DeafDigest Mid-Week edition, April 18, 2012

– The cashier and the posted “deaf” sign on checkout counter

At one of the Target stores, a deaf cashier checks out
customers’ purchases. A sign on his checkout counter
warns the hearing customers that the cashier is deaf.
A hearing customer saw the sign and did not like it.
He wrote a newspaper story about it, wanting to know
if it was important that hearing customers be warned
of the cashier’s deafness?

– Fighting fires with ASL instructions

Fighting fires with ASL instructions? Yes, with air
and water hose equipment. But it is not a human
fire fighter; it is a robot fire fighter! This robot
built by the US Navy research team and is designed to
take commands in ASL. This robot is not perfect and
the researchers need to tinker more with it before
it is 100 percent ready.

– Hard to find Michigan School for the Deaf campus

The new campus of the Michigan School for the Deaf will be
ready soon. But the drivers may have problems finding
the school in Flint, Michigan if they drive on I-75. There
are no highway signs that tell us about the school campus.
Many schools for the deaf have highway signs but not Michigan.
Why? The Flint city administration did not ask the Michigan
Department of Transportation for signs. And they would not
explain the reason for not asking the state.

 
– India’s laws permit discrimination against the deaf!

India is a big nation where newspapers always describe
the deaf as deaf-and-dumb or deaf-mute. A research team
with the National Disability Network and the Disabled
Rights Group looked at all of India’s laws. They found
150 different laws that discriminate against deaf.
Examples are – deaf not allowed to marry, deaf not
allowed to inherit, not allowed to write wills, not
allowed to drive, etc. Many of these laws are old
but were never changed. Will India’s legislators
change these laws?

– A picture of a deaf street sign

do visit:
http://deafdigest.net/a-street-named-after-a-deaf-person/

DeafDigest credits a well known deaf couple for taking the picture.

you can also visit:
http://deafdigest.net/category/newsletter/newsletter-blue-newsletter/
http://deafdigest.net/category/newsletter/newsletter-gold-newsletter/

DeafDigest Mid-Week edition, April 11, 2012

 
– A Japanese doctor caught using fake deafness forms

Maeda Yoshiaki, a Japanese physician, has been arrested and
sentenced to an 8-year term in prison. He falsely signed
papers to certify deafness of many hearing patients.
He did that to get money from the Japan Pension Service
for his “work with the deaf” and it was almost two million
USA dollars before he was caught.

– Actress Mare Winningham working with the deaf again!

Famous actress Mare Winningham played the role of a Coda
daughter in the 1985 TV movie “Love is Never Silent”
that featured deaf actors Ed Waterstreet and Phyllis
Frelich. And 27 years later, she is again working with
the deaf – actor Russell Harvard in the play “Tribes”
at a theater in New York. Hope Mare knows that deaf
actors are very good to work with.

– Almost not allowed to run in a race because of deafness!

Could the deaf run in races? Of course; we had deaf
tracksters in past hearing Olympics. Susan Lacke, a deaf
triathlete, was almost stopped by a race director.
He told her she cannot participate because of her deafness.
The director felt a deaf runner would be a hazard to
everyone on the track. He also suggested that she compete
in the Paralympics and/or the Special Olympics. Susan
would not back off and forced the race director to allow
her to race.

– A bank telling a deaf woman she has been declared dead!

Anne Gray, a deaf British woman, received a letter from
a bank, saying that she has been declared dead. Also,
she was told that the account was closed, and her checks
allowed to bounce. Anne, very much alive, was very upset
about it, and had to have family members go to the
bank to straighten out the mess. The bank apologized
and sent her a check as a goodwill gesture.

 
– a Deaf Bridge shut down

The Zero Bridge, which spans the Jhelum River in
Rajbagh, a town in Kashmir, has been closed after
60 years of use. This bridge was designed and built
by a deaf contractor. Why Zero Bridge? The original
name was Zorr Bridge, and in the language of Kashmir,
it means Deaf! Why was it closed? It was falling apart
because of years of wear and tear by heavy traffic
of cars and people. Who was that deaf contractor?
No one remembers the name!

you can also visit:
http://deafdigest.net/category/newsletter/newsletter-blue-newsletter/
http://deafdigest.net/category/newsletter/newsletter-gold-newsletter/