert H. Weitbrecht, a Deaf scientist, and Dr. James C. Marsters, a Deaf orthodontist, invented a way to transmit phone lines through a teletype machine, the same machines used to transmit telegrams. It was known as the Teleprinter Phonetype Units (TTY) for communication over the telephone. The TTY was first publicity shown at the 1964 Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah (Mortensen, UAD Bulletin, September 2012).
1965 – After that, Mr. Weitbrecht and Dr. Marsters set up the first company to market TTYs. TTY had a big impact on the Deaf community. Dennis R. Platt, president of the Utah Association for the Deaf (UAD) noted, “TTY is catching on in many areas in the United States like wildfire” (Platt, UAD Bulletin, Fall 1969). At long last, the advantage to having TTY was tremendous, as it saved Deaf people from depending on neighbors, friends, relatives and their children, on the availability of a car to see other people, and avoided the frustration of not finding people at home.
1970s-1980s – The large mailbox TTY machines were replaced with portable typewriter size machines, which fit conveniently on a desk or counter (Walker, 2006).
Deaf Supporters with Utah Governor Bangerter, 1987
1987 – The “Hearing Impaired Telecommunication Access Act” was enacted during the 1987 legislative session. The purpose of this law was to assist Deaf person gain better access to regular telephone services. On October 13, 1987, W. David Mortensen, president of the UAD contracted with the Public Service Commission for the operation of the Utah Relay Service in the state of Utah. Madelaine Perkins, CODA and certified interpreter, was appointed by the UAD to take over as the as the program director of the Utah Relay System, housed at the Utah Community Center for the Deaf (Mortensen, UAD Bulletin, November 1987).
Madelaine Burton Perkins
Deaf Supporters with Utah Governor Bangerter, 1988
1998 - The Utah Relay Service officially went into service on January 4, 1988. The Utah Relay Service operated by the UAD under the contract with the Public Service Commission for 10 years (Sanderson, UAD Bulletin, April 1999).
1999 - 2000 – The UAD contract expired in 1999. The Utah Relay Service was awarded to Sprint after a bid with by Public Service Commission in 2000. The TTY eventually became obsolete when Sorenson Communication, Inc. came into the picture in 2003.
Jonathan Hodson
2003 – Jonathan Hodson, a Utah Deaf native and former Director of Business Development at Sorenson Communications, Inc. (1996-2006), continuously proposed with little success the concept of video relay service that he envisioned in early 1990s to Sorenson Vision and other companies. Jonathan was also instrumental over the years in getting deaf organizations and state relay administrators to be aware of low-cost video-compression technology equipment available to the Deaf community. Thus, Deaf organizations and state relay administrators lobbied Federal Communications Commission to include the video relay service into telecommunications relay service infrastructure (Jonathan Hodson, personal communication, October 27, 2013). His persistent, hard work finally paid off in 2003 when Sorenson Communications, Inc. launched a free video relay service for the 28 million Deaf and hard of hearing users. This company became the first VRS provider to develop a videophone for Deaf people (The Endeavor, Winter 2017). Nowadays, the users benefit from the “functionally equivalent” access to the video relay system.
As national Video Relay Service outreach director for Sorenson Media, Jonathan Hodson has helped his company become the No. 1 provider of video-relay call services to the Deaf. Jonathan is shown using VRS to make a telephone call to a hearing consumer (The Salt Lake Tribune, July 14, 2004).
As national Video Relay Service outreach director for Sorenson Media, Jonathan Hodson has helped his company become the No. 1 provider of video-relay call services to the Deaf. Jonathan is shown using VRS to make a telephone call to a hearing consumer (The Salt Lake Tribune, July 14, 2004).
UAD Bulletin, June1972
The Development of Closed Captions
1930 - Before 1930, the Deaf community enjoyed watching the silent movies and some movies with captions. When the non-talking movies were replaced with the talking films in 1930s, Deaf people were at a disadvantage ever since (Walker, 2006).
1960 - For 30 years, captions were not added to films. Deaf people were left out in the cold (Sanderson, 2004). It was not until June 30, 1960 when the Captioned Films for the Deaf was available under the direction of Dr. Malcolm J. Norwood, who was Deaf and known as a “Father of Closed Captioning.” As the director working for the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Dr. Norwood, known as “Mac,” persuaded top level administrators of the need of Deaf people for education through films with captions (Sanderson, 2004).
Upon approval, Mac developed a nationwide program of captioned films for Deaf people. It created much excitement in the Deaf community. Thousands of Deaf people rented or purchased 16 mm projectors to show the films from the film library supplied by the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare in Washington, D.C. (Sanderson, 2004).
In July 1960, the United Utah Organizations of the Deaf was established (closed May 1, 2004) to cooperate with local organizations such as Utah Association of the Deaf, Utah Athletic Club of the Deaf, Salt Lake Frats, Ogden Frats, Salt Lake Valley Branch for the Deaf, Ogden Branch for the Deaf, and other organizations among the Deaf in Utah to primarily coordinate dates for each group’s activities to avoid any overlapping of meetings and events so that everyone could enjoy watching the films together (Walker, 2006).
1970-1980 - During the 1970s and 1980s, Dr. Norwood’s persistence paid off with the creation of the captioning industry that we know today (Feldman, 2008). At the time, TV shows with closed captions became popular, and “this attracted Deaf people away from the captioned film showings at Frat meetings“ (Walker, 2006). The Frat continued to hold their meetings, but showing the captioned films gradually stopped.
1990 - On October 16, 1990, President George Bush signed a bill called, “The Television Decoder Circuitry Act” into a law. This law mandated that all television sets with screens 13 inches or larger to have built-in closed captions by July 1, 1993 (UAD Bulletin, December 1990). It was a dream come true to the Deaf and hard of hearing population. They no longer had to buy a captioning decoder. They were finally able to watch TV with closed captions in a hotel room and in the homes of friends and/or family members.
2000 - Under federal law, captions are being displayed on TV shows and wide-release movies. Today, deaf people have the privilege of enjoying watching TV shows and/or movies with captions. Pursued by the Popcorn Coalition and Utah-CAN, more captioned movies were added to Utah theaters. With advanced technology available, more and more ASL films are produced and directed by Deaf directors/producers. Our local Utah film producers are Lance Pickett (R.E.M. Films) and Julio Diaz, Bobby Giles and Jim Harper (Eye-Sign Media).
1930 - Before 1930, the Deaf community enjoyed watching the silent movies and some movies with captions. When the non-talking movies were replaced with the talking films in 1930s, Deaf people were at a disadvantage ever since (Walker, 2006).
1960 - For 30 years, captions were not added to films. Deaf people were left out in the cold (Sanderson, 2004). It was not until June 30, 1960 when the Captioned Films for the Deaf was available under the direction of Dr. Malcolm J. Norwood, who was Deaf and known as a “Father of Closed Captioning.” As the director working for the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Dr. Norwood, known as “Mac,” persuaded top level administrators of the need of Deaf people for education through films with captions (Sanderson, 2004).
Upon approval, Mac developed a nationwide program of captioned films for Deaf people. It created much excitement in the Deaf community. Thousands of Deaf people rented or purchased 16 mm projectors to show the films from the film library supplied by the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare in Washington, D.C. (Sanderson, 2004).
In July 1960, the United Utah Organizations of the Deaf was established (closed May 1, 2004) to cooperate with local organizations such as Utah Association of the Deaf, Utah Athletic Club of the Deaf, Salt Lake Frats, Ogden Frats, Salt Lake Valley Branch for the Deaf, Ogden Branch for the Deaf, and other organizations among the Deaf in Utah to primarily coordinate dates for each group’s activities to avoid any overlapping of meetings and events so that everyone could enjoy watching the films together (Walker, 2006).
1970-1980 - During the 1970s and 1980s, Dr. Norwood’s persistence paid off with the creation of the captioning industry that we know today (Feldman, 2008). At the time, TV shows with closed captions became popular, and “this attracted Deaf people away from the captioned film showings at Frat meetings“ (Walker, 2006). The Frat continued to hold their meetings, but showing the captioned films gradually stopped.
1990 - On October 16, 1990, President George Bush signed a bill called, “The Television Decoder Circuitry Act” into a law. This law mandated that all television sets with screens 13 inches or larger to have built-in closed captions by July 1, 1993 (UAD Bulletin, December 1990). It was a dream come true to the Deaf and hard of hearing population. They no longer had to buy a captioning decoder. They were finally able to watch TV with closed captions in a hotel room and in the homes of friends and/or family members.
2000 - Under federal law, captions are being displayed on TV shows and wide-release movies. Today, deaf people have the privilege of enjoying watching TV shows and/or movies with captions. Pursued by the Popcorn Coalition and Utah-CAN, more captioned movies were added to Utah theaters. With advanced technology available, more and more ASL films are produced and directed by Deaf directors/producers. Our local Utah film producers are Lance Pickett (R.E.M. Films) and Julio Diaz, Bobby Giles and Jim Harper (Eye-Sign Media).
A Slideshow of the Utah Deaf Technology