0:00:00.060,0:00:04.018 (RaiNews) 0:00:04.018,0:00:08.951 (Rights[br]other voices / us and them) 0:00:08.951,0:00:14.149 [Man] Let's see the instructions. I was hoping... about sign language. I heard you can use it to order 0:00:14.149,0:00:18.989 [Off voice] True, at the Nameless Bar - that's the name of this bar in the center of Bologna, opened 0:00:18.989,0:00:23.249 by two deaf young persons - you can also order in sign language. 0:00:23.273,0:00:26.970 For those who are afraid to try, there are slips of paper with dishes and drinks. 0:00:26.970,0:00:29.427 Alternatively, a mirror and a helper. 0:00:29.427,0:00:33.749 [Woman] I'd like to open a Corona beer. How to you sign it in deaf language? 0:00:33.749,0:00:35.259 [Interpreter] Beer - crown [corona] 0:00:35.259,0:00:40.182 [Woman] OK, thanks. Beer - crown. Thanks. 0:00:40.198,0:00:43.895 [Reporter] Is it difficult to order?[br][Woman] No, no. See: "crown". 0:00:43.895,0:00:47.699 [Barmaid] If you tell me "a beer" in LIS [Italian Sign Language], you get a discount. 0:00:48.745,0:00:54.320 [Off voice] Sara Longhi, one of the two managers of the bar, recognizes that the discount is just a pretext, 0:00:54.320,0:00:58.943 mainly a way to publicize and promote sign language among hearers too. 0:00:58.943,0:01:05.600 [Patron] I'll try to have conversations using signs, using signs - I don't know. 0:01:06.030,0:01:10.875 [Other patron] I think hearing people like the spontaneous gestures, 0:01:11.560,0:01:15.270 the different communication manner, 0:01:15.270,0:01:21.044 another way of communicating, paying attention to what you're doing, even having a coffee with people. 0:01:21.044,0:01:26.070 I.e., you look at people's eyes, you really look at them. 0:01:26.070,0:01:30.520 [Luce Tommasi] "You really look at them". Deaf people and support initiatives, or rather, integration initiatives. 0:01:30.520,0:01:32.740 as we saw 0:01:32.740,0:01:37.509 in this opening feature edited by Nelson Bova, there is a bar in Bologna 0:01:37.509,0:01:41.509 which is becoming very popular, where people speak in sign language 0:01:41.513,0:01:46.760 and if someone wants to try, they'll get 0:01:46.760,0:01:48.321 a discount on what they buy. 0:01:48.321,0:01:54.463 Today, we'll talk about initiatives like this one with our guests in this studio, 0:01:54.510,0:01:58.892 who are Giuseppe Petrucci, President of the Ente Nazionale Sordi [National Institute of the Deaf] 0:01:58.892,0:02:00.866 Good morning, President, welcome. 0:02:00.866,0:02:05.670 Rosanna Zanchetti, whom you see in the small video, is helping us: she interprets LIS 0:02:05.670,0:02:07.430 which is the sign language. 0:02:07.430,0:02:10.874 And in the studio, there is also Rome's vice-commissioner [vice-questore], Roberto Maugeri. 0:02:10.874,0:02:12.014 Good morning.[br][Roberto Maugeri] Good morning. 0:02:12.014,0:02:17.037 And he'll tell us about a new service, "An SMS for life", 0:02:17.037,0:02:24.307 which enables deaf people to communicate with the police and with the emergency number 113 by SMS. 0:02:24.338,0:02:31.138 So, President Petrucci, what can be said about initiatives like that bar in Bologna? 0:02:31.138,0:02:36.294 Innovative ones, surely, as compared to habits that create barriers 0:02:36.294,0:02:39.105 between those who hear and those who don't, aren't they? 0:02:41.090,0:02:51.196 [Giuseppe Petrucci] Of course, this Bologna bar is a pilot experiment, 0:02:51.196,0:02:54.174 the first experiment that really shows 0:02:54.174,0:02:59.669 an integration between deaf and hearing people, where hearers 0:02:59.669,0:03:04.215 strive to use sign language towards integration, 0:03:04.215,0:03:08.480 and thanks to this effort, they can can get a discount. 0:03:08.480,0:03:13.040 As the broadcast shows, interaction happens very naturally 0:03:13.040,0:03:17.520 and I think that this experiment must be extended to other parts of Italy 0:03:17.520,0:03:23.390 and this is really important, because it is a message of integration and solidarity; 0:03:23.390,0:03:27.963 and it is very important for the recognition of sign language 0:03:27.963,0:03:31.530 and it gives us a feedback 0:03:31.530,0:03:36.762 for continuing to advocate the recognition of sign language. 0:03:36.813,0:03:39.360 Seeing how deaf people 0:03:39.360,0:03:42.940 communicate very naturally in a bar 0:03:42.940,0:03:46.356 can become a way to communicate, and hence demonstrate 0:03:46.356,0:03:48.719 that LIS is a true language. 0:03:48.719,0:03:50.428 [Tommasi] In other words: a way to learn to converse. 0:03:50.428,0:03:56.071 The initiative of the Rome Questura (police forces) is on the same line too. 0:03:56.071,0:04:01.884 Roberto Maugeri, how does this "SMS for life" work? 0:04:01.899,0:04:05.150 [Mugeri] Look, the "SMS for life" project 0:04:05.150,0:04:11.777 arises from the awareness of the need to ensure that deaf people too can access a fundamental service, 0:04:11.777,0:04:13.769 which is the 113 emergency phone number. 0:04:13.769,0:04:18.150 Thus, in collaboration with the National Institute of the Dead (ENS), and in particular 0:04:18.150,0:04:21.940 with its Rome province section, we developed this project, which consists in 0:04:21.940,0:04:28.110 a system that can receive SMS sent by deaf people 0:04:28.110,0:04:31.671 and hence, through the reception of the message, 0:04:31.671,0:04:35.544 enable an immediate response by police forces or by the institution 0:04:35.544,0:04:39.159 requested by the deaf person. 0:04:39.159,0:04:41.800 Because...[br][Tommasi] [inaudible] Thus everybody can send an SMS. 0:04:41.800,0:04:45.364 [Maugeri] No: we have a protection system that 0:04:45.379,0:04:51.430 only allows deaf people to access this service: they must sign up via a written request 0:04:51.430,0:04:56.490 for the service, and when they request it, the Operation room 0:04:56.490,0:05:01.599 of the Rome Questura will automatically send them an SMS telling them 0:05:01.599,0:05:08.109 that the service has been activated and giving them a restricted phone number - which must remain restricted - 0:05:08.129,0:05:10.720 to be used in order to contact us. 0:05:10.720,0:05:12.965 [Tommasi] I meant that it's a kind of technology that also enables 0:05:12.965,0:05:16.558 people who can't hear to interact normally, 0:05:16.574,0:05:20.813 [Maugeri] Yes, but the barrier is precisely that this restricted number must remain restricted. 0:05:20.844,0:05:24.876 [Tommasi] ... yes: obviously restricted: obviously, we who can hear normally cannot 0:05:24.876,0:05:27.333 also invade this.[br][Maugeri] We use ... already many fields 0:05:27.333,0:05:30.706 [Tommasi] We already expand in many fields.[br][Maugeri] Exactly. 0:05:30.706,0:05:37.875 President Petrucci, ENS also set up a taxi service for the deaf. 0:05:38.293,0:05:38.293 ENS also set up a taxi service for the deaf. 0:05:38.293,0:05:40.625 Let's look at this poster and comment it together, shall we? 0:05:41.640,0:05:47.254 (ENS Taxi for the Deaf - Available on Android Market - Available on App Store) 0:05:47.254,0:05:54.130 as you have seen, the logo refers to the taxi service 0:05:54.130,0:05:58.540 limited to deaf people. By accessing this Android or Apple Store 0:05:58.540,0:06:05.190 - hence on iTunes, one can easily 0:06:05.190,0:06:07.710 call this taxi service, 0:06:07.710,0:06:10.909 indicating also the address etc. 0:06:10.909,0:06:14.572 Thus, thanks to technological innovation and development 0:06:14.572,0:06:17.590 deaf people don't need 0:06:17.590,0:06:20.836 to ask other people for help. 0:06:20.836,0:06:24.960 In this way, from their cell phone, thanks to this application 0:06:24.960,0:06:28.930 they can ask for this taxi service 0:06:28.930,0:06:33.165 and when they send this message, the operation center replies 0:06:33.165,0:06:36.260 that yes, the service will be available within two minutes 0:06:36.260,0:06:38.547 at the requested address. 0:06:38.547,0:06:42.209 Thus, this service is a further development 0:06:42.209,0:06:44.439 of deaf people's autonomy 0:06:44.439,0:06:48.522 And as the Vicequestore said about "an SMS for life" 0:06:48.522,0:06:52.480 - and that's very important - he said 0:06:52.480,0:06:57.233 in case of burglary or of family troubles, 0:06:57.233,0:07:00.110 various violences, it's now possible to call directly 0:07:00.110,0:07:02.050 by sending this SMS 0:07:02.050,0:07:07.889 to the operational central, and the place of origin of the call 0:07:07.889,0:07:10.530 gets identified, thus enabling an intervention. 0:07:10.530,0:07:14.500 Obviously, there is also a collaboration with the Ministry of Internal affairs 0:07:14.500,0:07:18.244 to make this service 0:07:18.244,0:07:21.250 really direct and operational, 0:07:21.250,0:07:23.790 and we expect the same for the taxi service. 0:07:23.790,0:07:28.260 And we are working at spreading this service 0:07:28.260,0:07:30.873 in other parts of Italy, obviously. 0:07:30.873,0:07:35.504 [Tommasi] Thank you, President. Now, let's see Giuseppina Alessio's report 0:07:35.508,0:07:41.686 on the new frontiers in medicine too, and on the new auxiliary technologies for deaf people. 0:07:42.860,0:07:48.139 [Off voice] Voices, sounds and music are nothing obvious for ca 8 millions Italians: 0:07:48.139,0:07:51.600 that's how many have hearing problems, according to data from AIRS 0:07:51.600,0:07:57.866 Italian Association for Research on Deafness.[br]I.e., 12% of Italian people. 0:07:57.866,0:08:02.080 There have been impressive progresses in surgical therapies and in technologies to overcome deafness 0:08:02.080,0:08:07.340 in the last years, and it is now possible to restore hearing 0:08:07.340,0:08:11.409 to almost all people who lost it.[br]However, it important to intervene 0:08:11.409,0:08:15.419 very early on children, just after birth and at least within two years, 0:08:15.419,0:08:19.909 experts say, and to use the most advanced tools for grown ups. 0:08:19.909,0:08:23.509 Deafness and hearing loss, on the other hand, hit 0:08:23.509,0:08:29.374 a total 5% of the people, i.e. 2 and half millions people in Italy. 0:08:29.374,0:08:33.459 This proportion rises to 30% among people over 50, 0:08:33.459,0:08:37.387 and to 50% for those over 85. 0:08:37.387,0:08:42.083 However, today, there are many tools to fight hearing troubles. 0:08:42.083,0:08:47.399 External hearing aids of yore are bygones. Today, hearing prostheses, 0:08:47.399,0:08:52.093 even the cheapest ones, are rather sophisticated computers 0:08:52.093,0:08:56.224 that gather sounds and reshape them to make them compatible 0:08:56.224,0:08:58.766 with each single patient's brain. 0:08:59.751,0:09:04.310 [Tommasi] President Petrucci, what do you think of these new technologies? 0:09:04.334,0:09:08.843 Can they be important solutions for the deaf? 0:09:10.108,0:09:21.046 [Petrucci] About cochlear implants and, as you said, 0:09:21.046,0:09:25.880 there are also other types of digital and also analogical prostheses: 0:09:25.880,0:09:26.830 that's true. 0:09:26.830,0:09:33.009 And as to these analogical prostheses, there has been 0:09:33.009,0:09:39.247 an impressive evolution in these types of auxiliary means. 0:09:39.510,0:09:44.421 Clearly, they aren't external anymore: as you said and as the report showed, now there are 0:09:44.500,0:09:49.689 digital auxiliary means but anyhow, 0:09:49.689,0:09:55.019 these means are not given by the welfare service, because presently 0:09:55.019,0:09:59.119 you must still by them, whereas if you ask for an old-fashioned prosthesis, 0:09:59.119,0:10:02.579 it is offered for free. 0:10:02.579,0:10:06.809 As to cochlear implants, 0:10:06.809,0:10:11.410 there have indeed been remarkable progresses. However, what worries me 0:10:11.410,0:10:17.092 is what kind of guarantee we have for the results of this intervention. 0:10:17.092,0:10:22.138 There are rehab centers in connection to this kind of intervention all over Italy. 0:10:22.425,0:10:26.740 So I think it should be each person's free choice. 0:10:26.740,0:10:32.806 Hence the need to know where those rehab centers, connected to the operation, are: 0:10:32.806,0:10:36.336 in order to avoid this inequality in the whole Italian territory.