Radiculopathy is a condition due to a compressed nerve in the spine that can cause pain, numbness, tingling, or weakness along the course of the nerve. Radiculopathy can occur in any part of the spine, but it is most common in the lower back (lumbar radiculopathy) and in the neck (cervical radiculopathy).

C6-C7 degenerative disc disease
The disc acts like a cushion between the bones (or vertebrae) in the neck. As the disc positioned between the C6 and C7 vertebrae starts to lose its cushioning and height during the normal ageing process, the facet joints endure more stress resulting in degenerative problems. This can lead to pain generation arising from the disc itself, from the settling of the joints, and/or irritation of the adjacent nerve. Cervical Degenerative Disc…

Looking back to the first diagnosis early this year. How I am managing so far this year?

The biggest challenge is activities around home and work such as doing weeding, cooking a Christmas cake, carry shopping, communicating in sign language, let the dogs out for a run, gardening and the list go on. Of course, there is still one nuisance problem from the neighbour over our dogs, and she refused to help us for four years.

A small change makes my life easier which are to work from home during recovering, one hour doing light weeding, away from doing the computer/laptop from evening to the early hours of the next morning, taking a day off in between work days/meetings. Let the dogs out for a run with an eye on them and to check the private road if a nuisance woman is walking her dog or not. I am going to order plants as hedges along one side of the private road to reduce the distraction from the nuisance woman of State Highway 26.

Gardens bought me relaxing when I do walking around in the morning or in the evening but without dogs often. Other times, my partner is at home, and our dogs come with me while my partner uses his ear for sounds and distraction.

Too many medicines make me tiring and finding difficult to get up in the early hours of the morning. I changed to a different medicine which helps me and reduces the pain, for example, recovering 72 hours in the past and now it is about 55-45 hours. I take the prescription medicines only when I really need it.

I go to physio once a month with my own income – not cheap, and it helps me to relax. I am unable to seek funding such as Disability Support Funding even I need to put up an increased height of the fence. All I am asking around $5,000 to help me to get back on the track plus the fence. Our dogs are working/assisting dogs than pet dogs.

Two months ago, this was me with Mark Hadlow at the Central Library in Hamilton, and it was great to catch a quick chat. We met many years back where there was an event – people/children with disabilities. On that day, I put up my brave face for I was in pain, and I met several students with learning disabilities for their lesson at the library.

It is about the hidden pain syndrome I am suffering daily and how I am managing daily life.

Sigh!

More work to be done in the community before Christmas and New Year…. I am having a long break but I dont know how I am over the holiday.

Cheers!!

Photos are wonderful to look at for example how did we look like, what did your Aunty or uncle do? What the clothes were like in the old days? Many of photos were not list any names of the people or landmarks on the back. But I recognise some of the mystery people and children which bring some luck of joy in finding them.

In doing the Deaf history, the research help me to find the clue through books, journals, newspapers and video even onlines. The hours has gone by then I realise it may be tea time and don’t have time to cook meals. Because all the works of researches and exploring absorbing me into the works for nothing or least of little income. Some research through archives can be very expensive to order or less expensive to print out or to save in the files.

Just like doing the detective works.

“People will make a life in their own terms, whether they are deaf or colorblind or autistic or whatever. And their world will be quite as rich and interesting and full as our world.” – Oliver Sacks

Yesterday it was a special day since Oliver Sacks’s death on the 31st of August 2015. I read his books including ‘Seeing Voices’ over many years. I have got the book – Seeing Voices which I found at the Book Fair.

I gave an article ‘Musicophilia’ to my sister who their son had an accident during his high school many years ago. The accident caused my nephew to lose some of the physical ability and the memory ability – mild concussion. The best of all, my nephew loves to play the guitar before the accident happened. After the accident, he retreated himself to the top of the garage or in his room and played the music which helped and calmed him down. I often visited my sister at their place and I saw my nephew playing the music at the top of the garage. Today he is a father with his lovely wife and the twins and another one on the way. He plays music when he have times.

With the Deaf community, Oliver decided to explored the visual language – sign language and the Deaf community in US. He wrote a book called ‘Seeing Voices’ for everyone, not just for the Deaf community.

His quote – “I had never thought about what it might mean to be deaf, to be deprived of language, or to have a remarkable language (and community and culture) of one’s own. Up to this point, I had mostly thought and written about the problems of individuals–here I was to encounter an entire community.”

Seeing Voices

This is me – Jean living out in the rural life since moving out of the Hamilton City four years ago.

Currently, my work roles – a deaf community support worker, an advocator for people/children with disabilities, tutor, a deaf historian/researcher, a Health & Safety Representative and a blogger. My past work roles were a data entry/bank officer/payroll officer/budgeting adviser, a data entry for the Farming database, a deaf health carer/assistant/home help for many disabled people/children/seniors including cancer patients and a teacher aide for children/teenagers with disabilities and behaviour problems.

WOW! that is a massive amount of skills I have experience in my work area.

Yesterday I posted a blog about cancer and a shock new to the Deaf community. When someone died or passed away, and this person had a unique gift/skill to share or to use the ability back in the community. Cruel cancer or another kind of life threating such as in a car accident, become paralysis and ended up in a wheelchair, robbed a person’s life and skill away.

Recently I got the report back from the specialist at the Waikato Hospital and I visited my GP last month. After discussing with my Gp and I spoke to my hearing partner about my diagnose. We accepted to change the mobility adjustment/modification things at home and in the garden. I must force myself to rest the day before the work/conference/workshop appointment and the day after as well to take a physio treatment if I need one. My symptom is not a life threating, but it is a life changing of my abilities around the home, garden and work. I must take care of myself before I do something STUPID!!!  It is called Probable chronic right C7/C8 radiculopathy (including C5/C6) – Cervical DEGENERATIVE DISC DISEASE.

Over the previous three years, I was suffering a lot of pain and getting exhausted almost daily, and my ability to do around the house and at work were difficult to get the tasks done. I visited the specialists and have the EMG & Nerve Conduction studies twice, and two MRI scans in the past.

The photo of me above, this was taken on one beautiful frosty morning with sunshine over me on my work to work – the library where I teach a small group of learning disabilities youths and their staff in NZSL (New Zealand Sign Language). Inside me, there were hidden pains and I went to work with a brave face.

Today I stayed home and woke up to find a bit of sunshine peeping through the window while the dogs slept with me in a large bed.

YEP – Three big dogs in one bed!              

Fancy seeing the cherry tree is full of blooming cherry flowers on a gloomy morning. The weather was horrible – rainy, windy and cold morning for me. The sign of this mean SPRING is almost here!

Starting a new way of changing the adapting things and equipment around the house, garden and workplace NOW.

Every year I was invited to the DeafBlind support group – Waikato/BOP area. Today it was held at the Clock World in Ohaupo, Waikato. 

Why I was involved with this group? I am a deaf community support worker for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and people with disabilities for many years. I am also an advocator for the people/children with disabilities for 39 years or more. Today the weather was sunning and brighten up the dreary day after the long wet and wild weather week. I must say we enjoyed the early lunch together today.

However, Helen Keller was primarily known to many people and children around the world because of her disability – Deaf and Blind. As a deaf Historian of International and New Zealand, what about Julia Brace or Laura Bridgman? Who are these people? Have these people forgotten by us? 

Photo from American School for the Deaf… This photo: Julia Brace – 1807-1884.

Photo from Perkins School for the Blind. This photo: Laura Bridgman – 1829-1889. She died just before turning to 60 years old.

These three women who had got the same disability – DeafBlind. How did these women manage to communicate with other people in the schools, family, teachers and the community? A straightforward answer was tactile sign language.

Julia Brace developed a home sign system with her parents at home, and she learnt tactile signing from staff and students at the Hartford Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb (now it is called American School for the Deaf). Julia lost her sights and hearing from typhus fever at the aged of 5 years.

Laura Bridgman was an “Intellectually superior to Helen Keller” according to Annie (Ann) Sullivan. Laura lost all or most of her sensory through having scarlet fever at the aged of 2 years old. Laura Bridgman  Laura was taught how to write and to read by Samuel Gridley Howe through tactile signing. Note Ann Sullivan was also a teacher to Helen Keller. Ann was a roommate with Laura as well. Ann became blind from trachoma at the age of 5 years old.

Let us not forget these women apart from Helen Keller.

A couple of years ago this photo was taken from our property and seeing the flipped car in the ditch in the neighbour’s property. We were asleep and the dogs did wake us up BUT we assumed it was the possums or furry animals around our place.

We saw an ambulance staff checking inside the car while the forensics staff looking for pieces and clues of the accident on the roadside, down the ditch even under the car and the neighbour’s farmland. There were several police officers checking for the mystery clues and the marking on the road. Of course, many people were speeding just before approaching, saw this flipped car, police cars and ambulance van. The drivers reduced their speed even becoming nosy and speed up after passing this accident site.

We do not really know who the driver was but we do know that the driver was drunk and drugged under influence while driving on the road in the early hour of the morning. The wrecked car was left there for about a month and it disappeared while we were at work.

In 2014 it was the year we moved to our home from the city of Hamilton, one early hour of the morning, I woke up by the light shining from the dining room. My partner – Bill (name not real) was up and keeping an eye on a drunk guy hanging around outside while our older dog – Joseph was barking. Bill did not hand over the phone to the drunk guy, but he rang the number that the drunk guy gave Bill. Another person or people came to pick the drunk guy at the gate and gone. Bill was up and waited for another 20 minutes to ensure that they were not coming back. There were no repeat dramas until the car down in the ditch.

From Monday to Friday, I go to work and there is always a new person, familiar person, or a family with small children asking for serious crying helps. What about the people with disabilities? Yes, there are a small number of Deaf family who is struggling with the need for help through Social Service, no proper services for the Deaf family even a Deaf person, in Hamilton. Here is one website which is useful for you guys to learn about the urgent needs to work with many Deaf mental people. TePou – Working with Deaf people with mental health needs

One Deaf family with young children are seeking help but there are no local support or help services in their local area. I visit them once a month and it is called a ‘drop in and chat’ visit. Last week, a Deaf mother seeking a support group because their lives have gone from good to worst or pitfall. She was crying out for help and want to have long talk so she released her emotion and anger out.

I must say there are a high number of Deaf people fell in the cracks or under the influence of becoming drug addict or alcohol. There are many reasons for any Deaf people who are isolated, unemployed, communication problems, money problems, wrong types of friends even family in the drug and alcohol abuse cycles.  The picture showed here from The Sun.

There is a link from Youtube – Deaf Prison

The crime report the crime.org

Is that enough or the urgent more awareness for many Deaf people and the families in New Zealand? We do not have the number of Deaf mental/Deaf addicts even alcoholics here. Why not? Start learning about us and our needs now!

The suicide rate review from oversea

Barriers to care for the Deaf Community Health oversea

What about Deaf alcoholics??

A helpful tool from the USA for Deaf Alcohol and counsellors

Hidden problems within the Deaf community

Would be great to have a friendly Deaf AA, Deaf Mental Health and Addiction Support groups in New Zealand?

There is a public Mental Health and Addiction Inquiry meeting in Hamilton this Wednesday……..

I continue to complete article about awareness in the society where many people are suffering mental health and addiction.

Today I was at work, and there was an incident outside the foyer. One man (name withheld) come to the Lunch Meal group regularly every Monday. Out of the blue, he had a violent shaking and suffered another epilepsy seizure before his arrival for his lunch meal. Unfortunately, the glass door windows smashed down, and he got cut on his forehead while continue to have seizure onto the grass area. The director and the staff rang the police and the ambulance service to assist him. We were lucky to have the skills covered in First Aid area, emergency plan and Health & Safety plan (I am the only one – a deaf Health & Safety Representative for one organisation, not here). He is in the safe hand with the ambulance staff and the Waikato Hospital Emergency staff for now. The police reported about this incident on their files because they know him well.

This man is on drug withdrawal for a quite awhile, but he has disabilities – epilepsy and low literacy. He was not a violent type today, BUT he was in the past. Of course, he was one of the low income and homelessness people in the society.
I learnt to understand him about his lousy life in the gang, the struggle of getting back to ‘normal life’ when he got out of the prison, no family, no job or home to sleep. I met him when I start working here last year. Each time I see him, and he approached me one step at a time by getting to know each other.

WHY? He learnt that I am a deaf person working here and supporting many people with disabilities, raising more awareness about our disabilities in the society. He wants to know more about people with disabilities even himself. None of the organisations will take him in due to his behaviour problem even knowing him in the past. To me, the history that his previous life finished and it is time to start over again by learning to trust him and encouraging him to do any activity one at a time.

I have got another request from one Deaf family who are seeking for more help on mental illness recently.

  Take a look at former gang – senior Mongrel Mob member in Porirua, a parent and a grandfather and anti Meth campaigner.  NZ “P Pull” in Porirua
The data of how many people in New Zealand is not clear. There are the figures from Addiction in NZ. Addiction in NZ
44% will try illicit drugs at some points in their lives
93% will try alcohol at some points in their lives
12% will have a substance use disorder in their lifetime
In 2016, there were 46.730 people accessing treatment through Accessing Help.

The top common mental illness/health in the society.

• Heredity
• Biology
• Psychological Trauma
• Environmental Stressors

I know that many people will ask if there is a cure or preventable on mental illness/health. There is no answer for this.
Mental illness/health are common in our lives and the mental illness is more common than diabetes, heart disease and cancer. The top leading causes of disability are major depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. What about eating disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity (ADHA)? Yes, these types are including.

You can get any treatment if you can manage such as medication, psychotherapy, group therapy, Day treatment or partial Hospital treatment in the society. There is a couple of treatments such as a Cognitive Behaviours and behaviour modification.

Do we have any funding available for these kind of treatments and the resources? The answer is NO because there is not enough funding to cover.

What about people with disabilties even Deaf people who have mental illness/health?

Help Jean raise money for creating Deaf History in New Zealand and International project and the reseach. My facebook   or to Givealittle.co.nz givealittle.co.nz

Thanks

Mental Illness – Bullying is a learned behaviour

The new release of a short story about the bully in New Zealand a couple of weeks ago. click the link – Bullying is a learned behaviour as above.

This picture is from Lancaster University and the lecture came to speak about Mental Health Service including working with the Deaf service and the Deaf community. Her name is Dr Margaret de Feu, OBE of Northern Ireland and she became deaf by losing her hearing loss when she was studying at the university.

We do not have the actual figures of Deaf people who have the mental illness, health issues even bullying in New Zealand. Last year, in the UK there are many Deaf people two times more from having depression to mental illness than the hearing people, for example, 1 hearing person out of two Deaf persons suffered depression.

Depression.org.nz – Deaf/Hard of Hearing people

42 percent of disabled youth not earning or learning in NZ

There are a small number of Deaf people who I have heard, and I met 2-4 Deaf people with mental illness in the Waikato area. Several years ago, I received an urgent request from one young Deaf lady and she asked for counselling. In Waikato, there are many counsellors available BUT not with the experience in the Deaf community, culture even in NZSL. The counsellors paid for the interpreters by the Ministry of Health funding for any Deaf patients. I found one person who willing to do for this Deaf lady in Hamilton.

Currently, we have 2-4 Deaf counsellors around New Zealand.

Every day I go out to work, relaxing in the cafe, observing other people’s lives and watching or reading the papers about many people even children suffered depressed, abuse, having a mental illness. I go out to the public meetings and I listen via an interpreter to many people asking for help through the public hospital. There is an urgent huge need for support, awareness, the service for the people with mental illness even people with disabilities who have the mental illness.

At my workplace, we do have people who are homeless suffering from mental illness, health to Alcohol and drug abuse in their system.  Yes, there are a small number of people with disabilities as well. I do a lot of referral cases from the people I met through booking an appointment or in the public meeting.

In the past, when I was a teacher aide for two Deaf teenagers in two different High Schools in Hamilton. I noticed there was an increasing number of expelled students who have behaviour problems from other schools. The two Deaf teenagers were in the same classroom alone with these expelled students and the students who have learning disabilities etc. I noticed the teachers’ behaviours and it was so absurd and stupid enough to train or give any encouragement to these expelled students. I put myself in a different role than a teacher aide and spoke these expelled students from time to time outside the classroom session. The results came out blue after 4-6 months later. Here is my story to share.

One expelled Maori – Mark (the name is not real) saw me coming into the classroom late and I noticed where is the Deaf boy who was not in the classroom. Mark told me where the Deaf boy was. I asked Mark if he had told the teacher about this and his replied was no. I said why not? Mark said the teacher was grumpy and refused to listen to him. I said to Mark – try again by knowing the teacher was watching us. Mark plucked up his courage and effort to tell the teacher. The teacher replied to Mark by saying Thank you and he was sorry to rebutted earlier. How does this happen? Earlier Mark arrived in the classroom 4-6 months ago, he was watching me communicating with a Deaf boy. Mark thought it was funny by having arms and hands flapping in the air. A month later, Mark asked me why I was doing this and my replied was simple – you have a Deaf boy in your classroom and does not hear anything. I said to Mark that his arts and music was good. He told me that his English and Maths were bad. Mark came from a gang family who his father was in prison. I told Mark to tell the teacher about his arts and music works and the teacher refused to listen. BUT four-six months later at the time of the missing Deaf boy in the classroom, I told Mark to tell the teacher again. This time the teacher listens and took him to do arts and music lessons by putting English and Maths together. For example to write songs in English and to use the timing of playing the guitar in Maths.  Today Mark studied Arts and Music at University and I heard that he is doing well through one of his family members.

The main problem is there are lack of resources, funding for having an NZSL video about mental illness, the need for the interpreter who has a qualification in Health area and more support groups such as Deaf Well-Being group.

More to come……

How good are you in lip reading without the hearing the sound or in the loud noisy room?

As a deaf linguist, I learnt a lot on lip reading and speech via sounds through my linguistic papers at the University of Waikato in the past. When I was young before going to the primary school, I learnt to speak properly through speech therapy. In the photo above, this is me when I was young and the photo was printed in the newspaper – Waikato Times. In the old days, Ministry of Education paid the funding – the speech therapy in all school but today there was no speech therapy in all school. My face have not change much today.

I starting to understand why many people even Deaf people struggle to understand what they were saying or talking about the topic. The young generations are getting worst off when I noticed young people in the supermarket or writing a short letter. Let me explain here.

Listen to the sounding of each word. Lip and sound patterns

here

hair

hare

ear

air

for

four

Did you watch or notice the lip patterns??

What is lip reading?

Many Deaf people prefer to use visual signs such as sign language, body language, gesture, facial expression and visual clue. This is why Deaf people use their first language as sign language for many years. Not all Deaf people can read lips and they receive around 30% or less than 25% of the words through lip reading. Not all the grammatical structures and sounds are impossible to read through lip reading. Many Deaf people are not good at speaking with the right sound and they use their voice off as it is their culture. Simply is that many Deaf people can not hear the right sound by looking at the lip pattern, cannot see the tongue structure or movement behind the teeth.

I am using more than two languages – English, English-NZSL (New Zealand Sign Language) and International Sign Language. For me, it is not always easy to pick up the whole conversation in the meeting or watching the t .v. because it was too noisy, people turned their face away from me, talking too fast, mumbling or gibbering even men wear long beards or moustaches over the lips.

Last year I was with a Somalian Deaf lady in the ESOL classroom and the ESOL teacher was trying to teach one African man who struggles to say ‘kitchen’ instead of ‘chicken’ and ‘khicken’ instead of ‘chicken’. Because of his accent and speaking with a clicking sound is a ‘k’.  There were several other ESOL refugee students in the same classroom and they struggle to say the right sound by using particular words such as two, too, Firth, Fifth etc. I was happy to teach them but I was not allowed to teach them due to the ESOL Teacher’s instruction. In the classroom, there were two or three volunteers for 16-17 refugee students. I was not a volunteer, just a paid job as ESOL teacher aide/communicator for the Somalian Deaf lady under one of the organisations for people with disabilities. However, the students asked me during the break hours and I helped them.

How can a Deaf family with a hearing child manage to communicate in their home? There is always the opportunity for many Deaf families to place their hearing child in a kindergarten, pre-kindergarten, with another family member’s children, grandparents, storytelling books even hearing friends’ children. Of course, the Deaf family will have two-way of communication under one roof – sign language and speaking.