Terp uses TikTok to highlight Deaf community

A Maryland sign language interpreter has amassed some 20 million views and 700,000 followers on TikTok with just a few videos. Tabatha Podleiszek started by shooting a video of herself teaching her toddler ASL. Her boyfriend is helping with the videos as well--and he is a CODA. She tells the Frederick News-Post that she is now focused on highlighting members of the Deaf community. “Even though I do have a family connection to Deaf individuals, I really do my best to duet with other Deaf creators, or I’ll tag Deaf creators in my comments and try to turn the spotlight on them and get them the traction and attention that they deserve as well,” Podleiszek said. Read the full story here. 

@raisinghaven

By teaching her two languages at once she will learn both faster and more efficiently, therefore becoming bilingual! ##asl ##babysign ##babyasl ##deaf

♬ original sound - Tabatha Marie

A First: Terp included in the White House Briefing

After dozens of briefings without interpreters, an ASL interpreter signed for a White House COVID briefing on Nov. 13. The National Association of the Deaf had won a federal lawsuit this summer requiring the White House to incorporate ASL into the briefings. Below is the video from that first briefing including an interpreter.

Judge: White House Must include Sign Language interpreters at Covid Briefings

The White House must provide sign language interpreters at briefings related to COVID-19, a federal judge has ruled. The Trump administration has the choice of either putting an interpreter physically near the speaker or by putting an interpreter, located elsewhere, within the frame. DC District Court Judge James Boasberg wrote: The National Association of the Deaf had sued on behalf of five deaf people. NAD CEO Howard Rosenblum said:

Sign language and accurate captioning are both essential and crucial to ensuring all deaf and hard of hearing people are well informed and are able to make better decisions on how to stay safe from the pandemic. The judge’s order sets a great precedent to achieve this goal of full accessibility.

The NAD has put out a news release with more info here.  

New Zoom Accessibility options

Zoom added some accessibility options today to its video-conference software that will help ASL interpreters. Users can now pin and spotlight multiple video screens at a time--that way someone signing can be pinned alongside the speaker so they are always in view. In the grid view, users can rearrange video windows so that the interpreter is on the screen wherever they want to see them. Jen Hill explains how to use the features in this video. 

Deaf Woman files complaint against political group over terp

Mary Harman says she signed up for to attend a "She Should Run" event but denied her request for a sign language interpreter. "She Should Run" is a women's political organization that encorages women to run for political office. Harman has filed a complaint with the Office of Human Rights in Washington, DC. Read the details of the controversy from BuzzFeedNews.

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Businesses and organizations, STOP violating the ADA and understand your legal obligations. Stop forcing people with disabilities to explain the law to you and fight for their basic human rights to be enforced. ****PLEASE SHARE **** TRANSCRIPT: @sheshouldrun, which claims to work to get more women from ALL backgrounds to run for office, refused to provide an ASL interpreter for a public live webinar despite repeated requests. I explained to them several times that it was unlawful discrimination to refuse to provide a reasonable accommodation, but they continued denying my request. They said that they were “unable to provide an ASL interpreter,” but would try to provide live captioning. I emphasized that I needed an ASL interpreter for the webinar, as this is how I normally access conferences and webinars. When I told them I would have to file a complaint against them on the basis of discrimination with the Office for Civil Rights in D.C., they ignored me. To add insult to injury, the captioning was inaccurate and severely lagged to the point I had to leave the webinar. How can an organization claim to be for all women if they exclude women with disabilities, which make up a significant percentage of the population? Guess I’ll have to file a complaint so that other deaf/hard of hearing women won’t be subjected to such blatant discrimination by @sheshouldrun in the future. It’s 2020. Stop violating the ADA and understand your legal obligations. Stop having to make people with disabilities explain the law to you and fight for their basic rights to be enforced. [Video Description]: Mary is signing as she sits on a gray chair in front of wooden soft white blinds. She is wearing a black short-sleeved shirt with her hair tied back in a low bun, a few pieces of hair framing her face. Captioning by @angelamariaotg UPDATE - 8/15/20 - after private and public efforts to resolve the discriminatory issue failed, I filed a formal complaint against She Should Run for discrimination on the basis of disability with the D.C. Office of Human Rights.

A post shared by Mary Harman Whited (@maryharman) on Aug 14, 2020 at 11:34am PDT

Judge: White House may have to include interpreters at coronavirus briefings

The White House may have to provide ASL interpretation at its televised news briefings on the coronavirus pandemic, a federal judge has ruled. The National Association of the Deaf filed a lawsuit over the issue on behalf of five deaf people. A hearing next Thursday will deal with the issue of how to implement the order. 

The US government had argued that ASL interpretation isn't needed because there is closed captioning on livestreams of the updates and videos of past briefings with transcripts of the briefings. In his ruling Judge James Boasberg wrote: 

Closed captioning and transcripts may constitute a reasonable accommodation under some circumstances, but not here. As another court explained in rejecting a state government’s similar arguments, these “accommodations — however well-intentioned — simply do not provide ‘meaningful access in the circumstances [presented] here.’ 

You can read the judges ruling here.

Lawsuit: Include ASL in White House Briefings

Five deaf Americans are suing the White House with the help of The National Association of the Deaf in an attempt to force President Donald Trump ASL interpreters at his Covid-19 briefings. CEO Howard Rosenblum says:

Deaf and hard of hearing Americans deserve the same access to information from the White House and the President that everyone else gets. Such information must be provided not only through captioning but also in American Sign Language, especially for government announcements regarding health pandemics.

Read more from a NAD press release here or watch the ASL video below:

Deaf demonstrators say they face dangers at protests

Members of Portland's deaf community are taking to the streets like many others are doing. But as KATU-TV has learned, safety can become a concern. Here is a video report here.

Judge: Cuomo briefings must be more accessible to deaf

Disability Rights New York has gotten a preliminary injunction against the governor of New York over his failure to broadcast a sign language interpreter during his daily Covid press briefings. Last night, a Manhattan federal judge, Valerie Caproni, ordered New York Governor Cuomo to include an interpreter in the state-provided TV signal of his briefings. The governor's lawyers had argued there was no need of having an interpreter share the screen because of captioning and a separate a dedicated internet stream. But Disability Rights New York has pointed out that the captioning often contain errors while the separate feed is available only in broadband service. Read more from Buffalo News here.

Deaf New Yorkers sue Cuomo

Disability Rights New York is suing Gov. Andrew Cuomo for not providing sign language interpreters during his daily televised coronavirus briefings. Executive Director Timothy Clune writes in a statement:

It is inexplicable that during this pandemic, the Governor would choose not to have ASL interpreters at his daily live televised briefings. As a result, deaf New Yorkers are unable to obtain vital life and death information at the time they need it most.

In response, Cuomo advisor Rich Azzopardi tells CNN there is a "dedicated (ASL) stream" on the state website and "all conferences have been close-captioned. Read the full statement here.

How Do You Sign ‘Don’t Drink Bleach’?

image from the New York Times

Rorri Burton has been interpreting the Los Angeles news conferences about Covid-19. She tells the New York Times that the attention she has gotten on social media is “unwanted and unexpected.” Particularly when celebrity blogger Perez Hilton "set her moves to music" and "comedian David Spade called her Covid-19 interpretation 'kooky.'” Read more about what Burton has faced here.

White House urged to use Terps at Briefings

The National Association of the Deaf and the National Council on Disability have sent letters urging the White House coronavirus task force to use ASL interpreters during its daily briefings. The White House did not provide a comment to CNN on whether it had received the letters or whether it would consider using an interpreter. Read the full story here.

NY Gov add Terp to Daily Briefing

New York's governor has added a sign-language interpreter to his daily coronavirus briefing in response to an outcry from the Deaf community. While the state offered closed captioning for Gov. Andrew Cuomo's updates, it was often inaccurate and ASL is the first language for many people. David Wantuck, a community engagement specialist for Deaf Access Services, was one advocate who brought the issue to the governor's staff. Wantuck expressed his approval today after Cuomo was accompanied by an interpreter. He wrote on his Facebook page:

I want to take the time to say GREAT JOB to the CDI who interpreted this press conference. Thank you!!
This is a big step for the Deaf Community as we have an interpreter, but yes, there are improvements that needs to be made.
For today, lets appreciate what we have now, and take this as a something great. Tomorrow, we will gather again to advocate for suggestions and improvements to make this better.

According to Wantuck's tally, the only states that did not include an ASL interpreter were New York, Montana, and Vermont. Now that New York and Montana have started using interpreters, that leaves Vermont as the only state not providing ASL interpretation at their governor's emergency press conferences.

Outrage: No terp at White House briefings

Many in the Deaf community are outraged by the fact that there's no ASL interpreter at President Trump's coronavirus briefings. Even TMZ picked up on the issue here. The National Council on Disability has sent a letter to the White House asking for this access, saying in part, "There is no doubt that the Coronavirus brings with it significant added concerns for people with disabilities."Read the entire letter here. The National Association of the Deaf has also sent a letter expressing concern over the lack of communication to the Deaf community. CEO Howard Rosenblum wants to know why the President "is not ensuring they are getting the same access to emergency information as everyone else." Read the entire letter here. It asks the White House "to direct the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to provide their information about coronavirus in ASL immediately."

Competent Terps Critical Now

The Iowa Association of the Deaf says interpreter competency is critical during the coronavirus outbreak. ASL interpreters are being used at news briefings across the country to communicate the latest developments surrounding the disease. KWWL reports on the issue in Iowa here.

ASL interpreters have a crucial role in the law

ASL Interpreters and Certified Deaf Interpreters play an important role in law enforcement and court interaction. The Post-Bulletin has more here.

Oldest Terp Dies

The woman believed to be the oldest working sign language interpreter in the country has died at the age of 97. Norma Lewis worked with deaf people in the Kentucky court system. Read more about Norma in the Courier-Journal here.

Hospital reaches agreement in civil rights probe over terps

Detroit's William Beaumont Hospital has settled a civil rights complaint over its violation of ADA law. The facility was accused of failing to adequately provide interpreters for deaf patients. Beaumont refused to admit any wrongdoing, denying it violated ADA law. And yet, it agreed to provide ADA training and enforce policies related to interpreters. The agreement applies to Beaumont's three hospitals and 31 associated health care facilities. Read more about the case in a news release from the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan here.

Suit in Utah over Terps Dismissed

A lawsuit filed by deaf students against the Utah Shakespeare Festival was immediately dismissed. The festival refused to provide sign language interpreters for their performance of Hamlet. At issue is whether offering captioning was adequate accommodations. Read the full story in the Salt Lake Tribune here.

Jury awards Deaf man $125,000

A jury is awarding David Updike $125,000 in damages after deciding that Oregon's Multnomah County failed to provide him a sign language interpreter while he was in jail. Oregon live reports that a linguistics expert testified during the three-day trial that "Updike, who was born deaf to hearing parents, can’t read lips proficiently and doesn’t read English well." Read the full story here.