First-of-its-kind home for deaf opens in Massachusetts

A deaf-friendly home--the only one of its kind in eastern Massachusetts, has just been opened. WCVB-TV has a video report here.

Nurse learning BSL for patients

UK nurse Dawn Bebbington is learning British Sign Language to improve the service she provides for deaf patients. The BBC has a video report.

Meet the Cast of Deaf U

Cosmo is providing the Instagrams for the Cast of Netflix’s New Show ‘Deaf U’. The show debuts a week from today (Friday, Oct 7). The reality series follows a group of deaf students who attend Gallaudet University. Take a look here.

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A little advice, always add spice 💕

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Nursing and the Deaf community in the pandemic

The UK's Nursing Times posted an article about the particular concerns that need to be addressed when it comes to providing quality care for the Deaf community.  Tarnia Lefevre, a nurse working with the deaf, wrote:

It’s time we as professionals take a stand and say to the government to live by their own standards and laws. Let’s not make communication an afterthought – bring it to the forefront and remind ourselves why it is one of the six Cs (of nursing).

Read the entire post here.

St. Louis University gets large grant to fund Deaf education

The Dept. of Education is giving Fontbonne University a $1.25 million grant to fund deaf education and speech-language pathology scholars. The money will support a six-semester program to help prepare speech-language pathologists and teachers. Read more from KSDK-TV here.

An ASL Bible 38 years in the making

A project started in 1981, to translate the Bible into ASL, is finally complete. The team of 53 translators completed the last three books this fall: Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. The translation was the vision of Duane King, founder of Deaf Missions. Read more about him here. The series of signed videos of the Bible can be accessed at the Deaf Missions site here. Deaf Missions CEO Chad Entinger said:

While Deaf Americans that are practicing Christians in particular have reason to celebrate, this really represents a broader win for all Deaf people and ASL communicators. This translation comes at a time in history when a lot is possible in terms of advancements for accommodating Deaf people. The explosion of digital technology and accessible video has allowed more Deaf people to share knowledge and communicate. Not unlike how the Bible was the first book printed on a modern printing press or the creation of the first Braille Bible in the 20th century, the availability of an ASL version of the Bible demonstrates a turning point in the culture toward normalizing sign languages.

Deaf Missions is celebrating the achievement virtually today on its Facebook page. Read more about the project here.

YouTube ends its community captions feature

We warned you back in July that YouTube was planning to discontinue its community captions. And it did so on Monday, despite complaints from the Deaf community including an online petition with more than half-a-million signatures. The feature allowed viewers to add subtitles but YouTube says it wasn't used enough. According to YouTube, they decided to deactivate the said feature because it is rarely used and plagued by spam and abuse. “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. But the Google automated are often full of errors.

The origin of Nicaraguan Sign Language tells us a lot about language creation

When linguists discovered deaf children in Nicaragua using a sign language they created on their own, researchers had a unique way to study the development of language. Public Radio International takes a look at how this happened here.

Watch the Presidential Debate in ASL

The first debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden takes place this evening (Tues., Sept. 29) starting at 9 pm, Eastern at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Fox News anchor Chris Wallace is the moderator. Watch it live in ASL on the DPAN.tv Facebook page and the DPAN website.  DPAN stands for Deaf Professional Artists Network. It was founded by Sean Forbes and Joel Martin to support deaf and hard-of-hearing performers.

On this date... 29 years ago

On Sept 26, 1991, a major TV show debuted that—for the first time—featured a deaf or hard of hearing actor in a lead role. The NBC police drama Reasonable Doubts ran from 1991–1993 and starred Academy-Award winner Marlee Matlin as Tess Kaufman, a prosecutor who fought for the rights of the accused. She portrayed a lawyer who happened to be deaf—instead of just a deaf lawyer. In 1994, she joined the cast of Picket Fences for a couple of seasons. The Seinfeld TV show made a nod to Reasonable Doubts during an episode called The Pitch. When Jerry and George visit NBC they sit under a poster showing Mark Harmon and Marlee Matlin was on the wall of Seinfeld episode.

20 years ago today: Murder at Gallaudet

It was on this day (Sept 27)  in 2000 that Joseph Mesa, Jr. beat Eric Plunkett to death in his Gallaudet dorm room. The killing put the school in a state of panic, with some students withdrawing from the school rather than living in a situation where they knew a murderer was living among them. The terror came to an end in February of the next year when Mesa turned himself into police-but not before he killed again. Mesa stabbed Benjamin Varner in his Gallaudet dorm room more than a dozen times. In July of 2002, the 22-year-old from Guam pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, telling jurors he saw hands wearing black gloves that told him in sign language to kill. Jurors convicted Mesa on all counts and a Washington, DC judge sentenced him to six life terms without the possibility of parole. Mesa began serving time at the United States Penitentiary in Atwater, California near San Francisco, a high-security facility.

Profile of a School Counselor

Cookie Brand explains in this video from the National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes, how she became a school counselor at the Kerugoya School for the Deaf in Kenya.

Judge: White House Must include Sign Language interpreters at Covid Briefings

The White House must provide sign language interpreters at briefings related to COVID-19, a federal judge has ruled. The Trump administration has the choice of either putting an interpreter physically near the speaker or by putting an interpreter, located elsewhere, within the frame. DC District Court Judge James Boasberg wrote: The National Association of the Deaf had sued on behalf of five deaf people. NAD CEO Howard Rosenblum said:

Sign language and accurate captioning are both essential and crucial to ensuring all deaf and hard of hearing people are well informed and are able to make better decisions on how to stay safe from the pandemic. The judge’s order sets a great precedent to achieve this goal of full accessibility.

The NAD has put out a news release with more info here.  

Deaf U Trailer

Back in July we told you abot a new Netflix documentary called Deaf U that debuts on Oct. 9. Netflix has just released a new trailer for the show.

DC could soon get office for deaf and hard of hearing

There may soon be an office dedicated to the needs of the deaf and hard of hearing in Washington, D.C. The D.C. Council voted unanimously to pass the “Office On Deaf and Hard of Hearing Establishment Amendment Act of 2019” yesterday. The bill would "create an office to advocate for legislation and policies that address the needs of the city’s deaf, deafblind and hard-of-hearing communities,” according to the DCist. The bill still needs the mayor to sign on off on it. Read more about the office here.

New Zoom Accessibility options

Zoom added some accessibility options today to its video-conference software that will help ASL interpreters. Users can now pin and spotlight multiple video screens at a time--that way someone signing can be pinned alongside the speaker so they are always in view. In the grid view, users can rearrange video windows so that the interpreter is on the screen wherever they want to see them. Jen Hill explains how to use the features in this video. 

Railroad failed to accommodate deaf conductor

A federal appeals court is unanimously overturning a lower court ruling and reinstating the claim of a deaf train conductor. The lawsuit of Mark Mlsna said Union Pacific Railroad Company did not reasonably accommodate him. Union Pacific had given Mlsna a hearing test which he did not pass without his hearing aids and the company rejected his custom-made hearing protection device. As a result, Mlsna was fired and he filed an ADA-based lawsuit. The suit was dismissed by a district court judge, despite the fact his experience and knowledge as a train conductor was not in dispute. This was overturned with the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling which wrote:

Because genuine issues of fact exist as to whether Union Pacific reasonably accommodated Mlsna’s hearing disability, Union Pacific should not have received summary judgment.

You can read the full final opinion here.

Deaf U on Netflix

Deaf U will debut on Netflix three weeks from today (Oct. 9). It is part of a series called 7 Incredible Real Stories The docuseries follows Gallaudet students through their daily life. Here is the trailer:

On this day in History.. the first deaf Miss America

On this date (Sept. 17) in 1994, Heather Whitestone of Alabama became the first deaf Miss America.

History's Deaf Astronomer

On this date (Sept 17) in 1764, John Goodricke was born in the Netherlands, though he lived most of his life in England. Goodricke only survived to the age of 21, but the deaf astronomer made a major impact on his field. Working with Edward Pigott, Goodricke learned to measure the variation of light coming from stars. This would eventually lead astronomers to figure out the distance of galaxies from the earth. While still a teenager, the Royal Society of London gave him the Copley Medal, making him the youngest person to be given its highest honor. Goodricke lost his hearing after a bout with a childhood disease, which might have been scarlet fever. He studied at the first school for deaf children in the British Isles, Thomas Braidwood’s Academy for the Deaf and Dumb in Edinburgh. Goodricke went on to study for three years at the Warrington Academy.