Captioning is the Way to Go!


With one in five Americans having a significant hearing loss
and not everyone can use audio induction loops or sign language, or read lips which makes Captioning a Universal Communication Access design in group settings like
Broadway, theatre, conferences,  and church services like the Catholic  Mass.   More people can use captioning which 
means more access for all.

See this Broadway article on opening captioning at 

https://livingwithhearingloss.com/2016/05/10/open-captions-on-broadway/

          Captioning Shares the Message

Catholics With Hearing Loss Yahoo Forum Group

If you are Catholic with a hearing loss (mild to profound) and  interested in
discussing with others about how to make the Mass and other parts of church
life more accessible, along with supporting one another spiritually  - Subscribe at

cccatholic-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Group Description

Catholics with Hearing loss interested in having the Mass in CC (CART and Typewell), audio induction loops and other accommodations, along with conferences and workshops and how to support accessibility in the church and one another.

                                      Get Connected to the Catholic Mass

On top of the booming senior population, the majority of the deaf do not know sign language (contrary to myth) and the majority of the deaf are the late deaf.   If Spanish is provided, and American sign language is provided –assuming both is important so people can connect to the Mass, then likewise CART (the English verbatim in REAL TIME for the English speaking deaf and hard of hearing person is equally important to connect in real time interpretation. 

 The ADA laws, the FCC laws and  the 2010 revision of the ADA law of ‘effective communication’ based on the users primary language has changed things so we are living in different times in which secular society has been pressured to comply with the law and so we now have more and more access (and that’s a good thing for us). 

 The church is not using the ADA model because it is exempt from ADA law.   Plus the myth that most of the deaf/hoh use sign language persists and needs to be busted.    To the contrary, the majority of the deaf/hoh are late deaf/hoh and don’t use sign language. CART is ‘effective communication’ for

this diverse group of deaf/hoh population.

Yes, we want to uphold separation of church and state.   But of all things ADA is about creating access, and why would the church not want people to connect to the Mass in their own language be it American sign language, Spanish, Vietnamese or CART (English in verbatim in real time interpretation ). Its all the same stuff. Its about connecting to the Mass.

We are suppose to be one in five  Americans with a hearing loss. That’s a lot of people.  We might not all be there in church though since 90 percent of the hearing impaired don’t attend church due to lack of access.  The ADA law and Catholic Church Canon law actually compliment each other in terms of needing to provide ‘full, conscious and active participation ‘ for Catholics by reason of rights of baptism and duty to participate at the Mass and not be spectators or given ineffective communication access.    

By providing them access to God's word, both ADA law and Catholic Canon law are being 

considered in allowing Catholics with hearing impairment full, equal and effective communication

access like any one else attending the Mass as ADA addresses.  It allows them  access to full, conscious and active participation as Catholic Canon law addresses.


See CART demo at

https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=A0LEVrjZuD1XmJQAx7QPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTBsa3ZzMnBvBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkAw--?p=you+tube+CART+demo+hearing+imparied+deaf&tnr=21&vid=F923C3006974A3B54870F923C3006974A3B54870&l=455&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOVP.V383d6174ddc8c31d18a57e164bf28169%26pid%3D15.1&sigi=12bla2av0&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dqn4B0gyDosA&sigr=11b5bumfh&tt=b&tit=Communication+Access+Realtime+Translation%3A+CART+Services+...&sigt=11si1vc07&back=https%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fyhs%2Fsearch%3Fp%3Dyou%2Btube%2BCART%2Bdemo%2Bhearing%2Bimparied%2Bdeaf%26type%3DYHS_RV_80861031%26param1%3Dij7zzSxCeE_ZFQBITDAHLoFpjG7hkwp_bBEH1rF14ZV6tGRs6wQGPvckGsVV45PY9-0uW7BoWJ0cra-boastR7xVvQ32ocgvtHSx9nKlY3U67Q%252C%252C%26hsimp%3Dyhs-newtab%26hspart%3DLkry%26fr%3Dyhs-Lkry-newtab%26ei%3DUTF-8&sigb=18o6q59dd&hspart=Lkry&hsimp=yhs-newtab

          Captioning Shares the Message


Catholics With Hearing Loss Yahoo Forum Group

If you are Catholic with a hearing loss (mild to profound) and  interested in
discussing with others about how to make the Mass and other parts of church
life more accessible, along with supporting one another spiritually  - Subscribe at

cccatholic-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Group Description

Catholics with Hearing loss interested in having the Mass in CC (CART and Typewell), audio induction loops and other accommodations, along with conferences and workshops and how to support accessibility in the church and one another.

Having a Relationship with God by providing CART (real 
time captioning) and Audio Induction Loops

People who can benefit from CART

The prevalence of severe to profound hearing impairment among the US population ranges from 464,000 to 738,000, with 54 percent of this population over age 65 years.

source:  http://www.audiology.org/sites/default/files/journal/JAAA_12_04_03.pdf


Baby Boomers are the fastest growing hearing impaired population.  This population will
double by the year 2030.  The largest deaf population are the late deaf.   The largest hard of hearing
population are the late hard of hearing.  Seniors are not hearing in churches.  Churches need
to provide CART (real time captioning) for the severe and profound hearing impaired seniors, and audio induction loops for the hard of hearing (mild and moderate hearing impaired).

"Out of 100 people, 10 have a significant

 hearing problem. Of those 10 people, one

 or two use sign language. The rest do not 

know sign language." 

 (Source:  http://captioningtheword.com/information.html)

This is an interesting article how churches could provide better access for the deaf and hard of hearing:  

Losing My Religion? : http://origin.misc.pagesuite.com/pdfdownload/7c11713b-7af4-45b3-86b6-2026d9ce54e4.pdf


NOT ALL CAN HEAR IN CHURCH: http://www.catholicnews-tt.net/v2005/archives/nov/sun06/letters.htm

"Why can’t we just provide ASL interpreters for everyone?

"Only a small percentage of those who are deaf, deafened, and hard of hearing communicate through American Sign Language. Providing CART services can help overcome this barrier.

ASL is a form of language, and many people who communicate through ASL may not have the reading comprehension or speed necessary to utilize CART. However, many individuals who are deaf, deafened, and hard of hearing, especially late-deafened adults and those who lost their hearing after learning speech, read lips and rely solely on CART and captioning in group settings. There is not a one-size-fits-all solution when dealing with communication access. Consumers need access to the accommodation that best meets their individual needs. “ (Source:  http://alacarteconnection.com/how-works/

"CART is a type of “accommodation” service for people with disabilities.  In function, CART is similar to sign language interpreting for people who are deaf, because it transforms spoken language into a visual format that is appropriate for people with hearing loss.  But CART can be used by the 95% of hard of hearing and deaf people who do not use American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate." 

(Source: http://www.visiblevoices.com/faq.html)

How Many People know American Sign Language?: see  http://research.gallaudet.edu/Publications/ASL_Users.pdf

"When an event needs to be made inclusive, projecting the CART display for the benefit of the entire room can be the best way to provide universal access for Deaf, late deafened, and hard of hearing people, as well as people who might have some degree of hearing loss but who don’t self-identify as hard of hearing or deaf. CART is also useful for English language learners and people with dyslexia, auditory processing disorder, or ADHD. When the CART display is available to every audience member, no one has to feel singled out or as if they’re demanding special privileges. Everyone benefits."

  (Source:  http://composition.al/blog/2014/05/31/your-next-conference-should-have-real-time-captioning/)

Churches and the Hearing Impaired:  http://xpressivehandz.blogspot.com/2012/05/churches-and-hearing-impaired.html

This doesn’t include the mild and moderate hearing loss, including those over age 65.  Just the severe to profound.

People who can benefit from Audio Induction Loops

"Cluskey is a parishioner of St. Michael's Catholic Church, where he rarely understands the homily. He believes venues should be proactive if they want to preserve their audiences. Remensnyder believes that's especially true for houses of worship.

“You don’t really have a relationship with God if you don’t hear the sermon,” she said."  (Source:  http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700052299/Churches-showing-the-way-for-hearing-impaired.html?pg=all)

"About 90 percent of church members and constituents living with any of these forms of hearing loss become church dropouts. The culprit is the not uncommon failure of churches to be "hearing-accessible. ” Source:  ( http://gbgm-umc.org/disc/sosbook.stm)

          Captioning Shares the Message

Catholics With Hearing Loss Yahoo Forum Group

If you are Catholic with a hearing loss (mild to profound) and  interested in
discussing with others about how to make the Mass and other parts of church
life more accessible, along with supporting one another spiritually  - Subscribe at

cccatholic-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Group Description

Catholics with Hearing loss interested in having the Mass in CC (CART), audio induction loops and other accommodations, along with conferences and workshops and how to support accessibility in the church and one another.

      Using iPhone and iPad when  Catholic deaf/hoh: 

 Siri dictation on the iPhone or iPad  is a wonderful technology for communication.

See http://www.apple.com/accessibility/ios/  for how to use Siri dictation speech to text which can be used at confessionals in Catholic churches.  

You can type to priest, and priest can respond via Siri speech to text and you read what he said.  Just delete the messages when done.  Many of us prefer typing at confessionals even though
we are verbal because its difficult to know how to regulate our voices or what a whisper is, or
if we are talking softly or not.    I have  discovered that some of the confessionals have
sliding windows if you want to pass it back and forth in a fixed grill private section, and of course some churches have open sections, face to face options as well.

You can use  the I messager or SMS for communication via texting if you need to talk with church staff or use emails.  You can use Face Time and Skype on your iPhone as well.

There is also closed caption feature to watch your movies or videos on You Tubes, such as watching Bishop Barron's 'Word on Fire' talks.  Check out some of his talks!

see   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tA5UunU5YYo for one of MANY of his talks.

Just a few of many reasons to own an iPhone or iPad if you are deaf or hard of hearing.
Its a wonderful communication tool.  It can also be used to receive your CART real 
time captioning for private screen viewing.




Catholics With Hearing Loss Yahoo Forum Group

If you are Catholic with a hearing loss (mild to profound) and  interested in
discussing with others about how to make the Mass and other parts of church
life more accessible, along with supporting one another spiritually  - Subscribe at

cccatholic-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Group Description

Catholics with Hearing loss interested in having the Mass in CC (CART and Type well), audio induction loops and other accommodations, along with conferences and workshops and how to support accessibility in the church and one another.

                              Donate Your Old Hearing Aid


Do  you have an extra old hearing aid after purchasing your new one?

Can you donate it?

Hearing Aid Project for low income:  http://hearingcharities.org/programs/the-hearing-aid-project/

Recycling Old Hearing Aids:  http://hearingcharities.org/hearing-aid-collection-centers/

Hearing Loss is Way More Common Then You Think; A You Tube Video at https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=A2KLqIEk2RtXgUUAw380nIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTByZ2N0cmxpBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDdmlkBHZ0aWQDBGdwb3MDMg--?p=Losing+My+Religion+Hearing+Loss&vid=eb93b5da4eba1411222ebc293ec291df&turl=http%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOVP.Veae7d44b106efde1ad11dcb04948094f%26pid%3D15.1%26h%3D168%26w%3D300%26c%3D7%26rs%3D1&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DUvhudXFnsFw&tit=Hearing+Loss+Is+WAY+More+Common+Than+You+Think&c=1&h=168&w=300&l=175&sigr=11be4smjh&sigt=11evn9igq&sigi=131ghvmul&age=1426193496&fr2=p%3As%2Cv%3Av&fr=yhs-ddc-ddc_bd&hsimp=yhs-ddc_bd&hspart=ddc&tt=b




Catholics With Hearing Loss Yahoo Forum Group

If you are Catholic with a hearing loss (mild to profound) and  interested in
discussing with others about how to make the Mass and other parts of church
life more accessible, along with supporting one another spiritually  - Subscribe at

cccatholic-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Group Description

Catholics with Hearing loss interested in having the Mass in CC (CART and Typewell), audio induction loops and other accommodations, along with conferences and workshops and how to support accessibility in the church and one another.

                                                That Man is them too

Men Meeting Jesus:  SEE  http://www.catholicmannight.com

That Man is  You:  Becoming a Man after God's Own Heart: 
See:  https://www.paradisusdei.org/index.php/programs/tmiy/

1 in 5 men have a hearing loss, so if you want to engage them, they need 'effective communication access' that is real time engagement (sign language, CART, audio induction loops). 

60 percent of veterans, many who are men have a hearing loss.  That man is them too.  

Engage them in real time if you want to engage the Man culture.  Other wise they'll be disconnected without 'effective communication' access.

Hearing impairment is more widespread then you think.

"What does it mean for communication to be “effective”? Simply put, “effective communication” means that whatever is written or spoken must be as clear and understandable to people with disabilities as it is for people who do not have disabilities."

(Source: http://www.ada.gov/pcatoolkit/chap3toolkit.htm)

Examples of Effective communication:   http://www.dartmouth.edu/~accessibility/effcomm/index.html

"Accessible meeting space allows

 everyone to participate." 

(Source: http://www.ada.gov/business/accessiblemtg.htm

"For the Deaf or Hard of Hearing:

Arrange for seating the Deaf community in the 

front, near the

 speaker.

Arrange for interpreter or real time captioning 

services at 

least 

two weeks in advance.

Utilize room amplification system or personal 

amplification

 system…"

(Source: http://www.dioslc.org/ministries/disabilities/guidelines-for-accommodating-people-with-disabilities)

"The importance for people with any 

disability to interact 

in a standard setting rather than do it 

differently is 

critical," (Source: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/real-time-captions-helping-deaf-kids-realise-potential/story-e6freuzi-1226453656874 -ROSEMARIE LENTINI)

"Out of 100 people, 10 have a significant

 hearing problem. Of those 10 people, one

 or two use sign language. The rest do not 

know sign language." 

 (Source:  http://captioningtheword.com/information.html)

                                                   Catholic Man Cave

Catholic Man Cave sign:  http://www.amazon.com/CATHOLIC-MAN-CAVE-Sign-Personalized/dp/B00HYU5HPW

Catholic Man Cave meeting: http://www.st-monica.org/events/2015/9/10/catholic-man-cave

God in the Man Cave:  http://www.catholicregister.org/arts/item/20335-make-room-for-god-in-the-man-cave

                             Do You Pretend to Hear in Church?

"I did what so many other deaf and hard-of-hearing people have done. I sat politely in my pew, pretending to understand, simply to receive the Eucharist. I grieve for the thousands of deaf people who no longer could sit politely and have left this church. "

Source:  http://arc.episcopalchurch.org/episcopal-life/Just7'02.html

"I think they have been used to “sitting at the back of the bus” so long, they don’t realize segregation has ended on all fronts, and they don’t even recognize discrimination." 
(Source:  http://limpingchicken.com/2014/01/16/deaf-discrimination-to-deaf/)

“If we can start to understand how

 people with disabilities respond

 to the church, then we can see

 how other people who might feel

 excluded can be drawn in". - 

See more at: http://www.uscatholic.org/articles/201312/ramp-it-how-parishes-can-increase-accessibility-28230#sthash.2NCKxs0O.dpuf

"Another set of statistics, however, shows that a full 98 percent of those who are deaf or hearing impaired rarely or never attend church. "  (Source: http://www.stenotype.edu/news/stenographer-goes-church/#sthash.T6dA2OpF.dpuf)

“Just as with wheelchair access issues, 

advocacy is paramount,” Kasper wrote. 

“Staying at home to avoid problems or 

pretending to understand when we don’t 

will not help us or future generations, and

 joining with others in a cause can be 

rewarding in itself.” (Source:  http://globalaccessibilitynews.com/2011/04/17/hackensack-church-offers-captioning-for-hearing-impaired/)

"Out of 100 people, 10 have a significant

 hearing problem. Of those 10 people, one

 or two use sign language. The rest do not 

know sign language." 

 (Source:  http://captioningtheword.com/information.html)

This is an interesting article how churches could provide better access for the deaf and hard of hearing:  

Losing My Religion? : http://origin.misc.pagesuite.com/pdfdownload/7c11713b-7af4-45b3-86b6-2026d9ce54e4.pdf


NOT ALL CAN HEAR IN CHURCH: http://www.catholicnews-tt.net/v2005/archives/nov/sun06/letters.htm

          Captioning Shares the 

                    Message

Catholics With Hearing Loss Yahoo Forum Group

If you are Catholic with a hearing loss (mild to profound) and  interested in
discussing with others about how to make the Mass and other parts of church
life more accessible, along with supporting one another spiritually  - Subscribe at

cccatholic-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Group Description

Catholics with Hearing loss interested in having the Mass in CC (CART and Typewell), audio induction loops and other accommodations, along with conferences and workshops and how to support accessibility in the church and one another.