Save Our School

Parents, alumni and administrators from the Scranton State School for the Deaf made their voices heard at the Pennsylvania state capitol yesterday. They rallied to bring attention to plans that would shut down the school. Carrying signs that read Save Our School, they were joined by state legislators from the northeastern part of the state. The demonstrator left a stack of petitions at the governor’s office with more than 51,000 signatures opposing the school's closure.

Matlin Gets Her Star

Actress Marlee Matlin will get her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame next Wednesday. Long-time friend Henry Winkler and the president of Disney/ABC Television Group will take part in the ceremony along with children from the International Center of Deafness & the Arts. Matlin’s star will go in front of Musso & Frank Grill on Hollywood Boulevard. She’s also due to pick up the Mary Pickford Award at the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Community Foundation’s Women of Distinction luncheon. The youngest to win the best actress Academy Award, Matlin's autobiography titled I’ll Scream Later hit store shelves just three weeks ago.

Poetry Out Loud

A Oregon deaf student became the first Poetry Out Loud contestant to compete on a national level for the top price using ASL. Tiffany Hinano Hill attends the Oregon School for the Deaf didn’t make it into the final round but says she was just happy to compete. William Farley of Arlington, Virginia won the recitation contest for high school students. The contest is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. Hill was the first deaf student to compete in the competition in Oregan. You can see a video of her work here.

Academic Bowl Results

University High School of Irvine, California is winner of Gallaudet’s 2009 Academic Bowl national championship. They beat defending champion the Indiana School for the Deaf. The Maryland School for the Deaf came in third by beating the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind. University High senior Gianni Manganelli won the Outstanding Player award. Florida’s South Plantation High School received the Team Sportsmanship award. You can watch the tounrnament online here.

Baseball Tourney

The Indiana School for the Deaf baseball team has won the Hoy Classic. The tournament is just for deaf schools and is named for onetime major league baseball player Dummy Hoy. The Deaf Hoosiers beat the California School for the Deaf at Fremont for the championship and went 4-and-1 overall. The Fremont school hosted the event. Indiana’s Tyler Crace won Most Valuable Player Award. He struck out 16 on his way to two victories.

School Closure Petition

Several families have gone to court to try to stop the closure of Pennsylvania’s Scranton State School for the Deaf. So far, the state has no plans for the students, according to the petition. The doors at Scranton are set to close at the end of June. At the same time, lawyers for the school have filed a motion objecting to the change. The motion has the support of the school’s superintendent, the head of the school’s board of trustees and a state representative. A private facility, the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf is expected to take over operations

Pastor in Murder-for-hire Scheme

A pastor in Baltimore is accused of paying a hit man $50k to kill a blind and deaf man for insurance money. The body of Lemuel Wallace was discovered in a park bathroom earlier this year. Prosecutors say Kevin Pushia had taken out six insurance policies on Wallace for more than one million dollars. Another pastor has been arrested in South Carolina related to the same crime.

Talking to Yourself

Some hearing people wonder if the deaf talk to themselves. The answer is obviously “yes”. The only difference is that while hearing people will talk to themselves in speech, the deaf will do it in sign language if that is how they communicate. They may rehearse a speech, mull over a conversation in their head or simply ramble internally about the day’s happenings. Imagine waving good-bye or blowing a kiss. That’s a ways hearing people talk with gestures. Imagine expanding that into a whole language of signs with grammar and its own set of rules, the greater your ability to talk to yourself without verbal expressions.

Implant House

On tonight's episode of Fox's hit series House, a deaf teen and his mother face a decision about whether to use cochlear implants. They decide against the implants - but Dr. House decides to go ahead with the surgery any way. The boy rips the implant out but his mom decides to have the doctors put it back. Ryan Lane plays the 14-year-old wrestler. He is a deaf actor who also appeared on the show Cold Case. If you missed the show, you'll be able to watch it online next week at Hulu.com. New episodes are posted eight days after their initial TV broadcast.

The Vagina Monologues

The Vagina Monologues was performed solely in American Sign Language for the first time this weekend at the University of Texas at Austin. Sponsored by the Gender and Sexuality Center, proceeds from the performances benefited went to groups like SafePlace-Deaf Services (which assists survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault or rape).

iPod Hearing Loss

WTHI-TV in Terre Haute, Indiana files this video report on Ipods and hearing loss.

Amazing Race: Episode 10

There are only four teams left on the Amazing Race and one is a deaf man and his mom. During last night's episode, the teams made their way to Beijing where Marge and Luke must get a foot massage. Sounds simple but it’s painful. Luke decides to holds hands with a member of another team (Tammy) and share their pain. The teams next have to swim eight lengths of a pool or do a synchronized dive together. Margie and Luke choose to swim laps and moved through the relay quickly. Viewers who tuned in last week saw Luke get into a confrontation with another team, sisters Jen and Kisha. Ironically, it's Jen who’s in trouble this time. She falls apart over the requirement to swim. Margie makes fun of Jen and Kisha's lack of swimming ability after she thought that Jen was making fun of Luke’s deafness last week. Later, Luke can be heard saying, ''I'm gonna make it to the final three…and kick their ass.'' The episode ends without showing who is eliminated. With only have two more episodes to go, we can expect one team will be eliminated next week, leaving three to battle it out for the one million dollar prize.

Getting to Know... Auslan

Auslan is the short-hand term for Australian Sign Language. It differs from American Sign Language in several ways. Auslan uses two hands for each letter of the alphabet while the ASL uses one hand. ASL words sometimes incorporate the letter shapes, but the Australian words are more likely to rely on gestures. And there are some gestures that mean completely different things in each language. For instance, the sign for "where” means "what" in Auslan.

One Year Ago.. The North Pole

Oliver Westbury become the first deaf man to walk to the North Pole one year ago. He raised more than $47,000 to pay for the adventure that meant temperatures as low as 22 below zero Fahrenheit. Oliver was diagnosed with a profound hearing loss as a toddler. Half of the money he raised is going to the UK organization National Society for Deaf Children. Oliver is a web designer from the English town of Waterlooville. To prepare for the North Pole, the 27-year-old ran in eight marathons in eight world capitals over a two year period.

Is Luke Spoiled?

Bloggers are attacking the mom of Amazing Race contestant Luke (who is deaf). Luke had a run-in with another player on the CBS show and Marge immediately defended her son. One of them calls Luke "spoiled and mollycoddled" and writes:

"It really bit my butt that Margie automatically defended Luke's actions and accused the entire hearing world of thinking deaf people are dumb... When he acts up, she needs to see his behavior and call him on it. She can't just base all things on the world being against him because he's deaf."

You can read more here.

Disney Devices

Walt Disney Parks and Resorts is offering a new hand-held device to guests with hearing or visual disabilities. At little more than half-a-pound, it fits in a patron’s palm. It amplifies audio and shows closed captioning. Disney plans to expand the use of it beyond its parks through software developer Softeq.

First State to Require Implant Coverage

Wisconsin is one step closer to becoming the first state to require insurance companies to cover cochlear implants for children. Both houses of the legislature approved the bill this week and the governor is expected to sign it into law. It also requires insurance companies to cover some hearing aid costs. Some Republican lawmakers complained that the new requirement will drive up the cost of insurance for small businesses. But supporters say it ultimately saves taxpayers money by cutting special education costs. The new law would affect those covered by private insurance plans but not self-funded plans. Wisconsin has more than 1200 deaf children and about a third of them already have implants.

Hockey Championships

The US won a bronze medal in the World Deaf Ice Hockey Championships after a victory over Russia. Finland won the gold and Canada took home the silver at the Winnipeg competition.

Deaf Student Scholarship

A new scholarship at a West Virginia college will provide aid to deaf-students. The William Johnson Memorial Scholarship will provide two $1,500 scholarships to Marshall Community and Technical College. William Johnson was denied admission to college because he was deaf. His widow, who is also deaf, cried when she found out about the scholarship in his honor. Johnson lived his life by the motto Deaf can, yes!

Gallaudet Time Capsule Found

Construction of a new building at Gallaudet University paused after workers discovered a time capsule buried in the walls of a building that went up in 1958. The hearing and speech facility was state-of-the-art at the time. In its place will go the James Lee Sorenson Language and Communication Center. The sealed copper box near the cornerstone contained 1958 issues of The Buff and Blue, the Gallaudet Record, the Gallaudet Alumni Bulletin and American Annals of the Deaf, articles about hearing and speech, an Audiology Department faculty and staff photo and a vintage hearing aid.