OWN Capalaba member Shirley Edwards. Photo: Supplied.
FROM OWN CAPALABA
The Older Women’s Network (OWN) at Capalaba has welcomed Shirley Edwards as a new member.
Shirley is a hearing loss advocate and has enlightened us about the life-changing impact of real-time captioning. She wore hearing aids throughout school until losing her hearing as an adult. After living with total deafness for 10 years, Shirley was fitted with cochlear implants and has experienced a return to the hearing world in every way she can.
Live captioning, also known as real-time captioning, has been introduced to our branch. Captioners use a stenotype machine, which has only 22 keys and operates using chord-based combinations rather than individual letters. The machine translates steno keystrokes into readable text in real time and outputs to screens, projectors, Zoom, or broadcast feeds. It’s not unknown for captioners to reach an astounding 360 wpm.
It is a powerful reminder that disability is shaped not only by individual circumstances, but also by how accessible and inclusive our communities are. This has been a useful experience for our members in several ways. Captions can also benefit a wide community, including hearing persons, as speakers can sometimes be hard to hear.
If you would like to find out more about the group, please get in touch with Bev on 0413 714 260 or email [email protected]. OWN Capalaba meets on the first Wednesday of each month from 9:00am to 11:30am at the Uniting Church, corner of Ney Rd and Zandra Street, Capalaba.
From February 2027, OWN Capalaba will be meeting at a new venue at the Bayside Salvos, 1-9 Macarthur Street, Alexandra Hills, from 9:00am to 11:00am.
