Deaf people across the country received bad news from the federal government on captioning of popular television shows.

National Association of the Deaf (NAD) delivered the bad news by a press release stating that the U.S. Department of Education has declared more than 200 popular television programs inappropriate for captioning. The department claimed the shows don't fit the required definition of "educational, news or informational" programming
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- - Contributed by Leonard Hall - -
- - >From The Olathe News - -

Under this new declaration, the new guidelines mean the Department can no longer caption those programs. This ruling meant that it will be up to the television companies or studios to provide captioning for new programs. Some new television shows will likely continue to be captioned.

Shows declared inappropriate for captioning include:

? Classic sitcoms such as Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie.

? Contemporary sitcoms such as Malcolm in the Middle and The Simpsons.

? Dramas such as Law & Order.

? Children's cartoons such Dexter's Laboratory, Pokemon and Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius.

?Many college and professional sports programming, including basketball, baseball, auto racing, tennis, football and golf tournaments.

With captioning, it was great to watch football games and keep track of the information being provided to everyone. The announcers keep the viewers interested in the event with all kinds of facts and information.

By next fall, there may be little captioning in most sport events. It will be devastating to most deaf football fans, including myself, to having no more captioning on football games.

Hearing people should try watching a football game for a whole game without the sound on. It will drive most loyal fans crazy as they need to hear and know everything about what is going on in the game.

Try to apply this lack of sound to other popular television programs. A lot of people will get angry. The choice of television programs and shows with captioning may be limited.

Deaf advocates are saying that the Department's new policy on captioning will move deaf and hard of hearing people back into second-class citizenry and deny them full access to the world of information.

NAD called the move "censorship," saying it isolates children and teens who are deaf or have hearing impairments and prevents them "from watching shows that help them learn about the trends, culture and society around them."

Lack of captioning also prevents parents who are deaf from screening programs for their children, NAD said. For a complete list of affected programs, visit www.nad.org.nad.org

It was easy to forget our access to captioned programs on television that began 30 years ago on December 3, 1973, when the first captioned ABC News was aired that night. The Department of Education announcement is a major setback to the deaf people by not ensuring them full access to television programs.