Change to Netflix playback coming

The National Association of the Deaf is applauding Netflix for its plan to allow users to speed up or slow down videos. The feature will also slowdown captions which would help people who might prefer the captions at a slightly slower speed.  Read more about the change here.

A drama based on DPN!

A drama is planned based on the book

Deaf President Now! The 1988 Revolution at Gallaudet University. The book, written by John Christiansen and Sharon Barnartt, tells the story of what happened the week of protests at Gallaudet when the students and supporters rallied for eight days around the cry for the school to have a deaf president. The untitled show is an effort from Concordia Studio backed by Nyle DiMarco.

Meet America's top sign language news reporter

The Daily Moth, which offers news in ASL, has more than 200,000 Facebook followers.  The Christian Science Monitor spoke with Alex Abenchuchan about his successful 5-year-old online channel. Watch the video below or read the transcript here.

YouTube is ending its community captions feature

YouTube will discontinue its community captions Sept. 28. It allowed viewers to add subtitles but YouTube says it wasn't used enough. “You can still use your own captions, automatic captions and third-party tools and services,” YouTube said in an update on its help page here.  An online petition asking Google to change the decision has gotten more than 90,000 signatures.

The Kentucky Deaf School will start its year online

The Kentucky School for Blind and Kentucky School for the Deaf says it will start year online. The Kentucky Department of Education approved the plan which means the Kentucky School for the Deaf in Danville will begin instruction on August 24. At least the first six weeks of classes will be held online. A decision about the rest of the semester will be decided in October. In a letter to families, Principal Toyah Robey wrote: 

When we are permitted to return to campus, KSD will provide details in advance of our Healthy at School procedures to ensure the safety of our students and staff when on campus. It is critical that all comply with these guidelines to safeguard the health and welfare of everyone. 

Read the full letter here.

Marlee Matlin Implores Hiring of More Deaf Actors

Academy Award winner Marlee Matlin is working to recognize the talents of deaf and disabled actors as they struggle for work in Hollywood. She talks about it in this New York Times video.

Two Docus about the Deaf Community Coming to Netflix

Deaf U and Audible will be on Netflix soon. Both documentaries are about the deaf community in the U.S. Deaf U is an eight-episode series following a group of Deaf students at Gallaudet University. It will have a Netflix premiere on Oct. 9.  Audible is a 36-minute film that follows Maryland School for the Deaf high school athlete Amaree McKenstry-Hall. The film is about the pressures of his senior year—both on and off the football field.  Nyle DiMarco tweeted about the Deaf U series yesterday:

I’m excited to finally announce my Netflix series as an executive producer, with you all!

Deaf U is a coming-of-age documentary series following a tight-knit group of deaf students at Gallaudet University, a renowned private college for the deaf and hard of hearing, in D.C. https://t.co/qpZ8moYHBS

— Nyle DiMarco (@NyleDiMarco) July 24, 2020

VA School for the Deaf and the Blind planning to reopen

The Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind plans to meet in the classroom five days a week—starting next month. Read more about it from WHSV-TV here.

Harvard Law School’s first deaf-blind graduate: 'My disability was never my barrier'

Harvard Law School’s first deaf-blind graduate speaks out on ableism in a video for Yahoo Life. Haben Girma says: 

People often ask, ‘Is disability a barrier? How has deaf-blindness been a barrier?’ And then I ask people, ‘Why are you assuming that a disability would be a barrier?’ That's an ableist assumption. We need to move away from thinking ‘is disability a barrier’ and instead move toward thinking, ‘how do we make our service accessible, how do we make our schools accessible? 

Watch the video of the author, lawyer, and disability rights advocate here.

Unspeakable

Unspeakable is a public service announcement about Black Lives Matter featuring members of the deaf community put together by Pittsburgh filmmaker Emmai Alaquiva. She says, “It is my hope that ‘Unspeakable’ brings attention to the basic human right of communication access as a thread which connects us all." 

 

Some parents at odds with Florida deaf school

The Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind is not offering a distance learning option for the school year despite the rise in coronavirus cases in the state. "If families don't want their children in a classroom with other students in a state that's a coronavirus epicenter, they're left no choice but to leave the school," reports First Coast News.

Protecting the Deaf Community from Investment Scams

This SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) video shows how a fraud takes place from the point of view of a man from the deaf and hard or hearing community who was defrauded by someone they thought they could trust. While the names and people are made up, the story demonstrates how even the most responsible investors can be victims when they put their guard down.

Florida School Staffers identified as being part of offensive photo

Some Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind staff members are in an offensive photo taken of members of Kappa Gamma fraternity at Gallaudet University—including a media specialist and an athletic director. An associate instructor from the University of North Florida is also in the photo, according to a report by The Florida Times-Union. Read more details here. 

Nyle DiMarco is getting his own comedy show

from Nyle DiMarco's Instragram

Nyle DiMarco will play a "charismatic, street-smart deaf man" in a new comedy series. The model, deaf activist, and TV star tweeted about it recently: 

Nyle DiMarco

@NyleDiMarco

if i told my younger self that i would eventually have my own series about Deaf culture, i wouldn’t believe it. deaf people leading in a series about deaf culture? not possible! this is huge for me... thank you all

DiMarco has also revealed that he has potentially been exposed to the coronavirus. He has experienced a fever, chills, a sore throat and lost his smell and taste. He is now recovering in self-isolation. Read more about it from Deadline here.

Deaf Groups Sue Florida Gov

Disability Rights Florida and the National Association of the Deaf have filed a lawsuit against Florida's governor for failing to make his COVID-19 briefings accessible in sign language. Ron DeSantis 

Howard A. Rosenblum, who leads the NAD, says:

Health threats such as coronavirus impact everyone including deaf and hard-of-hearing people, and it is imperative that all governmental announcements be accessible to all of us including in ASL. Given the extraordinary surge of coronavirus cases in Florida, full and equal access to information is critical.

Read the full complaint here. 

Investigation into principal at deaf school

A high school assistant principal at the California School for the Deaf, Riverside, is under investigation for his part in a fraternity at Gallaudet University that was recently suspended for anti-Semitic activities. 

Tim Hile belonged to Kappa Gamma and is seen in a 2006 photo apparently giving a Nazi-style salute As a Gallaudet University student. Read the full story here.

Remembering a "tireless champion and advocate for the Deaf community"

Harlan Lane
PHOTO: Mary Knox Merrill/Northeastern University

Harlan Lane died a year ago today (July 13, 2019) at the age of 82 from Parkinson’s disease. A psychologist and linguist, Lane helped to found the ASL program at Northeastern University. But he will mostly be remembered as a "tireless champion and advocate for the Deaf community." Among the books he authored was The People of the Eye: Deaf Ethnicity and Ancestry. He argued in the book that deafness is not a disability but a unique community. Lane became interested in Deaf culture and ASL in the 1970s while teaching at the University of California, San Diego. He happened upon students who were signing to each other and wanted to learn more. He explained in an interview with the Northeastern in 2011 here. The interim co-director of the ASL Program at Northeastern, Angela Herbert, said:

Professionally speaking, he was decades before his time in terms of understanding the value of Deaf people and the Deaf community. There are so many books on ASL, Deaf culture, and the Deaf community now, but when Harlan was starting out, that just wasn’t the case.

People at Gallaudet University remember Lane as a professor in the 1980s who was an outspoken member of the “Deaf President Now” movement. Read more about Lane here.

How the 1918 influenza pandemic affected the Kentucky School for the Deaf

The 1918 influenza pandemic (also known as The Spanish Flu) killed millions of people including 14,000 people in Kentucky. The Advocate-Messenger takes a look at the effect the outbreak had on the state's school for the deaf here. 

Commissioner for the deaf put on paid leave

The Massachusetts commissioner for the deaf is on paid leave while an investigation is underway into his fraternity activities during college. The fraternity engaged in racist and anti-Semitic practices. WCVB-TV reports Commissioner Steven Florio of the Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing told staff about his participation in some of the frat's controversial activities. Florio also sent an email to staff in which he wrote, "I disavow my past affiliation with the fraternity." Read more here.

Steven Florio from WCVB-TV video

Little girl greets deaf delivery driver in sign

A video has gone viral that shows eight-year-old Tallulah greeting deaf delivery driver in Greater Manchester, England. She used the sign language to surprise Tim Joseph. They had became friends and Tallulah drew a picture of a rainbow for the driver to thank him for his efforts amid the coronavirus pandemic. Joseph told the BBC, “Tallulah realized I was deaf and then one day she surprised me when she signed to me, ’Have a good day.’ I think she learnt sign language at school.” The video was taken by Tallulah's mother, Amy Roberts.

How Rochester Became a Hub for the Deaf

Rochester is home to one of the largest deaf and hard-of-hearing populations in the U.S. Read about how that came about in an article from the Daily Beast here.

Gally's plan for fall teaching

Gallaudet University will start the fall semester remotely, then slowly bring students back for in-person learning based on recommendations from the school’s reopening task force and city officials. Below is a video from President Roberta J. Cordano about the fall semester and you can read more information here.

MI company to pay $25K for ADA violations

A Michigan company has agreed to pay $25,000 to settle a federal disability discrimination lawsuit as well as ADA training and reports to the EEOC. The EEOC's lawsuit said Powerlink Facilities Management Services, instead of providing captioning in its orientation videos, didn't allow a deaf employee to begin work for several months. The failure to provide reasonable accommodations was an ADA violation. Read more details from the EEOC here.

iOS 14 gives deaf users some valuable features

Apples' 14th operating system includes features useful to the deaf and hard-of-hearing.

• Sound Recognition, which creates a notification whenever the phone detects common noises like sirens, car horns, doorbells, running water, and appliance beeps. 
• There's also a "personal audiogram,” which allows you to adjust frequencies based on which ones you are able to hear. 
• "Real Time Text" conversation has been around—it helps with conversations for those who are nonverbal people. But now users can be doing something else while using the app. 
• FaceTime calls can now be set so that it will which between signers and not just verbal speakers.

Website accessibility study

Many websites are not accessible, according to a company called accessiBe. They tested 10,000,000 websites for accessibility compliance and found:

98% of menus failed
83% of buttons
71% of forms
52% of images
89% of pop-ups.

Read more here.

Starbucks to open 1st signing store in Japan

image from Starbucks.com

Starbucks Coffee is opening its first store in Japan with baristas who know sign language. The store will open on Saturday in Kunitachi, a city in the western part of Tokyo. Nearly the entire staff of 25 is deaf. This will be the fifth "signing store" for the company Others are located in Malaysia, the US and China. Read more here.

Marvel is looking for a Deaf Actress

Marvel is reportedly searching for a deaf, Native American First Nations, Indigenous or Latinx actress for a role in an upcoming Disney+ series. Speculation is that Disney could be planning to introduce the Daredevil character Echo to one of its shows. Originally an adversary for The Man Without Fear, Echo became a hero herself, becoming Avenger Maya Lopez in the New Avengers and then a help to Wolverine and Moon Knight. Read more here.

Twitter offers audio option--without making the audio accessible

Twitter is rolling out a new audio option that allows users to record as much as 140 seconds of audio to post as a tweet. But the social network failed to make the feature accessible to deaf and hard of hearing people. After an outcry, the designer behind the product, Maya Patterson, admitted it was “huge error” and the team is “working to fix this as soon as possible." Here's her tweet:

My personal response to the Deaf/HOH Community:

[audio transcript]
Uh point blank period, we fucked up, I fucked up. Uh we launched a test and we should have included accessibility features in that test. That was a huge error, and one I personally have made myself sit [cont] pic.twitter.com/avAImLl9t7

— Maya Gold (@mayagpatterson) June 19, 2020

Only a few users have the option so far but it is expected to be widely available in a few weeks.

FedEx will pay $3.3 million dollars to settle an ADA complaint

FedEx will pay $3.3 million dollars to settle a complaint filed with the EEOC. "Seventeen deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals filed Charges of Discrimination against FedEx, which the EEOC then consolidated as part of a nationwide investigation of potential ADA violations."FedEx has agreed to provide deaf and hard-of-hearing package handlers with access to live and video remote interpreters captioned videos, scanning equipment with non-audible cues such as vibrations and provide training for managers on ADA compliance. Read more here.

1st Transgender Student Graduates from Rochester School for the Deaf

"If it wasn't for RSD, I wouldn't be the person I am today," Cori Moquette told Spectrum News. Read more about Moquette here.

Masks & VRIs can prevent Deaf individuals from accessing treatment

Bridget Nitsch opted for a natural birth but wasn’t due for a few days--but the baby came anyway. But

Bridget Nitsch and her partner, who are both Deaf, couldn’t reach 911 until connecting with Bridget Nitsch’s mother through a video call. By the time the paramedics arrived, the baby’s head was halfway out. Bridget Nitsch and her partner can read lips with American Sign Language, but the paramedics refused to take off their masks or gloves due to COVID-19 precautions.“They were talking, but there was no communication,” Nitsch said through an interpreter. “I couldn’t speech-read anything they were saying, because of the masks. And then the baby came out.”

Read more in the Daily Northwestern.

Deaf Black lives matter group honors Black deaf sanitation workers

Several dozen deaf black people joined together to march in Memphis yesterday. Besides protesting against police brutality and systemic racism, they also honored black deaf sanitation workers who marched before them. Read the full story at the Commercial Appeal here and watch the video below from WJHL-TV News channel 11.

Judge rules on lawsuit filed by deaf inmates in Illinois

The Illinois prison system is not following through on its agreement to accommodate deaf prisoners. That's the finding of a federal judge who says the Illinois Department of Corrections is out of compliance with a 2018 settlement agreement. It said that deaf prisoners would get auditory exams after failed hearing tests. The judge is ordering the dept. of corrections to pay attorney fees of the deaf prisoners who sued. Read more about the case in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.

Gally suspends frat House over racist photo

Gallaudet University has suspended its oldest fraternity. A 1988 photo has come to light showing members of the Kappa Gamma chapter doing what appears to be Nazi salutes. Current members of the Gallaudet chapter have condemned the photo. In 2014, the fraternity was criticized when members wore robes resembling Ku Klux Klan robes. President Roberta Cordano told the campus in a video, “They have become the face of systemic racism in our community, with photographs of the salute and use of robes being shared on social media. This behavior is unacceptable." Watch the entire video below. You can read the text of video here.

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.

Black Lives Matter signs

ASL interpreter Rorri Burton breaks down how to sign “Black Lives Matter” in ASL and explains why not everyone signs it the same way.

The lockdown's impact on deaf children in the UK

The Covid-19 pandemic has meant access to many support services is limited, and deaf youngsters are even more vulnerable, write a group of health and disability experts. Read more in the Guardian here.

Meet the deaf fitness instructor calling for more accessibility in gyms and on social media

India Morse believes that the fitness industry isn't inclusive enough. She says, "Usually the major barrier in the fitness industry is the fact that the classes are always based in such dark environments. Fitness classes tend to be very dependent on having music to go along with the vibe but in all honesty, they often forget about the importance of being visual." Morse also believes Instagram should be doing more to cater for the deaf community. Read more at Inside here.

Louisiana School for the Deaf Gets New Director

Heather Laine is the new Director of Louisiana School for the Deaf. She earned a degree at Gallaudet University and later earned an advanced degree in deaf education at Cal State Northridge. She worked as a teacher of the deaf in Los Angeles before eventually becoming principal at Arizona's Sequoia Deaf School. Here is the official announcement.

Hotel Settles Service Dog complaint

A Connecticut Quality Inn has reached a settlement over its refusal to allow a guest to bring a service dog into its dining room. The settlement includes $1,000 in compensation and requires:

The Quality Inn Mystic-Groton to permit service animals in all areas of the hotel that members of the public and other hotel guests are allowed to go, including in its dining room during meal service. Additionally, the hotel will post signage indicating “Service Animals Welcome,” will implement a “Service Animal Policy,” and will train its managers and employees regarding the policy.

Read more about it here.

More than 110 years ago

Here is a bit of history. The paragraph below as published in the June 1907 issue of Scientific American magazine—more than 110 years ago:

The loss of the sense of hearing should not necessarily mean deprivation of the power of speech. Is it only within recent years that we have come to realize this fact, and in up-to-date institutions the old –fashioned finger alphabet is now unknown. Every child is taught to speak in the natural way by means of the vocal organs. The four or five years of the primary course are devoted almost exclusively to the acquirement of language and numbers.

The Hearing Journal

The June issue of The Hearing Journal is out. It's a well-respected academic journal and the articles are free. Read here articles that include "tips to make videoconferences more hearing-friendly and improve the experience for everyone, not just for the person with hearing loss." There's also information on fluctuating hearing loss, the "Expanding Insurance Coverage of Teleaudiology" and making audiology work during COVID-19 and beyond."

Living through a pandemic without sound

There are 300,000 people in Northern Ireland affected by hearing loss. The BBC spoke to some of the about their experiences during the coronavirus outbreak here.

Gally gets new swim coach

image from Galluadet.edu

Nick Pezzarossi is the new men’s and women’s swimming and diving head coach at Gallaudet University. Pezzarossi, who is deaf, was twice an assistant coach at the school—three years under former head coach Bill Snape (2004-07) and one year under former head coach Rosemary Stifter (2003-04). The most recent head coach, Larry Curran, recently stepped down after eight years. Pezzarossi's wife, Caroline Pezzarossi, teaches psychology at Gallaudet. Read more about the new coach here.

Deaf-Blind artist wins National Magazine Award

Deaf-Blind artist John Lee Clark has won the 2020 National Magazine Award for "Tactile Art" in the category of Essays and Criticism. You can read Clark's piece in Poetry Magazine here and more about the award here.

Online Education Resources for the Deaf Community

Voice of America's Calla Yu has a video report on teachers who are creating online resources in American Sign Language.

The pandemic made life harder for deaf people. The solutions could benefit everyone.

"Floating captioning, live transcribing, and clear masks are only a first step to bridging the communication gap. This is all in the right direction, and people will say this ‘solves the deaf problem,’ but it doesn’t.” Read more at MIT Tech review here.

Video: "I am Deaf Enough"

Seattle-area deaf actress and YouTuber Cheyenna Clearbrook has put together a video for her more than 100K subscribers called "I am Deaf Enough." Born deaf, she was featured in a TEDx talk while a student at Gallaudet University student.

ADA law & wearing a mask in a business

Does ADA law require businesses to allow people into stories if the customer has a disability? Some experts say the answer is 'no.' KMIR-TV in Palm Springs has a video report below or read the story here.

Complaint says AP exams discriminate

New Jersey high school student Kaleigh Brendle has filed federal complaints saying the AP exams discriminate against the blind and deaf. A junior at the Scholars’ Center for the Humanities, Kaleigh is legally blind and has been reading brail since she was 3 years old. Find our more about why she says the test isn't set up properly in the New York Post here.

Temporary Layoffs at Michigan School for the Deaf

The Michigan School for the Deaf is cutting its staff down to four days a week. There will work for them on Fridays through July. This includes all academic, office, residential and administrative staff. Read more here.

Deaf woman’s social media post goes viral, raises awareness

Kimberly Fugate Kimberly is using a story of something that happened to her at a grocery store to raise awareness about what the Deaf and Hard of Hearing face every day. Her Facebook post recounting that moment has more than 30,000 shares. WTVQ-TV in Lexington, Kentucky has a video report below or read the story here.

Meet Gov. Cuomo's Terp

Arkady Belozovsky, an NTID (National Technical Institute for the Deaf) graduate is the sign language interpreter you will see on-screen alongside New York's governor during coronavirus briefings. Read more in a lengthy article published in the Democrat & Chronicle here.

Deaf Man dies after being trapped in fire

A Maryland man on the outskirts of Wash., D.C. who is deaf died after his home caught fire early Sunday morning. Firefighters rescued 55-year-old Norman Rogers III but he later died at the hospital. Rogers graduated from the Maryland School of the Deaf. Read more here.

Zoom fatigue is nothing new--to the deaf and HoH

Zoom fatigue is something the Deaf community knows very well. It’s called “concentration fatigue" and people who are deaf and hard of hearing deal with it every day. Read more about the topic in a Quartz article here.

The ASL Advantage

The Maryland School for the Deaf superintendent sees ASL as an advantage in the fight to remain healthy during the pandemic. WDVM-TV has a video report or you can read the story 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.

How a Texas school is connecting with its students

The Sunshine Cottage School for Deaf Children in San Antonio is working to stay connected to its students. Preschool teacher Holly Mason says:

I record instructional videos every day and then send it to the parents so that they can view those videos at their convenience...We are shifting greatly to parents who are having to take the primary seat. But what parents forget is that they were the first teacher. Parents are the first teacher their child’s ever going to have.

Read more and see a video report from KSAT-TV here.

Musical collaboration

The musical duo called the Skivvies has joined with deaf actor Joshua Castille and others who work with Deaf West Theatre to perform in a short video of I Am What I Am from La Cage Aux Folles.

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.

Show me a Sign

A new historical novel called Show me a Sign follows the life of an 11-year-old girl on Martha’s Vineyard in the 19th Century. Intended for children ages 8 to 12, author Ann Clare LeZotte, who is deaf herself, takes the reader into a group of deaf residents who were descendants of English colonists and have developed their own sign language. At one point the girl tells herself, “Papa was right. We are fine as we were made.” The New York Times reviewed the book and says:

Dialogue, both spoken and signed, is handled deftly, showing the rich cadences and patterns of each form of expression. LeZotte also gives readers a sense of M.V.S.L. (Martha’s Vineyard Sign Language), a combination of “home sign” and American Sign Language used by the islanders through the mid-1900s.

Read the full review here.

The Deaf-Blind Fear That Doctors Won’t Save Them from the Coronavirus

The president of Gallaudet University, Roberta Cordano says, “My worry is that the pandemic planning has completely missed" the deaf-blind community. “To be frank, there is no mechanism on a national scale to support the deaf-blind in the current American health-care system.” At least fifteen of Gallaudet students are deaf-blind. The New Yorker has more in a new article written by Robin Wright:

During the pandemic, the new forms of protection—including social distancing, masks, and gloves—only complicate communication for deaf-blind people who can’t read Braille with gloves on because their hands are desensitized. And many who have residual sight can’t lip-read through masks.

Wright goes on to say:

When I started reporting this piece, I had no sense of the scope of the issues or the depth of their fears. More than three dozen deaf-blind people from as far away as Australia poured their hearts out in poignant e-mails and calls, some conducted through complex layers of sign interpreters and Braille. People who are deaf-blind don’t want pity, they told me. Many are exhausted, even in normal times, by simplistic depictions of their heroic survival in a hearing and sighted world.

Read the full article 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.

Deafverse: An ASL-accessible Video Game

Austin's National Deaf Center has developed a fully ASL-accessible game. Deafverse is a "browser-based ongoing-narrative adventure about navigating the world as a deaf teenager." Arstechnica says:

Although Deafverse is primarily designed for deaf teenagers of high school age (in service of the NDC's primary goal of supporting deaf young people's transition into active employment), much of its subject matter is useful for anyone who wants to learn about deafness. Using federal funding through the NDC, the Deafverse development team was able to cast a wide net for research on ways deaf young people are and are not succeeding after their teen years. The findings, Turner says, were cross-checked against a set list of broad learning outcomes to create a game that teaches lessons while still being true to life.

Read more about it in Arstechnica here.

Implant Activated Remotely

A toddler in England has just had her cochlear implant activated for the first time during a remote telemedicine session between her house and the clinical team. Read more about it on Medgadget here or watch the video about the procedure below.

Deaf Man Sues Plasma Co.

An Illinois deaf man is suing CSL Plasma over ADA issues. Mark Gomez says the blood plasma company not only wouldn't accept his plasma, it refused to provide him with an interpreter. Read the full story 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.

What deaf truckers have to fear from the Trump administration

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is about to issue a ruling that could prevent deaf and hard-of-hearing commercial truck drivers from working. The National Association for the Deaf filed a petition this year arguing that the hearing tests are not a valid requirement for a commercial driver's license. Sara Novic filed an opinion piece with CNN about the issue which you can read here.

A struggle at Trader Joe's

Good Morning America spoke with Matthew Simmons, a Trader Joe's cashier in Vancouver, Washington about the difficulties he faces communicating with customers--especially with everyone wearing masks. "I rely heavily on using my lip-reading skills so customers wearing facial coverings is a problem for me," Simmons said. Read the full story here.

The Forgotten Victims of the Pandemic: the Deaf Community

Ozy takes a look at the particular difficulties of being deaf during a pandemic outbreak in a story you can read here or see in ASL in the video below.

The challenges deaf and hard of hearing college students

A look at the challenges deaf and hard of hearing college students face with COVID-19 in an article published by The Houston Chronicle here.

Teachers at School for Deaf and Blind surprised by ‘superhero’ lawn signs

image from the USDB FB page

Teachers at Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind have been building virtual learning platforms for the past few years, so when schools were dismissed in March due to COVID-19, they were able to hit the virtual ground running, ABC-4 reports. To thank the teachers for all their hard work, a school employee designed a “superhero” yard sign. Superintendent Joel Coleman was among those distributing the signs to the homes of teachers across the state. Read the full story here.

The challenges facing Rochester's Deaf Community

Spectrum News takes a look at the challenges facing Rochester's Deaf Community with a masking policy in place here.

Hospital Sued: Lawsuit claims no Terp provided

A lawsuit filed against McLaren Greater Lansing Hospital claims a deaf patient was not provided an interpreter last year as required by ADA law. Instead, the staff of the Lansing, Michigan facility used written notes to communicate with Christine Ketola, according to the complaint. Read more about the lawsuit in the Lansing State Journalhere.

Gally to get federal emergency funds

Gallaudet University will receive $821,498 in emergency federal funding based on total enrollment, the number of full-time students eligible for federal Pell grants and which are awarded to students from low-income families." Read more about the distribution to DC schools in the Washington Post here.

The impact of social distancing on the DeafBlind community

"For many in the DeafBlind community, social distancing has created unique worries and exceptional challenges," reports the Washington Post."It is forcing them to grow increasingly disconnected at a time when they need more than ever to be aware of what’s happening around them." Haben Girma, who wrote a memoir titled “Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law” says:

“Many DeafBlind people rely on tactile interpretation, which cannot be done remotely or even from six feet away. I’m worried hospitals facing scarce resources will decide not to save our lives. There is an ableist assumption that causes some people to think it’s better to be dead than disabled.”

Read the story in the Washington Post here.

What It's Like To Have Usher Syndrome

Hannah Corderman told Women's Health her story:

image from UsherSyndromeSociety.org

At 17 years old, I was officially diagnosed with Usher syndrome. I was devastated upon receiving my diagnosis, but I also felt a strange sense of relief. Even though I had just found out I would eventually go blind and potentially deaf, I still had time to do something about it, time to live my life as fully as I could during the years that I still had my daytime vision.

Read more in an article here.

KY teacher makes house calls to see Deaf-Blind students

image from WAVE-TV video

A partially blind and deaf teen in Kentucky is getting an education through his home’s glass front door. Helen Keller Center Specialist Corinne Miller comes to his home and communicates through the glass door to 16-year-old Alex Hitzelberger. Watch a video report about their arrangement from WAVE-TV here.

Being deaf can feel Isolating & even more so during a pandemic

Kelly Dougher writes, "As a deaf person, I know just how awful it can be to feel isolated. I’ve had to struggle with it my entire life. But many, many people are suddenly experiencing the side effects of isolation for the first time." Read her entire piece in the Huff Post here.

Face Masks & the Deaf Community

The push to wear face masks has created a new challenge for the deaf community: Lip-reading becomes impossible and facial expressions are partially hidden. CBS-2 has a video report from Chicago (or read the story here).

ASL on Zoey's Playlist

Below is a bit of the ASL dance performance last night on NBC's show Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist. It was put together with the help of Deaf West Theater.

Zoey meets Deaf West

The NBC show Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist worked with LA's Deaf West Theatre to create Sunday night's episode of the musical series. Deaf West's Sandra Mae Frank is guest star and is joined by other deaf performers. In the episode, Zoey meets the daughter of her dad’s caregiver. Even though the woman is deaf she can understand her "heart song." The title character has the ability to hear the innermost thoughts of people around her—but it is expressed through popular songs and big dance numbers. Below is a video sneak peek. Read more about how the episode came about here.

College student makes masks for the deaf

Ashley Lawrence is studying education for the deaf and hard of hearing at Eastern Kentucky University and has come up with a way to help the community during the Coronavirus outbreak. She tells LEX-18:

We're trying different things to for people with cochlear implants and hearing aids if they can't wrap around the ears. We're making some that have around the head and around the neck. For anyone who uses speech reading, lip reading, anybody like that. And people who are profoundly deaf who use ASL as their primary mode of communication. ASL is very big on facial expressions and it is part of the grammar.

Read more here.

Leaving students behind in the rush to go online

Digital Trends reports "The rapid migration to virtual classes has forced disabled students into using websites and apps that were never designed to accommodate them." Read the full story here.

Texas Deaf school Preps for Distance Learning

Austin's Texas School for the Deaf typically has hundreds of students from around the state on campus at this time. But that's changed with quarantining for the pandemic. Last week was spring break and this week was preparation for moving classes online--starting this Monday. KVUE-TV takes a look a how the Texas School for the Deaf and the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired are preparing for distance learning.

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.

What Marlee Matlin Did In Quarantine

Oscar-winner Marlee Matlin is so bored In quarantine she pulled out the dress she wore to that fateful 1987 Oscars ceremony and tried it on again. Read what happened here.

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.

Big Challenges For Deaf Students Being Forced To Leave College

Students at Gallaudet University are facing extra challenges after being forced to leave campus. Read more from BuzzFeed News here.

How Deaf Advocates Won the Battle for Closed Captioning

"It wasn’t until March 16, 1980 — 40 years ago this Monday — that the network TV channels ABC, NBC and PBS debuted closed-captioned television shows, in which the show’s dialogue and soundtrack appeared as text on-screen as the action proceeded..But getting there was a fight, and that battle still continues today." Read more about the battle for closed captioning from TIME magazine here.

Recent Articles of Interest about the Virus

Recent Articles of Interest about the Virus here.

Implant contest winner from Washington

image from Ideas4Ears contest video

An 8-year-old Washington state girl won the grand prize in an international contest sponsored by her cochlear implant maker, Med-El. Kenzi Cayton and her mom made a short video with her mom which was chosen from the 171 ideas submitted by more than 2000 children in nearly 30 countries,  Her idea for the  Ideas4Ears competition is to create an app that allows people to change the "skins" on their implants by clicking a button. Watch her video submission here. Read the press release about the contest here.

The search for a new superintendent in Montana

A public forum was held last night about the search for a new superintendent to lead The Montana School for the Deaf & Blind. Read more about the search here.

Longtime Gally Prof dies at the age of 98

Image: dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Donald Padden, a leader in the deaf community, has died at the age of 98 in Frederick, Maryland. He taught physical education classes at Gallaudet University for 42 years and led a popular summer camp in northern Minnesota. His daughter, Carol Padden, is dean of social sciences at the University of California at San Diego. Read more here.
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Deaf Indiana wrestler began life as a child slave in Ghana

Jacob Linky endured abuse in his native Ghana as a slave to his biological father. The Associated Press tells the story of how this deaf wrestler made his way to America here.

Deaf School President Retires

image from FSDB website

The president of the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind is retiring. Jeanne Glidden Prickett will end her tenure on July 31, 2020. She has served as the 17th president since May 1, 2012. Prickett said in a statement:

It has been a privilege leading an FSDB team of highly dedicated and collaborative educators and staff members. Together, we provide students with the highest quality education possible with continuous improvement as the major focus. Helping students to reach new heights of achievement is our top priority.

Julia Mintzer, administrator of business services, will lead the school until a successor to Prickett is named. Read more about the change here.

The Bible in ASL

The Jehovah's Witnesses have completed an ASL translation of the Bible. There have been 60 million downloads of the free videos. Other Bible societies have been working on a similar goal such as Deaf Missions. Read more here.

What Do Cochlear Implants And Hearing Aids Sound Like?

Science Friday has a lesson for middle school students about how hearing aids and cochlear implants including sample recordings of: "..what it’s like to hear sound through a hearing aid and a cochlear implant. Unless you wear one of these devices, it is impossible to know exactly what it is like to experience sound through them. In fact, people who have normal hearing in one ear but wear a cochlear implant in the other ear say that these simulations sound very different from how they hear sounds with their implant." The sample sounds are posted here.

Deaf Rapper Making History

Deaf rapper Sean Forbes is close to making history--he's about to become the first deaf artist to break into the Billboard Top 200. He's already the first deaf musician to hit #1 on Amazon music list for all genres as well as #1 in the hip hop category both on Amazon and iTunes. His new release is called Little Victories. Fox-2 Detriot has a video interview with Forbes (or read the story here).