Gratitude from students at the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind

Children from the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind are expressing their gratitude for those who have donated to help support their education. The gifts cover hearing aids and specialized equipment, white canes, accessibility technology, magnification devices, educational opportunities, and more.

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

Social Media Has A Ways To Go When It Comes To Accessibility

BuzzFeedNews has an article about Scarlet Waters--the deaf teen with more than 3 million TikTok followers. She is “one of the few people openly talking about“ how social media is often not deaf-friendly. Read the story here.

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.

12 years ago today: William Gibson died

On November 25, 2008, the man who wrote a famous play about Helen Keller called The Miracle Worker died. William Gibson's story of Helen Keller’s relationship with her teacher, Anne Sullivan, won the 1960 Tony Award for best play and is still regularly performed around the country in community theaters. Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke, played the stage roles of Sullivan and Keller, respectively. They went on to win Academy Awards when repeating the parts for the film version in 1962. Mr. Gibson was nominated for an Oscar for his screenplay. Twenty years later, he wrote a sequel about Sullivan called The Monday After the Miracle but it flopped on Broadway. Gibson died at the age of 94 in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind Receives $28.5 Million

The Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind is getting a new $28 million campus in Decatur. The project will span 160-acres to accomodate independent living educational programs for K-12 students and adults. The new location will be a satellite campus for the orginal location in Talladega, founded in 1858. The institution's Cyber Security curriculum created through a partnership with The University of Alabama in Huntsville, The National Technical Institute for the Deaf and Gallaudet University will be expanded. There are plans to create a Resource Center for Deaf Education as a satellite of the federally-funded National Deaf Education Center in Washington, DC. Read more here.

Training for Austin police related to the Deaf community

Police in Austin say they are making an effort to reach out to the deaf community in the Texas city. Cadet training includes two relavant sections: One is called Services for the Deaf, which is mandated by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. The other part of the training is supplementary instruction specific to the Austin Police Department due to the large deaf population in Austin. Read more from the Austin Monitor here.

Happy Birthday Mojo!

This is Mojo Mathers birthday (born Nov 23, 1966). She became the first deaf member of New Zealand's parliament when she ran as a Green candidate in 2011. She was born profoundly deaf and is a lipreader. She began to use sign language in the late 2000s New Zealand became the first country to adopt sign language as an official language in 2006 and now, some 25,000 people use sign language in the country. The New Zealand government provides interpreters in Parliament as well as for major speeches and announcements.

Meet the actress blazing a sign-language trail in new ‘Spider-Man’ video game

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales includes a scene in American Sign Language. The second installment of the Spider-Man series released last week as a launch title for the PlayStation 5. The Los Angeles Times spoke with actress Natasha Ofili who signs in ASL as Hailey Cooper in the video game here.

Deaf-owned Restaurant Closes

Mozzeria owners when it opened in 2011 

In November of 2011, DeafNewsToday told you about the opening of a new pizza restaurant in San Francisco that would take place the following month. The owners are deaf, as are many of the wait staff and cooks. Since then, Mozzeria, a name combining mozzarella cheese and pizzeria, has opened in several other locations. But owners Melody and Russell Stein were forced to close the Mission district location last week. Mozzeria was San Francisco’s first and only Deaf-owned-and-operated restaurant. The daughter of hearing parents, Melody Stein attended the California School for the Deaf in Fremont, while Russ Stein grew up in New York City as part of a deaf family. They met at Gallaudet University where they studied Business Administration. Melody's father operated restaurants in Hong Kong where she was born, has studied Hospitality Management and took cooking classes in Italy. The restaurant became a favorite of anyone in the area studying ASL and certainly of those in Deaf Culture. Mozzeria food truck will still be in operation for private events and may be used for a swing up and down the West Coast. KQED radio has more on the closure here.

Former Deaf School Teacher Arrested

A former teacher at the Michigan School for the Deaf is facing three felonies related to the sexual abuse of children. ABC-12 reports the school failed to inform law enforcement or parents of issues related to the suspect on campus. The school isn't talking. Read the full story here.

The signs for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris

NPR takes a (brief) look at the discussion over what the signs for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris should be here.

Coffee Shop Chain in South Africa Hires mostly Deaf workers

I Love Coffee is a chain of cafés in South Africa. Founder Gary Hopkins says he was moved to staff the shops mainly with Deaf and hard-of-hearing employees because "sign language isn’t really recognised as a language in South Africa, and that has led to great levels of unemployment." Read the full story here or watch the video below: