Gallaudet to inaugurate new president

image of Bobbi Cordano from Gallaudet.com

Gallaudet will inaugurate Bobbi Cordano as its first deaf female president this coming Friday.  She then begins her term as the college’s 11th president in January.  Lisa Kauppinen of the World Federation of the Deaf will speak at Friday's event and members of Deaf West Theatre will perform. If you want to watch Friday, Cordano's inauguration will be live streamed here.

Support for deaf woman refused service

A deaf woman who was outraged by the way a Massachusetts Dunkin Donuts employee treated her is getting support from her community, reports WFXT-TV.

College: We'd rather remove videos than make them accessable

A California university would rather remove its online videos rather than accurately caption them and make them accessable to everyone. That's basically what administrators at the University of California at Berkeley are telling the Justice Department. A statement released by the school (which you can read here) says a final decision has not be made but that Berkeley things it's too expensive to make the online material accessible, even if it is a violation of ADA law not to make it accessible. The statement says:

In many cases the requirements proposed by the department would require the university to implement extremely expensive measures to continue to make these resources available to the public for free. We believe that in a time of substantial budget deficits and shrinking state financial support, our first obligation is to use our limited resources to support our enrolled students. Therefore, we must strongly consider the unenviable option of whether to remove content from public access.

The controversy began when a faculty member and a student at Gallaudet University complained. Not only do many of Berkeley's videos lack captioning, much of the captioning that is available is inaccurate. The material is also not accessable for those who are blind.

Deaf Teen Shot & Killed after High School Game

A deaf basketball player was killed Friday following a high school football game in California. A gunman approached Desean Welch and Lamar Francis. "This boy was talking. I told him that we're deaf. I cannot understand. I cannot read lips," Francis told KABC-TV. That's when the gunman shot Desean Welch who played basketball at the California School for the Deaf in Riverside. Here's KABC's video report.

Deaf Expo in Arizona

The Northern Arizona Deaf Expo will be in Flagstaff this coming Saturday (Sept. 24) at Coconino Community College. Find out more in the Arizona Daily Sun.

First deaf actor to portray Quasimodo

Deaf actor John McGinty is playing Quasimodo in the Los Angeles premiere of Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame. McGinty is "the first deaf actor to portray Quasimodo, despite the character being deaf in Victor Hugo’s novel," reports the LA Weekly.

Lawsuit: Deaf Boy Handcuffed

The Kansas City public schools system is getting sued by an angry mother. A school resource officer handcuffed her deaf, 7-year-old son, according the lawsuit filed by the ACLU, which you can read here. WDAF-TV has a video report.

Iowa Deaf Community wins battle with Theater Co.

An Iowa theater has put off production of the stage show Tribes until deaf actors can be found. The Deaf community in Cedar Rapids did not support the play because a hearing person had been cast in the main role of a deaf person. Here's more in a video report from KCRG-TV.

"I'm a deaf actor. That shouldn't define me"

Genevieve Barr talks about what it's like being a deaf actor in a Guardian opinion piece today. She writes:

In the same way that being deaf doesn’t define all that I am as a person, I don’t want it to define the roles I play. It’s an incredibly limiting way to live and to work. And because I have a disability that I cannot hide (or fully disguise), that means I stay firmly in the bracket of “deaf actor”, rather than “actor”. In the rigidity of the casting process, that can mean fewer than 10 auditions per year.

Read the full article here.

Deaf Woman Refused Service

Dunkin' Donuts is apologizing to a deaf Massachusetts woman who was refused service. WFXT-TV has Jessica Sanzillo's story.

NBC doing show on Louisiana School for Deaf football team

The football team at the Louisiana School for the Deaf NBC’s weekend Today program, tentatively set for Sunday. They are aiming at another national championship even while dealing with flooding in Lousiana. Read about it in the Baton Rouge Advocate here.

The cost for deaf inmates to make calls to family is outragious

As expensive and arduous it is for inmates communicate with their families "deaf inmates have it far worse. The technology is often too expensive, outdated or in disrepair," reports Jack Smith IV in Mic. He quotes an activist as saying, "It takes a deaf person three times as long as other people to make those calls. So you have deaf people paying $700, $800 a month just to talk to their husband or wife." Read the full story here.

Ingrid Michaelson and Deaf West

Indie pop artist Ingrid Michaelson performed her new song ‘Hell No’ with members of Deaf West Theatre this past Friday on NBC's Today Show. The song is part of her album, “It Doesn’t Have To Make Sense." Here's the video.

Bullies dump deaf student's backpack in toilet

A Nebraska high school senior had his backpack stolen and dumped into a toilet. It has his tablet, school supplies, homework and debit card.. and his cochlear implant. KMTV has a video report here.

Police calls released in Charlotte Shooting

We now have the radio communications between the state trooper who shot a deaf man and his dispatch unit in Charlotte, North Carolina. The tapes indicate that Daniel Harris led officers on a 100 mph highway chase before it ended. WSOC-TV has video report (posted below) or you can read the story here.

Texas Deaf man looks to hold educational events with Police

John Sidener tells KWTX, "I've been here in Waco many years. The police are not being helpful, there's been no improvement in that..Usually what I do when I pull over I immediately reach up to my placard that says I'm deaf and those kind of things that I get my drivers license and everything ready I'm hoping that I will avoid being shot." Sidener wants to see relations between the Deaf community and Waco police improve. KWTX has a video report.

Police Interactions with the Deaf in NC

With the death of a deaf man after a traffic stop in North Carolina, WTVD-TV "reached out to the sheriff's offices of Cumberland, Durham, and Wake counties, as well as the police departments of the city of Durham, Fayetteville, and Raleigh to ask about their policies and practices when it comes to the deaf community." Read their responses here.

Head of Cali Deaf School out

Following protests by parents, teachers, and staff members the California School for the Deaf, Sean Virnig is no longer leading the school. He was its first deaf superintendent. Read more from the Mercury News here.

Player ordered off court over Implant

A basketball referee at a Kentucky middle school told a player she would have to leave a game because of her cochlear implant. She stayed off the court until someone showed him the rule book. KFOR-TV has a video report.

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Driving while Deaf

Inside Edition gets some driving tips for deaf drivers in this video.