Covid-19 Salgın Sürecinde Engellilere Yönelik Uzaktan Yaygın Din Eğitimi

Bu araştırma, Diyanet Íşleri Başkanlığı bünyesinde görev yapan din görevlilerinin Covid-19 (Koronavirüs) salgın sürecinde işitme engelli bireylere sunmuş oldukları din eğitimi ve uzaktan eğitim hakkındaki görüşleri ile teknolojik araç-gereçleri kullanma yeterliklerini ortaya koymayı amaçlamaktadır. Araştırma nicel araştırma yönteminin tercih edildiği betimsel bir çalışmadır. Araştırmada veri toplama aracı olarak açık uçlu ve çoktan seçmeli soruları içeren anket kullanılmıştır. Anket, 2019-2020 öğretim yılı bahar yarıyılında işitme engellilere uzaktan din eğitimi veren din görevlileri evreninde kasti örnekleme yöntemiyle belirlenmiş 38 din görevlisine uygulanmıştır. Anket formlarından elde edilen verilerin istatistiksel analizi Google Forms ve Microsoft Excel programı ile yapılmıştır. Öğreticilerin farklı illerde yaşıyor olmaları ve Covid-19 salgını, uygulamanın uzaktan yapılmasını zorunlu kılmıştır. Araştırma bulgularından işitme engellilere sunulan din eğitiminin 8 yıldır sistemli bir şekilde devam ettiği;uzaktan eğitim konusunda öğreticilerin tecrübelerinin yeterli olmadığı;salgın öncesinde genç işitme engellilerin Kur'an kurslarına yeteri kadar katılım sağlamadığı;salgın sürecinde yetişkin işitme engellilerin iletişim eksikliği, aile desteği, teknolojik imkânsızlıklar, uzaktan eğitimde başarısız olunacağı ile ilgili önyargı ve ders saatlerindeki yetersizlikten dolayı uzaktan din eğitimine çok fazla ilgi göstermediği;ücretsiz olması ve kullanım kolaylığından dolayı whatsapp uygulamasının eğitimlerde en sık kullanılan uygulama olduğu;salgın döneminde uzaktan eğitim yoluyla verilen din eğitiminde yaşanan problemlerin sebepleri olarak uzaktan eğitim imkânları, materyal yetersizliği, ailelerin ve işitme engellilerin ilgisi olduğu vb. tespitler yapılmıştır.Alternate : This research aims to present, the viewpoint of the Qur'an course instructors and religious officials who work for Presidency of Religious Affairs, on religious education and distance learning and their competence in using technological tools and equipment during covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. The research is a descriptive study that prefer the quantitative method. In the research findings obtained through a survey contains both open ended and multiple-choice questions. The survey was applied to 38 religious officials that chosen by deliberate sampling method from the Presidency of Religious Affairs' instructors universe that were educating people with hearing impaired in the spring semester of the 2019-2020 academic year. Statistical analysis of the datas obtained from survey were done via Google Forms and Microsoft Excel. Due to the facts that the instructors are living in different cities and Covid-19 pandemic made it obligatory to implement the research distance. The determination have been done according to the research findings are: the religious education offered to the hearing impaired has continued for 8 years in a systematic way, the experience of the instructors are insufficient about distance education, before the epidemic the youngs with hearing impaired didn't attend Qur'an courses sufficiently, during the epidemic the adults with hearing impaired didn't show much interest in distance learning due to the reasons;lack of communication, family support, technological impossibilities, prejudice about failure in distance education and inadequate course hours. (baglaclı bir cumleden sonra virgule devam etmek anlam kaymasına sebep olabilir diye cumleyi böldüm) Moreover, due to the whatsapp application's freeness and ease of use it was the most frequently used application and the reasons for the problems experienced in distance religous education during the pandemic are;distance education opportunities (imkanları demişsiniz ama sanki imkansızlıkları demek istemişsiniz, yani impossibilities), lack of materials and interest of both families and people with hearing impaired are the other determinations have been done by the research.

An Agent-Based Simulation Model of Epidemic Spread in a Residential School for Children with Disabilities

People with disabilities, especially those living in institutions, are at higher risk during pandemics, while schools also play important roles in disease spread. Yet, less attention is paid to the intersection of risk factors at residential schools for children with disabilities. Better understanding of spatial and behavioral factors that contribute to epidemics in such schools is needed for effective public health plans and responses, especially for pandemics where vaccines may be initially unavailable. An agent-based model of a school for deaf children was developed from Norwegian archival sources and 1918 influenza pandemic data to test impacts of non-pharmaceutical interventions. Results show differences in the timing and pattern of spread based on whether the first case is a student or staff member, while epidemics are smaller with more student bedrooms or a hospital ward. Implications for COVID-19 and future pandemics, including the need to combine different infection control measures, are discussed. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s).

Development of mHealth-Apps for Hearing Aids – Requirements and Assessments of a First Prototype

An aging of the working population is expected. Consequently, age-related impairments of sensory functions (e.g., hearing impairment) will become more prominent. An increase of people with hearing impairment can already be observed today. In the last years, the importance of digitalization has increased constantly. This was further driven by the COVID19-pandemic. Therefore, the question whether mHealth-apps could be able to improve the first start experience of possible new hearing aid users and how such an app should be designed has continuously become more important. Former research showed that participants rated possible hearing app-functions significantly different. The aim of the presented study was to verify these results and to extend it with additional functions. Furthermore, possible future users should assess first paper-based prototypes. Therefore, an exploratory online study was conducted. Overall, the sample consists of 41 participants (29 female;19–58 years old). 18 of them were subjectively at least mild hearing impaired. The results of the study show that participants rated possible functions and the different hearing app-prototypes significantly different. Interestingly, effects of hearing impairment and gender can be shown. Overall, the results can improve the development of a new mHealth-app to support new users of hearing aids. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

A review of the challenges facing people with hearing loss during the COVID-19 outbreak: toward the understanding the helpful solutions

Background and Aim: COVID-19 is a pande-mic infectious disease caused by a novel coro-navirus has made dramatic changes in people's individual, family, and social lifestyle. Most cou-ntries have implemented some regulations inclu-ding wearing face masks, face shields, and gloves and physical, and social distance in public places to reduce the spread of the virus. However, these global recommendations may be associated with significant social, communication, and behavi-oral challenges for hearing-impaired people. This review explains the problems that hearing -impaired people may experience in the COVID-19 outbreak and also some helpful solutions that can be implemented by audiologists, healthcare professionals, and other members of the society that somehow interact with these people in such conditions that communication barriers increase. Recent Findings: Recent findings indicate that wearing face masks, physical, and social distan-cing, e-learning and virtual communications dur-ing COVID-19 pandemic have provided some problems for people with hearing loss. This can, in turn, have negative consequences including increased feelings of loneliness, isolation and also some limitations in access to educational materials and rehabilitation training of lock -downs of schools and rehabilitation centers or some challenges of online learning at home. Conclusion: People with hearing loss may expe-rience problems during COVID-19 pandemic. There are some strategies that can be imple-mented to partially solve some communicative and social problems in this group. The use of transparent face masks, compensatory strategies, as well as optimization of virtual, and telehealth, telerehabilitation and tele-education services can be helpful for hearing-impaired people during this pandemic era.

A proposed artificial intelligence-based real-time speech-to-text to sign language translator for South African official languages for the COVID-19 era and beyond: In pursuit of solutions for the hearing impaired.

BACKGROUND:  The emergence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in communication being heightened as one of the critical aspects in the implementation of interventions. Delays in the relaying of vital information by policymakers have the potential to be detrimental, especially for the hearing impaired. OBJECTIVES:  This study aims to conduct a scoping review on the application of artificial intelligence (AI) for real-time speech-to-text to sign language translation and consequently propose an AI-based real-time translation solution for South African languages from speech-to-text to sign language. METHODS:  Electronic bibliographic databases including ScienceDirect, PubMed, Scopus, MEDLINE and ProQuest were searched to identify peer-reviewed publications published in English between 2019 and 2021 that provided evidence on AI-based real-time speech-to-text to sign language translation as a solution for the hearing impaired. This review was done as a precursor to the proposed real-time South African translator. RESULTS:  The review revealed a dearth of evidence on the adoption and/or maximisation of AI and machine learning (ML) as possible solutions for the hearing impaired. There is a clear lag in clinical utilisation and investigation of these technological advances, particularly in the African continent. CONCLUSION:  Assistive technology that caters specifically for the South African community is essential to ensuring a two-way communication between individuals who can hear clearly and individuals with hearing impairments, thus the proposed solution presented in this article.

COMMUNICATION CONUNDRUMS OF COVID-19- BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATING WITH DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING PATIENTS DURING A PANDEMIC

CASE: A 53-year-old female with a past medical history of neonatal meningitis complicated by congenital deafness was admitted for evaluation of disorientation. Collateral history provided by family revealed progressive fatigue and labial itching for 1 month. Physical examination revealed excoriated, irregular nodules of the labia with partial obstruction of the vaginal canal. CT of abdomen and pelvis revealed a large mass involving the posterior wall and floor of the bladder with extension to the vagina and vulva, inguinal lymphadenopathy, and multiple liver masses. The admitting team attempted communicating with the patient using a virtual American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter via an iPad and written communication, but both were limited by the patient's vision impairment. The patient was able to lip-read, but this approach was complicated by the need for mask-wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The care team was reluctant to remove their masks to avoid putting the patient's health at risk, as her vision impairment would have required them to stand close. The team attempted to arrange for family to assist with communication, but this was limited by hospital policy restricting visitors due to COVID-19. Eventually, an interdisciplinary goals-of-care meeting was held with the patient and her family to discuss diagnosis with the assistance of in-person ASL interpreters. The patient had a better understanding of her diagnosis with in-person interpretation but expressed feeling excluded from her care plan and lack of empathy in communication from her providers. IMPACT/DISCUSSION: This care team was faced with multiple barriers to conveying a life-changing diagnosis and holding a meaningful goals-of-care discussion with the patient. The goal was to convey a diagnosis and create a plan through shared decision-making as promptly and empathetically as would be done for a patient without these barriers to communication. Despite exhausting the available resources for communicating with the deaf population, the ability to communicate at the same standard as patients without their medical condition remained limited. It is important to identify the limitations to communication in this case to improve communication with deaf patients. Unavailability of in-person ASL interpreters during the night, lack of staff education regarding resources available to facilitate communication between providers and patients who are deaf, prevention of communicating emotion with ASL due to mask-wearing, and prevention of family member visitation, who often develop their own effective ways of communicating, due to hospital policy were all barriers to effective communication in this case. CONCLUSION: This case illustrates the challenges imposed by COVID-19 safety precautions on communicating with patients who experience deafness as well as the need for new resources and staff education on current resources available, both inside and outside of their institutions, to assist with communicating with deaf patients.

COMPLICATED COMMUNICATIONS DURING THE PANDEMIC

CASE: The Pandemic has been one of the greatest challenges in health care. Communication is the most vital part of the patient visit. The pandemic hindered the doctor-patient communiciation in unimaginable ways. Besides using Televisits with its new set of challenges, I present these clinic visits with complicated communication. Case 1-Deaf mute patient 45 year male deaf mute with chronic kidney disease stage 3a with hypertension and med "non compliance." The interpreter used Americal sign language along with lip reading. Lip reading is hindered by the standard mask. This interpreter used a special type of lip tranparent mask. We discovered that the patient was confused regarding the BP medications attributing to his non compliance. Repeat BP check at 1 and 3 months was at goal after he understood the instructions. Other patients also found the lip transparent mask to be useful when they had hearing deficit or English accent problem and relied on lip reading for communication. Case 2-Grieving 42 year old Spanish only speaking lady just lost her husband to COVID. She herself was recovering from COVID and was grieving. Computer based interpreter was used along with social distancing and shield and mask. This made comforting the patient challenging. Case 3-Computer based interpreters A 28 year female patient speaking only Amharric had breast pain. I used computer based interpreter with audio only option and kept the video off, especially during the physical examination. 89 year Vietnamese only speaking male had multi organ failure. I had to use the computer based interpreter to explain the situation to him and family and offer them hospice. Hospice concept was totally new to them. They were committed to caring for him at home and felt that hospice was an intrusion that God did not want and was not culturally acceptable. Today they are happy with home hospice care. Case 4-Intellectually challenged patients-Cerebral palsy 40 year aphasic male with cerebral palsy came with his host caregiver. Patient had open sores on his neck that he had been scratching. He was cooperative but was pulling at his mask and was unable to understand my simple instructions through my mask and shield. IMPACT/DISCUSSION: Clear communication is a key to a good clinic visit and patient and provider satisfaction. Low English proficiency (LEP) is a road block that we try to overcome by using interpreters. This vignette is an excellent demonstration of challenges to communication that we encountered during the pandemic. Publication here will give an opportunity to identify with our struggles, exchange ideas and help our trainees. CONCLUSION: Wearing mask and social distancing saved countless lives during the COVID pandemic.It presented unprecendented challenges to doctor-patient communication. It is important to anticipate, understand and educate our learners about these challenges and continue to provide culturally competant care.

Perspectives on the Debate About "Rights"

Paul offers insights about debate about rights. It seems that there is an avalanche of issues put forward as rights. In addition, there seems to be a wide variety of perspectives regarding what should count as a right. In any case, the debate on rights becomes really interesting, if not downright confusing and dissentious, with the right to wear or not to wear a protective face mask in public. This refers to the recommendation of health agencies as one way to combat the current coronavirus pandemic- in which infections and deaths, at the time of this editorial, are once again on the rise. This can lead to mental and sometimes physical altercations, influenced mostly by political views, but still couched under the individual or human rights umbrella.

Online Administration of the Test of Narrative Language–Second Edition: Psychometrics and Considerations for Remote Assessment

Purpose: Our aim was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the online administered format of the Test of Narrative Language-Second Edition (TNL-2;Giliam & Pearson, 2017), given the importance of assessing children's narrative ability and considerable absence of psychometric studies of spoken language assessments administered online. Method: The TNL-2 was administered to 357 school-age children at risk for language and literacy difficulties as part of a randomized controlled trial, across three annual cohorts, at three time points (pretest, posttest, and 5-month followup). Cohort 3 students were tested using an online format at posttest and at followup. We compared the Cronbach's alpha internal consistency reliability of the TNL-2 online testing scores with in-person scores from TNL-2 normative data and Cohort 3 in-person testing at pretest, and interrater reliability for Cohort 3 across test points. In addition, we examined measurement invariance across test occasions and the criterion validity of the TNL-2, the latter based on its correlations with narrative sample measures (Mean Length of Utterance in words and the Monitoring Indicators of Scholarly Language rubric). Results: Internal consistency reliability, interrater reliability, and measurement invariance analyses of the online and in-person administration of the TNL-2 yielded similar outcomes. The criterion validity of the TNL-2 was found to be good. Conclusions: TNL-2 psychometric properties from online administration were generally in the good range and were not significantly different from in-person testing. When administered online using standardized procedures, the tNl-2 is valid and reliable for use in assessing narrative language proficiency in schoolage children at risk for language and learning difficulties.

A quantitative analysis of the reactions of viewers with hearing impairment to the intralingual subtitling of Egyptian movies.

This study investigates how the viewers with hearing impairment reacted to the Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) subtitles added to some Vernacular Arabic movies during the COVID-19 stay-at-home period. A sample group of 106 deaf participants was asked to watch the MSA subtitled version of the Egyptian vernacular movie, Boushkash, and fill in an 18-item questionnaire of five constructs, namely, (1) movie watching habits, (2) technical aspects, (3) linguistic and paralinguistic information, (4) attitude, and (5) future actions and recommendations. The analysis showed that the intralingual subtitling of vernacular Arabic comedy movies was received positively by the participants. The technical specifications of the subtitles were satisfactory and adequate. The paralinguistic information was helpful as it offers a better understanding of the movie and creates a sense of reality in the movie's scenes. This indicates that intralingual subtitling is a step in the right direction that makes audiovisual materials accessible to people with hearing impairment and enhances their feeling of social inclusion. The study concludes that more governmental care in the Arab countries should be directed towards this minority group by urging national TV channels to add intralingual translation to their various programs.

Challenges of the Deaf and Hearing Impaired in the Masked World of COVID-19.

Difficulties of the hearing impaired have increased due to COVID-19, leading to lack of inclusiveness along with the breakdown of their mental, physical, and social health. The study objective was to assess the challenges faced by the deaf and hearing-impaired people during COVID-19 by a literature review. Literature search was done using keywords such as "challenges" OR "barriers" and "COVID-19" OR "Deaf" OR "Hearing Impaired" OR "Communication" on PubMed and Google Scholar from November 2019 to June 2020. The challenges faced were lack of information, face mask making communication difficult, social distancing affecting their physical, mental health, stigma and barriers related to the health-care system. Strategies included use of technology, help from sign language instructors, and preparedness of health-care settings for the hearing disabled. System strengthening, tele-medicine, and policy amendments can be the pillars to build up the support system for the hearing impaired to protect them from COVID-19.

The implications of hearing loss on a medical student: A personal view and learning points for medical educators.

Due to the widening access to medicine scheme, students with disabilities are entering medicine. Hearing-impaired students are an important subcategory of medical students, whose specific learning challenges with respect to medicine are poorly explored in the literature. We feel that this topic is particularly important and relevant given the current covid-19 pandemic, which has led to the widespread use of surgical masks, thereby posing a barrier to hearing, communication and education for hearing-impaired medical students. Therefore, the medical education of these students is of even more paramount importance as the pandemic continues. This personal view details the experiences of a current hearing-impaired medical student in the United Kingdom, with key learning points for medical educators who may require insight into hearing loss and how to tailor their teaching techniques accordingly.