Deaf School Opens Children's Village

Image from Louisiana School for the Deaf

The Lagniappe Children's Village opened last week at the Louisiana School for the Deaf. Among the 13 buildings there is a bank, doctor’s office and a police station. Find out more here.

New Deaf Restaurant opens May 7

If you walk into DeaFined when it opens next week, be ready to order your food in sign. The Vancouver restaurant starts serving customers May 7. It's located in the Kitsilano neighborhood and all the servers are deaf or heard of hearing. DeaFined will serve Eastern Mediterranean cuisine. Find out more here.

NASA's Deaf Engineer

image from NASA

Vicky Garcia spoke to deaf kids at a special space camp today. It takes place each year in Huntsville, Alabama at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. Read about why she does it--even though she says, "I hate public speaking" here.

the Deaf getting on Michigan juries

More deaf people are serving on juries, according to a WXYZ-TV news report from Detroit. Because of the increased involvement, "the State of Michigan adopted new rules last summer that require additional certification and training for court room interpreters." Watch the report below or read the story here.

Deaf women earn political victories in Japan

Voters in Japan picked two deaf women to represent them in local elections. Rie Saito will join the assembly in the Kita Ward of Tokyo while "Atsuko Yanetani won a seat on the city assembly in Akashi, Hyogo Prefecture." Both thanked their supporters in sign language. Read more in Japan News here.

Court Appearance delayed for two men accused of rape and kidnapping

The first court appearance for two deaf men accused of rape and kidnapping has been put off while the court gets interpreters for the men. North Carolina's WTVD-TV has a video report which is posted below or you can read the story here.

Is ADA law doing damage or doing good?

ADA law is making lawyers rich instead of helping the people it was designed to protect, according to The Economist. "This has created a cottage industry of so-called Title III lawsuits against bars, motels and the like. More than 4,430 reached federal courts in 2014—a 63% rise in one year, according to new data from Seyfarth Shaw LLP, a law firm that defends businesses against ADA claims." Read the full story here.

DeafNation in California

DeafNation Expo hits Pomona, California this Saturday (May 2). Join the trade show for exhibitions and entertainment at no charge. You'll find it at the Fairplex. Find out more here.

Woman from deaf school kidnapped and raped

Two North Carolina men face charges they kidnapped, raped, robbed her and then ran her over. They met the unnamed woman through their attendance at a school for the deaf. WNCN-TV has a video report.

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Gally and the Bard

Read about the connection between Gallaudet University and Shakespeare in the Washington Post here.

Complaint alleges police assault

Police in Bradford, Pennsylvania say they are investigating the traffic stop of a deaf man that ended with his arrest. A complaint against the arresting officers accuses the officers of physically and verbally assaulting Brister Campbell. Besides the police chief, the State Attorney General is looking into the altercation as well. Read more in the Bradford Era here.

The effort to make online material accessible

Several recent lawsuits have attempted to get ADA laws applied to online materials. In recent weeks, two federal courts have released conflicting decisions on the matter, reports Wired. Read the latest on the suits against Scribd, Netflix and several universities here.

Suit: Sheriff ignored ADA violations

An inmate wants to see some changes to the Arlington jail located outside of Washington, DC in Virginia. Why he's suing the county sheriff and state corrections officials in an Associated Press article here.

Parents fight for kids' program in Michigan

The school system in Dearborn, Michigan is planning to close a program for deaf children. Parents are trying to save it. WXYZ-TV has a video report. There are no captions but you can read some of the information here.

School's new leader takes the reigns

Canadian Antony McLetchie is finally taking over as the new superintendent Rochester School for the Deaf, months after his appointment was announced. McLetchie's first day on the job was delayed thanks to immigration paperwork. Read the full story in the Democrat and Chronicle here.

DeafNation in Pittsburgh

DeafNation Expo hits Pittsburgh this Saturday (April 18). Join the trade show for exhibitions and entertainment at no charge. You'll find it at the Monroeville Convention Center. Find out more here.

Gally students march against sexual assault

A Gallaudet student wrote a column in the Washington Post about this past week's march on campus. More than a thousand students took part in support of Sexual Assault Awareness Month’s National Day of Action. Evan Steinlauf writes: “The energy coursing through campus was palpable. This event has brought the issue of sexual assault out from the shadows and into the spotlight,” junior Katelyn Mathis said. Read more here.

2nd place for Deaf Teen in Speech Contest

A deaf teen adopted from China made her mark in an Indiana speech contest. Kali Lacy earned the second spot in the statewide event. She used ASL to speak with the judges. She told them, "The ability to produce language through the vocal cords is considered necessary for normal academic achievement and social development." Read more in the News-Sentinel of Fort Wayne here.

Time Capsule from 1920 is opened

The American School For The Deaf in West Hartford, Connecticut popped open a time capsule this week. It was buried in 1920 buried under a cornerstone of Gallaudet Hall during its construction. The Hartford Courant has the full story here.

Feeling Speech

Rice University students have come up with a vest to interpret speech. KHOU-TV explains in this video report.

Memphis TV interview on Oral School

The head of the Memphis Oral School For The Deaf sat down with WREG-TV for an interview. The video is below but there are no captions.

The House Across the Street

Deaf filmmaker Arthur Luhn will premiere his latest work this coming Thursday in Boston. The House Across the Street is a dark psychological thriller in which the new-girl-in-town heroine becomes paranoia as she notices strange things happening in her neighborhood. Academy Award nominee Eric Roberts lays a police officer along with Alec Rocco (“The Godfather”) and Ethan Embry (from “Once Upon a Time”). The film's Facebook page is here and below is the official trailer. The film will be released to video-on-demand on April 10.

Autistic kids and Pronouns

Autistic Deaf children avoid using pronouns, just like their hearing counterparts. A news study out of the University of Texas found deaf children with autism tended to refer to themselves with a name sign rather than a sign pronoun. The two linguistics professors who ran the study speculate that it says something about the way people with autism experience the self, rathe than the result of the arbitrary nature of English pronouns as was thought when studying only hearing autistic children. Read details of the study here.

Deaf Woman beaten in Michigan

A Detroit teen attached a 55-year-old deaf neighbor a week-and-a-half ago. The 19-year-old punched her repeatedly and threw her to the ground. Read more in the New-Herald.

Online course provider cuts deal with Feds over Accessibility

Online course provider edX is settled a Justice Dept. complaint that its classes were not accessible to the deaf and blind. The nonprofit MOOC provider created by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will change it's website and digital tools--meaning the agreement affects the 60 colleges now using the platform. edX will not pay a fine. The National Associated of the Deaf filed a lawsuit against Harvard and MIT over its poorly captioned or missing captions on their instructional videos.Read the full settlement here.

Brothers: We were victims of workplace bullying

Two deaf brothers say they were fired because they are deaf. Matthew and Andrew Ray are suing their former employer, Lanier Parking Solutions, which provides valet parking for a hospital in The Woodlands. Matthew and Andrew say "they were bullied and harassed on the job" and then fired for reporting it. KKRIV-TV in Houston has a video report. No captions but you can read the story here.

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Plan to raise terp standards in OK schools

There's a proposal to change the rules for sign language interpreters in Oklahoma schools. State lawmaker Sally Kern wants to raise the bar--but some complain the bill would only make it harder to fill positions. Some say fewer than half of the interpreters now working in schools meet the standards in place now. The bill moved out of the House and now heads to the Senate for consideration. To see the bill's progress, click here.

Lip Reading Academy founder profiled

The founder and director of the Lip Reading Academy is featured in an article coming from the Times Free Press in Tennessee. The article quotes David Harrison as telling a class of students, "Sign language is fine, but not many hearing people know sign language. But most pastors, college professors, bosses and co-workers don't know sign language if they can hear. Lip reading can help you communicate professionally and socially in the hearing world." Read the article here. A video of Harrison is included with the story (you can see it below) but there are no captions.

A new language for Pakistan's deaf

A sign language is being developed for Pakistan's deaf population, lead by a small group of educators. "There are an estimated 1.25 million deaf children in Pakistan," according to the New York Times. Read more about the effort to bring them Pakistan Sign Language here.

Dedicated Coach helps Athletes recover quicker

A Missouri deaf high school coach is making an impact, not only in the town of Eureka but also around the world. KTVI-TV explains why in this video report. No captions, but you can read the story here.

Long sentence for NY murder

A New York judge sentenced Bismark Lithgow to 21-years-to-life yesterday. The Harlem man admitted stabbing his girlfriend while she slept and then putting her body into a drum in 2013. Lithgow is deaf and so was his girlfriend. Read more about the story from CBS New York here.

Suit: Deaf prisoners treated unfairly in Michigan

Some deaf prisoners are suing the state of Michigan. The lawsuit accuses officials of violating their rights by only giving them old equipment, not letting them have access to educational materials, medical care or proper devises needed for communicating with loved ones. A lawyer for the inmates says, "The Michigan Department of Corrections has failed or refused to provide necessary accommodations and assistance in a consistent and comprehensive manner. As a result, it has violated the prisoners' rights by infringing on their ability to communicate with loved ones, participate in medical and mental health care as well as religious and various other programs." The class action lawsuit was filed by the Michigan Protection & Advocacy Service and you can read more details here.

Phony Service Animals

"Passing a pet off as a service dog is fraud, yet all it takes to make a pet look like a trained assistance animal is buying an easily available vest on the Internet - no questions asked, just send in your money," Cathy Kangas writes in the Huffington Post. She's a member of the Human Society's board of directors and wrote a column about the problem of phony service dogs. You can read it here.

Scam targets Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing

You have probably heard about fake e-mails claiming you've won millions in some lottery. A WOIO-TV viewer in Cleveland, Ohio called the station after she was fooled into believing she'd hit the jackpot. Here's a video report.

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