Deafness

Gene therapy has allowed several children born with inherited deafness to hear.

The Health Ministry conducted two-stage hearing screening tests for nearly 2 million newborns and children last year, the General Directorate of Public Health has announced.

The Simpsons premiered its first ever episode that featured American Sign Language (ASL) and a deaf voice actor on April 10.

Entitled "The Sound of Bleeding Gums," the episode saw Lisa Simpson befriend Monk, the deaf son of her saxophonist mentor Bleeding Gums Murphy, as he wanted to get a cochlear implant.

Ljubljana – The right to use and development of the Slovenian sign language was enshrined in the Constitution on Thursday as MPs endorsed the step unanimously. The latest constitutional law also sets down that a free use and development of the deaf-blind language is governed by law.

One in four of the world's population will suffer from hearing problems by 2050, the World Health Organization warned Tuesday, calling for extra investment in prevention and treatment.

The first ever global report on hearing said that the causes of many of the problems such as infections, diseases, birth defects, noise exposure and lifestyle choices could be prevented.

Proposed by the government, the law was adopted conclusively on Thursday to make what many consider a breakthrough in deaf people's rights. According to the new law, deaf people in Bulgaria are entitled to free translation services, the cultural and language identity of their community is recognized and an attitude of respect to them will be encouraged in the broader community.

A video communication station for the deaf and hard of hearing was launched on Monday at Syntagma metro station in central Athens.

Greece became the first country in the European Union to offer this service free of charge at a metro station.

Turkish Red Crescent helped a 7-year-old deaf-mute Afghan child to regain her ability after she lost hearing during an explosion near her house.

Sign languages emerge through a natural process in deaf communities just as verbal languages do, after a language community is formed, according to a linguist.         

Athletes with hearing impairment do not need any extra equipment while playing sports, according to head of a sports federation.