Glow Golf in Ontario

A special golf tournament takes place this evening in Ontario Canada. DeafBlind Ontario Services annual Glow Golf takes place at the Greenhills Golf and Country Club. Besides the glow-in-the-dark golf game and a “sensory putting contest" where players depend on their tactile senses, the organization promises a barbecue dinner, prizes and silent auction. You can visit the DOS site for more information here.

The Deaf State proposal

Before the U.S. civil war, a deaf man named John J. Flournoy tried to get the U.S. Congress to set aside land in the western territories for the establishment of a deaf state. In 1855, the American School for the Deaf graduate made the recommendation because he believed the deaf could flourish without the restrictions of the hearing world. The primary means of communication would be sign language. The state never worked out but another of Flournoy's ideas did--he wanted a school for the deaf in Georgia and his prolific letter writing helped lead to the formation of the Georgia School for the Deaf. Flournoy, known for living an eccentric lifestyle, had a deaf brother and his father was a Georgia slaveholder. You can read more about this chapter in Deaf History in the Disability Studies Quarterly here or in Jack R. Gannon's book Deaf Heritage: A Narrative History of Deaf Americans or John V. Van Cleve's A Place of Their Own: Creating the Deaf Community in America.

Deafhood vs Deafness Conference

Deaf Eye & Mind is hosting a gathering their calling the Deafhood vs Deafness Conference in the Los Angeles next month (Saturday, Oct 12). The meeting is based around the group's mission "to guide (d/Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and hearing) leaders in the transformation of culture to build an inclusive community where each person is equally respected and empowered."

Deaf School off to quick football start

Florida School for the Deaf is undefeated so far this season. The team took on St. Francis on Wednesday, notching their third victory against no defeats and a single tie. The final score was 32-14.

Implant inventors to get award

The inventors of the cochlear implant are getting a big award next week. Graeme Clark, Ingeborg Hochmair and Blake S. Wilson will share in the Lasker Award for clinical medical research--along with a quarter of a million dollars.  The 78-year-old Graeme Clark is an Australian doctor who was motivated to pioneer the first multi-channel implant by watching his deaf father struggle in his daily life.  Austria electrical engineer Ingeborg Hochmair worked with her husband, Erwin Hochmair, to develop their own multi-channel implant in Europe, eventually starting MED-EL--one of the "big three" cochlear implant makers. She now serves as CEO for the company. Blake S. Wilson is co-director at the Duke Hearing Center. He is strategy advisor for MED-EL and is credited with inventing many of the critical signal processing strategies used in implants today.  The award will be given to them a week from Friday (Sept. 20) in a New York ceremony.  Read more about the award from the Lasker Foundation here and a video interview with the three winners here (no captions). Below is a video from Australia's The Age, a daily newspaper out of Melbourne, Australia in which Graeme Clark explains the inspiration that led him to develop the prototype prototype (no captions).

Gally wins first game

(photo from Gallaudet sports)

Gallaudet's football team won their opening game against the Shenandoah Hornets this past weekend. The Bison quickly moved to a 14-0 lead and never let up until their 31-20 victory was complete--despite some trick plays from their opponents. It's the first season-opening win for Gally in six years. The team's four touchdowns were scored by brothers Todd and Ryan Bonheyo. Gallaudet returns to action this Saturday at home against Apprentice School. Read more about the win at the university's sports page here.

Child Saved from Drowning

A Florida deaf man saved his child who nearly drowned in a St. Petersburg swimming pool. A law enforcement officer told cable news television network Bay News 9 that he saw "a father running southbound through the intersection carrying a lifeless child.” Read more about the story from Bay News 9 here.

RIT makes top ten on best colleges list

(image from Google Maps)

RIT, the university that's home to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), earned a #7 ranking for Regional Universities (North) on U.S. News & World Report's list of Best Colleges. Find out more about what the magazine has to say about RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology) here.
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Gally on Best Colleges List

(from Wikimedia Commons)

Gallaudet University is listed as one of the best regional universities on U.S. News &World Report's annual ranking of nearly 1,800 schools. The magazine gives it a #22 ranking for Best Colleges Regional Universities (North). Read more about Gallaudet's rankings here.

Florida Killer Sentenced

A Florida man who stabbed four deaf people and injured others will spend the rest of his life in jail. Two of the victims died. Anthony Giancola was a middle school principal in Tampa until until his arrest for buying crack cocaine. In June of last year, he went on a crime spree, first attacking the deaf people in St. Petersburg at a group home before going after a couple with a hammer at a hotel they owned. Prosecutors also say he hit and injured several people but drove away. Prosecutors were never able to make a connection between Giancola and the victims--the violence appeared to be random. He cut a deal where he agreed to plead guilty in order to avoid the death penalty. Circuit Judge Thane Covert gave Giancola was 30 years on top of six consecutive life sentences. Below is a video from WTSP-TV about the crimes back when it first happened (no captions).

Arab school to use ASL

A school for the deaf in the Middle East will use new methods this year. The Al Amal School and Kindergarten in the United Arab Emirates' city of Sharjah is planning to introduce American Sign Language to its students, though Emirati sign language will still be used. Read more at Gulf News here.

"Now she can hear me tell her I love her"

A father in Scotland is "so impressed" with the charity that provided his daughter with a cochlear implant, "that he is running the Great North Run half marathon on September 15 to raise funds" for it. He has never run long distance before, but has been training for the big day," reports the UK's Daily Mail. Read more at here.

School Battles City over Safety Concern

The Florida School for the Deaf and Blind is fighting a plan to let a gas station move close to the school. Supporters say it will improve a busy intersection but the school points out the plan includes hazards for its students. "This is a big safety concern,"FSDB president Jeanne Prickett tells WTEV-TV. The station has a video report which is posted below (captions available).

Lydia on the radio

Lydia Callis on the Brian Lehrer Show

Sign language interpreter Lydia Callis appeared on The Brian Lehrer Show radio show over New York City's public radio station WNYC yesterday. Callis came into the spotlight when media outlets picked up on her demonstrative interpretations during press conferences of the mayor about Superstorm Sandy last year. There's a transcript of their chat here. Here's an exempt where they discuss deaf in the workplace:

Lydia: When somebody meets a deaf person, for example if they come in for an interview or what not and they didn’t know that this person was deaf or hard of hearing, they don’t know what to do. And really the only difference between the hearing and deaf community is the fact that the deaf community communicates in a different way. And because of technologies these days they are able to work efficiently with other hearing people as well, such as having an interpreter, having email – you can communicate through email or texting through the phone – or by providing closed captioning as well. One of the great things that they have these days is something called the video phone. You can just provide a video phone for the deaf community or somebody that is deaf at their desk. And they can just turn on the video phone and they can call the deaf person – the hearing person can call the deaf person and it would go into a call center full of sign language interpreters that are trained there, ready to go, and the interpreter will be able to voice for the deaf person if they can’t speak themselves. And they’ll be able to sign what the hearing person Is trying to communicate with them and it’s right there.

Deaf Medical Student Wins Case

We've been following the case of Michael Argenyi--he sued Creighton University for discrimination because the Jesuit university refused to accommodate his learning needs, according to his suit. While Creighton accepted him for medical school, administrators refused his request for interpreters and a transcription system--claiming the services were to expensive. Argenyi has a cochlear implant but also uses cued speech. At Seattle University as an undergraduate he was able to use a transcription service along with a cued speech interpreter. A Nebraska jury agreed with Argenyi this week--but failed to award him any financial damages because the jury decided the decision to not provide the assistance was unintentional. Argenyi now faces paying off loans he took out for equipment and interpreters totally more than $100,000. You can read more on the case from Courthouse news service hereand more background on the case in the New York Times here.

Suit for captioning device in school

From KGTV video

Last month we told you about a deaf student in a San Diego-area school who was trying to get her school to provide a captioning service for her. You can read that post here. She spoke with KGTV about her "growing frustration" over the issue. Watch the interview in the video below. No captions, but you can read the text of the video here.

Maine Woman: I was fired for being deaf

Kennebec Valley Community Action Program
Photo: Google maps

After 17 years, a worker in Maine says she was fired because she is deaf. And the Maine Human Rights Commission agrees with Agnes Farnsworth, according to the Lewiston Sun Journal. Farnsworth drove her car to transport clients for the Kennebec Valley Community Action Program. Two years ago she was mailed a letter unceremoniously letting her go. The nonprofit says it was due to Farnsworth's performance problems--but those problems seemed to be tied to a decision to no longer send her text messages to inform her as to when to pick up and drop off passengers. Read more at the Lewiston Sun Journal here.

St. Louis girl gets stem implant

10-year-old Jia Billadeau has no cochlea on one side at all and she has a malformed cochlea on the other side. Her adoptive parents had her undergo cochlear implant surgery which only worked for a while. This summer, Jia had a auditory brain stem implant placed in her and now she is beginning to hear again. KSDK-TV has a video report.

Cyclist rides into Kansas City on Fundraising Tour

Jacob Landis

Jacob Landis made it to Kauffman Stadium on Labor Day to watch a game between the Kansas City Royals and the Seattle Mariners. Several hundred supporters from the deaf community greeted Landis in Kansas City at a tailgate party before the game. He's making a cross-country ride to raise money for those who can't afford cochlear implants, as we've been telling over the summer. He's on his way to reach every major league ballpark in America--and he's only got four to go. His last stop will be on September 24th at Marlins Park in Miami. KMBC-TV has a video report on Landis stop in KC here (captions included)
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Report: Right to sign language being denied to New Zealanders

Paul Gibson on One News

A report from a Human Rights Commission says thousands of New Zealanders are being denied a basic human right to sign language. The full report and its recommendations will be presented to the Parliament later today. New Zealand made sign language an official language seven years ago. One News has a video interview with Disability Rights Commissioner Paul Gibson about the report here.  No captions but there is a text of the interview. You can see a sign language video on the report here.