Text messaging a breakthrough for hearing impaired

We were talking to a friend at an event last night when I got a text message on my cell phone. I casually checked the message and fired off a brief reply.

Afterward, our friend shared with us that her brother is deaf. She told us how cell phones and text messaging are real miracles for her brother; they've opened up a whole new world for him. By texting, he can now talk to anyone anywhere "just like everyone else -- and he's really fast!" She told us about the conversations they've had since he's discovered texting -- conversations they never could have had before.

Wow! I'd never thought about that before. I suddenly saw texting from a whole new perspective. I was in awe of this technology which I'd pretty much taken for granted until now. How cool to be able to communicate from anywhere, without all the extra equipment like TTY machines.