Life is dangerous in a soundless world, and beyond that it can be downright lonely. But thanks to one woman`s efforts, the world can be a safer, friendlier place for those unable to hear it.
The hearing impaired sometimes suffer from isolation and find it difficult to communicate even with family members, said Linda Berg, a clinical audiologist and instructor at Milwaukee Medical College.
”It can make you socially isolated. Deaf people tend to not go to parties because they can`t understand the conversations going on there,” she said.
She thinks such people could profit from an ever-present companion whose only job is to alert their partners to environmental sounds, such as smoke detectors, sirens, doorbells-even a baby`s crying. And if this hearing aid were a one-on-one assistant, warm and fuzzy and requiring no batteries, well, all the better.
This special assistance, offered through Okada Hearing Ear Guide Dogs, takes the form of canine helpers. The specially trained dogs work as both guides and protectors and, like Seeing-Eye Dogs, offer a brand of friendship and loyalty that no electronic gadgetry could match.
Okada, a small, family-run operation just outside Fontana, Wis., about midway between Milwaukee and Chicago, was founded on such a principle. There, amid a quiet country setting, the kennel and school work to pair trainable dogs with hearing-impaired handlers.
The center was founded four years ago by Pat Putnam, a former social worker. Putnam combined her work with people and her fondness for dogs by training guide dogs for the deaf on a not-for-profit basis. She learned her skill with the Iowa Hearing Dog Program and became a member of Assist Dogs International, organizations that pioneered special training. Putnam, working with a small staff of volunteers, chooses her applicants with emphasis on medical and social needs. Then she assesses the personalities of hearing-impaired handlers with the qualities of the dogs so the two are not only compatible but mutually beneficial.
One of Putnam`s first dogs was placed with a young man. The kinship enabled him to become independent enough to attend college away from home.
”Okada” is an American Indian word meaning ”asking for a place.” The school was so named for the hearing-impaired people asking for their place as functioning independents in society. It also stands for the dogs themselves, mostly mongrels rescued for the work from the local dog pound.
`Everybody wins`
”It`s a situation where everybody wins,” Putnam said. ”The hearing-impaired person gets a guide dog, and the dog gets a home and a lifelong friend.”
Abandoned pound dogs must meet rigid criteria. Often 50 or so are tested before one is chosen for a job. Ideally, the dogs are 6 to 8 months old and weigh 35 to 45 pounds. Putnam likes the terrier mixes because they are smart and energetic, though she does use other breed mixes. ”With the mutts, we don`t know the history, what traumatic events they`ve undergone,” Putnam said. But she feels comfortable taking the dogs at face value. Many mixed breeds have more stable temperaments than hyped-up purebreds, and there is the health advantage of hybrid vigor.
Only those with a willing disposition are considered. ”In training, there`s a difference between can do and won`t do,” Putnam said. And besides being pro-people, dogs selected must be tuned in to sounds. She explains that though some dogs, such as bloodhounds, are bred for their fine-tuned sniffers, her dogs must follow their ears, not their noses. Putnam relies on volunteer foster homes to raise and socialize the young dogs and to give them basic obedience training until they are ready for specialized work.
The dogs are taught to distinguish different sounds. In some instances, such as when the dog hears the phone ring, the animal alerts his master by touching the deaf person and going directly to the source of sound.
When the alarm clock goes off, the dog jumps on the owner`s bed. To warn of a smoke alarm, which may be near the source of smoke, the dog is taught to nudge the deaf person and drop to the floor. In the car, each dog is trained to ride in the back seat and jump in the front seat to warn a deaf driver of an approaching siren.
All of the dogs must be spayed or neutered to avoid natural distractions from their duties. The training takes more than a year of repetitions with food rewards. In the end, the dog is fully acclimated to the needs of the new owner.
Individualistic mutts
”Each dog is an individual. Maize, a brown and white Australian shepherd-terrier,” Putnam said, ”wouldn`t work for anything other than a rub on her tummy. And Gandhi, a three-legged lab found at a shelter after losing his leg to a steel-jaw trap, works only for people food.”
During the final two weeks of training the new handler and dog practice together in an specially equipped apartment set up on the lower level of Putnam`s house. There the pair learn to live together under her watchful eye. ”We make sure there is plenty of time for problem-solving sessions,”
Putnam said. Problems do arise. Dogs get lazy, go through periods where they shut down. Not every hearing-impaired person can handle a dog. And the dogs don`t cooperate 100 percent of the time.
”The people need a willingness to understand that the dogs are their responsibility,” Putnam said. ”They`re a working team. They have to practice. And, for the situation to be a complete success, they have to like dogs.”
Recipients pay only a $150 application fee for a dog that Putnam estimates would be valued at $6,000 to $8,000. Training costs are paid through grants and from individual and group donations, such as from the Lions Club. Putnam can be reached at 414-275-5226 (V-TDD, a code for the hearing-impaired). –
