Posts published in June 2019
DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – June 28, 2019
— a new Deaf Pizza chain
A restaurant chain means two or more restaurants
owned by one company. Mozzeria, a deaf-owned
pizzeria based in San Francisco, will be setting
up its second restaurant – on H Street, NE in
Washington, DC within easy walking distance
of Gallaudet University. It will open up
next year. DeafDigest hopes Mozzeria will
succeed because restaurant wars can be
extremely competitive and brutal!
— deaf participant in The Amazing Race
Amy De Domenico, who is deaf, will be taking
part in The Amazing Race, shown on TV.
Unfortunately it is in Canada, as the name
of the race is The Amazing Race Canada.
We are still waiting for our first deaf
participant in USA’s The Amazing Race.
— A judge with zero knowledge of ADA
A metro court judge in Albuquerque, NM
has this zero knowledge of ADA. He twice
refused an interpreter request from a deaf
woman that was in the court for a civil issue.
The judge is now facing a discrimination
law suit. Guess not every judge in USA knows
what ADA is all about!
Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/
06/23/19 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
http://deafdigest.com/newsletters/
DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – June 27, 2019
— finally having his hair cut off
Wisconsin Representative Jonathan Brostoff,
who hugely supports the deaf, made a promise
not to cut off his hair until the bill to
help the deaf with their interpreting needs
is passed. It passed and he will have his
hair cut in public. Brostoff knows sign
language – not ASL-interpreter fluent
but adequate.
— must get hearing aid or else
The Malaysian transport ministry has
ordered 60 deaf taxi drivers to must
get hearing aids if they wish to get
licenses. It didn’t matter to the
government that hearing aids are
useless to these profoundly-deaf
adult taxi drivers!
— “language pay” for ASL-fluent police officers
The Idaho Falls Police Department (Idaho)
is looking to offer extra pay (called language
pay) for police officers that are ASL-fluent.
Not sure if other cities have these language
pay opportunities.
Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/
06/23/19 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
http://deafdigest.com/newsletters/
DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – June 26, 2019
— a dumb police arrest
Police officers in a New Jersey town responded to
a yelling incident between a deaf neighbor and
a hearing neighbor. When the police arrived, the
deaf woman positioned herself in front of them in
order to communicate better with them. The
scared police officers arrested her for
“interference” with official police duties! As
a result, a lawsuit is forthcoming in that town.
— deaf travel needs same or little different
A travel agent said that the needs of deaf
travelers are a little different from hearing
travelers. Little different? The deaf enjoy
traveling as much as hearing do so the
difference isn’t there. The only difference
is communication accessibility.
— angry CI user at workplace
A CI user was angry. She was scolded by her
boss for “not understanding” voice tones
when hearing employees communicate with her.
She said that her CI does not help her
follow the tones. Her CI helps her understand
the hearing speech, but not the tones (high
frequency, low frequency, etc).
Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/
06/23/19 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
http://deafdigest.com/newsletters/
DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – June 25, 2019
— great story of Washington Post printers lacking a fact
Today’s Washington Post ran a great story about deaf
printers in the past years. This great story lacked
a great fact – that a deaf person was in the charge
of production operations. That person supervised a
shift crew of many hearing and deaf printers which
set up next days’ newspaper before it went to the
printing presses. It is believed that this deaf
person achieved the highest professional level
ever made possible at Washington Post.
— interpreter at front and at center
A complaint was posted on a web site about the
distractions an interpreter would create when
standing in front and at center of the stage.
The person doing the complaining suggested
that the interpeter be moved to the end of
the stage. Is the person correct or wrong?
That person is defintely wrong! Things can
happen in the middle of the stage that
the deaf would not see if eyes were focused
towards the end of the stage.
— volunteering to make voice telephone calls
There was an obit that praised a hearing person
for always volunteering to make voice telephone
calls for the deaf. That person volunteered years
ago when we had no relay services that served us.
We had no choice except to rely on telephone call
volunteers. That was great – except for one fact –
that the hearing volunteer could also be too
nosey and know too much about our personal lives
and personal issues!
Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/
06/23/19 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
http://deafdigest.com/newsletters/
DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – June 24, 2019
— angry interpreter walks out of a meeting
DeafDigest editor saw it happen – that an
angry interpreter walked out in middle of
a meeting, leaving the deaf and hearing
participants not knowing how to communicate
with each other. The interpreter was angry
when the deaf leader mocked her, saying
she was not important and was at the the
meeting just to exchange communications.
Bottom line – always treat interpreters
with respect.
— choices of jobs for deaf
In USA, the deaf pretty much have their
choices of employment. It is not that
always so in other nations. As an
example, the deaf in Nepal are taught
carpentry and weaving, and nothing
else. In Bulgaria, the deaf have
three choices – learn to become
dental technicians, factory
employees and opticians. What
about other choices – sorry, none!
— a song at a big wedding
A hearing father, so happy that his deaf
daughter was getting married, sang a song
praising her. The hearing people at the
wedding loved the song. The deaf at the
wedding? Forget it, there was no
interpreter and the deaf daughter had no
idea why everyone was clapping for her!
Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/
06/23/19 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
http://deafdigest.com/newsletters/
DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – June 21, 2019
— the .005 percent
The Delaware County (Ohio) 911 dispatch center
received 46,069 text calls. Just 246 of these
calls were text messages. Talking about
percentages, these text messages were .005
percent, meaning half of one percent. DeafDigest
worries that inexperienced operators, despite
hours of training, may stumble on these rare text
calls, thus wasting valuable time. Just hope
it never happens.
— budget cut means one less interpreter for university
What is happening to Wichita State University could
happen to other universities. The university said their
numbers of deaf students have increased but they
lost one interpreter due to lack of funds. The
interpreter was lost despite this position being
certified as legally-mandated! Said the university:
must find another way to find funds for the
interpreter.
Will they? Hope so, for the sake of these deaf
students!
— lack of proof
Many deaf people complain about being discriminated.
These stories are true – but with one big problem,
it is all talk, but with no proof! They must
document these cases of discrimination. Yes, it
helps that the iPhone videos are accepted as
documentation. Still, the deaf people need more
documentation than just iPhone only!
Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/
06/16/19 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
http://deafdigest.com/newsletters/
DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – June 20, 2019
— true or not true that hearing people hate captions
It always has been assumed that hearing people
hate captions and would immediately turn it off
when possible. True or not true? People that work
with TV and movies were asked that question. They
would not show proof that hearing people would
turn off captions.
— a strange comment about deafness
In a newspaper interview, the person said:
I’m not deaf, but profoundly hearing-impaired
What is the difference between being deaf
and profoundly hearing-impaired?
Same thing!
– a deaf basketball hero or a deaf basketball nobody
Who is Lance Allred? Ask a diehard hearing basketball
fan, and he would shrug his shoulders as if he is a
nobody. Ask a diehard deaf basketball fan, and he
would say he is a hero to the Deaf Community. This
issue was raised in a Psychology magazine. Allred,
who is deaf, played for a very short time with the
Cleveland Cavaliers, and one of his teammates was
LeBron James. A hero or a nobody? To DeafDigest
editor, he is a hero despite his minimal NBA stats.
Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/
06/16/19 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
http://deafdigest.com/newsletters/
DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – June 19, 2019
— a pledge by CBS
CBS is big – CBS Television Network, CBS Television Studios,
CBS All Accessstreaming service, etc. It just pledged
to cast the disabled into their programs. Just a warning –
pledge means promise, nothing else. And way back in early
1980’s, CBS refused to close-caption its TV programs,
which led to nationwide deaf-led rallies, thus
embarrassing this huge network. Yes, times have changed,
and we shall wait and see if their casting of the disabled
actors will also mean casting of deaf actors. As always,
stay tuned!
— deaf refugees without two languages
A deaf social service agency tries to help deaf refugees
that come to USA lacking knowledge of language and
knowledge of sign language. They communicate by
pointing at objects and by using gestures. This is sad.
— big issue in Texas
A big issue is going on in Texas. The Texas House
legislative body is accused of violating the
ADA by refusing to caption their hearings.
A late-deafened person may not not understand
ASL. Texas is saying that ADA regulations are
being followed by providing interpreters. But
there are many deaf people that don’t use ASL
and require captions. It is both a Catch-22 and
No-Win issues going on right now.
Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/
06/16/19 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
http://deafdigest.com/newsletters/
DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – June 18, 2019
— repeat deaf contestant at a reality TV celebrity contest
Lily McManus, who is deaf, will be competing at
the Celebrity Treasure Island reality TV program
which is aired in New Zealand. If she wins, the
prize money will go to the National Foundation
for the Deaf. It is not her first appearance. She
has competed in two previous TV reality programs.
— interpreter giving up
Do interpreters give up during their assignments?
An advocate said that he has had many interpreters
that give up on him while interpreting complex
discussions at the conference table. DeafDigest
hopes it is not true, but if it is, then it is
disappointing.
— confused deaf voters in an election
An election vote consultant said that there
are so many different voting rules in so many
different election districts. Some districts
require all voters to confirm their PIN numbers
before coming to a voting booth. And for that
reason many deaf voters are left confused and
end up not voting at all.
Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/
06/16/19 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
http://deafdigest.com/newsletters/
DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – June 17, 2019
— deaf person tells hospital administrators what to do
A deaf person, with an interpreter at a private conference
told the hospital administrators on how to improve
the deaf-doctor communications and relationships.
The deaf person gave the administators a long list,
and most important thing on the list is to dump
the VRI services and to hire human interpreters.
— deaf flag on cart
When deaf people shop for groceries at a huge
supermarket, is it necessary for them to get
a flag posted on their cart – telling the
store personnel that they are deaf? This is
what one national supermarket chain is trying
to do. DeafDigest editor personally does not
like the flag, and if he is looking for something
that he cannot find, he will ask a floor employee
to locate it for him.
— only 3 deaf people showed up
In a small town, there was a big campaign to have
the local movie theater show open captioned movies.
The big day came up – and despite great publicity,
only three deaf people showed up. Not only it was
a big embarrassment but the theater owner lost
money when angry hearing movie goers refused to
come and watch the movie!
Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/
06/16/19 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
http://deafdigest.com/newsletters/
DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – June 14, 2019
— not enough captioners
Are the Americans lacking in professional captioners
that do real-time captions on our TV programs?
There was a newspaper stor that said:
captioners: An Under-Marketed Profession
This would mean no one really knows about captioning
as a profession for those that are seeking great
careers?
— boom in deaf people with doctorates
Way back in the 1980’s, the number of deaf people
earning doctorates were a few. University of
Southern Maine did a survey and said right now
we have 700 deaf people all over the world
with doctorates. DeafDigest is interested in
knowing how many were profoundly deaf and
use ASL and still earn doctorates?
— getting more deaf people in the nursing profession
Deaf nurses in hospitals? Why not! Pushing for more
qualified deaf nurses is The Independence Center
which hosts its own Certified Nursing Assistant
program in Colorado Springs, CO with interpreters.
ASL-signing nurses is what deaf patients desperately need.
Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/
06/09/19 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
http://deafdigest.com/newsletters/
DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – June 13, 2019
— alerting the emergency first responders
A concerned mother, of a 10-year old deaf girl,
came up with an idea. The mother attached a
sign to the daughter’s seat belt, showing
just one word – DEAF. That way, in case
of accidents, first responders would immediately
know of the victim’s deafness.
— most horrible experience
Ask many deaf people this question:
What was your most horrible experience?
Many of them would say – trying to order
food at the drive-in window. And even if
the order gets through, trying to lip
read their question – such as:
Do you want ketchup with it?
— won’t hire an employee
The Forbes Magazine ran an article titled
Why I Won’t Hire You (And What You Can Do About It).
It was in reference to hearing applicants, but
for all practical purposes it can also be referred
to deaf applicants.
A hearing applicant would be disappointed and
move on.
A deaf applicant would be disappointed and
file ADA job discrimination lawsuit.
A joke? No.
Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/
06/09/19 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
http://deafdigest.com/newsletters/
DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – June 12, 2019
— a SWCD clarification
Yesterday’s DeafDigest said that SWCID was
changing its name to SWCD, but questioned
if it was going to make a difference.
It should make a difference in that it should
give SWCD some independence from Howard College’s
control. Will it work? Hope so, because
it is not easy to change the long-time
working relationships between both programs.
In other words, we will wait and see.
— airline wanting to help a deaf passenger
Many airlines really do not help deaf passengers;
they say they do but they really don’t. An
example was DeafDigest editor on one airline.
One of the flight attendants knew ASL and the
crew could have switched places with a non-ASL
atendant, but they didn’t. Lufthansa was just
praised for making the travel experience very
pleasant for a deaf passenger, making sure
she was not left out of the loop on anything
and everything!
— Wanting to be a Deaf James Bond
Could a deaf actor play a James Bond role in a
future 007 movie? Nyle DiMarco wants to. Don’t
count him out. He won two TV contests that almost
all hearing contestants find it impossible –
America’s Next Top Model and Dancing with the Stars,
and he is pretty much in demand everywhere in the
world to make personal appearances at big events.
Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/
06/09/19 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
http://deafdigest.com/newsletters/
DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – June 11, 2019
— handcuffing a deaf person
A deaf person is caught committing a crime. The
police handcuffs this deaf person – but should
the deaf person be handcuffed behind his back or
in front of him? It is always a hot issue; advocates
say deaf person must always be handcuffed in front
of him so that he could communicate in ASL despite
both wrists tied to each other. Well, in Kenya,
there is a new policy – to handcuff the deaf person
in front of him. What if the deaf person get
violent using his front handcuffs as a new weapon?
— Professor Calculus
The first Tintin Comic book edition (1930) was sold
for $1.12 million in an auction. Tintin Comics was
considered to be one of the best comic books in
the world. Anyway, one of the comic characters
in Tintin – Professor Calculus was deaf!
— SWCID no more
SWCID (Southwest Collegiate Institute for the Deaf)
is no more! The college has changed its name to
South West College for the Deaf. Any difference?
Just two words – from Collegiate to College and
Institute, removed. Does it make any difference?
No – just that SWCID is now SWCD!
Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/
06/09/19 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
http://deafdigest.com/newsletters/
DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – June 10, 2019
— biggest government fear
What is the biggest fear among local and
municipal governments? It is these
ADA lawsuits! DeafDigest worries that these
lawsuits may blow up in our faces – less
government services and higher property
taxes to cover these legal fees.
— streamed sign language on TV
Have we ever seen a streamed sign language
announcements on TV? Not sure, but it was
announced in Great Britain that updates of
a big sporting event will carry these
sign language streams. Streams in words, yes;
but sign language streams? Something
interesting.
— fixing a deaf person
Do deaf people want to be fixed (from being
deaf to being hearing)? This was a question
thrown by an activist. A guarantee was
given by the activist that 99 percent of the
deaf do not want to be fixed. If a deaf person
quickly became a hearing person in mid-life,
the chances is that the person would not
feel comfortable with hearing people!
Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/
06/09/19 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
http://deafdigest.com/newsletters/
DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – June 7, 2019
— 1 1/2 hour drive for a dental appointment
A deaf patient told DeafDigest editor that
it is a hour and half drive from her home to
keep an appointment with her deaf dentist.
There are dentists near her home but they
are all hearing and non-signing. The deaf
dentist requires all staffers to have
signing skills. She said – I just love
going to the deaf dentist.
— praising, not hating the police
Many deaf people hate the police. But for
one deaf woman she praises the police.
Her car had tire trouble. She waved
at passing cars, asking for assistance.
None stopped to help her. Suddenly a
police car arrived. The police officer
came over and immediately used fluent ASL
to help her get the tire fixed. The
police officer is a Coda, hence her
skilled signing! It took place in
Oklahoma City.
— deaf person not allowed to become 911 Dispatcher
Robert Piscitello is deaf but functions as a hearing
person with help of his hearing aids. He teaches
music and was a telemarketer in a past job. He
wanted to become a 911 Dispatcher in Nassau
County (New York). The county refused to hire
him because of his deafness, even with two
hearing aids allowing him to function well.
A lawsuit is coming up. His attorney said
his accommodation is just minor – these two
hearing aids.
Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/
06/02/19 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
http://deafdigest.com/newsletters/
DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – June 6, 2019
— more nervous
Who was more nervous during a job interview with
an interpreter? The deaf person applying for the
job or the employer interviewing him? They both
were equally nervous – but it ended up great as
the deaf person was hired and the employer was
happy with the good work by that deaf person!
— dead deaf community 20 years ago
Twenty years ago a deaf community was dead –
no deaf clubs, no deaf activities, no deaf
social services, few deaf people that could
use sign language, and pretty much isolated.
Things have improved nowadays – in Northern
Ireland!
— teaching self sign language
Could a hearing person, teaching self a sign
language, become an expert with it? DeafDigest
has doubts but Michelle Bolsonaro, who is not
deaf, has been using signs in church services
as well as interpreting political speeches.
Does she understand sign language nuances
and dialects? Does she understand responses
from the deaf?
Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/
06/02/19 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
http://deafdigest.com/newsletters/
DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – June 5, 2019
— big reason Coda kids should not be parents’ interpreters
A deaf woman witnessed a terrible scene where a 15-year
old Coda girl was forced to interpret for her deaf father
who was in a hospital. There was no interpreter around
and the hospital “forced” the Coda girl to interpret.
The doctor said that father, because of his illness,
only had a short time to live. The Coda girl had an
emotional breakdown that required medical attention
for a week.
— Modern Language Association says ASL classes still popular
The Modern Language Association said that student enrollment
in different languages have decreased, or in other words,
less popular. It also said that ASL classes are as popular
as ever.
— an unusual voice radio show
Jon Smith, who is deaf with no real speaking skills,
will be hosting his own radio show as a special
guest. He is doing the show with an interpreter.
It is taking place in Great Britain. Well, deaf
people cannot listen to an interpreted radio
show – unless they have interpreters with them!
Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/
06/02/19 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
http://deafdigest.com/newsletters/
DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – June 4, 2019
— deaf-friendly every step of the way
A city council passed a new policy that is meant
to be deaf-friendly every single step of the
way with respect to new buildings under
construction. Architects, contractors,
and engineers are supposed to work together
with deaf consultants on what is deaf-friendly
and what is not deaf-friendly!
— ears useless for music
For one of the world’s most famous musicians, she
is deaf and her ears are useless (not even a hearing
aid or a CI would help). She feels the music through
her fingers, feet, legs, toes, etc. It is Evelyn
Glennie and for that reason, she never wears her
shoes while giving percussion performances.
Does it help? She has received probably more
world-wide honors than Taylor Swift!
— movie theater learns a lesson
A movie theater advertised open captions for a
great movie. A big group of deaf people showed up
only to see the movie only to be frustrated with
no captions. These deaf people used social
media, especially facebook to explain what
happened. After so many shared facebook posts,
the embarrassed movie theater then promised
to do something – and they did – increasing
the number of times per week open captions
would be shown for all future movies being shown.
It happened in a small town theater. Would
Big Movie Chains in big cities laugh it off
as if it was not their fault no captions
were shown?
Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/
06/02/19 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
http://deafdigest.com/newsletters/
DeafDigest Mid-Week edition – June 3, 2019
— scammers may target ASL interpreters
If you are an interpreter and receive email that
offers $150,000, saying it was a state award,
do not respond. It is a scam. It is happening
to interpreters in Idaho. The Idaho Council
for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing is now
warning interpreters not to fall for that
scam trap.
— ASL students in two high schools hate one thing
ASL is being taught at Odessa HS and Permian HS
in Texas. Who are the teachers? These students
are not taught by real face to face teachers
but by computer videos. This is what they
hate.
— Deaf agencies need to be careful with tax-except paperwork
There was a posting that a national deaf agency ran into
problems with the IRS regarding non-profit status. The
IRS is saying paperwork was not filed by deadline date.
The deaf agency said it was filed. And it goes back and
forth. Said a retired deaf administrator with years of
experience with such deaf agencies – it is a common issue,
not just with deaf agencies but also with hearing
agencies.
Deaf jobs – latest update
http://deafdigest.com/category/jobs/
06/02/19 Blue and Gold editions & sub options at:
http://deafdigest.com/newsletters/