Working with the organisers of the Deaflympics for deaf and hard of hearing athletes
Specialists in audiology from the University of Southampton’s Institute of Sound and Vibration Research (ISVR) will be at the next Deaflympics for deaf and hard of hearing athletes, to be held in Sofia, Bulgaria this July. They will be scientific advisors to the International Committee of Sport for the Deaf (ICSD), which organises the games for around 3,000 athletes from more than 80 countries.
Postgraduate research student Hannah Semeraro and final-year student on our BSc Healthcare Science (Audiology) programme Charlotte Morgan will be helping to assess levels of hearing loss of the sportsmen and women in Sofia.
Dr Daniel Rowan and Dr Rachel van Besouw are leading a research programme with the ICSD into the effects of hearing loss on sporting performance, how hearing assessments can be standardised and how faked or exaggerated hearing loss, albeit rare, can be detected.
"One aim is to help ICSD widen access to top level sport for people with hearing loss around the world by making hearing checks quick, easy and inexpensive, such as using online testing," explains Dr Daniel Rowan, Lecturer in Audiology. "We are proud to be involved in such an inspiring event, which celebrates the breadth of human talents."
"The eligibility of our athletes is something we take very seriously," says ICSD President Craig Crowley MBE. "To ensure the integrity of our events, we do need to ensure that our athletes meet our criteria for deafness before they line up for competition. ICSD is grateful to the University of Southampton for developing and implementing measures for us to ensure all our athletes are competing fairly."
In 2012, Hannah and Rachel invited athlete Melanie Jewett to speak to staff and students about her experiences of long distance running with a hearing impairment. She received a cochlear implant at the University of Southampton Auditory Implant Service and will be competing for Team GB at the Deaflympics.
The Deaflympics will be held between 26 July and 4 August 2013.