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Comments, Questions, and Answers Alan B. Crammatte Editor, Comments The Comment, Question, and Answer department is published as a service to professional readers and parents of deaf children. It is an attempt to provide practical information on the basic aspects of deafness, particularly in relation to education. Although all questions submitted cannot be used, those considered to be of greatest interest to readers will be published. Answers are prepared by competent authorities. Material submitted must contain the writer's name and address. Address questions and comments to: Alan B. Crammatte, 897 Windsong Dr., Arnold, Md. 21012. COMMENT—A Child Study Team for the Hearing Impaired in New Jersey has, during the past 2 years, provided technical assistance, evaluation , and program coordination to professionals in the field of education of deaf children. Unique in the United States, this multidisciplinary advocate for the hearing-impaired child was terminated June 30. A report of the team's activities is available through the Millburn School for the Hearing Handicapped, Spring & Willow Streets, Millburn, NJ 07041. COMMENT—Hearing ear dogs are trained to alert deaf persons to sounds which require attention. They and their owners are also trained in obedience as well as sound. Training centers currently exist in Colorado, California, Maryland , Massachusetts and Oregon. Joan T. Adler Rockville, Md. COMMENT—The Deaf Players' Guide, 198283 lists some 78 deaf actors, active and inactive. The attractive slick paper brochure is put out by the Advocacy Office, National Theatre of the Deaf. Pictures and brief lists of engagements are shown. Fourteen hearing actors who have performed with the NTD and elsewhere are also listed. COMMENT—USAir has installed a TTY reservation system for hearing-impaired customers . It is available 7 days a week from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. at 800-245-2966, except in Pennsylvania (800-242-1713). Letters to the Editor To the Editor: Mellaril® (Thioridazine) is an efficacious and widely prescribed psychotropic medication. It is considered a firstline medication and is frequently utilized to treat children. There have been lingering concerns that large daily doses of Mellaril® over time might induce retinal deposits in greater frequency than other phenothiazines . The 1982 edition of The Physicians Desk Reference specifically cautions against daily dosages that would exceed 800mg/d, noting that pigmentary retinopathy has been observed in larger than recommended doses and is characterized by diminution of visual acuity. The standard medical school text of pharmacology, Goodman's and Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics (Macmillan, 6th Ed. 1980) notes that pigmentary retinopathy has been reported following high doses of thioridazine and may be a closely related toxic effect of the phenothiazines in general. It has, however, only been reported when the doses of thioridazine are in excess of 1000mg/d. The authors go on to note A.A.O. I August 1982 387 Letters to the Editor that opacities of the cornea and lens have also been associated with high-dose, long-term use of Thorazine® (Chlorpromazine). The warning about thioridazine is also mentioned in Scheie's and Albert's Textbook of Ophthalmology (Saunders , 9th Ed. 1977) which also cites the symptom of night blindness in addition to the pigmentary retinopathy. No warnings, however, are noted about the administration of Mellaril® to a deaf child. A review of the medical literature, by computer search, from 1971 to April 1982 revealed no English -language reports of adverse effects of Mellaril ® with deaf children. To my knowledge there are no reported cases of Usher's Syndrome (deafblind ) induced among deaf patients to whom Mellaril® was given. It does, however, appear prudent that when high-dose psychotropic neuroleptics are recommended for a deaf child that a medication other than Mellaril® should be prescribed. Furthermore, the risk of inducing night blindness, reduced visual acuity, or opacifications must be kept in mind when high-dose phenothiazines are prescribed. Ian Ross Jenkins, M.D. N. Y. U. Medical Center New York, N. Y. To the Editor: I read with interest and great appreciation the first reference I have seen in deaf publications to the need for alcohol and drug abuse prevention programs for deaf students. I commend Ms. Emily Rosten for her'concern, and I...

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